Total pages in book: 50
Estimated words: 47196 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 236(@200wpm)___ 189(@250wpm)___ 157(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 47196 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 236(@200wpm)___ 189(@250wpm)___ 157(@300wpm)
I come to stand next to Skyler and pat him on the shoulder. “We’ll be fine here. Take care of yourself, Logan.”
He nods, looks between me and his sister, gives me a warning glare, and then hugs his sister again. “Okay. Love you, sis. Tell our brothers I love them too.”
Skyler sniffs, and I walk with Logan through the house. After more goodbyes and instructions, I shut the door behind him. I lock it and then go through the house, testing all the locks on the windows, saving the kitchen for last.
I needed the time to get myself together. When I finally walk back into the kitchen, Skyler is back working on the dough, and she doesn’t even look at me when I come in.
I stand across the counter and watch her. She’s completely in her element, and it’s mesmerizing watching her work. Does she know how beautiful she is? She has to.
“Skyler.”
“Yep,” she answers quickly, kneading the dough with more intensity.
“We should talk, don’t you think?”
She shrugs. “What do you want to talk about?”
When I don’t answer, she glances up at me, blushes, and looks at her hands again.
I pull up a stool and sit down so we’re almost eye to eye. “What are you making?”
“Sugar cookies.”
I nod and quietly watch her. She shapes the cookies, puts them on a pan, and then slides them into the oven. She sets the timer and then crosses her arms over her chest. “Okay. What do you want to know?”
Everything, I almost mutter, but I know that would come off creepy, so I stick to why I’m here. “Everything about your stalker.”
She frowns. “Okay. Well, let's see. His handle on social media is ‘bakersking.’ He pops into most of my live feeds. He leaves messages on all my videos. And…”
When she stops, I tense up. “And what?”
She lets her shoulders droop and walks over to the trash can. She opens the lid and points down inside it. “I got these yesterday.”
I walk over next to her and see the bouquet of daisies. “Did he deliver those to you… here?”
She blinks up at me, and for the first time, I sense that she is fearful even though she’s trying to act like she’s not.
She shakes her head. “No. He didn’t. Someone else delivered them. The card is right there. I figure I’d give it to the policeman that is supposed to be handling this. But he says there’s nothing he can do unless the guy actually does something.”
I grab the card off the counter and read it. “Blue is my favorite color. Like your eyes.”
The writing gets blurry as rage travels through my body. This motherfucker watches her, lusts after her, makes her feel unsafe. I will fuckin’ end him.
I turn to Skyler. “We need to talk.”
She shrugs and looks at the timer before gesturing to the table in the corner of the room. “Have a seat. The cookies will be out in a minute.”
I stomp over to the table, pull out the chair, and sit down. I’m trying to calm myself, but inside, I’m fuming.
I turn the card over in my hand. Petal + Leaf.
I pull out my phone, take pictures of the front and the back of card, and send them to Alex Colby. He’s coming to work with us at Stronghold Security, and if anyone can get the details on who purchased the flowers, he can. He has almost as much military experience as Logan and I do.
She works around her kitchen, and I just sit here and blatantly watch her. Neither one of us talks, but it’s a comfortable silence.
Eventually the timer dings, and I watch Skyler take the pan out and set it on the stove. She pours milk into two glasses and carries them over to the table. Then she plates some cookies and brings those over too.
After sitting down across from me, she crosses her hands on the table. “I don’t need you to protect me.”
I sit up a little taller. “I’m not leaving.”
She sighs and shakes her head. “Zach, listen. I agreed because I don’t want Logan to worry about me while he’s gone, but I really don’t need a bodyguard. I can take care of myself.”
I bite back the urge to give in. I’m not giving in.
She tilts her head to the side. “Look, I don’t want you to waste your time or your resources taking care of me.”
“Miller already paid.”
Her eyes widen, and she throws a hand up. “I’m sure I’ll be getting visits from all my brothers over the next few days.”
I just sit here, watching her. If she thinks I’m leaving, she’s mistaken. There’s nothing that will force me out of here. Whether she wants to believe it or not, she’s in real danger, and over my dead body will I let someone hurt her.