Page 1 of Her Wedding Night
CHAPTER 1
LUCY
Oh my god, that’s my stalker.
Which is a weird thought to have as I wait in line for coffee before my Thursday morning Anthropology class.
He’s three people in front of me at the coffee shop just off campus, Brewed Awakening. He’s half a head taller and half a body broader than the people in between us. Plus, he’s probably twice the age of my classmates. But even if he weren’t a big, thick silver-templed giant, I’d recognize the tattoos crawling up the back of his neck.
I’ve seen those tattoos a lot.
The first time I noticed him watching me was about a month ago.
Lately, I’m seeing him almost every day. A couple of times we’ve made eye contact, and it makes me shiver.
But the two times I tried to take his photo—so I’d have something to take to the campus police to identify him—he disappeared as I was digging out my phone.
My pulse bounces at the base of my throat as I scramble for it now. Can they identify people by neck tattoos? Probably. Maybe he’s in a gang or something.
Fingers shaking, I lift my hand, thumb on the button to snap a pic…and he turns around.
His gaze catches mine, his eyes piercing blue. His chest lifts, like he’s pulling in a deep breath, then he squares his shoulders and holds still.
A wild, terrifying feeling I don’t recognize spikes inside me. I feel locked in place, as if someone slammed pause on the world.
This is my stalker? This man with eyes like the ocean?
It’s as if he’s cast a spell on me, because I feel an unholy tug, low in my belly, that is keeping me tethered here. Tethered to him.
And then he sucks in another breath, breaking that spell.
I turn on my heel and run.
I’m a few minutes early for Anthro, since I didn’t wait for coffee, and most of my classmates aren’t there yet. A frat guy who I tutored last term, Ethan, gives me a familiar wave.
He’s kind of awkward and intense, but he’s one of the few people on campus I’d call a friend. Between my need to keep my grades up for my scholarship and my tutoring work, I haven’t had any time for a social life.
Ethan pushes out of the seat he’d already gotten settled in and crosses to sit in my row, two seats over from me. “Hey.”
I give him my brightest,I’m fine, not being stalked or anythingsmile. “Hey.”
“I, uh, wanted to invite you to a party Theta Zeta Alpha is having tomorrow night. I’ve wanted to ask you all week, but I haven’t seen you around.” He gives me the same soft puppy dog look he used when he didn’t do the studying work betweentutoring sessions. “You haven’t started dating anyone, have you?”
I laugh nervously. “Me? Dating? No.”
“Oh, good.” He licks his lips. “Do you like boats? Gilly’s parents are away for the weekend, so he can use the yacht.”
My eyebrows shoot up.Yacht?
He glances past me. I twist to follow his gaze and see three of the most popular girls on campus. Alyssa, Hannah, and Gracie. “You’re all coming tomorrow night, right?”
Gracie smirks. “We wouldn't miss it for the world.”
Alyssa skims her assessing gaze over me. “Are you coming?”
Something in the challenging way she looks at me gets my back up. And what am I going to do if I say no? Stay home and hide from a man who looks like Reacher?
“Maybe,” I say.