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“Seriously,” she cried, trying to catch her breath as she gaped at us and patted her chest for more air. “You can’t just say stuff like that in front of me right when I take a drink. I had no idea you two were even…” Waving a hand in a circle around Luke and me, she finished with, “Oh my God.”
Luke winced in apology and said, “Sorry. My bad,” while Skylar tapped her hands on the counter and just grinned between him and me.
“I like it,” she said, nodding in appreciation as her gaze met mine. “You’re going to have fun with this one.”
I sighed as if already overwhelmed, but Luke grinned back at her. “Hell yes, she is,” he agreed before leaning into me and kissing my cheek soundly.
And that’s how I got Luke as my personal bodyguard.
32LUKE
Acouple of days passed.
The family decided to have Chloe stay over at my place with me, which was probably safer for her, but I had to admit…it felt weird.
After the past few weeks,herhouse had started to feel more like home than my own, so it was an adjustment for both of us.
But we were steadily working our way through all the rooms, christening them, as we called it. Sex kept her mind off things for a while. Other times, she handled each day like a champ. But I could tell, the stress was wearing on her.
She wanted her life back. She wantednotto be worried about a possible stalker being after her. She wanted this to just be over with already.
To make matters worse, the police department called and asked her to come in for some follow-up questions about the incident so they could make a more detailed case against Freston.
It was supposed to be a videotaped interview, so it was decided—not by me—thatTrickwould take her in since he had a legal background. Not that I thought that would make any difference; he probably wasn’t going to get to sit in while they talked to her anyway.
But I had a feeling she really didn’t want me going with her becauseLoganwould probably be at the station, and she knew that if I saw him, it would irritate my jealousy.
So I was instructed to sit this one out.
Which actually worked out okay for me because I kind of had a mission to complete that didn’t involve her.
As soon as I kissed her goodbye at the door and then threatened her brother to within an inch of his life to keep her safe, I shut the door and immediately pulled out my phone, checking the Freston-watch schedule group chat.
Gracen was sitting in front of his house now, and the douchey red Mitsubishi was still in his drive. But Gray needed to leave at eleven and Bella wouldn’t be able to take up her post after that until noon.
I didn’t like that Chloe would be away from home for a full hour while her stalker wasn’t being, well…stalked. But Trick said these interviews typically lasted a while and Bella should be at Freston’s place before they finished. But even if she wasn’t, Trick had already agreed not to leave the police department with Chloe until after Bella had checked in.
Feeling pretty secure about that, I called Teagan.
“Hey, sis,” I greeted cheerfully when she answered.
But she wasn’t fooled by my tone. Or maybe she was just enlightened by it. “What do you want?” she demanded. “You only call mesiswhen you want to wheedle something out of me.”
“You know Chloe’s tastes pretty well, right?”
“Uh…” Teagan sounded utterly confused before answering a hesitant, “Maybe. Why?”
“I want you to meet me at the jewelry store and help me pick out a ring for her.”
“A ring? Like a friendship ring?”
I scowled. “An engagement ring.”
“Oh my God,” she shrieked in astonishment. “Are you serious? So the love thing—”
“Totally worked.” I grinned proudly. “Yes.”
“Wow. I mean, just…wow. That was fast. Are you sure—”
