Total pages in book: 93
Estimated words: 86597 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 433(@200wpm)___ 346(@250wpm)___ 289(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 86597 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 433(@200wpm)___ 346(@250wpm)___ 289(@300wpm)
I stand in front of the tall, wall-mounted mirror to adjust my unruly curls and wonder if my host/jailor is starting to feel annoyed by how much time I’m taking. I’m ready, and I look good in the outfit Nico picked for me, but I’m almost afraid to see him again. The tension of last night is like a splinter under my nail, and I worry what might happen if things get out of hand. He seems nice enough as a person, and I can’t help being physically drawn to him, but he is a killer, who might just be playing nice to manipulate me. And this whole date thing is like an obstacle course full of quicksand traps.
I’ve never had a boyfriend.
I’ve never been on a date.
I only had my first kiss last night, with the Christmas Killer. Things seem to be moving way too fast.
When I finally emerge, I’m met with Nico’s sharp gaze and languid smile. He eyes me from head to toe, and I feel naked despite the layer of clothes on my back. He wants me. I’ve never been so sure of anything in my life. And he could have had me whether I wanted it or not, yet he’s giving me space and showering me with gifts.
He holds a coat for me like the perfect gentleman, and we put on hats and gloves as we head down the stairs. Nico looks so perfectly normal in a plaid red jacket worthy of a sexy lumberjack. Only the snowflakes on his neck, which I now know extend down his chest give him a bit of edge, but lots of people have tattoos. Not in a thousand years would I pick him out of a lineup as a killer. Heartbreaker? Definitely.
As he lets me through the door after tying a soft scarf around my neck, I let my thoughts drift to an alternative world where he and I met in the town closest to my home, where I would sometimes go to look at strangers and pick out books.
If he knocked my shopping out of my hands by bumping into me, would I let him invite me for a coffee? Could we maybe have great rapport, good enough that I would consider anything resembling a relationship? That would make my life unnecessarily complicated, and I always dreamed about a free and uninhibited life once I was of age, but he could have charmed me.
Problem is, Nico is not the guy from my simple fantasy. He is the serial killer who’s been fascinating me for years, and that’s a whole other can of worms.
I can’t unsee him sawing a man’s head off, or the way he looked in a balaclava, dragging a body down a flight of stairs. I can’t unhear him talking about the darkness inside him, or how he’s at peace with killing because of a code.
But the worst thing is, I’m drawn to that side of him too. Morbid curiosity of the same kind that made me spend countless hours watching murder scene footage. He’s a car crash, and I can’t look away.
“Hey, Owen!” Nico says as soon as we’re downstairs, and one glance at the counter reminds me of my failure to alert my brother to my peril. The phone’s still there, so close and yet so far.
A young guy with dusky skin and short black hair looks up from a large container full of balls of ribbon and string. He’s dressed in a brown loungewear set meant to imitate a reindeer, but the smile he’s wearing for Nico briefly dies at the sight of me.
I stall, unsure what to expect, but the stranger’s face brightens up like sun in the spring, and he leans against the counter separating the back of the shop from the space meant for customers.
“You didn’t say you had a guest, Boss!”
“Owen, meet Blake, my new boyfriend.” Nico puts an arm over my shoulders, but there’s nothing casual about the fire I’m instantly engulfed by. He’s showing me off, which is flattering, yet I’m also put on the spot, because we’ve not talked about me being his boyfriend at all. He said we’d go on a date. But the weight of his arm is so pleasant I’m finding it hard to think altogether.
I know I’m good-looking, so maybe he just wants to boast, but he still should have informed me about his plans instead of unleashing them without a warning. It’s a reminder that I need to keep him at arm’s length.
Owen grins. “Oh, the guy you mentioned? Damn, he is a catch!”
I give a soft chuckle, embarrassed by the attention. “Um… it’s all quite fresh.”
“He might be insufferable sometimes, but trust me, you’ve got a good one,” Owen tells me with a wink. “This guy here took me in and gave me a job when my family threw me out the moment I turned eighteen. Don’t know where I’d be if it wasn’t for him.”