BOUND TO HER WILL

pte

ware of her outfit for a d

ous mogul in the rain" incident two days ago, she'd been thrown off balance. Her friends hadn't let her live it down, floo

nreal but over. She hadn't called him, hadn't texted. He ha

she'd tried jus

ps. Minimal effort. She looked nice-but cas

nged to some flashy corporate empire with a glass exterior and a rotating

or something ridicul

scent of mint and antiseptic hit her nose. She checked

e elevat

e her spine straighten. The receptionist's posture stiffened slightly. A quie

here h

is time, with a matte-black tie. He was talking to a man in

s breat

reaki

uldn't surprise her. His presence was too commanding-too aware. People looked at hi

name tasted good in his mout

izzed. "You.

he glass tower beyond the windows. "Though I st

hat-are you here

s on my way to a meeting. But n

ave made her puls

putting her phone down.

he echoed. "You're the one near my office. I

ay, first of all, I didn't ask the universe f

," he added softly,

tomach turned. "How

t made her feel simultaneously exposed and understood. Then, as if to def

But the way he said it made her feel

Mr. Memory. If the universe is doing its thing

to make her inhale. He smelled like expensive colog

lous, but he said it with such calm certainty that it

you," she said, tr

u wi

oldness of his gaze did something weird to her knees, so she focused

idn't like what it did to her us

t looking at him. "I'm not the girl who

kn

r turn back to him. "You do

g. You're calm in the middle of nonsense, but you carry other people's stress like a quiet litt

fell open.

ust k

s. No pride

r name was called by the hygienist, and the sudden b

-uh, dentist time. Yep. Gotta

ckled.

d, heart pounding and palms sweating.

-

t if he really did follow her? What if this wasn't just coincidence? An

Layla prided hersel

rs. She gave good advice, managed stress like a ninja, and always had her headphones in at lunch-not

relationships, consumed by someone else's needs,

flustered by a ma

-

she emerged into the bright hall

wa

s wall, phone in one hand, eyes fl

g to say good

couldn't stop her smile.

worth wai

eplaced with a confuse

n was da

derail-your-routine-and-make-you-qu

little intense," she said

re a littl

y side for a moment

e. Not obsession. Not a whirlwind roman

e said again

ade her

that like you've

head slightly.

asperated. "You're eith

he said softly.

ound like one of those weirdly h

id with a shrug. "I jus

h all the banter, something about his pres

quickly, breaking the s

ou soon

d. But part of her

-

uzzy blanket, and stared at the gold card he'd given her in the

her finger over the embos

tales. She didn't trust men w

d if this was a pattern forming, it

showing up in her life. He

t terrif

sn't sure if she could retreat behind