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I nod. “Sounds good.”
The awkwardness is still there, it’s palpable. There’s so much unspoken between us, you can almost see it if you look hard enough. But because of our situation—our work one—I keep my mouth clamped shut, other than to shovel noodles inside it.
She fires up the television, Netflix making its telltale noise as it loads, and something out the window captures my attention. A dark figure is outlined beyond the glass, close enough to make out a head and shoulders, but too dark to see any features.
“Who the fuck is that?” I ask, jumping up and placing my food down.
The figure sees me notice them and moves back into the shadow of the small pine near Carina’s window.
“Who’s who?” Carina asks, alarm filling her tone.
I fly around the couch, flinging open the door and rushing toward the railings of the porch.
“Hey!” I shout into the chilly night, my breath causing puffs of smoke in the frigid air.
A man in a dark hoodie and jeans is walking down the sidewalk, but he doesn’t look back. That’s the most alarming thing about him. If you’re walking in the night, especially this late at night, and you hear someone yell, you’d turn.
Suspiciously, he doesn’t. He keeps moving.
“Stay the fuck away from here!” I yell for good measure.
He remains steadfast, walking at the same speed and turning the corner onto the next street.
“Who was that?” Carina asks, teeth chattering as she shoves her hands into her robe’s fuzzy pockets.
“I don’t know. I saw him standing right there.” I point down toward the front window that looks right into her living room where we’d been.
She looks across the street toward a white house with lights on and a cop car in the drive, eyes darting back toward me as she moves inside.
When I shut the door, I watch her grab her phone and hit someone’s contact before placing it to her ear.
“Hey, I think you were right. Someone was outside my window, a friend chased him off, but I think we need to install those cameras you talked about,” she tells whoever is on the other line, presumably the cop living across the street.
The good Samaritan would be thankful for the cop’s presence and the proximity to her. But that’s not me. No, I’m wondering if this cop is a man or a woman, and what their relationship to Carina is.
She ends the call and moves to close the blinds, shutting the outside world out swiftly.
She sits, and I remain standing, looking down as she seems to spiral in her head.
Friend?
CHAPTERSIX
Carina
It’s been a weird night. First, my sexy, confusing, broody boss showed up with my massive order of food. Then, I didn’t even get to eat it because my stalker showed up. I’d sworn a few weeks ago that I’d seen someone, but I’d brushed it off because every time I think someone’s in the house, it turns out to be nothing.
Ryker mentioned cameras, and now I’m thankful he’s said he will be over tomorrow to install them. I can’t imagine why someone would watch me, or who would be.
Emery left not long after, sighting he had to go back and pay the Pho restaurant for my order before they closed. He also wanted to check on Conner, who he’d left with a woman at the bar, but I think the night bothered him too.
I’ve always felt like someone’s watching me in this house, but it’s old and massive. It makes the most insane noises when the wind blows just right. In the winter, when the house is stretching, it seems to groan. So, it’s no wonder I don’t feel alone.
Add to that fact that my cats are insane at night and like to knock everything I fucking own to the ground, and I’m a regular basket case.
I’d moved my date with Ryker to tomorrow night, telling him I was too tired from the week to go out, which was true. Getting back into the swing of working took its toll on me, but not physically.
Mentally and emotionally, I need time to myself to recharge. Being around people a lot does that to me. I have to have time to charge the social batteries. Inviting Emery inside had been good old hospitality begging me to be kind to my boss, even though internally I wanted to run away from the door screaming. I mean, I was in my fucking robe!
