Page 6 of Imperial: The Corvidae Family

Chapter

Four

Emir.

Baylyn’s sexy ass was in her own world, not paying attention.

She walked right in here and didn’t even realize I was watching her.

She damn sure didn’t know I followed her from her job to the spa.

After I figured out where she worked, I put a tracker on her vehicle which was easy to do since she put her entire life online.

I knew her every move from social media which gave me access to her car.

I didn’t have to work for it and that made this shit easy as hell.

I planned on pulling up on her at Tranquil Breeze when I tracked her there, but she was with her girl, so I followed her here.

She needed to do better because I parked a few cars over from her ride and walked in right after her.

She didn’t notice a damn thing. I sat at the bar watching as she placed her order and then was locked in on her phone.

So damn unaware…

A smile spread onto her pretty face as the waitress set her bowl down and that shit had me smiling too.

She lifted the small dish next to the bowl and dumped in the extra noodles and I almost fucking laughed because she had my exact order.

When she reached for her spoon to blend them my patience no longer existed and I was on my way to her needing to feel her presence up close again.

I slid into the booth and she stilled with her fingers hovering over her food. She frowned and looked up, annoyed and surprised, but just like when I pulled up on her at Brewed Bean she kept her shit together. It was almost like she had been expecting to see me.

Or wanted to…

“What’s good, beautiful?”

“Is there a reason you’re here?”

I rested one arm on the table and dropped the other in my lap, letting my body slouch deeper into the seat. “Plenty.”

She began blending the noodles into her bowl but kept her eyes on me. I fucking loved that she was confident enough to do so even knowing who I truly was. Yeah, she’s definitely built for me. “That doesn’t answer my question.”

I glanced at her drink. “Who the fuck drinks sake.”

“I do.”

“You’re really gonna drink that shit?”

“Yes, I ordered it. What do you want?” Her eyes locked onto mine again.

I like your pretty little mean ass…

“You’re not asking the right question, Baylyn.”

Her brow lifted. “And what’s the right question?”

“How I found you, not what I’m doing here.”

“I already know the answer to that.”

“Do you?”

“Clearly you’ve been stalking my page. You probably know my entire life already, seems like your style.”

Close…

A grin spread across my face. “You think you know my style?”

“You’re arrogant as hell. You know how to find me which means your nosy as fuck and minding my business. You also want me to know you’re watching me.”

Smart.

I chuckled, reaching for the menu the waitress had left. “I’m not watching you…” I paused briefly before I added, “I’m keeping an eye on you. There’s a difference.”

Her fingers brushed over the bottom of her glass, but she didn’t lift it. “And why would you need to do that?”

“Because you saw something you shouldn’t have and you haven’t told anyone which intrigues the hell out of me.”

She shrugged nonchalantly. “I told you. I don’t want to be involved.”

“And I told you I believe you.”

She shook her head, almost like she was fucking amused. “Then why are you here?”

My eyes traveled over her again. “Because I wanted to see you.”

Her body tensed but it was quick, almost imperceptible.

I still caught it. She was affected. I could feel her and she felt me too, which was the problem and why I was here.

I didn’t wait for things to happen. When I wanted something, I made sure it was within reach.

Baylyn Andrews intrigued the hell out of me so I made sure she was within reach.

She had walked into this restaurant alone, her shoulders tense and her thoughts somewhere else like she was trying to escape something.

Probably the shit I had her caught up in.

Too bad I wasn’t going to let that happen.

But she hadn’t asked me to leave, which meant whether she was ready to admit it or not, she was just as intrigued by whatever this was between us.

And I was using that to my advantage…

When the waitress came back to check on Baylyn, I decided to order like I had been invited to join her. Once again, she let me and had yet to demand I leave.

“Spicy beef with extra noodles,” I said casually. “And a beer.”

Baylyn looked at me like what the fuck, with the spoon balanced between her fingers. I bet her pretty ass was debating throwing it at me.

“You just gonna invite yourself to have dinner with me?” Her tone was dry as hell.

I leaned back against the seat. “Would’ve been rude not to. I didn’t just wanna sit here and watch you eat”

Her lips pressed together, but the way her eyes lingered told me she wasn’t as annoyed as she wanted me to believe she was. The waitress returned a minute later with my beer and set it in front of me.

“That’s on his tab not mine.” She glanced at the woman who smiled and nodded before she left. Baylyn’s eyes were on me again with her face tight as hell, still holding the spoon but not eating.

“Something on your mind?”

She studied me. “You’re a contradiction.”

“How?”

She slid the spoon into her bowl before meeting my eyes. “You—” She hesitated, then lifted two fingers, forming them into the shape of a gun before tilting them in my direction. A clear reference to what she saw.

Then, she gestured around the table, at me. “And now you’re here. Flirting with me like it’s natural.”

“It is natural. You’re pretty as hell.”

She laughed arrogantly. “That’s all you got from that?”

I grinned. “You’re looking at it the wrong way.”

“Am I?”

“I’m not a contradiction. Me checking for you is normal as hell. I’m interested, you’re interested and that doesn’t have shit to do with…” I imitated the gun motion she just made. “It’s a job, Baylyn. Not who I am. No different than event planning being your job.”

“Yeah. Exactly the same,” she said sarcastically.

“Your job is controlling chaos, managing people, making sure things go according to plan.”

Her eyes narrowed in annoyance.

“So is mine,” I added.

She gave me a flat look before reaching for her drink. “You kill people, not the same.”

It wasn’t…

“And you deal with entitled rich people. Arguably worse.”

She almost choked on her sake, barely controlling the laugh that escaped. She set her glass down, smiling as her eyes rolled.

“That’s not funny.”

“Yeah it is.”

Them pretty ass eyes rolled again and she smiled. I kept my gaze on her watching the way she tried to make sense of me and this …

“You should be different.”

“Different how?”

“I don’t know, cold. Scary .”

I grinned because I knew exactly what she was doing. Testing where she stood with me and how I was going to deal with her. I lowered my voice just enough that she had to focus. “Do you want me to be?”

She stilled.

My eyes moved over her, watching the way her breathing shifted and she flinched.

“Because I can be.”

She swallowed and those pretty browns locked onto mine in a silent battle she was losing. “Relax, Baylyn.”

She blinked like she was snapping herself back into focus and frowned. “I don’t get you.”

I damn sure get you and I also want you…

“But you like me and I like you, so focus on that.”

Her frown deepened. “You don’t know me.”

“I’m working on that.”

She shook her head. “I don’t want you to know me.”

Don’t lie to yourself, beautiful.

“You sure about that?”

“Very. I want you to leave me alone.”

My gaze narrowed on hers.

“No, you don’t.”

She wanted to argue and should have but she didn’t because she couldn’t. I was right. I gave her a minute to sit with that before I pushed back from the table and reached into my pocket. I pulled out two hundred-dollar bills and placed them in the center of the table.

Baylyn’s glared at me. “I can pay for my own food.”

I stood. “I know.”

She didn’t move, just watched me like she wasn’t sure what I was going to do next. When I leaned down close enough that my lips brushed the curve of her cheek, she tensed.

“I’ll see you soon, beautiful.”

When I backed away, she frowned.

“Can you at least tell me your name since you know mine?”

“Emir Corvidae.”

She fucking smiled and I knew I was in trouble. But instead of making things worse, I walked out with my dick hard yet again, knowing she was going to be thinking about me, which was good because I was damn sure going to be thinking about her.