“He left lingerie on your doorstep?” I curled my hands into fists. If I ever came face-to-face with the bastard who’d been terrorizing her, I’d be his worst nightmare.
“Yeah.” She swallowed. “Gift-wrapped in a box, of course, but still it was weird. It creeped me out.”
“Obviously.”
“Then he started following me to the grocery store, the gym, out to bars with friends—”
“Wait a minute.” I held my hand up. “Do you have a picture of this guy?”
“Um no, but I can probably pull one up on my phone. He posts on social media.”
“Let me see.”
I could tell she was anxious about leaving the room alone and my protective instincts surged. She was a prisoner in her own home thanks to this lunatic! “You want me to go grab it?”
She shook her head. “It’s okay, I’ve got it. I left my purse in the mudroom when we came in. I’ll be right back.”
I covered my face with my hands, tipping my head back. This was a nightmare. How the hell was I supposed to keep my head in the game, and remain objective, when the threat was so personal to me?
“Here he is,” she said, handing her phone to me when she returned.
“Son of a bitch,” I whispered, scowling at the screen. “He was there tonight, at the bar. I spotted him a couple of times, watching you, us.” I handed the phone back to her. “And the headlights in my rearview when we turned onto your street—”
“That was him,” she whispered, swiping at a tear gliding down her cheek. “I saw his car.”
“Come here.” I tugged on her hand, pulling her down beside me. Curling my arms around her, I whispered, “It’s gonna be okay, baby. He’s not gonna hurt you.”Not on my watch.
She covered her face with her hand, burying her head in the crook of my neck. “I can’t believe this is happening. I got a restraining order, which he violates all the goddamn time, but I swear those things aren’t worth the paper they’re written on. He doesn’t care about some stupid restraining order, Rhett! He’s bound to get at me, and nothing and no one can stop him!”
“I can.” I kissed her forehead. “And I will. I just need you to relax, okay?”
She tipped her head back to look at me. “Thank you. I knew you wouldn’t let me deal with this alone. I know you hate me sometimes—”
“I don’t hate you.” I smirked. “You just piss me off.”
She gave me a watery smile before her hand curled around my face. “You know the way I am. You can’t take it personally that I don’t stick around after…”
I rolled my eyes. “We’re not gonna talk about this tonight.” I brushed my thumb under her eye. “I’m guessing you haven’t been sleeping well?”
She shook her head before sinking back into my chest. “It’s been a month or more since I had a decent night’s sleep. I’m so exhausted.”
There was so much more I needed to know before I could promise to keep her safe, but that could wait until tomorrow. Tonight I just wanted to hold her, make her feel safe, and let her get a restful night’s sleep.
“You want me to stay?”
She nodded, biting her lip as she looked up at me. “Please?”
Briar didn’t wear vulnerable well. In fact, it tore my heart out to see her looking so scared, but I’d do whatever I could to give her peace of mind. “Of course.” I kissed her forehead. “Let’s go to bed.” The irony wasn’t lost on me. Our first full night together and we wouldn’t even be having sex, because I couldn’t afford to get any more invested in this than I was already.
“Sounds good.” She stood, reaching for my hand. “Thank you for staying. It means a lot to me.”
You mean a lot to me.“My pleasure.”
She didn’t let go of my hand as she led me through the bungalow and down the narrow hallway to one of three bedrooms. “Um, I have one of the bedrooms set up for guests. I use the other one as a home office.”
“Okay, where do you want me to sleep?”
She turned into my arms. “With me?”
