Hot Pursuit

Chapter 2

[Kieran's POV]

I was not even surprised. At all.

I knew from the first moment we met, we would see each other again. I had immediately recognized who she was, knowing fully well that she could really chase me around after witnessing my past encounter with her friend. However, this was unlikely the scenario I had in mind when I expected to see her again. She was... obviously drunk and kind of lost. I guess?

"Oh, hi!" she greeted me jovially, a little excited as she got a good look at me and she giggled. She teetered while trying to steady herself by holding me by the arm, and I resisted myself from confronting her at once. I wanted to understand this entire situation. She was literally monitoring everything about me, and I knew I could simply ward her off by putting a restraining order on myself. But then... she has been harmless all this time. I wonder what piqued her interest to actually investigate things about me... Right. 

I rolled my eyes, realizing what really had been behind all of this.

Penelope must have really spilled the beans on her.

"Don't mind me..." I looked down again to see Miss Georgina slowly stepping away as she frowned at me, saying, "I'm just about to leave."

I guess she was still trying to hide the fact that she had been stalking me for the past few days. She looked pretty smart despite the state she was in now. But I would not drop this all that easily. I have to think of a good plan on how to steer her away from me because it might get more difficult to get a hold of her after this. So I had to do what I had to do. And coming up quickly with a constructive idea, I smirked to myself and quickly signaled my personal assistant, who was standing a few meters away, for some help.

There's no way I was letting her go away anymore. I have to immediately set some boundaries between us. And to be honest, it has been bugging me for a long time knowing that she had been trying to follow my tracks all day.

"It's kind of late, don't you think, Miss Georgina? Let me give you a ride," I casually offered, gently grabbing her by the arm and directing her towards the exit doors of the club. Most of the guys I was with here a while ago had already left and called it a night, so I pretty much knew there was no one else who could ever distract me from confronting this woman. But I felt her pulling her arm off of my hold as she stopped and prevented me from doing what I had in mind.

"No," she shook her head, scowling, "I can go home on my own."

I don't know if she did it intentionally, but she had raised her voice so clearly that a few people even looked our way with suspicious stares. I tried to brush off the attention by smiling, but I knew this might have raised a few red flags. There was no way I could handle this peacefully, so I opted for a more doable plan.

"Alright," I raised both of my hands to show that I only had good intentions. Thankfully, the stares dropped, and I found it much easier to make her understand what I wanted to happen. "I know you've been following me around, Miss Georgina."

"I know," she just shrugged her shoulders, chuckling softly as she looked at me.

"Good," I nodded once, my lips thinned, "Then you should know by now that I am fully aware of what you wanted to achieve by doing all of that... right?"

"What do you mean?" this time, she looked sincerely confused as she questioned me.

"I can give you an exclusive interview."

This was all bait. Though, yeah. I was half-lying and part of that offer was quite intentional and for a good cause. I really was going to give her the chance to interview me, but I needed to get some leverage first. There was no way I was going to just provide her with all of what she would demand from me. But I had to do this so I could find a way to get her out of my radar. 

Hopefully, in this state she was in, she would be easily swayed, and as I observed the befuddled expression through her eyes as she thought it thoroughly, I silently prayed she would be tempted enough to say yes.

"Okay."

And that quickly got my hopes up as I looked back at her, my ears perking after hearing her say that word. I cleared my throat, gave a subtle glance at my personal assistant, a gesture that he had quickly understood as he took his phone out of his suit. He knew he had to get the car ready outside. I was going to lure this woman out of here to make her work under my conditions.

"Then how about now?" I boldly asked her. She contemplated for a moment, possibly trying to weigh things under the circumstances. But I knew this was all too good of a chance to pass for her. She was in no position to back out and so she did what I expected. She nodded her head and jutted her jaw, trying to look tough despite the drunken state she was in.

"Now? Pfft... Well, fine. But there's only one condition, Mr. Locke." she now sounded quite confident to demand as she stepped forward to level her gaze with mine. I had to think smartly with this though, so I slowly regarded her request as I stared back at her, squinting my eyes with a calculating expression on my face.

"What's the condition?"

"You must answer everything I will ask of you. No excuses, just the truth. If you won't then there's a catch. I would immediately know if you're lying anyway," she told me with a sly smirk. And I got a whiff of the drink she had a while ago when her hot breath briefly touched my cheeks. 

I don't like the way she burst the personal bubble, yet I also didn't understand the strange effect her warmth made me felt when I found myself caught in a trance while looking at her. But I quickly tried to brush that all away as I lied with a straight face.

"It's a deal, then." I nodded back, slightly leaning forward, feeling my nose brushed against her.

I don't really want to get this all too complicated, but I had to do this. I had to push her away from me.