I Pursued the Wrong Guy and He Became Obsessed novel · Chapter 3 of 24

Chapter 3: The Penthouse Floor

On my first night as his concierge I upsell him water, a towel and a crossword, read the first line of his notebook, and share a terrace view at two in the morning, and he warns me not to accept his mother's invitation.

The penthouse floor of the Kincaid Grand has one elevator, one suite and one small desk with a lamp.

The desk was mine.

On my first night I laid out a pen, a notepad and a silver tray with a coffee pot on it.

Black, one sugar. Monique's tip.

At ten the elevator opened and Monique Merrick came out in a cream coat, holding her phone up.

"Don't mind me," she said. "I'm filming the lobby for the foundation. How's the new desk?"

"Quiet," I said.

"Good. He likes quiet."

She tapped a key card against the elevator panel and it lit.

"I still have my old pass from when we were kids. Don't tell him."

She winked and went back down.

I wrote nothing on my notepad, because I was thinking about how she had a key to his floor.

Then I thought, she's a family friend, and went back to being brilliant.

At eleven Thatcher came out of the elevator and stopped.

He looked at the lamp. He looked at the tray. He looked at me.

"Good evening, Mr. Kincaid," I said. "Black coffee, one sugar."

"Who told you that?"

"A friend of the family."

He took the cup because there was nowhere else to put his hand.

"Is there anything else I can get you?" I asked.

"No."

"Good. I'll bring you a glass of water."

"I said no."

"You said no to anything else. Water isn't anything else. Water is a baseline."

He stared at me, and I went and got him water.

He drank it standing at the desk with his coat on.

"A warm towel?" I said.

"No."

"That's two. I'll bring you a towel, and the morning paper to go with it."

"I do not read a paper."

"Then I'll bring the crossword by itself. You don't have to do it. It will just be there."

"I have a rule," he said.

He put the glass down carefully.

"I only say yes to things I ask for."

"Great. Ask."

"Ask for what?"

"Ask me to leave."

"I did," he said. "Twice. Publicly."

"That's not on the menu," I said. "The menu is water, towels, crosswords and me."

I handed him the towel before he could stop me.

He took it, and the corner of his mouth moved before he stopped it.

"Affection: seventeen percent," said the voice. "Plus three. Reason: towel."

Thatcher looked at my left temple again.

"I'm going to bed," he said.

He went into the suite, but he did not close the door.

Through the gap I saw him on the end of his bed with a small black notebook on his knee.

He wrote something short. He underlined it twice.

Then he left the notebook open on the desk by his bed while he took his coat off.

I'm not proud of this. I was a concierge, and I was nearer to it than the coat rack.

The top line said, in block capitals, REASONS JUNE IS A BAD IDEA.

Under it was a numbered list. It had one line.

"1. She does not stop."

He came back, saw me looking, and shut the notebook.

"Good night, Miss Abernathy."

"Good night, Mr. Kincaid."

He went into the bedroom. This time he did close the door.

I sat down at my desk and read the line again in my head.

Nobody makes a list about a person they don't think about.

It was the best thing that had happened to me in three months.

At two in the morning the voice chimed.

"Side quest: Share a view with the target. Reward: five percent."

"At two in the morning?" I whispered.

"Reward expires at two-thirty."

I went out through the glass door onto the terrace.

The whole city was lit up below me.

I leaned on the rail and enjoyed it for four full minutes.

Then the door opened behind me.

Thatcher was in a white shirt and no shoes, with my blazer over his arm.

I had left it on the back of my chair.

"Go home," he said.

"That's three," I said. "I'm doing a side quest."

"A what?"

"I'm looking at a view."

"You can look at it from inside."

"It expires at two-thirty."

He looked at me for a long moment.

Then he walked across the terrace and put a hand on the rail beside mine.

He didn't touch me.

"Move left," he said. "The wind comes round that corner and the rail is loose."

I moved left.

We stood there with the whole city shining and the wind going around us.

He held the blazer out without looking at me, and I put it on.

"Affection: nineteen percent," said the voice. "Plus two. Reason: blazer."

Thatcher went to the door and stopped with his hand on it.

"My mother is going to invite you to something," he said. "Don't go."

He went inside before I could ask why.

← Chapter 2 · All chapters · Chapter 4 →

Want to keep talking to characters like these? Chat with AI romance characters: AI Boyfriend · AI Girlfriend · Dark Romance · Fantasy Romance · BL (Boys’ Love) · Billionaire Boyfriend · Mafia Boyfriend · Possessive Boyfriend · Hockey Boyfriend · Older Boyfriend · K-Drama Boyfriend · Anime Boyfriend · Vampire Boyfriend · Werewolf Boyfriend · Demon Boyfriend · Fae Romance · GL (Girls’ Love) · Anime Girlfriend · Goth & Alt Girlfriend · Gamer Girlfriend · Tsundere Girlfriend · Fantasy Girlfriend