Saturday (Timeless Series #6) by E. L. Todd Page B

palm facing the ceiling.
    I stared at it blankly, remembering the last time we touched. He held my hand at the bar, and at the time it felt so right.
    He let it hang there, silently pressuring me.
    I swallowed the lump in my throat and placed my hand in his.
    He smiled in a genuine way, showing all of his perfectly straight teeth. “I have a good feeling about this.”
    ***
    We entered an apartment building near Central Park. Judging the lobby, it was a higher end place. The tile was manicured to perfection, and there was even a doorman at the entrance.
    My body tensed in fear. “What are we doing here?” I assumed we were going to dinner or bowling or something. “What is this place?”
    “This is my apartment building.” He walked to the elevator and hit the button.
    His apartment building? Did he want to go back to his place? That panic settled in all over again, the same terror I felt when he wanted to stay together at his beach house. There was no way in hell I was doing that. “I have to go.” I turned on my heel and immediately ran for the exit. My chest caved in and I could hardly breathe. The world was starting to spin and the nightmare descended.
    “Rose?”
    I pushed out the front door before the doorman could reach it. When I was at the sidewalk and near other people I felt safer. There were witnesses—tons of them.
    “Rose.” Kyle caught up with me and grabbed me by the arm. “What’s going on?”
    I twisted out of his grasp just the way I’d been taught. Then I took my defensive stance immediately, ready to break his nose if I had to. I may be small, but I’d fight to the very end and take him down with me.
    Kyle raised both hands in surrender. “Okay…I don’t know what’s going on here.”
    “Don’t touch me.”
    He took a step back. “Rose, what’s wrong? What did I say? What did I do?”
    “I’m not going into your apartment. That’s not something I signed up for.” I wasn’t going to be alone with him, not when I felt this uneasy.
    “We aren’t going into my apartment.”
    I hated liars even more . “Oh really?”
    “Yes, really,” he snapped. “I planned something special for us. And it has nothing to do with my apartment.”
    “Whatever.” I wasn’t falling for that.
    “Rose, be logical for a second. You really think that I would hurt you? That I have some evil plan up my sleeve?” He lowered his hands to his sides. “You know I’m a good guy. Trust your instincts—not your paranoia.”
    I lowered my stance, my pulse slowing down. “What is it?”
    “Just trust me.” He extended his hand just as he did earlier.
    I stared at it with no intention of ever taking it.
    “Rose, you can trust me. Let me prove it to you.”
    I eyed the door before I looked back at him.
    He kept his hand extended. “You can do this. I know you can.”
    I knew I was overreacting. Sometimes when I was in uncomfortable situations, the terrified version of me took over. My coping mechanism was to run, to avoid every possibly dangerous situation. But as a result, I wasn’t really living. “I’m sorry.”
    “It’s okay.” He slowly reached my hand and grabbed it. “Come on. I know you’ll love it.” He guided me to the door and back inside. The doorman eyed us but kept his comments to himself.
    We got inside the elevator and Kyle hit the button to the top floor. “I can’t wait to show you.”
    I stood beside him and felt the shift of gravity as we moved to the top floor. My stomach felt weightless for a moment before the elevator stopped. When the doors opened we looked directly at the roof and the skyline in the distance. The summer breeze moved through my hair, caressing it like the feel of soft fingers. All my fright disappeared when I realized what this was.
    Kyle took my hand and guided me further on the rooftop. A table set in the center, underneath a stream of white lights. Silver platters were on the table, covered to keep warm. A bottle of wine was being chilled in the