Kat leaned over the counter at the bookstore trying to read The Picture of Dorian Grey by Oscar Wilde but was more daydreaming about going home to Nex. She reread the same paragraph for seemingly the millionth time and the bell dinged, announcing someone coming in the door. Her eyes shot up, hoping to see Nex but finding just a customer instead. He passed in front of a display and she didn't get to see his face but it didn't matter, she said the same thing to every customer that walked in.

"Welcome to Connie's," Kat smiled. "Is there anything in particular you're looking for? I'd be happy to help."

The man came from around the corner and Kat's eyes widened. He was beautiful, so beautiful he hardly seemed real. Brown hair, brown eyes, rich umber skin, the picture of a model. Kat wasn't sure if she'd ever seen a more beautiful man. He had nothing on Nex but then again, no one did. Still, she couldn't deny he was beautiful and the smile he gave her with perfectly white teeth just made him look even more beautiful.

"I was just browsing," he said, approaching the counter and smiling. "I've just arrived in town so I'm just looking around."

"Okay," Kat smiled, feeling a little awkward. There was something about him that reminded her of Gabriel. It wasn't exactly the same feeling but there was something similar and that made her uneasy since the confrontation with Gabriel. "Feel free to look around and if you have any questions at all, don't hesitate to ask."

"I won't," he said, flashing another bright smile, his eyes dropping to her nametag. "Thank you, Katherine."

Kat smiled politely before he walked away and then a frown formed on her face. There was something strange about him she just couldn't put her finger on, just like with Gabriel. He disappeared down an aisle and she sighed, trying to return to her reading. Her phone went off and she made sure the strange man wasn't looking before opening the message, unable to stop the smile when she saw it was from Nex.

Nex: Mondays are slow. Just close up early and come home to me.

Kat: I can't. I actually have a customer.

Nex: What are the odds they'll actually buy anything? Send them away and then come home. I miss you, I want to spend the night together just us.

Kat couldn't help the smile. Him saying he missed her always made her heart flutter and the smile uncontainable.

Kat: I miss you too but be patient. I thought the boys were coming over for dinner?

Nex: I forgot about that. I'll just tell them to fuck off. I want you to myself, Katherine, fuck everyone else. You're the only one I want to be around.

Kat bit down on her lip, trying not to smile but failing. She looked up and saw her customer coming so put her phone away.

"You found something," Kat commented, noticing he had a couple books in his hand.

"Indeed I did," he smiled, setting them down on the counter. The one on top was a bible and she smiled, looking up at him.

"Is this a gift or for you?" She asked. "I still have wrapping paper for Christmas, if you need something wrapped."

"No," he said, giving her a small smile. "It's for me."

"Are you a new believer?" She asked, tilting her head to the side.

"No, no. I have been for... A long time," he said. "And you?"

"My whole life," Kat said, patting her own bible that rested on the counter next to her from earlier when she was working through the bible study questionnaire Allen handed out.

The man's eyes darted to the bible she had a hand on, the bible that had her name engraved on it. He frowned slightly and looked up at her. It didn't add up, that this was the girl he was supposed to leave a mark on.

"Oh, how funny," Kat said, pointing to the book under the bible, the same Oscar Wilde novel she was reading. "I was just reading that."

"Have you read it before?" He asked.

Kat smiled and nodded as she started checking out his books. "I've read it about a million times but I don't get tired of it. I'm a big Oscar Wilde fan," she said, sliding his books into a paper bag. "That'll be $22.47."

"You like the classics then, huh?" He asked, handing over cash.

"Definitely," Kat nodded, taking the cash. As she got out change, she felt him staring and looked up to see not a smile on his face but a concentrated frown, his gaze fixed on her. She blushed and suddenly felt a little uncomfortable under his stare as he quickly shifted back to a smile.

She handed the change over and he took it with one hand but grabbed her hand with the other. She froze up as he turned her palm upward and examined it, running his fingers over her skin and frowning down at her hand. Kat opened her mouth to speak but nothing would come out, she wasn't expecting that. He looked up at her, turning her hand around and placing a kiss on her knuckles.

"Thank you very much, Katherine," he smiled.

Kat wasn't sure what to say. She jerked her hand back and slid the bag across the counter so she wouldn't risk them touching again. "Have a good day," she said with a strained smile. She wished she wasn't working alone today.

"You as well," he nodded, head to the door but pausing, looking over at her. "Stay safe, Katherine."

He walked out the door and Kat was left staring after him in confusion. His words made her nervous and she quickly pulled her phone out and started a text to Nex.

Kat: Will you please come walk me home? My last customer really gave me the creeps and he was a lot bigger than me...

Nex: I'll be right there. Is he hanging around? Maybe you should lock the door.

Kat bit her lip and walked over to the window. She looked both ways but didn't see him anywhere. The sensation she felt on her hand was strange, a sort of tingling that was neither pleasant nor unpleasant but definitely noticeable. She wiped her hand off on her jeans to try to erase the sensation.

After watching outside for a minute she decided he must be gone. She opened her phone and started a message but then she felt hands on her shoulders, making her scream.

"It's just me," Nex said, rubbing her shoulders. "What's wrong, Katherine?" He asked, turning her to face him. "What did he do?"

"He just... I don't know," Kat frowned, wrapping her arms around Nex. "I don't know. He said something weird about being safe and...It was just a feeling and the way he looked at me and..." She wanted to tell him about the strange way he examined her palm but she was afraid she'd just sound crazy. "He kissed my hand. I don't feel like that was appropriate."

"It most certainly wasn't," Nex growled, wrapping his arms around her. "I don't think you should be walking home alone anymore, especially not at night."

"Okay," Kat said, biting her lip and looking at him, feeling embarrassed. "I'm sorry. It was probably nothing. He was probably just being flirty. Guys are like that sometimes."

"Don't apologize," Nex said, setting his hand on her face. "You shouldn't ignore your instincts. Humans tend to do that too often and most often their instincts are right. Never ignore your instincts. And never feel like you can't tell me that someone's made you uncomfortable, all right?" He said, pressing a gentle kiss to her lips. "You're much too beautiful and the world is full of shitty people, so if someone makes you uncomfortable, you call me right away."

"Thank you," Kat said, reaching up on her tiptoes to kiss him. "Thank you for being nice."

"I'm always nice," Nex scoffed.

"Well that's just a load of baloney," Kat said, rolling her eyes and pulling away from him and starting her loop around the store to make sure everything was back where it was supposed to be. It was almost closing time.

"Baloney?" Nex muttered, following after her. "For fuck's sake, Katherine. Being with you is so back and forth."

"What do you mean?" Kat frowned in confusion, picking up a book someone had left in the wrong spot.

"Because you're so innocent and proper but then I take you home and all the sudden it becomes about as far from proper and innocent as it could the moment I get my hands on you," he said, walking up behind her and sliding his hand up her shirt and onto her back.

"You're ridiculous," Kat said, rolling her eyes and putting the book back, picking up another left on a chair.

"Come on, then. Say one curse word for me," he said, following after her as she put the last book away.

"No," Kat said, scrunching up her face and returning to the counter, straightening out the displays. "I don't like talking like that."

"Oh but you like when I talk like that," Nex said, coming up behind her and wrapping his arms around her. "You like it a lot, don't you? You like when I talk dirty to you," he said, nipping her ear. "I bet you're wet just thinking about me sliding into you, over and over until you scream," he whispered.

Kat's breathing hitched and Nex placed a hot kiss just under hear ear. "You're not supposed to put the moves on me at work," Kat breathed, trying to focus.

"Put the moves on you?" Nex laughed. "For the love of all that's unholy, you are just too pure for me, Katherine," he said, releasing her and leaning against the counter next to her. "I love that about you."

The moment the words left his mouth, Kat's eyes snapped to him. They stared at each other for a moment and Nex cleared his throat, darting his eyes away briefly. "Come on, one curse word. You've done it before. You called me an asshole, remember?"

"Well that's just because you..." Kat sighed, sending him a dirty look. "You got me all riled up."

"Is that all I have to do?" He asked, cocking his head to the side. "In that case, prepared to get riled up."

"Or you could, I don't know, be nice?" Kat tried.

"Be nice? You just said I'm not nice most the time," Nex shrugged. "Now I have a reputation to uphold."

Kat rolled her eyes and checked the time. It was time to close so she turned off the open sign and shut the blinds for the windows before going to the alarm system. Nex came up next to her and held out his hand. She dropped the keys in it and he moved onto the front door. He came enough times now he was used to closing up with her.

Kat set the alarm and walked out the door Nex was holding open. He shut it and started locking it up while Kat wrapped her coat around herself tightly, feeling the cold breeze hit her and chill her so much she shivered. She dug into her pockets for her gloves and thought about the strange man and the strange feeling she got from him.

"Nex?" Kat said, leaning against the wall as he locked the door.

"What is it?"

"Um..." She felt silly saying it out loud but she didn't feel like keeping it to herself anymore. "The man that came by today reminded me a lot of-" She stopped, watching a child across the street, on the sidewalk, run straight into the traffic.

The cars didn't even seem to see him. Her eyes widened and she rushed forward, pushing the child out of the way and almost getting hit herself, her hand catching the mirror. She hissed and brought her hand to her chest, feeling a bite of pain before numbness took over.

Nex was at her side in a moment. "Katherine, what the hell were you doing?" He asked, picking up her hurt hand.

"The little boy was about to be hit," Kat said, turning around. He was gone.

"What little boy?" Nex frowned, looking past her.

"I..." Kat frowned in confusion and spun around. "He was right here just a second ago. He was right here," she muttered.

"Katherine," Nex said, tilting her chin towards him and looking down at her in concern. "There was no child."

"There was," Kat insisted. "There was, I saw him. I felt him when I pushed him out of the way."

Nex tilted his head to the side and glanced around. There was no one nearby, not even an adult let alone a child. No one was out walking in this cold with the snow piled up.

Kat knew she had a tendency to hallucinate around cars, a problem ever since the accident, but this was different. She felt him when she pushed him out of the way. "I'm not crazy," Kat frowned.

"I don't think you are," Nex said, looking down at her in concern. "Give me your hand," he said, picking it up gently. He frowned, seeing nothing there. No mark at all. Kat looked down and frowned as well.

"It hit my hand," Kat murmured, turning it over. The pain was gone.

"It did," Nex nodded, turning it over to examine it. The action reminded her of the strange man.

"Nex," she said, looking up and biting her lip.

"What?" He asked, seeming distracted as he turned her hand over and over.

"The man that came in..." She started.

His head snapped up and he tilted his head. "Yes?"

"Before he... Before he kissed my hand he picked it up like this," she said, taking Nex's hand and turning it over. "And he just stared at my palm for a while, touching me like this," she said, running her finger down his palm.

"He did what?" Nex asked, narrowing his eyes.

"He... He just stared at and ran his fingers over it," she said, surprised by how much more upset Nex suddenly became. "What's wrong? Does that mean something?" Kat asked.

"It..." Nex trailed off and brought her hand up, pressing a kiss to her palm and frowning. "It means nothing, Katherine. It just sounds very creepy, like you said. Come on," he said, wrapping his arm around her waist. "Let's get home," he said, tugging her along with him down the sidewalk.

"Are you okay?" Kat asked, looking up at him.

"I'm fine," Nex said, looking down at her. "I'm fine. I just want to get you home," he said, pressing a kiss to her head and darting his eyes around, keeping her closely tucked in at his side, closer than usual.