Chapter 15

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Amanda continued watching the street even after Mark's car disappeared around the corner. Maybe he'd change his mind and come back for dessert—the fattening kind, anyway.

She hadn't been interested in any men on campus. They drank too much and talked too loudly. They were arrogant and irritating, and she didn't trust them.

But Mark was different. Everything about him was different. He was a man of honor, more concerned about her virtue than his pleasure.

She missed him already.

But he wasn't coming back, not tonight. Reluctantly, she dropped the curtain and grabbed her phone from her purse. She left the pepper spray and keychain alarm where they were and headed for the bedroom, where she plugged her phone into the charger on her nightstand. She was halfway through brushing her teeth when her phone rang.

She smiled into the mirror. It was Mark. It had to be.

The phone had stopped ringing by the time she finished, but she'd call him right back. She was in the hallway when she heard a knock at the door.

She smiled so wide that her cheeks hurt.

He'd returned after all.

She ran to the door and flung it open.

A man stood there, his black hoodie covering shocking white-blond hair, his left eye blackened and swollen.

Gasping, Amanda slammed the door, but he blocked it and stepped in. He grabbed the back of her head with his left hand, covered her mouth with his right, and shoved her inside.

She was off balance, trying to push him away. But she was no match for him.

He swept her feet out from under her, releasing his hold on her head at the same time.

Her back slammed against the hardwood floor. Her breath whooshed out.

She struggled to pull in air, desperate to stand. To run. To scream.

She couldn't. She couldn't do anything.

Ignoring the stabbing pain in her back, she crawled toward the kitchen. Scream! But only the tiniest, raspy noise came out.

She looked over her shoulder.

The man calmly locked the door, then crouched beside her and pushed her onto her side. She pulled her knees up, ducking her head. Still struggling to pull breath into her lungs.

"It was only a matter of time before he left you alone," the intruder said. "Fortunately, I'm a very patient man."