by Alexa Riley
“Oh man.” Jenna’s shoulders drop. “You’re going to go be with Grams, aren’t you?”
“Maybe.” I shrug. “I mean, why not? I can work from anywhere and she’s my only family. With as much as I visit her, I should be closer too.”
“I know, I’ll just miss seeing you around and talking shit on people. Okay, maybe I’m the one who talks shit, but you don’t give me judgmental looks as I do it.”
I laugh because I’ll miss that too. Jenna says what we’re all thinking. She reaches out, giving me a side hug.
“I’ll miss you too, but I’m not leaving today. It’s just an idea right now, but I don’t have any solid plans.”
“All right, let me know if you need anything. I’m going to close this place up.” We both look toward the front door when we hear it open and Reed comes in.
“Where is your bicycle today?” Jenna asks him.
“I’ll see you later,” I whisper as I wink at Jenna and sneak out of the place.
Luckily Moose doesn't give me any problems on our walk home and I’m able to finish my drink. When I get to the top of the stairs, Moose stops walking and I hear a low growl coming from him. I look down in surprise because he’s never done that before.
“Moose?” He growls deeper and longer this time, and my heart starts to race. I follow his line of sight and see he’s staring right at our front door that’s hanging open.
Chapter Six
Devin
It’s been a long and grueling day at the office and I’m glad to be on my way home. Renee came in first thing and dropped a new case on my desk and I spent hours going over documents to determine if we could take it on or not.
I love my job, but I wonder sometimes if I work too much. Although it’s not like I have much else going on. Maybe I should get a dog? I immediately throw that thought away because I’m never home and even though I own our office building, I remember all my international travel. It’s usually not planned and sometimes I don’t know how long I’ll be gone. Maybe I could get a fish?
I wonder if Erin has any pets. The thought irritates me as soon as I have it and I stare out the window. Why is she always the thing I keep going back to? Ever since I got back to my place and read the note Betty left for me, I’ve been silently obsessed with her. Betty told me that her granddaughter Erin had a migraine and needed a quiet place to sleep while her guest room was being renovated. She said in the note it was an unexpected visit and I started wondering when it would happen again.
That explained the scent on the sheets that drove me crazy and the toilet seat being down. It also explained the orange hair tie that I now keep on my wrist. It still has the faint scent of her, and I told myself I was only wearing it so that I wouldn’t forget to give it to Betty. But I’ve seen her enough times now that I’m clearly keeping it because I’ve got an unhealthy obsession. I’m more agitated by the fact that my sheets don’t smell like her anymore. I went to the market and smelled about a hundred detergents and none of them were quite right. I haven’t slept soundly since that first night, so part of my irritation could stem from that.
I don’t even know this woman and yet I can’t stop thinking about her.
The driver pulls up to the building and I get out of the car. I’m starving and I’m trying to remember if I’ve got any actual edible food in my refrigerator. I wonder if Erin is eating dinner with her boyfriend, and I grumble a hello to my doorman as I get on the elevator. I actually don't know if she has a boyfriend, but in my mind I’ve created this whole life for her that doesn’t include me. I wonder if that makes me a masochist.
When I get to the top floor, I go to put my key in the door and I hear Betty’s open up behind me. I turn around to say hello, but the words die in my mouth when I see her.
“Are you okay?”
She’s frazzled and drops her keys as she tries to lock her door. “Hello Devin, I’m okay, just a little shook up. Erin called me and I’m going to meet her. She couldn’t fly this time and had a friend drive her part of the way.”
My blood pressure spikes and I go over to help steady her. “What happened?” My words are more of an order than a question, but if she notices she doesn’t show it.
“I don’t know, really. She said someone broke into her apartment and she’s safe but she’s on her way to me. Oh goodness, this is all a mess. Those guys still aren’t done with my guest room and I know she’s probably all shaken up. Maybe I’ll get us a hotel room and we can both make a weekend of it.” I think she’s mostly talking to herself at this point, but I have to do something to help.
“First, take a deep breath,” I say, and she finally looks in my eyes. “I’m going to handle this.” Betty nods and she goes from trying to figure this out to letting me take charge. “I’ve got my driver downstairs and he will take you straight to Erin. Then you bring Erin back here and she can stay in my place again. I’m leaving tonight for a trip anyway.”
I’m not leaving for a trip, but I don’t want Betty to worry about having to take care of Erin while at a hotel. If she’s upset, she’s going to need at least something familiar and comforting. I know I’d want to be close to Renee if she was shaken up.
“Okay,” Betty says, a little more firm this time. “Thank you, Devin, I can’t thank—”
I shake my head, cutting her off. “Just go get her and bring her back. We’ll make sure she’s safe.”
The elevator opens and I text my driver that Betty is on the way down. Then I place an order with my delivery service to bring in food and some extra stuff I think she might like. After that I text my sister and tell her I’m going to be staying at her place for a few days. When she asks me why, I tell her I’ll explain later.
I pack quickly even though I have no idea how long it will take Betty to pick her up. How far is halfway? If she usually flies, is it several hours? I’ve flown short trips plenty of times when I could have driven instead, but I wonder why this time is different than before? She said she was okay, but what if she was injured?
Every horrible thought I can come up with plays out as a possibility and all it does is ratchet up my anxiety. I end up calling one of our detectives and giving him all the information I have on Erin and Betty, and I ask him to check in on things for me. I don’t know what else I can do, but I want to make sure the police are doing what they can and if they aren’t, to have someone else on top of it.
After I’ve packed a few things, I look around and see a case file on my dining room table. It’s a simple case that I brought home only to sign off on, but when I walk over to take it, I end up leaving it instead.
Maybe I’ll come back for that later and check on Erin.
Chapter Seven
Erin
“I can’t leave you here.”
“You can and you will.” I grab Jenna’s hand. “You have to get back to your brother. I’ll be fine here.”
We’re standing outside of some run-down diner that has seen better days. I’m happy Jenna could take me this far to begin with because I had to get out of there. The cops came and took a report, but that was it. There wasn't much else they could do since there were no signs of forced entry. Whoever came in did it with a key and that was the creepiest part of all.
“Shit. Shit. Shit.” She’s stuck between a rock and a hard place.
I’m still trying to hold it together because I know if I crack now there’s no way she’ll leave when she really doesn't have much of a choice. She’s got to get back to her little brother because she’s all he has. Everything Jenna does is for that little boy. He’s been her whole world since their mom up and left in the middle of the night. Not that it really changed much for them since Jenna was already taking care of everything and raising him. Only now she makes sure she dots every I and crosses every T because she doesn’t want to give the state a reason to rip them apart.
“I’m going to go eat greasy eggs and hash browns then drink some stale coffee until my Grams gets here.” I look down at my phone. “
She’s twenty minutes away. I’ll be fine.”
“Okay. But text me the second she gets here or I’m turning back in thirty minutes.”
“Deal,” I agree.
“And you keep her safe.” She points down at Moose, who’s been glued to me since everything went down. At one point he wouldn't even let the cops near me. I guess under all that fluff there’s a fierce protector.
I hug Jenna before grabbing my bags out of the back of her car. “Later.” I wave with a forced smile as I watch her pull out of the parking lot.
“No dogs,” an older man behind the counter barks when I walk in the diner. There’s a cigarette hanging out of his mouth and I could almost laugh at the irony. Instead I heave a sigh and walk right back out.
“No greasy eggs for us,” I say to Moose as I plop down on the curb.
Moose presses into my side, alert as ever and scanning the parking lot. My stomach growls, but thankfully it’s not too long before I see Grams pulling in with some fancy town car. I send Jenna a quick text so she doesn’t worry.
I stand up as she pulls in and the car is barely in park before she’s rushing over toward me. “Sugar! Are you okay?” She checks me over, putting her hands everywhere.
“I’m okay. I wasn't there when they broke in.”
She closes her eyes and sighs with relief. “Come on, let's get out of here. I’m sure you’re tired.” I nod in agreement because it’s almost one in the morning now. “What the hell is that?”
“Moose.”
“I like it.” She opens the door for him. “Come on, Moose.” He follows her order and jumps in.
“He never does what I tell him to do,” I grumble.
“It’s all in the tone, sugar.” She grabs my bags and puts them next to Moose. “You wanna talk about it?” she asks when we hit the highway. “Or do you want to try and sleep?”
“There’s nothing really to talk about. Someone ransacked my place. I don’t think they took anything, so what is the point of doing it?”
“There are a lot of crazies in the world. You’ll go crazy yourself if you try to understand why people do anything.”
I nod in agreement. “The cops said whoever came in must have had a key or I didn't lock the door.”
“That doesn't sound like you.”
“No, I never forget to lock the door. My Grams would kill me if I did,” I tease. Before I’d gone to college, she gave me a whole rundown on safety. We even did a few of those self-defense classes. “It’s creepy someone got into my place so easily. I don’t know if I can sleep there again.”
“You don’t have to.” She pats my leg, giving it a squeeze. “I think it's time you move out here with me. Unless you’ve got someone you’re holding on to back there.”
“Fishing for dirt on my dating life?” She never misses a moment for that.
“I’ll be a kickass grandma.”
“You already are a kickass grandma,” I remind her, but the truth is she’s always been like a mom to me, so I get what she means. “And I’ve been thinking about moving out here, but I didn't want to cramp your style.”
“Sugar, you could never cramp my style. I’ve wanted you to move out here since you graduated, but I didn't say anything because it’s your life. I want you to live it however you want, but the truth is, I always want you close for my own selfish reasons.”
“I’ll look into it.” The words fill me with some relief.
“Good. For now you can crash next door since Devin is out of town again. I’m going to see if I can whip those contractors into shape to get that spare room done.”
I have no idea what Devin looks like, but I’ve come up with so many fantasies. My favorite one so far is him slipping into bed with me in the middle of the night and then making love to me until the sun comes up. Which is crazy because who wants a man they don’t know slipping into their bed in the middle of the night? I guess that’s why they call them fantasies.
“He really doesn't mind?”
“Nope. Someone should get some use out of the fancy place. Maybe now I’ll get to finally introduce you two.”
“Here we go.” I smile, knowing some things never change. And that’s not always a bad thing.
Chapter Eight
Devin
“So she’s at your place right now and you’ve never met her?” Danielle smiles over her coffee mug as she leans across the kitchen counter. “Please tell me you’re going over there to surprise her and tell her you love the way she smells.”
I put my face in my hands and groan as my sister comes in the kitchen. “Dani, leave him alone.”
“What? I think it’s romantic.” She sighs dreamily.
“What if this is less like one of your stories and more like one of mine?” Renee says as she pulls Danielle in close and kisses her neck.
“You mean instead of them falling in love and having lots of dirty sex, he murders her and then goes on the lam until a badass female detective finds him?”
“Badass British female detective,” Renee corrects.
“Right,” Danielle agrees as they both turn and face me then pretend to scrutinize me like I could really be either of these options. “He does have the jawline of a serial killer.”
“You know, I didn’t come here to suffer this kind of abuse.”
“Oh, but you did.” Renee fills my coffee mug up and then her own. “But we really don’t have time to decide for certain. We’re meeting with Garret Global in an hour and I need to call the staffing agency today to replace Oscar in IT.”
“He moved, right?”
“Yeah, his wife had the baby and they wanted to be closer to family. Now we’ve got this vacant spot and I want it filled quickly.”
“I need to go pick up the file.” I wipe away some nonexistent crumbs off the counter and then stand up.
“Why don’t you just sign it digitally and we’ll print it at the office?” Renee comes around the counter and grabs her bag.
It takes me a second before I come up with a good excuse. “I made a few notes.”
She sighs because it’s not unlike me to tinker with a contract until the final second. “Fine. Meet me there. I’m not going downtown at this hour.” She grabs Danielle and I look away as I walk to the entrance of their apartment.
I hear the two of them whisper and Danielle giggle before my sister comes to the front door to meet me.
“Ready?” she asks me, and I nod.
We get downstairs and just before we get in separate cars, I call out to her, “You gonna drop that ring on her finger or am I?”
She scowls at me and I shrug. “She’s the one, Nee. Stop messing around.”
Renee gets in the back of the car without the help of her driver and I hear the door slam. I laugh as I get in my own car and then tell my driver to go to my place.
I’ve been trying not to think about Erin being in my place, and what it’s going to be like to meet her for the first time. I’m also trying not to get my hopes up, but I think it’s too late.
I talked to security last night and told them to call me the second they arrived. It was so late that I know going over now will probably wake her up, but I can’t wait. If I don’t do it now, I might not get the chance. What if she doesn’t need to stay there another night? What if she goes back to her place and that’s it? It’s my only chance and I’m not going to miss it even though it could be nothing at all. Maybe the way I feel when I think of her is my own desperate desire for companionship. I can’t help but envy Renee and Danielle when I see how happy they are. I shouldn’t put stock into meeting a complete stranger and it meaning anything, but somehow this feels different.
“Sir?”
I realize we’ve been sitting at the curb for a long moment and I was sitting here trying to prolong the moment before my imminent disappointment.
“Thanks,” I call to him as I exit the car and go into my building. When I go inside, the doorman is different than the one on night shift, so talking to him won’t yie
ld any results. Not the ones I’m really looking for. Was she shaken up? Was anyone else with her? Why does she smell like heaven on earth?
When I get to my floor I’m nervous as I take out my key and unlock the door. I’m not exactly quiet about it because I want her to know someone is here. I shut the door a little too loud, hoping she’ll wake up if she hasn’t already.
I walk into my place and see the file sitting on the table right where I left it. I walk over and grab it then glance around. There are two bags by the front door that don’t appear to have been opened. Both are pretty big and I wonder how long she’s planning on staying with her grandmother.
When I walk into the kitchen there aren’t any dishes lying around but I see another hair tie on the counter. This time it’s baby blue and I pick it up and put it on my wrist with the orange one. I don’t know why I have this urge to collect little pieces of her, but it feels like Hansel and Gretel leaving me breadcrumbs.
“Oh god.”
I turn around to see Erin standing in my kitchen wearing what has to be one of my button-up shirts and I’m pretty sure nothing else. Her dirty-blond hair is a tangled mess and her mascara is smudged like she slept with it on. Her bare feet begin to take a step back and I hold my hand out to stop her.
“You Erin.” Why do I sound like I’m a fucking caveman? Use a complete sentence, dumbass. God, she’s fucking beautiful. She looks soft and warm and I ache to take her back to bed and find out how those curves would feel against me. “Sorry, you must be Erin. I’m Devin.”
Her cheeks flush as she puts her arms across her chest and looks down at what she’s wearing. “I’m sorry, it was so late I didn’t want to dig through my bags for pajamas.”
“I get it. I usually sleep naked.” Her eyes snap up to me and I curse myself for putting my foot in my mouth. “I mean that when I travel and I get to places, I don’t want to dig in my suitcase either.” Shut up, Devin, just stop talking. “So I sleep naked.” So we’re just going to talk about this on the first meeting. Great.
