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I silently slink to the door and slip out, leaving it agape for Ryker who bounds up the stairs, gun in hand and into the house like the detective he is, on a mission to protect his hare-brained neighbor from what’s likely one of her cats.
He comes back down the steps, gun at ease, and I take a massive breath.
He shakes his head with a smirk on his lips. “Tigger again. He got one of your vases.”
I sigh, gripping the front of my oversized sweatshirt.
He rubs my arm, looking down at me. “You okay?”
I nod. “This house freaks me out. The other night…” I trail off, not wanting to make myself look like more of a freak in front of the hot neighbor detective.
“What?” he coaxes.
I point toward the front window. “I swore I saw someone looking through that window,” I admit.
He looks over and a thought crosses his face as he contemplates something.
“How about we install cameras? Maybe next weekend? It couldn’t hurt. It’ll give you peace of mind.”
I nod. “Yeah, and then I can stop bothering you.”
He smiles at me. “Oh, always bother me, Carina.” He draws my name out, making it sound sinful. He pulls my hand into his, which usually I’d be giddy about. But tonight, I notice that the tingle I’d felt when Emery touched me is likewise missing as it was when Conner shook my hand.
What in the…?
“You know you’re never bothering me.”
I’d pined for Ryker for the first few months after I bought this house, watching him change his oil, wash his car, or mow his grass from cracks in the front window blinds.
One night, however, I’d run outside into the cold because I swore someone was in the house, and he’d been getting off shift. He’d cleared the house and told me that whenever I needed him to call or text.
We’d become close friends after, and I hadn’t stopped pining after him. Until tonight, apparently.
He’s tall, taller than my 5’5 frame. Dark hair and dark eyes, with a matching thinly trimmed beard. He looks as if he lives in the gym. Now, from my stalking of him through the window, I know he has a makeshift garage gym. In the summer, he works out with the door open, and I make sure to check the mail a few times on those days.
Once, he’d offered to train me. I’d taken it as him flirting and said yes. I hadn’t walked right for a week after the session. I found it hard to even sit on the toilet afterward, when I’d never realized my toilets were so low beforehand.
“You should let me take you to dinner sometime, Carina,” Ryker says, pulling me from my head. I realize he’s still holding my hand, caressing the top of it with his thumb softly.
I open my mouth to decline but I stop myself because I don’t have a reason to tell him no.
I nod. “I’d love that,” I tell him.
He smiles. “How about next Friday night? Seven?”
“Yeah, that should work. I’ll keep you posted. I start a new job on Monday, and I don’t know what the hours will end up being.”
He smiles big, excitement filling his face. “Oh, congratulations on the new job. So, we will be celebrating, then, hmm? Just let me know what time will work best for you. I’m off Friday and Saturday, so you can make the rules.”
I find the last part of his statement strikes me a little strongly, but I brush it off. I’ve never dated. Shit, I’m probably the only thirty-year-old virgin in the city. Possibly the entire state.
I tell him I’ll keep him updated and move back inside, locking the door behind me. Piglet is licking himself on the back of the couch and stops to eye me.
“I’ve got a date,” I tell him.
He meows as if to say: ‘sure, Mom, whatever.’
I lean against the door, letting excitement wash through me at the thought of getting to know the guy I’ve been watching through my window for over a year now.
