Joey~
“Are you a stalker or something?” I tried to sound cool and confident, but it came out in shaky words that stumbled over my tongue.

He chuckled and I felt his chest rumble just behind me, what delightful torture.

“Why would I waste my time stalking you?” His words shattered me, this game between us left me spinning in confusion. Something hungry always sparked in his eyes when we interacted. I could the warmth that swirled in those azure eyes, but then he would open that mouth of his and ruin it.

"Excuse me?"

"Not everything is about you, little girl."

Little girl!? I'll show him.

I could think of a thousand things I wanted to come back with, the bitter sting of rejection was the only thing that was keeping me silent. I didn't want to look like some wounded girl, it would only prove him right.

Shrugging out of the red leather jacket I was entertaining purchasing, I tossed it on the discard pile and went to collect the other two I had settled on. There was no reason to stick around so he could degrade me more. In fact I deiced to implement one of Marty's tricks. Give the cold shoulder, let him stew in the fact I was big enough to walk away.

“Hold on,” he said grabbing my arm and drawing me back toward him. “I need something from you.”

“I'll scream.”

The words just fell out, it was the first thing that jumped into my head and it was out of my mouth before I could think it through. Threatening this man was dangerous I knew that from last night, but no matter how many warning bells went off in my head I wanted this fight between us.

I wanted to yell and scream at him for the way he treated me. Not just now but last night as well. To tell Mr. Blue-eyes just how wrong he was about me, and that I did nothing to deserve this strange and icy behavior of his. Instead I settled for a stare down, fixing my glare right on him to show how serious I was. His eyes locked on me and the cocky smirk he had been sporting twisted up into a wicked grin. It might be sick but I was beginning to think he enjoyed when I challenged him.

We stood there for long unyielding seconds staring at each other, neither of us blinking or softening our hard looks. The sound of two store workers grabbed my attention, I readied to struggle or make a scene, whichever it took to get him to know I was serious and pissed. Reading myself I waited for the two women to come into view, but Cameron acted first pushing me back into one of the dressing rooms.

The heavy black curtain parted as he pushed me through until I could feel  something hard at my back as the curtain fell closed behind us, shielding our interactions from the open view of the store. We were alone, completely alone among empty dressing stalls, his body between me and the exit. My rage mixed with the heat of excitement.

“What the hell?” I yelled.

I tried to pull from his grasp by placing my free hand on his chest to push. It was a half hearted attempt that faltered once my hand landed on his firm muscles, my strength left me and I melted into the contact. Cameron didn't waste any time grabbing my wrist and securing it against the wall at my side. The swift movement and command of my body left me flushed from the thrill, what was happening to me? I was like a child interacting with their first crush.

“Don't you dare.” He growled, the smirk gone from his face. “You remember last night. Remember that danger, the very real threat to your life.”

Kate Benson was raised in Texas and currently resides in central Florida with her husband and their growing army of fur minions.She learned to read at the age of four and has been hooked ever since. She credits her passion for literature to her mother, her love of story-telling to her father and her unwavering faith in happily-ever-after’s to her husband, Sean.Some of her favorite things include rainy days, loud music, superhero movies, hot tea and of course, lazy afternoons with a great book.To find out more about Kate, her work or to just say hello, she loves hearing from her readers and can be found on social media.

Denise Jaden’s novels have been shortlisted or received awards through the Romance Writers of America, Inspy, and SCBWI. The first draft of her debut novel, Losing Faith, was written in 21 days during NaNoWriMo 2007 and she loves talking with writers and students alike about her Just-Get-To-The-End fast-drafting process.
Jaden’s other young adult novels include Never Enough, Foreign Exchange, A Christmas Kerril,  and Avalanche. Her non-fiction books for writers include, Writing with a Heavy Heart, Fast Fiction, and Story Sparks.
In her spare time, she homeschools her son, acts with the Vancouver film industry, and dances with a Polynesian dance troupe. Find out more at denisejaden.com.