Page 58 of Coerced

“Ah, I guess that means you already have a boyfriend. I should have guessed a woman as beautiful as you would already be spoken for,” he said, his tone deflated.

Even though there wasn’t a boyfriend, I didn’t correct Ronnie. It seemed he believed that was enough of an explanation and was willing to accept it, despite his disappointment.

“Thank you for the compliment.”

He jerked his chin down. “Yeah, you’re welcome. Well, I guess if there’s nothing I can do to convince you otherwise, I’ll just tell you to have a good night.”

“Thanks. You do the same.”

After offering a slight nod and a friendly smile, I turned and finished the walk to my car. Ronnie had turned and moved in the opposite direction.

And before I knew it, I was on my way back home, my thoughts immediately drifting to Paxton.

Although I’d hoped to not think about him throughout the day when I needed to be focused on working, I didn’t necessarily mind it so much when I was on my way home after a long day on my feet.

It was late, far too late for it to be possible, but there was a small part of me that wished I’d arrive home and run into Paxton much like when he’d come home from work earlier in the week and I happened to be working in my garage. More and more, I was craving time with him, and it didn’t matter to me that it was well after any reasonable bedtime, especially for someone who needed to wake up early for work tomorrow. I still wanted to see him.

By the time I pulled into my driveway, I’d resolved myself to the fact that it likely wouldn’t be until tomorrow morning, at best, that I’d feast my eyes on Paxton from the comfort of my home when he left for work.

I pulled to a stop, parked, and exited my car. The moment I got out, closed my door, and hit the lock button on the key fob, I caught a movement out of the corner of my eye just seconds after I heard a car door shut. I shifted my attention toward that movement coming from the mouth of my driveway and noticed someone walking in my direction.

Based on the build and stride, it became clear I was watching an unknown man move toward me.

My body tensed as the tall figure came closer, and for some stupid reason, I couldn’t seem to bring myself tomove, to run. Maybe there was a part of me that assumed it wasn’t possible there could be anything bad about to happen. I’d moved into a good neighborhood, hadn’t I?

The worries that ran through my mind in that moment were the worst possible. There wasn’t anyone who knew better than I did just how often bad things happened to people who weren’t expecting it.

Seconds later, the man’s face came into view. “Ronnie?”

“I was thinking, Aria,” he said as he made his final approach and came to a stop only a matter of a few feet in front of me. “You didn’t act like someone who wasn’t interested in going on a date with me.”

“Did you… did you follow me to my house?” I asked, my belly trembling.

“You led me on,” he seethed, stepping forward and closing the very little remaining distance between us.

I was practically pinned between my car and this man, and it was as though I had an invisible clamp around my throat. Speaking no longer felt like an option. I was struggling simply to breathe.

“What are we going to do about this, Aria?”

“I… I don’t know what you want. Please just leave,” I begged.

He shook his head and leaned closer, his face inches from mine. The stench of alcohol lingered on his breath. “I think you need to invite me inside. We need to talk.”

“No.”

Ronnie lifted his hands to my shoulders and squeezed painfully, my body leaning back harder into the car. “Maybe you want to rethink that.”

I didn’t.

God, I didn’t.

But did I stand a chance at escaping from this guy? Could I get away and run to Paxton’s house?

“What’s it going to be, Aria?”

His voice was dangerously low, like he was daring me to challenge him.

I lifted my hands from my sides and pushed as forcefully as I could against Ronnie’s chest. “Get off of me.”