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I glanced at her in surprise.
At first, she didn’t notice—she was too busy glancing around the neighborhood—but then she caught my expression and flushed. “Sorry; I need to lock up.” And she turned toward the door, making sure it was secured behind her.
I waited, and when she turned back, she hugged her purse to her as if she was trying to keep pickpockets away. It was…odd.
Tilting my head, I watched her for a moment, but she seemed more concerned with seeing who else was out and about than noticing my questioning glance.
Once we reached her car and she’d looked inside at her back seat, she seemed to relax. A smile finally lifted the corners of her lips, and she pressed her hand to the roof before glancing up at me. “Well…” she said, her throat working as she swallowed. “Have a good day.”
I lifted one eyebrow and sent her a strange smile. “Uh-huh…” I murmured before blurting, “What the hell is going on?”
Eyes flaring with guilt, she shook her head and rasped, “What do you mean?”
“You’re acting weird.”
“I…” Shoulders squaring with irritation, she scowled at me and sniffed. “I am not—”
“Chloe?” a male voice called from behind me.
She screamed and dropped her purse, whirling in fear toward the voice.
I turned too and stepped in front of her protectively, scowling at the stranger who was approaching. He paused and lifted his hands submissively, showing that he came in peace.
“Sorry.” Letting out a little laugh, he leaned to the side so he could peer past me and make eye contact with Chloe. “I didn’t mean to startle you.”
“Who the fuck are you?” I blurted, forcing him to stop looking at her like some kind of lovesick calf and turn back to me.
“Uh...” The other man blinked in surprise, obviously not used to being questioned. “Logan Chase,” he finally answered, nodding politely, even as his sharp gaze slid over me, scrutinizing and evaluating everything.
“The cop?” I asked bluntly, eyeing him right back.
My knowledge of who he was seemed to catch him off guard even more. He glanced toward Chloe, who was being strangely mute as she scrambled to pick up her purse and then step up to my side.
“That’s right,” he answered, holding out a hand toward me. “And you are?”
“Luke,” I said, shaking with him briefly.
“Of course,” he answered with a smart nod as if recognizing my name. “Luke Hamilton. Friend of the family. You work for Chloe’s dad at the nightclub, and you’re best friends with her younger brother, Patrick, Jr.”
Patrick, Jr.?
Wait. Best friends?
Thatwas a bit of a stretch for Trick. But okay. “Sure…” I told him slowly.
He’d obviously learned all that information from reading the police report about Chloe’s incident. But for some reason, him knowing so much about me didn’t make me feel warm and fuzzy inside.
I sent Chloe a telling glance, silently demanding to know why he was here.
Her eyes widened slightly, replying that she didn’t have a clue.
She turned toward the off-duty cop. “What brings you by, Logan?” she asked, her tone more civil than mine would’ve been.
“Right.” Logan turned toward her and sent her a respectful nod. “Sorry about just showing up. I was actually only driving by and checking in on things,” he explained. “But then I saw you two come outside, and I thought I should stop and say something in case you spotted me and thought I was stalking you.”
“Which kind of makes you look like you’re stalking her, anyway,” I tossed out bluntly.
Logan glanced at me briefly, clearly not a fan of my remark, but he politely decided to ignore it.
