The Story He Told Me

When Baron first walked into my bank to cash a check, he seemed like nothing more than a charming stranger passing through town.

Then I ran into him again, and then again, until before long, those chance encounters turned into conversations. Conversations turned into dates, and those dates quickly turned into something neither of us could seem to walk away from.

Over the course of the next several months, Baron became a permanent part of my life. He learned exactly how I took my coffee, what made me laugh, and which stories I only told when I trusted someone completely. He told me stories too, weaving tales about love, loss, mistakes, and a mysterious woman he called Marmalade.

I fell completely in love with him.

What I didn't know was that Baron carried a massive secret.

The infamous Babydoll Bandit had been making headlines across the state, robbing banks and disappearing without a single trace. While I dismissed the news stories as something happening to other people, Baron had been paying much closer attention to them.

From the very first moment he walked through the front doors of First Pier Bank, he wasn't just getting to know me. He was getting to know my bank, studying its layout and routines.

When the day finally came that the Babydoll Bandit walked into my workplace wearing a mask, I recognized him instantly. I didn't know him by his voice, and I didn't know him by his face. I knew him by his eyes.

They were the exact same eyes I had fallen in love with. The same eyes that had been lying to me all along, or at least, that was what I thought.

This is a slow-burn romance filled with secrets, betrayal, heartbreak, and the story he never truly meant to tell.