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“I’m fine, but Oliver… look behind you.”
He did, and his eyes widened, disgust and shock taking over his features. “What the fuck?!”
I could see the second he pieced together who was behind this, his mouth sliding into a hard line with a hiss. “He’s been too quiet lately, the sheriff said as much. This is how he’s chosen to make himself known again, apparently.”
Shaking his head, he scooped me into his arms and walked inside. Shutting the door with his hip, he set me gently on the couch and kissed my head.
“I’m going to call him now. He’ll need to do a full report.”
I nodded numbly, hearing as if from underwater as Oliver made the call. I couldn’t focus on the words, everything slipping through my fingers like sand, but his steady warmth kept me from completely floating away.
His arm tucked around me when he finished the call, his hands gently guiding me into his lap until he could comfortably wrap around me like a shield. It was only then that I realized I was crying. He rocked back and forth, soothing lowly.
“We’ll get him for this, Jen. He isn’t going to walk away scot-free.”
I hoped so, because this was something else.
Wiping at the tears, I huddled into him as I let the worst of the shock pass. When I felt steadier, I pulled back and breathed deeply.
“I’d hoped he’d left when he didn’t bother me again, but I guess that was wishful thinking. I want this to be over already so I can forget it ever happened.”
Flicking a glance to my door, I shuddered. “I’m not going to be able to sleep after this.”
He’d been close enough to nail that poor thing to the door, and I hadn’t noticed.
Was he here when Oliver and I had been wrapped together in the kitchen?
The intimate moment was tainted with the imagery, and I gripped Oliver tighter. He returned the iron-like hold, kissing the top of my head with a frown.
“You can stay with me if you want? He shouldn’t know where I live, and that’ll be safer than staying here. I assumed he wouldn’t try anything because people are always around, but apparently he’s gutsier than I thought.”
Right now the idea of hiding away in his house was nothing short of a dream, and I nodded after barely a second of thought. “Good idea.”
He offered a thin smile, long fingers stroking soothing circles over my back as he tried to throw some humor into the situation.
“I do occasionally have those. Let me know if you get sick of me; I’ve been told I’m an awful roommate.”
Focusing on him, I frowned. “I haven’t seen any evidence to support that from the times you’ve stayed here.”
Which was different from him living in the same space as me, I knew, but still…
He shrugged sheepishly. “I used to be a lot less clean than I am now. It drove my friend Ludwig crazy.”
I didn’t have a chance to respond before the sound of sirens hit and a knock came from the front door. “Jennifer, it’s the sheriff.”
Oliver stood to get it, leading the way to me. Thankfully, there was a blanket over the back of the couch, and I pulled it around me as a shield before they saw my nightgown. There were some things that were only for Oliver’s eyes.
The sheriff waved the other officers back outside with a mumbled order to take pictures and document everything, and then he settled on the edge of the coffee table. Concern warmed his eyes as he spoke.
“I’m going to need you to start at the top and tell me everything.”
Oliver sat next to me, his weight a comfort as his hand curled around mine. Using the touch as an anchor, I took a breath and started.
“Unfortunately, there’s not much I can tell you…”
Chapter 21
It took barely five minutes to go over everything with him, thanks to my lack of information, but he didn’t look surprised by that.
