Unhinged Read Online Free PDF Page B

him. At least I thought it was.
    There were still
several feet between us, but as I looked up at his face, studying his ruggedly
handsome features, I knew it was him.
    Every man I’d ever met
escaped my mind and the only thing I could think about was this incredibly
good-looking guy standing there, his head tilted sideways as though he was
studying me. The expression on his face could only be described as confused,
almost like he was having a weird moment of déjà vu, too. Similar to the way I
was feeling.
    I could tell he was
much taller than I was. Over six-feet. He looked young. Mid-twenties if I had
to guess. Aside from his well-built body, his hair was short and brown, but it wasn’t
dark and it wasn’t light. Somewhere neatly in between. There were blond streaks
in the longer strands on top, as though he spent a lot of time outside and the
sun had highlighted various pieces. His jaw was scruffy, as was his chin. I
don’t think it was meant to be a beard. More like he’d forgotten to shave that
morning.
    But his eyes…
    Oh, heaven help me. The
guy had eyes that paralyzed me in place. They were a vibrant, liquid gold. But
it wasn’t necessarily the color that had me nearly tripping over my own two
feet. There was something in those eyes that spoke of sex. And danger. The sexy
kind of danger that girls like me ran away from.
    I wasn’t running, but
based on the way my heart rate accelerated, I’m not sure my respiratory system
realized that I was still standing in place.
    The guy cleared his
throat, repeating his question.
    “I’m…”
    Who the hell am I?
    At first, I couldn’t
break the penetrating stare and when I finally did, I allowed my gaze to rake
over his face, admiring the hard angles, the ruggedly handsome features. I
would even have to admit that the silver barbell piercing in his left eyebrow
was sexy. But I found myself transfixed on his mouth and when his lips parted
ever so slightly, I saw that he had a silver ring on his lower lip, right in
the center, the metal glinting in the sun.
    “Help me out here, Angel.
I’m not sure who you’re here to see.”
    Did he just call me
angel?
    Remembering why I was
there, I took the remaining steps to close the gap between us and I held out my
hand to him. “I’m Payton Fowler. I came to see Aaliyah.”
    The guy glanced down at
my hand and then back to my face. He left me hanging, so I tried to pretend I
wasn’t humiliated, switching my cell phone to that hand and clutching it
tightly.
    “Ahh, one of Aaliyah’s
little friends. Sorry, you just missed her.” Humor danced in his honey-gold
eyes as he looked above my head.
    I didn’t bother to
correct his assumption that Aaliyah and I were friends because the sound of an
engine caught my attention. I glanced over my shoulder in time to see a
Mercedes speeding down the narrow drive. I could only assume that was Aaliyah.
    “Well, crap.” I realized
I spoke my thoughts aloud. Meeting the guy’s gaze once more, I followed with,
“Do you work here?”
    The smile that tipped
his full lips had my knees going weak momentarily. I got a glimpse of bright
white teeth along with the glint from his lip ring.
    “You could say that,”
he answered.
    “And you are?” I asked,
needing to snap out of it and get on with the reason I was there. I had a job
to do, and Mr. Trovato would be expecting me back in the office before he left
for his afternoon meeting with one of the senior vice presidents.
    “Name’s Sebastian.
Don’t worry, Angel, I’m sure she’ll be back after class.”
    Crap. Crap. Crap.
    That wasn’t going to
help me now. It wasn’t like I could sit around and wait for her to get back
just to ask if she had her father’s phone.
    “Would you know if…,” I
glanced over at the front door, “if anyone else is home? I’m supposed to pick
up Mr. Trovato’s cell phone. He told me Aaliyah would be here to give it to
me.”
    “Nope. No one else
here,” he said confidently as he slung the red