"Amber?"

Squeezing my eyes shut, I groaned. The thought of ignoring him and sprinting crossed my mind, but before I could do that, he tapped on my shoulder.

"Hey..." I whirled on my heels and came face to face with him. "Conner!"

"What are you doing here?" We asked simultaneously.

He raised his brows at me, but I crossed my arms. "I asked first."

"I'm here for investigation." He eyed the white tank top I wore with a black leather jacket and jeans. "And you?"

"I'm here..." I trailed off to think of a lie.

"A date," Finlay whispered beside them.

He didn't need to whisper. It wasn't like Conner was going to hear him, but I got his point.

"I'm here on a date." I plastered my sweetest smile.

"A date?" He repeated, looking at me skeptically. "You're here..." He gestured towards the club. "On a date."

"Yes... Yes, I am." I bobbed my head, keeping the grin on my face.

"Yesterday you wanted to go out with me and now you're on a date with someone else?"

"What can I say? I'm a serial dater," I smirked. "You lost your chance."

Ha!

Now, who's the boss?!

"Where is your date, then?" He cocked his head.

"He's..." I glimpsed at Finlay beside me who was watching me intensely. "Not here..."

"He stood you up." Now it was his turn to smirk.

F**k the tables turn too fast!

"No... He's late ten minutes and I can't wait for him any longer." Lies rolled right off my tongue.

"Just ten minutes... Have mercy on him." He snorted.

"My time is too precious to waste on someone." I flipped my hair which was in a pony. "I need to get going now."

He opened his mouth, to obviously give me a remark, but someone called him from behind. I peeked over his shoulder and saw two guys waiting for him at the bar entrance with the bouncer, who looked scared as shit.

They must be on his team.

"Unfortunately, I need to go, too. But I'll ask you about your date later." He winked, walking backward.

"Whatever Conner." I rolled my eyes and watched him get inside.

As soon as they went inside the club, I darted towards my car and drove out of there.

"That was close." I cleaned the sweat over my forehead with the back of my hand. "He almost caught us."

Earlier, I was just talking about him with Michael, and here he was. He's getting closer to this case quickly, and it won't take him much time to have his hands on Candice. I have to look for her before they do, or else I won't be able to know about Finlay.

"He likes you," Finlay murmured out of the blue, making me cut my train of thought.

"What?"

"The Agent..." He glanced at me. "He likes you."

"How can you say that?" I glimpsed at him but flickered my eyes back to the road.

"I heard you two talking yesterday at the hospital parking lot about the date." From the corner of my eye, I saw him shrug. "And the way he looked sad when you mentioned you were on a date."

"That's not the case." I scoffed. "We don't even know each other that well."

"How did you guys meet?"

"It was months ago... I think to be exact around five or four. It was after I joined my uncle's company. There was a gala my uncle took me to where all the politicians and public figures and other people in the media industry came. Conner was there, too."

I halted my car at the signal and turned towards Finlay, who was attentively listening to me.

"My uncle introduced us and we talked for a while, then I met him again when he visited my uncle at the company. He asked me on a date, but I refused." I finished and sped up my car when the signals turned green.

"Why did you say naw?" I heard curiosity in his voice.

"Conner looked like a guy who wants a relationship and I'm not interested at this moment," I answered.

"Why not?"

"You're asking way too many questions, Fin." I groaned.

"It's not like we have anything else to do." He shrugged.

I inhale a deep breath and blew. "The last time I had a relationship was of two years in high school and I thought he was my..." I scoffed at my stupid young self. "Soulmate, but it wasn't the case. He was just a horny teenager, looking to satisfy his needs. Either it was me or other girls."

"Scabby bassa." He grunted, making me frown.

"What?"

"It means Dirty bastard."

"Wow... Scabby bassa... Huh." I chuckled. "Nice to learn a Scottish curse word."

"You know not everyone's like that, right?" I felt his eyes boring into my head, but I kept my head straight and parked my car in the apartment lot.

"As I said, I'm not interested at this moment. I only want to concentrate on my career, which is going to help me live a good life." I smiled, switching my car off. "Not love."

With that, I walked to my apartment, dangling the keys on my finger.

"As for your situation..." I looked over my shoulder towards Finlay. "Let's pray Paige doesn't bite me for what I'm going to ask her."

• • • • •

I opened my eyes and found myself in the middle of the water again. I turned around in confusion as I held my breath. Looking up, I saw the sun shining above the water and started pushing my legs and trying to reach it, but nothing happened.

Giving up, I look in my front and frowned when I saw something ahead. Swimming towards it, I saw a silhouette of someone and squinted my eyes to make out the shadow.

It was a little girl floating in the water, lifeless.

I pushed towards her and my eyes widened when I saw her short red hair, the same color as mine. I stopped a few inches away from her and put my hand on her shoulder, slowly turning her towards me.

The air was being sucked out of my body and a surprised gasp escaped my mouth as I saw the little girl's face.

It was me!

I unconsciously swallowed the water and coughed when the salty taste hit my throat.

I sat up straight and continued coughing through the water, but nothing came out. I took a huge gulp of air and looked around to find myself in my bedroom.

"Nightmare again?" I turned towards the voice and saw Finlay standing at the doorframe.

"Yeah..." I muttered and heaved a sigh. I cleaned the sweat off my forehead and got off my bed.

"Do you often have them?" His question made me pause.

I stared at the ground. "No. I never had them before."

"When did they start?" I glanced at him and answered.

"Since I met you." I walked to the bathroom, and before entering, I glared at Finlay. "Don't come in."

Chuckling, he nodded his head, and I went inside. I took a quick shower and got ready for my work. Getting out of the bathroom, I saw Finlay sitting on my bed.

"What's the plan?" He asked as we padded to the kitchen.

"I'm going to go to my office and do my daily work," I answered and made myself breakfast. "There, I'll ask Paige for your information and then we'll see what happens next." I finished.

"Good." He beamed. "I'm coming with you-"

"No way." I cut him off with my eyes widened. "There's no way I'm taking you there, Fin."

"But why?" He whined.

"Because I don't want my colleagues or boss to think that I'm a freak."

"I won't talk or disturb you."

"Nah ah." I shook my head. "You are going to stay here and do whatever you want."

"But I have nothing to do!" He groaned.

"Enjoy your ghost life while it last." I beamed, and he narrowed his eyes at me. "I'm doing this to help you, Fin. It's not a straightforward job, so please don't make it harder for me." I said in a serious tone.

"Fine." He sighed and slumped on the couch.

• • • • •