My Secret Guardian Is an Incubus Chapter 01

My Secret Guardian Is an Incubus Chapter 01 Valentine’s Day
I wrote spicy romance for a living.
And lately, I’d discovered that the owner of the convenience store downstairs looked exactly like the kind of male lead I’d spend three straight nights fantasizing about.
Broad shoulders. Narrow waist. Tall, lean muscle packed under black clothes.
And his ass—
Honestly, he could probably balance a gallon water jug on it.
The third time I wandered into the store just to secretly stare at him, I suddenly saw floating comments appear in midair.
“LMAOOO Lucien can’t even turn around right now. He’s scared Annie will notice he’s hard.”
“Girl, he’s an incubus. The first time he saw his future wife, his tail almost popped out on the spot.”
“He literally bought restraints and sleeping pills. This man dreams about railing her every night.”
…An incubus?
I froze. Then instinctively turned to leave.
Only for something to hook around my waist before I could take a step.
I looked down. A long black tail had curled around me, the sharp tip catching lightly against my sweater.
I stumbled backward straight into a man’s chest.
Crimson eyes lowered toward me.
A flash of sharp fangs.
Then a dark red tongue slowly dragged across his lower lip.
His voice came low and rough beside my ear.
“Is this the kind of thing you write in your stories? Wanna give it a touch?”
–
I jerked awake from the fantasy so fast my ears burned.
“Ma’am? What are you looking for today?”
The cashier smiled politely at me.
I cleared my throat and tried to regain my dignity.
“It’s okay. Just browsing.”
Once again, I’d unconsciously wandered into Maple Street Market just to stare at the new owner.
Lucien Graves.
He stood on a small stock ladder organizing liquor bottles on the top shelf.
From where I stood, his proportions looked criminal.
Wide shoulders narrowed into a slim waist, and dark long sleeves stretched tight over defined muscle. Even the flex of his forearms while lifting boxes looked unfairly attractive.
He looked exactly like the obsessive monster-boyfriend type I loved writing about.
The kind readers went feral for.
A customer nearby called out, “Hey, boss, where’s the ramen aisle?”
“Second aisle to your right. Keep going and turn at the end.”
The sudden voice snapped me out of my staring.
I instinctively looked back toward Lucien. And immediately froze again.
The floating comments had returned.
An entire wall of them drifted above his head.
“HELP, he almost got hard from Annie staring at him just now. That’s why he won’t turn around.”
“He’s a top-tier incubus. There’s no way he can stay calm when the girl he’s obsessed with is eye-fucking him like that.”
“And she’s his first love too. Three years of yearning finally caught up to him. This man literally moved into this neighborhood for her.”
“Annie still doesn’t know Lucien tripped her on purpose last month just so he could play the hero and catch her. He almost lost control when he touched her waist.”
“His tail is HUGE too. And the hook at the end? Yeah, she’s not surviving that.”
I stared blankly.
…I really hoped they were talking about an actual tail.
But more importantly—
An incubus?
And he’d secretly liked me for three years?
I looked up at Lucien’s face.
He was absurdly handsome, but cold-looking in that detached, untouchable kind of way. Sharp brows. Pale skin. Black hair falling over sleepy crimson eyes.
Not a single part of him looked lovesick.
The last time he helped me after I tripped outside the store, he immediately turned and walked away afterward.
I genuinely thought he disliked me. That was why I never dared get too close.
But now? This was perfect.
My gaze swept shamelessly down his body again.
Shoulders. Waist. Arms. Ass.
The hotter my stare became, the stiffer Lucien’s movements got.
By the time he reached for another bottle, his posture looked downright rigid.
Then my phone rang.
I glanced down at the screen.
Vanessa Walker.
My stepmother.
The second I answered, her overly sweet voice came through the speaker.
“Annie, Ethan’s going to visit you in a couple days. Don’t forget to pick him up from the station. After all these years, he’s finally realized you’re the one he really wants. This time you need to stop being stubborn and marry him already.”
CRASH.
Glass shattered somewhere behind me.
I looked up sharply.
Lucien had dropped an entire liquor bottle onto the floor.
The cashier rushed over in panic to clean it up, but Lucien didn’t move.
He simply stepped down from the ladder and walked toward me.
Expression dark.
Eyes unreadable.
“Boyfriend?”
The comments exploded again.
“OH GODDDD he’s about to snap. Three years of yearning and now somebody’s stealing his girl?”
“Plot twist — Annie has a childhood-friends-to-lovers ex-boyfriend.”
“DO NOT admit it. Lucien will absolutely lock her in a penthouse and ruin her for anybody else.”
“Warning warning warning — his eyes are turning red.”
“Imagine rejecting a billionaire incubus for a cheating loser. No wonder Annie’s original ending was getting trafficked into some horrible backwoods town and dying miserably.”
My heart skipped violently.
My throat tightened.
If these floating comments were really spoiling my future—
Then I definitely did not want that future.
I immediately hung up the phone.
“No,” I blurted out. “He’s not my boyfriend. He’s my ex. My stepmother’s nephew keeps trying to push us back together.”
“I stopped liking him a long time ago.”
Lucien stared at me for several quiet seconds.
Then he gave a small nod.
His expression returned to calm almost instantly.
If I hadn’t seen the comments, I never would’ve believed this man had secretly wanted me for three whole years.
He lowered his gaze toward me again.
“So,” he said softly, “what are you buying today, Ms. Walker?”
For just a second, something dangerous flickered behind his eyes.
Possessive.
Hungry.
My brain completely short-circuited.
Without thinking, I grabbed the nearest small box off the shelf and shoved it toward him.
“This one. Please ring it up.”
Lucien glanced down.
Then slowly pushed the box back toward me with one long finger.
His Adam’s apple bobbed once.
“…Trojan Magnum XL,” he murmured.
“Ribbed texture.”
He lifted his eyes to mine.
“You sure about this?”