She Gets Me | #DarkRomance | RomePi™

֍4: The Issue֍ 📋

~UNEXPECTED~

The heat in the room skyrocketed as they exchanged introductions. Torren's core temperature began to soar as a result of the drinks and the unexpected flow of warm energy  radiating from Luca.

All of the moving pieces of the day and what was going on around her swelled into far too many signals for her senses to sort out.

She was forced to excuse herself to wrap her head around what was transpiring between herself and the man she despised for so long.

Torren had no tolerance for the cold, but the nippy air outside wasn't able to deter her from getting away from everyone. It was imperative that she get out of the restaurant for a few minutes to clear her head and cool down.

Desperate to regain her composure, she flagged down a waiter. He gladly instructed her on the best route to exit the main room where the company gathering was in full swing to find an outside dining area.

She humbly thanked the man for his assistance and thanked God for the door's close proximity. Since Luca had also excused himself a moment ago, she saw this as a great opportunity to dip off so she grabbed her jacket and prepared to dash outside.

A burst of the cold night air hit her in the face as she walked out the door forcing Torren to sober up quickly. It was exactly what she hoped to accomplish by leaving the room full of smiling faces and happy voices.

Torren ducked around the corner of the building in an effort to find herself as she walked away from the hypnotizing atmosphere. Hearing the door open and then close again in the direction from which she'd come, Torren made no move to turn around. After all, it was probably Anita coming to find out what was going on with her.

Shivering a little from the frigid weather that was settling in her bones, she focused on the cars as they rushed by the restaurant. Torren wondered why she reacted in such a strange way to his presence. She found it hard to believe that of all people, her boss was close friends with her arch-nemesis. Many concerns raced through her imagination as she tried to put everything together.

When she heard someone walk up behind her, she wasn't moved from her thoughts until a much stronger hand than what she expected landed on her shoulder. The interaction caught Torren off guard as she spun around only to find herself saved from a near fall as she landed in those arms.

"Are you okay?" The tenor of his velvety voice carried a hint of merriment as he caught her.

"I'm fine now. I think my drink was stronger than I expected." She nervously giggled at her clumsiness.

Torren straightened herself and moved away from the firm body resting nicely beneath her hands. It was totally mind-bending to be standing so close after all the time and bad blood that had passed between them.

How did they find themselves in this situation after exchanging so much negativity? To never do more than glare and roll their eyes whenever they came into view of one another, witnessing a softer more friendly side of him was unnerving and a little bit scary.

Luca was definitely a beautiful mixed brother who was just like eye candy to her. To have him so close left her feeling way too weirded out by the strong tidal wave of sex appeal rushing over the surface of her skin in waves.

Not quite sure if the entire scene was a part of her drunken imagination, in truth, Torren was afraid of the new friendly polite version of her neighbor.

The man usually dressed like he was a supermodel in a power-suit who captivated anyone who came within a hundred feet of him. Every time she'd seen him in the past, women hovered around him smiling like idiots as they deployed on act after another to get his attention. Most of them were left defeated as he ignored them as he blew them off.