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“I know you’re upset with the way things ended.”
“You’re damn right I am. You don’t date someone for more than half a year and just stop calling them for no damn good reason. I thought you were dead. I even went to file a police report, just to be told I was wasting my time because you were fine. Fine, Londyn!”
“It’s hard to explain. You wouldn’t understand.”
“I wouldn’t? In my day and age, we use a little thing best known as a phone. You know, the thing you called me on. Anyway, there’s something called communication that I like to think people with common sense do. If you have a problem, you tell the person you have a problem with. If you decide maybe something isn’t right, you tell them. On a phone! On an answering machine! Or, by God, as a last resort, a fucking text message.”
Julie turned into the parking lot and threw the car in park. Now that she was done driving for the day, she quickly opened her purse and pulled out two of the miniatures of vodka. The first she finished in one drink, the second one she opened.
“I wish you could understand.” Londyn’s voice lowered to a whisper. “Jules, let me come over so I can explain. I can watch over you.”
The fact that a tiny part of her wanted him to come made her even angrier. Julie downed the second vodka. “No. Stay away from me. You had your chance and you blew it.” She hit the button and ended the call. A scream filled the car as she looked up to see the officer peering through her window.
Julie turned off the ignition and threw the empty bottles in her purse. Aston’s face was completely blank as she staggered to stand. These damn heels were way too narrow.
“I promise I didn’t drink those while driving. I wouldn’t do that. I was already parked.”
His brow creased. “I know. I saw you. Are you sure you’re all right?”
“I’m great.” Julie headed for her apartment, noticing Aston was following. For some reason she didn’t mind him being there so much anymore.
He looked over and winked. “Just a walk-through. Pretend I’m not even here.”
She smiled. Something about this officer really decreased her anxiety. A man she’d been in love with had just called, and it was as if they hadn’t had some blowout mere minutes ago. She wasn’t sure if it was his energy or his appearance. He was tall and good looking. Dark hair and built like a body builder.
Sure, he definitely gave off a safe vibe. She really couldn’t see anyone wanting to mess with him. But she didn’t think that was why she felt so comfortable. It had to be the energy emanating from his body. Calm. Confident. And she couldn’t ignore how turned on she was getting just checking him out. Usually she was attracted to lean muscle, but this guy wore his size well. Would he look just as big without his shirt on? She didn’t think she’d mind finding out.
Julie tried shaking the thoughts out of her head. She was practically drooling, and she should have been taking the situation a lot more seriously. He had a job to do, and that was to keep her safe. The last thing he needed was to be distracted by her ogling.
Aston slowed just before they got to the door and looked at her. Julie’s heart skipped a beat, and she wasn’t sure if it was the sickness or the depths of his eyes that made her feel like she had butterflies in her stomach. He opened his mouth to talk but instead took a deep breath and continued to stare at her.
“I’m not interrupting anything, I hope.”
What strangely felt like a moment was quickly diminished at the sound of Taylor’s voice. Julie dropped her head and laughed. She should have known he would come by to check on her. How could she have forgotten about their lunch date?
“No. you’re not interrupting. Taylor, this is Officer Simms. Officer Simms, Taylor, my…friend.”
They shook hands, and Julie couldn’t ignore how close Aston and Taylor were in height. Funny, she’d never really noticed that in Taylor before. Come to think of it, as big as Aston appeared to be at the beginning wasn’t much bigger than her lover. There was definitely a size difference, but not as drastic as Julie had thought. Had she become that immune to Taylor’s looks, or grown way too comfortable and close to him? It was just one more confirmation that she’d let herself fall too hard.
“What’s going on, Jules?” Taylor nodded his head in Aston’s direction.
“Oh, nothing really. I’ll explain inside.”
Julie went to unlock her door when she realized the knob turned beneath her hand. “I could have sworn I locked this when we left for work.”
“You did.” Taylor pulled her closer to him. “I distinctly remember us talking about meeting up for lunch when you were.”
Officer Simms pulled out his gun. “Stay outside.” He looked at Taylor. “Take her back a good twenty feet. I’ll let you know when the coast is clear.”
Taylor didn’t say anything as he pulled Julie toward the laundry building in the middle of the complex. She watched as Aston opened the door and disappeared.
“Jules, start explaining. When we talked this morning, you didn’t mention anything that required law enforcement coming to the house. Did something happen at work?”
“Uh, yeah.” Julie swore under her breath and groaned. “I didn’t want to say anything, but for the last few weeks I’ve been getting these packages. Mainly harmless. Some pics, along with letters full of name-calling. Anyway, this morning I received one that had a picture of me, and inside the package was a piece of paper.”
Taylor’s eyes narrowed. “We’ll get to the letter. What kind of picture are we talking here?”
“I was sleeping.”
