A warm feeling crept from her ears, gradually making it’s way to her face. When he smirked, the insides of tasted like day-old soda crackers. She must get away from him now. The man is wreaking havoc to her senses in uncomfortable levels.

“Why are you here in this weather?” he asked, letting her go. Sandy sighed with relief the moment she regained a comfortable proximity from the man.

“None of your business,” she retorted.

With a flip of her hair she turned away from him and sauntered towards the taxi bay. But Gio was unfazed by her display of attitude. Instead, he followed closely behind.

“You’re not expecting for a taxi to show up, do you?”

“Hope springs eternal, Mr. Kwon.”

“I see you’re a positive woman, Miss Park. But, I don’t think it would do you any good in this situation.”

She whirled around to face him, opening to say something but thought better of it. Wouldn’t it be better to ignore the man? That way, he would shut up and refrain from bothering her. Gio Kwon has the talent to raise her hackles in seconds flat. So, no. She’s not talking to him.

A gust of wind blew, sending chills all over her body. Damn, she forgot she was drenched like an alley cat. She suddenly missed her warm bed.

“Hey, why don’t you go back inside? It’s warmer in there.” Gio’s voice sliced through her reverie.

“No, what I need is to step out of these wet clothes. I need to get home,” she mumbled in response not bothering if he hears her or not. 

The cold must have numbed her brain. What happened to no talking to him?

“That’s impossible at the moment. You knew no train is leaving for the city.”

“I am not talking about the city, dimwit. I grew up in this area, we have a house roughly half an hour from here.”

Gio smiled. “Why didn’t you say so? I could give you a ride,” he said, eyebrows twitching. Sandy shook her head, pretending to have misheard him. Gio is not the kind of man who does things willingly unless it benefits him.

“What, you don’t believe me?” Gio’s smile was bemused.

“On the contrary, I believe you. And I believe you won’t offer to give me a ride, in this weather, without gaining something in return.” Sandy eyes narrowed. “So what do you want?”

“I like you, you’re quick to pick up,” he said, earning eyerolls from Sandy.

He jammed both hands on his coat pockets. “I’ll give you a ride and you’ll give me a warm place to stay for the night.”

“Absolutely not. You might be a psycho. I don’t want to be butchered me in my sleep.”

His head cocked to the side, never losing his smile. “Really? That’s the best excuse you can come up with?”

“I don’t care what you think, Mr. Kwon. The answer is no.”

“Alright, what about calling your friend? You can tell her that you’re with me. Tell her to call the police tomorrow if she didn’t hear anything from you by six o’clock in the morning. Do whatever you want, I don’t care. As long as you give me what I need.”

Call Bommie and tell her she’s with a man? No! She’d just wish her luck and all. Bommie had been trying to set her up in blind date for what felt like forever. Sandy unconsciously chewed on her lip. So when Gio gently squeezed her arm, she jumped like a scared rabbit. “What the eff!”

An annoyed scowl distorted his face. “Stop overthinking. You’re hurting yourself.”

True enough, she felt a burning sensation on her lip. She winced from the blooming pain the moment she became aware of the damage.

“Here, use this.” He produced an immaculately