"I was not in your bed last night!" I exclaim, seconds away from stomping my foot on the worn vinyl tiles like a five-year-old. He's impossible! I might not remember what I did or where I'd been last night but I would have remembered if I slept with anyone, let alone a man like him...right?

"And I never stole anything from you!" How dare him! I may be dirt poor but I never stole anything in my life! Well, maybe that one time when I took a chocolate bar from a corner store on a dare. But I was seven and stupid. My grandfather found out about it and beat the shit out of me, so that's the end of my brief stint as a thief. "We've never met until today and I'm not a thief!"

He watches me intently. His eyes are narrowing as he rubs his thumb across his full lower lip. "You're a very good actress, sweetheart. I give you that," he says, nodding. "Very convincing. If you weren't all over me last night, I would have believed you."

"Oh, God!" I groan, tilting my face upward, staring at the ceiling. "I was never all over you!"

"Again, very convincing," he says. "You almost had me convinced that you never had your tongue in my mouth or that I never had my hands and mouth all over your... Wait! Are we play-acting? Are we pretending that we've never met before?" His eyes are glinting with mischief as he eagerly swings his feet down from the side of the bed.

He stands up and suddenly I'm aware of how tall he really is. And how small my room seems with him in it.

I think I'm average height for a girl at 5′ 7" but he towers over me, making me feel petite and all kinds of feminine...which is stupid considering he's a crazy albeit hot stranger who broke into my house.

The man must be well over six feet tall and his legs clad in those blue jeans look like they go on for miles. He's lean instead of bulky but his shoulders underneath the t-shirt are broad and the tanned arms exposed below the short sleeves look muscular and corded.

"So that's how you want to do this, huh? Does it turn you on to play pretend?" His voice is velvety smooth, causing delicious chills to run up and down my spine and making my stomach clench.

I don't feel as though I'm in danger but I stagger backward when he takes a predatory step toward me.

"This is not a play-acting! I repeat, we are not play-acting!" I tell him as I continue to walk backward because I refuse to turn my back to him. You don't give your back to your enemy, right?

The corners of his lips curl up, one side higher than the other into a lopsided smile and I almost let out a groan. I'm a sucker for a lopsided smile in a man and the way he prowls toward me like a predator stalking its prey is really intense and sexy. This guy is gorgeous and checked off all the list of things that I find hot in a man. Okay, so I find him extremely attractive...too bad he's crazy.

"Stay where you are! Don't move!" I hold my hands up as though to ward him off.

"You're cute and even sexier than you were last night," he drawls. "I don't know how's that even possible." His voice now has a husky velvety quality that turns everything inside me to mush. The way his eyes slowly wander up and down my body, pausing in several places, makes my skin tingle as though he physically touches me. His eyes darken with hunger and I feel my body heats up.

I round the corner backward, trying not to trip on a couple of pairs of shoes on the floor when he stops by my study table. Then, to my horror, his hooded gaze lazily wanders to a black and pink bra draped over my study lamp.

Oh no, my room is a mess but how did that get there? "Don't!" I groan.

His roguish smile grows as he slides a lean long index finger underneath the lacy strap. "This looks very familiar," he murmurs, lifting it up and casually brushing it over his nose and lips before tossing it on my bed. That's very...intimate and it's oddly a turn-on for me. I'm so weird. "Still smells like you."

I was wearing it last night! How did he know? Did he...did we really...? No. I mentally shake my head. Lucky guest. That's what it was. Besides, it was just hanging there, so... "That proves nothing!" I snap. "That doesn't prove that we were together last night."

"Oh, I wasn't aware that I was supposed to provide proof that we were together last night," he says. "But if you want proof, you did leave something at my place." That lopsided smile makes another appearance as he shoves his hand into the front pocket of his jeans. He pulls his hand out and dangling between his fingers is a shiny rose gold bracelet- the bracelet that was supposed to be Allie's birthday gift.

"Wha...how...where did you get that?"

"I told you, you left it at my place last night. I found it on the floor after you disappeared when I went to get some condoms that you insisted I need to get from my bedroom before we...you know." His grin is definitely wolfish. "You disappeared with what's mine, dollface. You didn't think I'd let you get away, did you?"

The dangerous look on his face worries me and I jump a mile high when my back hits the wall.

"I have to say, I like this game of cat and mouse that we've got going right here. But...I'm getting impatient. When are we getting to the good part?"

"This is not a game!" Oh, he is infuriating! I slide my back against the wall, rounding the corner, and measure the distance between myself and the door and the hot stranger who's getting closer by the second. "And the good part is when you get out of my room and leave me alone!"

"Oh, no, dollface." He shakes his head. The good part is when I have you in my arms again and we get to do all the dirty things that you promised me last night."

"That's never going to happen," I tell him, and for the first time, his eyes narrow and his jaw clenches, showing genuine irritation.

"Never say never, sweetheart." His eyes glint challengingly. "I think it's time we cut it out. When you took off, you took something very valuable from me and we didn't get to finish what we started. I come to collect. On both counts."

From the look on his face, I can see that he is serious. Or that he truly believes that I stole from him and that we really did...something last night. I'm also extremely bothered that I can't remember what I did or where I went last night. Besides, how do you explain the bracelet and the bra...

"Okay, let's say, hypothetically speaking, that we...uh...I ummm...what you said really did happen," I stammer while I keep retreating. "What was it that I, hypothetically speaking, of course, took from you last night?"

An arrogant smirk appears on his face. "You know what you stole from me, dollface."

"No, I don't," I quickly return. When he opens his mouth to argue, I raise my hand and say, "Humor me."

He pauses and watches me warily for a long time before answering, "A book."

I give him an incredulous look. "A book?" I can picture him on the back of a motorcycle or doing whatever it is that a bad boy does, but I can't imagine him sitting still long enough to be reading a book.

"A very old book," he clarifies.

"Like the first edition or something?"

"Something like that," he replies vaguely.

"Ummm... something like Hardy, or Bronte, or Austen?"

"Errr...a bit older than that."

"Wow, like something from the Shakespearean era then?"

"Uhhh...older."

"Older? Seriously?" My eyes grow wide. Now, I'm very intrigued. None of Shakespeare's original manuscripts was ever found or survived. No wonder he wants the book so very badly back. It must be priceless!

"I'm on a time crunch, sweetheart. As sexy and adorable as you are and as fun as it has been, I don't have time for any more games," he says. "So, no more play-acting. Give it back to me."

"I'd love to, but I don't have it."

I can tell that he doesn't believe me and I'm back to measuring the distance between me and the door.

"Come here, dollface," he coaxes. His voice is husky and sexy. Very seductive. I bet he has girls falling all over themselves to do his bidding with that look and that voice.

"Nope!" I shake my head while taking a sidestep. With a little luck, I might be able to make it to the door. The man is clearly gorgeous, unfortunately, he's also crazy. I'm not getting anywhere near him.

He takes another step toward me and I jump over the bed. Then I dive toward the door. Unfortunately, his powerful arm snakes out to snatch me mid-flight. "Gotcha!"

*******************************

Hello, my lovelies!

I hope you enjoyed the chapter and as usual, if you want to read a few more chapters ahead, go to Inkitt:

https://inkitt.app.link/RA_NicoleRidd3y

As for my other books:

Fayre (the complete story is available on Inkitt for a limited time. It will only be on Galatea (original version) after the end of May 2022)

The Legacy series:

A Legacy for Katherine (the complete story is available on Inkitt for a limited time. It will only be on Galatea (original version) after the end of May 2022)

A Legacy of The Damned: Daughter of Astaroth (almost complete on Inkitt)

The Royal Lycan series:

Catching Genesis (the rest of the chapters are available in Kindle and paperback versions on Amazon)

Fighting Darius (available on Galatea in original version)

Trapping Quincy (available on Galatea in original version)

Gideon (on Galatea)

Have a wonderful week and stay safe, everyone!

Much love,

Nicole♥