"Earlier, you claimed that I was very good at lying. Now you said that I was a terrible liar? Which is it?" I ask him.

Actually, he was right the first time, I'm normally quite good at lying. How else did I survive years of living under my grandparents' overly strict and watchful eyes?

"Hmmm...I don't know yet, sweetheart," he replies with that maddeningly cocky smirk. The way he emphasizes the word sweetheart tells me that he purposely uses it because I told him not to. This man hates to be told what to do. Well, he's not the only one.

"While you make up your mind, why don't you let go of me?" I suggest. "I feel like a broken record here."

"Maybe I will," he surprisingly replies. "But as I said before, we need to talk, so if you run, I will catch you."

He grins, catching the way my wayward eyes dart toward the door before I could help myself. Then he deliberately leans down to murmur in my ear, "You know that I will catch you, dollface. And if I had to catch you then I'd have to punish you."

The tip of his nose lightly nozzles the shell of my ear and his warm breath dances along the side and the back of my neck. Tiny shiver jolts through my body and goosebumps bloom on my skin.

He takes a sudden step back and I blink, not expecting to feel acute disappointment and loss.

He grins knowingly as he takes another step back, his gaze never leaving my face. The pale blue eyes gleam beneath the sooty eyelashes.

Is it bad that I want the heat of his body back on mine? Or that I'm now wondering about the punishment and that a part of me wants to be punished?

Without turning, he drags my study chair from behind him and sets it between us. "Sit," he orders.

Just to show that he's not the boss of me and that he can't just order me about, I plonk my ass on my bed.

He shrugs, spinning the chair around and straddles it with his forearms casually resting on the back of it. He looks back at me with a smug smile on his lips and I begin to suspect that I just did exactly what he expected me to do.

"Now Damaris...if that's your real name, we talk," he says, looking highly amused.

I'm very tempted to wipe that smug smile off his face with a swift kick on the shin. But instead, I lean back on my bed, keeping my upper body up by bracing my elbows on the mattress. It's a relaxed, casual pose even though I feel anything but relax. "It is," I tell him while watching him warily from underneath my eyelashes. "What's yours?"

"My name is Joshua King."

Joshua King. A strong name.

"My friends call me Joshua...or King." Another lopsided smirk makes an appearance on his lips before he adds, "You, sweetheart, can call me King."

Joshua suits him. King, unfortunately, suits him too...maybe even better. I can't imagine anyone ever calling him Josh though.

"I'm not going to call you King," I tell him.

"Why not?"

"First off, you're not my king. Second, your ego's humongous, if I call you King, your head will get bigger and it'll explode. Pwghhh!" I make a sound of an explosion with my mouth and demonstrate it with my hands. "Though I won't mind seeing that happens."

I expected him to say something crass and gross like asking which head, but he throws his head back and laughs.

The man is on the next level sexy. His laughter is like dark velvet and the way his Adam's apple moves when he laughs makes me want to jump on top of him and put my mouth on his throat and lick that smooth golden bronze skin.

*****

"So let me get this straight, your friends gave you the name of the wrong bar because they didn't want you there?" he asks, eyes narrowing. "You have some shitty friends."

"Yes, well...Allie is my best friend, but the other girls aren't really my friends," I tell him. We've been talking for the past 15 minutes or so and I might have told him more than I intended to. I don't know what it is about him but I opened my mouth and everything just spilled out. "I went for Allie, it's her birthday. Not for them."

"So you came home without meeting them? Or you don't remember meeting them?" His piercing eyes never once leave my face as though trying to detect any lies coming out of my mouth.

"Oh, I know I didn't I didn't see them, but I don't remember coming home either. It's weird! I mean, I wasn't drinking or high or anything but I woke up on my bedroom floor of all places this morning."

His jaw clenches and his eyes seem thoughtful. "I met you at Bordeaux, a few blocks away from where you were waiting for your friends. Anything else you remember from last night?"

"The bartender was cute," I comment. I was convinced that the guy was planning to slip me his number.

One of Joshua King's eyebrows quirks up but otherwise, he doesn't say a word.

"And there's this lady in red..." I frown, thinking about my lost red high heels.

"Lady in red?"

"I don't know, this woman...she just sat next to me and offered to buy me a drink. I think she took my shoes."

"Tell me more about her," he says.

"Well...she's wearing red, obviously." I roll my eyes. "And she's sexy with these...big boobs." I unintentionally make a motion over my own breasts and watch his mouth tip up a bit while his gaze lingers on them. My skin tingles from his attention but I choose to ignore it as I continue, "She's blonde, had a perfect set of teeth, and kinda...weird."

"Weird how?" I notice his hands gripping the back of the chair.

"I don't know how to describe it, but she gave out this vibe, you know. She made me feel...uncomfortable. I think she might be the last person I talked to, or the last person I remember talking to," I explain.

"So you blanked out right after talking to her?"

"Yeah, I think so," I say, nodding. "She touched my hand, then she...I thought she was going to kiss me. She just leaned in and then...nothing. I don't remember a thing after that. Did I mention that she might have stolen my shoes? I thought she took the bracelet too. That was supposed to be my birthday gift to Allie."

"Anything else?"

"No, but did you hear the part where I said that she had swiped my shoes?"

"Would you recognize her if you saw her again?" he asks me, completely ignoring the most important part of all.

"I suppose so," I mutter, huffing in annoyance before I glance at a small Hello Kitty clock on my study table. I jump up when I notice the time. "Okay, are we done here? I have a class to go to." I might have to run. I have less than 10 minutes to get there...give or take.

"All right," he surprisingly agrees. He taps the back of the chair before he pushes the chair forward as he gets up. "See you this evening. I'll pick you up at eight."

"Wait, what?" I freeze in the middle of straightening my top. My jaw drops. I should have known that he wouldn't just let me go that easily.

"We're searching for this busty blonde in red," he says, reaching out to snap my mouth shut with his finger under my chin. His thumb lingers to absently brush over my lower lip before he pulls his hand away. "I'll pick you up at eight."

My lips burn and my tongue flicks out as though to catch the taste of his skin before I catch myself. It's a good thing that he's not facing me this time.

He's picking up a leather jacket that I never noticed slung near my headboard. He shrugs it on and pauses to look at me. "Oh, and dress up like you did last night."

I tilt my head and cross my arms over my chest, jutting my hip to the side in a defiant pose. "Why would I wanna do that? What's in it for me?"

"Isn't it obvious?" he responds, grinning. "You find her, you get your precious shoes back." He reaches into his pocket and drops Allie's rose gold bracelet on my study table. "Besides, I'll hunt you down, pick you up, and carry you off with me if you're not here when I come for you tonight." He winks like he didn't just deliver a threat before reaching for the doorknob to open the door.

"But I can't go out tonight, I have classes tomorrow!" I protest. But he's already gone.

I stare at the empty doorway and gently touch my lower lip. Did that just really happen? Now that he's gone, it feels like I dreamt the whole thing.

But my lip still tingles from his touch and my body is still buzzed with excitement from his presence. My heart is still racing and his scent, although faint, still lingers in the air.

No one has ever affected me that way before. Not even close. But then again, I've never met anyone quite like him before either.

I sigh and let my eyes wander around the room before they reach the Hello Kitty clock. Oh, crap! I'm late!

I swipe the bracelet from the table and grab my book bag off the floor. Then I run like I was chased by a horde of hungry zombies, hoping, wishing, and praying that Professor Murphy forgot to lock the door of room W108 this time. Just this once.

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

Hello my dearies!

As usual, if you want to read a few more chapters ahead, go to Inkitt:

https://inkitt.app.link/RA_Nicoleridd3y

Have a great week!

Nicole♥