3

"I was looking for something," his eyes met mine and his expression became serious, "And I found you, Mia" his head tilts slightly to the side and a small smile crossed his lips. Maybe it was the way he said it or the situation in general, but a shiver ran down my spine. Goosebumps rise on my arms and I fight the urge to literally shake the feeling away. I looked around us, suddenly painfully aware that we are alone in the woods and far enough away that I could scream and no one would hear me. Something on my face must give away my thoughts because his hands flew up in surrender. "I'm pretty sure I'm freaking you out and that's the last thing I want to do," his voice is careful, measured even as he takes a calculated step forward, "I'm not going to hurt you," He's hypnotizing, and I can feel myself being pulled into him like gravity. Even with alarm bells and red flags screaming in my head, to pull away, to break his trance. So why aren't I listening? Why aren't I more worried that this stranger in the woods will drag me away to kill me? "I'm sorry, what's your name again?" My voice is barely a whisper, but it's enough of a chance for my eyes to breakaway. Good thing too, I was in danger of forgetting my own name because of how he looked at me. "My name is Caspian," his posture straightens as he reaches for my hand, placing a gentle kiss on my knuckles. All the while, his eyes never left my face. "Like Narnia," I mumble, my mind flashing back to the book I read when I was in fifth grade. If I'm being honest, it wasn't my favorite, but it's a story that you can't forget. "Yes," His smile spread, showing all his teeth, "My mother wanted a name befitting a prince." Pride radiates off him in waves. I'm not sure if he realized that he puffed his chest out like some peacock showing his feathers, but something in this moment makes me smile. He's proud to be the namesake of fictional royalty and I can almost feel the love he has for his mother just from the tone in which he spoke of her. I shake my head, quickly looking away from Caspian and back into the now dark woods. Why is it so easy to be distracted by him? I'm not one to usually be distracted by a pretty face. Appreciative yes, but to where I can't focus? No, never. "I'm confused. What -" a twig snaps nearby and my gaze shoots towards the sound and even though I don't see anything, the feeling of being watched is creeping up my spine. It's unsettling to be the prey in the gaze of a predator you can't see just behind the darkness. Fear pricks at my skin, making me all too aware of how cold it has become. I can just barely make out Caspian standing in front of me but even in this darkness, he seems completely unfazed. Then again, he was running around n***d like he's tanning in Florida, not Montana. He steps forward, closing the last little bit of distance that was between us, as if he understands that fear just hit me and he's going to protect me. Even shirtless, Caspian seems to radiate an impossible heat as his hands reach to cup my face. Wow, he smells good.. Like a mix of woods, spice, and a little bit of danger. I keep my hands at my side, unsure what to really do with them or what is actually happening. It's not until he tilts my head slightly back that I realize I was staring at his chest. "I don't mean to be so forward, I know we just met," his hands drop to my biceps, running up and down the length of my arm, warming me through the jacket, "but is there somewhere a little more private we can talk? You look like you're freezing to death," My mouth drops open slightly and my eyes instantly rake over him. He's wearing nothing but jeans. No shirt, jacket, or even shoes! And he's worried about me freezing to death. "Me?" I squeak out, my brain telling my feet to take a step back to gesture at him, but his grip is firm as he pulls me closer. "Yes, you." Caspian chuckles, looping my arm through his. He turns us and begins to walk with me back towards the diner, like he knew exactly where I had come from, "Who else? Come, let's get you warmed up." Turns out, we aren't as far from the diner as I thought. After what feels like a minute, the stairs to that lead to my tiny apartment appear. "How did you know I lived here?" my mind is kind of foggy as I try to make sense of everything that is happening. It feels like I stepped into a dream world - one where an insanely hot guy finds me in the woods and sweeps me off my feet. A real romance novel come to life. "Wild guess," Caspian laughs like there's a joke I'm not getting and gestures for me to lead the way upstairs. I hesitate, looking from the stairs to Caspian. Am I really going to bring him upstairs - a man I just met under suspicious circumstances in the woods? Every school talk about stranger danger flashes through my mind. I can see so clearly windowless vans and basement jails but there is something different about Caspian. I hate that I am so torn down the middle. It should be so cut and dry. He's a stranger, stranger bad. But then again, if he was going to hurt me, wouldn't it have been easier to do it when we were alone in the woods? "I'm not sure this is a good idea," I can't help but fidget with my jacket sleeves under his gaze. Caspian only smiles softly, once again closing the distance and flooding my senses with... well him. "I don't want to scare you Mia, but I don't want you to freeze to death either," His fingers graze my cheek as he gently tucks a lose hair behind my ear, "If you don't want to go upstairs, we can go into the diner and get a cup of coffee?" "Okay," I breathe out and it takes me another few heartbeats to realize he's waiting for me to lead the way. I can feel Caspian's hand rest gently on the small of my back, his large palm settling there as if he'd known me for years. The gesture so intimate, especially from a stranger, but I don't pull away. I don't even flinch. I look up slightly at Caspian, trying to figure out what is going on in his head, trying to think of a motive for all of this. It's frustrating to get absolutely nothing from his face and I make a mental note to never play poker with him. "Welcome to -" Charlotte stops mid-sentence, her eyes widening noticeably as she takes in Caspian next to me. Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to bring him here. Maybe I should have taken him upstairs where we could just talk in private. Or maybe I should have run away from a n***d stranger in the woods. "Mia?" Charlotte looks from me to the adonis of a man standing beside me... still half n***d. Perhaps another reason why I should have run? My cheeks flame and I wish for the floor to open up and swallow me whole. I am not thinking clearly and I can only blame that on the muscular a=man who seems to be able to hypnotize me - and apparently other women, with just his smile. "Coffee," I squeak, clearing my throat quickly, "Two coffees please," I hurry away, back to the furthest and quietest booth in the back, Charlottee just nods in amazement, watching me scurry away like I have nothing but time.