by Olivia James
"That was..."
He couldn't agree more.
"Yeah, it was...great."
He was such an eloquent bastard. All the blood had drained from his brain to parts farther south so he was having difficulty stringing coherent words together.
"Great," she echoed, her gaze still fixed on his lips. "It was great."
She was as dazed as he was. This was a good sign.
"I've had fun tonight," she said, moving away to place the board game back in its place. "Thank you for dinner and the movie."
That was the signal that the evening was officially over. He hadn't thought that they would end up in bed or anything so he wasn’t surprised, but he had to admit that he didn't want to leave. He had images running through his head that involved a great deal of bare skin, some sweat, and crinkled sheets.
But they weren't going to do any of that. He was going to put on his coat and leave like a gentleman. Hopefully there would be other nights.
"You're welcome. I had a good time. Even if you did beat me at Trivial Pursuit. Next time we play Monopoly."
"I'm good at that too. You've been warned."
It was only slightly awkward as he shrugged into his jacket and walked to the door. It was cold outside, so he told her not to come out to his vehicle when she reached for her own coat. The two of them stood in her doorway, Shaw in her stocking feet and her arms wrapped around herself to keep warm, and him on the other side of the threshold...aching to kiss her again. Just one more time. For the road.
What the hell...
He leaned down and pressed a brief kiss to her lips and she smiled in return.
"I’ll call you about Saturday," he said, brushing a stray strand of her pale blonde hair from her face and tucking it behind her ear. Her skin was warm despite the chilly temperature. "Goodnight, Shaw. Sweet dreams."
"You too. Drive carefully. There are a lot of crazy people on the roads this time of night."
"I will. I promise. Lock the door behind me, okay?"
Because there were a lot of disturbed people in this world. And one of them just might live across the street from her. He could see a strip of light from the front window where Hornsby was watching Luke leave. He heard the click of the deadbolt, and then and only then did Luke walk toward his car.
When he reached the vehicle though he didn't stop and get in. Instead, he walked across the street and stood at the end of Hornsby's driveway.
Staring right back.
I see you, asshole. I see you watching her.
The curtain immediately dropped and the front window went dark.
Go ahead, hide in the dark.
First thing tomorrow morning, Luke was going to check out James Hornsby.
He didn't trust the guy. Not one bit.
He was furious. Stomping up the stairs, he locked himself in his office, pacing back and forth trying to burn off the angry energy. Shaw was pulling even further away from him. He couldn’t allow that to happen. She had to learn that she belonged to him. She had to understand. How could she not see that they were meant to be together? How could she be so blind?
She hadn’t left him any options.
8
The sun was barely up when Luke walked into the office the next morning. He wanted to get an early start so he could have some time to do a thorough background search on Hornsby. It appeared, however, that Ryan had awoken even earlier. His friend was heads down over his laptop as Luke shrugged off his coat and headed straight for the coffeemaker for his first cup.
"I made a fresh pot," Ryan called after him. "I also have what you need. You're welcome."
Taking a drink of the dark brew, Luke frowned at the file folder Ryan had dropped onto his desk. "What do you have that I need? What are you talking about?"
He hadn't had near enough caffeine yet to make heads or tails of Ryan's words.
Chuckling, Ryan sat back in his chair and stretched out his legs, propping them on the desk. "James Hornsby. You were coming into the office early to check him out. Right?"
"Yes," Luke replied cautiously. He'd sent Ryan a text last night from the movie theater after seeing Hornsby watching Shaw. "But I'm still not following you. I haven't even had my first cup of coffee, so help me a little."
Ryan lifted up his cup. "I'm on my fourth, and I did your research for you. It was quiet and no one was here so I was able to get it done quickly."
Luke didn't know whether to thank his friend first and then ask about four cups of coffee or the other way around. His manners dictated the answer.
"Thank you. I think." He sat down and picked up the folder. "And how have you had four cups of coffee already? It's barely six-thirty in the morning. I won't have that many by lunchtime."
Ryan just shrugged. "I have an insomnia problem. I figured since I wasn't going to go back to sleep, I might as well come into the office and get some work done. I've been here since two."
"You should see a doctor about that."
"They just tell me not to drink caffeine, exercise in the morning, and don't watch television or use the computer three hours before bed. That's not going to happen. It's not a big deal. In a few days I'll fall asleep before dinner and it will all even out. Luckily I don't need much sleep."
That was a good trait to have as a cop.
"As long as you're okay with it." Luke opened the file. "Want to give me the spoilers?"
Ryan grinned at the invitation. "I'd be delighted. Your girlfriend's neighbor is a real piece of work. He comes from a super wealthy family in Seattle, but he's pretty much been thrown out as the black sheep. In college he partied so much he got kicked out of four different schools. Eventually he didn't try and go back. Life was one big party for Hornsby. All the friends money could buy. Then he got a cushy job at one of his daddy's friend's financial firms. Lost that job too. He liked to harass the pretty girls and he couldn't be bothered to show up on time or sober. He had several more jobs like that until he finally went to rehab to dry out. By that time his family had had enough. They give him an extremely generous yearly allowance on the condition that he doesn't contact them."
"His own parents basically pay him to stay away?" Luke laughed. "He sounds like a fine upstanding citizen."
"He has been for the last few years. Lives quietly and keeps to himself. Takes a vacation three to four times a year and explores exotic destinations. From what I can see he doesn't have a girlfriend, a job, many friends, or even a hobby other than traveling. The guy doesn't even mow his own lawn. He pays a service to maintain it and the house. He doesn't have a mortgage, by the way. Owns it outright. He buys a new car once a year at Christmas with cash. His last purchase was a BMW sedan. He eats mostly takeout and frozen pizzas. He does leave the house to go to the gym four times a week. He pays that membership yearly."
"You did a thorough job," Luke observed. "No stone left unturned."
"There were a few, I'm sure. I've got a few calls out to some people who might know him or his family."
"So James Hornsby is a possibly reformed asshole. Is he Shaw's troll too? Could he be harassing her online? She says that he lived there for a year before she started getting the messages."
"He doesn't have a history of stalking that I can find, although I can't get into the schools' databases. Jared might be able to. We could ask him."
Although Luke had been given permission to work on this, he wasn't sure asking one of his bosses to do some research was wise.
"I'd like to avoid pulling in others if possible."
"I thought you said that Logan told you to let him know what you needed."
"He did but I assumed that was a test."
"I don't think he would have offered if he wasn't genuine about it, but I can see your point. You don't want the guys in charge to think you can't handle a little issue that your girlfriend is having."
Luke took a sip of his coffee. "I hope this is a little issue. The fact is she could have two issues. Her online troll and Hornsby. He's definitely watc
hing her all the time. Fuck, it's creepy."
"Maybe you should have a chat with him. Help him understand that Shaw isn't alone anymore."
Luke would like to, but...
"She'd kick my ass if I did that. I'd love nothing better, but Shaw wouldn't be happy. She thinks he's harmless, and even if she didn't I doubt she'd admit it. She's independent as hell."
"That's good but I hope she sees that her neighbor watching her isn't normal."
"I think she does, but doesn't want to admit that it's weird because then she has a problem."
Luke hadn't known Shaw for long, but he could see that she liked to handle things on her own.
"So what are you going to do now?" Ryan asked.
"I'll talk to Shaw about it and try to convince her that I should confront Hornsby about his little hobby of watching her from his window. I also want to discuss her home security situation. She has deadbolts but I doubt she has anything else. Now that she's a person with a following she needs security cameras at the very least. I'm also of the opinion that she reveals too many personal details in her videos, but that's a topic for another time. I'm going to have to pick my battles carefully."
One wrong move and Shaw might kick him to the curb. He needed to tread lightly.
The next morning Shaw woke up to four new messages from her rabid online follower. A new profile. Again. The four messages were increasingly aggressive and angry. She would have described the last one as furious. They were mad that she wouldn't respond and they'd warned her that they weren't going to take being ignored lightly. Bad things were going to happen.
The warning was vague. No clear consequences were outlined but the troll told Shaw that she would be sorry if she didn't respond right away. Her fingers had hovered over the keyboard for a moment, almost hitting the reply button, but then she remembered that giving him or her attention wasn't going to get rid of them. From her studies, she knew that this person would be a bottomless bucket of need. Nothing she did would ever be enough for them. She could try and reason with him or her, but reasons were for reasonable people. Not online stalkers who demanded her personal and undivided attention.
Instead she did what she always did.
She copied the messages to her folder and then deleted and blocked the sender. This time, however, she wasn't as optimistic that this person would give up. She was beginning to think that Luke was correct in saying that her "fan" was escalating and wouldn't stop without some intervention from law enforcement. The whole situation was beginning to feel futile and a little insane. She did the same thing over and over and expected a different result.
After taking care of her daily messages and emails she padded back into the kitchen to refill her coffee cup. She paused at her front window and peeked through a small opening between the drapes. From where she was and the way the sunlight streamed in she couldn't tell if James was watching her.
Frankly, she'd made light of it last night but she'd been far more disturbed than she let on.
It creeped her out, although she was loath to admit it. The idea that he spent a good portion of his day and night watching her comings and goings was...unsettling.
He hadn't seemed strange or weird whenever she'd talked to him in the past. He'd always been smiling and friendly. He hadn't tried to get into her house or anything. Hadn't even asked her out on a date. He'd seemed...normal.
But now these messages had her looking at everyone differently, from the barista that made her coffee to the guy that delivered her packages. Was it him? Or him? Or her? Or someone she'd never seen or met? Some stranger in another part of the country or world, sitting behind a computer and trying to make her life hell. What was the purpose? Was he trying to scare her?
I'm not frightened, but I am cautious.
Wasn't that the smart thing to be? Cautious but not let anyone change the way she lived her life. She'd given Luke permission to check out the messages. He'd also mentioned that he thought her home security was lax but until now she hadn't given it a second thought. He'd told her that since she was in the public eye she might want to install an alarm. Maybe a few cameras.
I'll talk to him about that tomorrow night.
Shaw hated to have to ask for his help, but in this case she didn't know squat about home security, and he was clearly knowledgeable. It just went against the grain to have to ask. She'd learned early and often with her mother that asking for help was basically handing over complete control.
Feeling calmer and more settled now that she had a plan, she headed back into her office to get ready to film a new video. But she couldn't stop herself from looking out her window to the house across the street.
Was he watching? Right now?
Shaw wasn't sure she really wanted to know the answer.
9
Shaw set her cell phone on the corner of the bathroom vanity while she finished her makeup and hair. She'd already told her mom she was in a hurry but Julia either hadn't heard or didn't care.
"I had to wish my baby girl a happy birthday."
Julia had already wished Shaw a happy birthday twice today. Once at midnight when Shaw had been dead asleep. Her mother had said that she wanted to be the first to wish her a happy birthday. Then she'd called again in the morning while Shaw was eating breakfast. Both times Julia had mentioned how sad it was that she wasn't going to get to actually see her daughter on the anniversary of her birth.
Basically, Julia was packing Shaw's bags for a guilt trip.
I didn't rise to the bait. This time, anyway.
"Thank you again, Mom. It's been a nice day."
"I wouldn't know but I'll take your word for it. Are you going to be out late tonight celebrating with your friends?"
The way her mother said the word friends was the same way Shaw said politicians.
"It will be fine."
Anything after ten was late to Julia when it came to her daughter. High school had been particularly challenging.
"So we're meeting for brunch at ten-thirty?"
"Eleven, Mom. I made the reservations for eleven."
They'd already talked this subject to death. All this meant was that Julia and Oliver were going to be incredibly early and they would talk about how Shaw had been "late" for her own birthday brunch for the next several months.
"Oh, right. Eleven. Well, I guess we'll see you tomorrow then."
Ten minutes later Shaw was able to extricate herself from the conversation and get on with her makeup. She wanted to look good tonight. Not just because she was turning thirty and it was a milestone. She was ready to admit that she wanted to look good for Luke.
I'm completely smitten.
He'd sent her a text this morning wishing her a happy birthday and then a few hours later a bouquet of flowers and a box of her favorite chocolates had shown up at her front door. Clearly, he'd talked to his sister about the gift because the flowers had been her favorite too. That he'd gone to that much trouble had her feeling all warm inside. Could he really be as wonderful as he appeared? Was there something terribly wrong with him but he was an expert at hiding it? Melissa had said that he was single because of his career, which Shaw understood. She was dedicated as well, but Luke was so handsome and sweet he should have women following him around wherever he went.
She finished up her lipstick just as the doorbell rang. Luke. Her heart accelerated in her chest and she had to make a concerted effort to take a deep breath. Even her palms were sweating. This was a guy she could fall for. Maybe. If she let herself.
If he was what he appeared to be. She'd been burned in the past. Her last boyfriend had seemed outwardly fine but eventually she'd seen that emotionally he was a mess. Clingy, whiny, and immature.
The man on the other side of her front door, however, wasn't any of those things. He was breathtakingly handsome, looking especially yummy tonight. Dressed in khaki slacks and a black sweater, he was tall and fit and damn, he even smelled great. She breathed in a lungful of his warm scent as she stepped ba
ck to let him in the house. It was then that she realized he had been holding a package behind his back.
A present?
Leaning down to drop a kiss on her lips, he then held out the brightly wrapped package with a large purple bow.
"Happy birthday."
Surprised, Shaw accepted the package. "I don't know what to say. You already sent me flowers and candy."
Luke grinned and ran a fingertip over one of the loops of the bow. "But you didn't get to open those. Everyone should have a gift to open on their birthday. So go ahead. Open it."
I do love to open presents.
The box wasn't huge, but it wasn't small either. So it wasn't jewelry and it wasn't a new coat. Other than that she didn't have a clue.
She gave it a little shake but there wasn't a rattling sound. It sounded...silent. It didn't make any noise at all. Sneaking a peek at Luke, he was still just standing there patiently waiting for her to open the gift. It shouldn't have felt awkward but it kind of did. They hadn't known one another for very long and now he'd purchased something for her that wasn't generic like flowers. This was personal. It was a test of sorts.
Sliding her finger under a corner of the paper, she pushed open the end of the package, careful not to rip or wrinkle the pastel wrapping.
Luke groaned and then grinned. "You're one of those. The kind that say things like please save the bow and don't tear the paper."
Giggling, she gave him a mean look. "I suppose you're the kind that just dives in and rips them all open in five minutes on Christmas morning."
"Damn straight. Proud of it too. If you ask my mom, she'll tell you that I have a zest for living. At least that's what she told my school principal."
Shaw's mind was officially in the gutter. She couldn't stop herself from wondering about what else he had a zest for. Would he dive into his partner that enthusiastically in the bedroom? It was a heady thought.
