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“He’s not—”
“She has a report in with the police about a stalker already,” Aiden said, and she gave him a confused look. He wasn’t going to correct the officer? He wanted them to think they were a couple? Something about the way his eyes looked when he looked at her prompted her to go along with it. “We believe the same guy did this.”
“That so?” the second officer said in a low, smooth voice.
He was taller than Aiden and built like a truck. Likely one of those CrossFit bros. He could crush her like a bug if he wanted, with the way his muscles looked ready to burst out of his uniform.
But that wasn’t the scary thing about him.
It was his tawny eyes. They reminded her of the eyes of a big wild cat, almost glowing in the sunlight coming through her window like animal eyes when light reflected off them in the night. Predator eyes. Eyes trained on her, narrowing by the minute.
She shifted, apprehension making her skin feel tight. The urge to get up and run away from the room was overwhelming.
“Brooks,” a voice she recognized as the taller officer from that morning called from her living room. “Got something.”
The intimidating officer—Brooks—broke the stare-down and turned to go see what the other man had to say.
She teetered on the verge of collapsing when the intense pressure on her chest released. What the hell was that about?
Aiden was by her side in an instant, his expression thunderous.
He sat next to her and grabbed her hand. His grip held tight—almost too tight, but she welcomed the bite of pain. It grounded her after that weird experience.
The shorter officer squinted in the direction the bodybuilder in uniform went. “Don’t mind him. He was supposed to be off shift now. Decided to tag along.” He shrugged and muttered under his breath, but not quietly enough, “Don’t know why if he didn’t wanna be here.”
“What’s this about?”
They all looked as the tall officer—though not as tall as Brooks, so now she needed to read his badge to get his real name—stepped into the room. Douglas. Officer Douglas.
She noticed the business card in his hand, but she didn’t know what he wanted to know. There were a few business cards in her kitchen drawer.
He held the card up and read, “You looked lovely this morning. Purple suits you.”
Her breath caught in her throat, and all eyes turned on her. Brooks joining them in the small space to add to the scrutiny.
“I-I received roses. I’ve been receiving roses.” She looked at the short officer—Evans. “It’s also in the police report I filed.” She licked her dry lips. “This guy has been sending me roses for weeks, and that’s the first time he put a card in the bouquet. I dropped it. Didn’t know where it ended up.”
Officer Douglas motioned behind him. “Found it sticking out from under the edge of your fridge.”
“This guy,” Brooks started, his cold features giving nothing away. “What’s his name?”
“I don’t know.”
“Then how do you know it’s a guy?”
“Because he called me,” she said, not able to hide the irritation in her voice. She didn’t like Officer Brooks. He made her extremely uncomfortable.
He made a humming sound that sounded more like a growl than she cared for, and Aiden’s grip tightened on her hand in response.
“If you check with the station, you’ll find all the information about this,” Aiden said. “He’s escalating.”
Brooks narrowed his eyes at Aiden, observing. “He is, is he? You seem to know a lot about the situation.” The two of them seemed to have some sort of standoff before Aiden broke eye contact.
“Brooks,” Officer Evans chastised. “He’s her boyfriend. Course he’s gonna know about it.”
Brooks scoffed. “Boyfriend?”
Did he not think they could be a couple? Rude much?
