CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
Daisy
Two weeks had gone by, and I didn’t think the sheriff was any closer to finding my stalker.
The notes and texts had stopped, though, and I was breathing a sigh of relief, for sure.
I didn’t know if my stalker had caught wind of the sheriff investigating him, or if he’d been scared away by Byron, my ridiculously hot, temporary security guard.
Nia and Jelly were half in love with him.
I wasn’t exactly immune, either, but I was pretty taken with Jack.
And I’d noticed how Byron looked at Carmen Salazar.
Jelly and I were used to seeing him around Sugar from time to time, usually during the day before it opened.
He stopped by often after working out with Nico at Saffron.
“It’s like his muscles have muscles,” Nia breathed, staring at him.
“And yet he’s so buttoned up, so… business-like.
” Jelly stared at him over the top of her purple, heart-shaped sunglasses.
She’d dressed kind of emo when she’d first shown up in town about a year ago.
But Carmen had nixed that and given her a makeover.
She hadn’t gotten rid of some of her clothes, though, mainly her favorite sunglasses and her Doc Martens.
Her baggy, mismatched clothing was long gone, though.
I thought she’d probably dressed that way to hide how beautiful she was, but she never talked about it.
“God. What I wouldn’t give to fuck that. ” She shook her head.
“Agreed,” Nia said, staring at him.
“Y’all need to quit,” I whispered. “I think you’re making him self-conscious.
” We were stretched out on a quilt under a big oak tree on campus.
We were studying and having an impromptu picnic.
It was a warm day, even though it was November, and we were all wearing shorts.
Every now and then I’d look up and catch Byron glancing at Nia.
I smirked. If there was someone who could turn his head, it was her. Not that Jelly wasn’t beautiful, too, but Nia was just… extra gorgeous.
Byron came over closer to us, when I gestured for him. “Aren’t you hungry?” I asked when he got there. “You could join us.”
He gave me his beautiful smile, the one that made Jelly and Nia swoon, and shook his head. “Can’t. Working. I have to keep you beautiful women safe.”
“Won’t you at least take a drink?” I asked, handing him a Coke.
“Sure,” he said gratefully. He had to be hot in his suit, though he always looked cool, calm, and collected. He stood near us and drank it, talking to us casually, though I saw his eyes moving, constantly scanning the area for any hint of danger.
“Are you going to stay in this area after Reynolds quits being mayor?” Nia asked.
“Do you know something I don’t know?” Byron joked. “No, Reynolds plans to be mayor as long as the people of West Bay keep re-electing him. But if he ever changes his mind, I have a plan that would allow me to stay in town rather than going to the DC area.”
Byron’s father owned a high-profile security detail team in DC. Though he’d grown up in Virginia, he’d attended private school with Reynolds and Nico. The three had been close friends ever since.
Nia nodded, her unusual eyes, a swirl of blue and green, seeming to captivate Byron momentarily. “I’d like that,” she said, giving him her flirtiest smile.
Bryon’s face went a little slack as he stared at her. I’d seen this look on several men’s faces after they came into contact with Nia, so I wasn’t exactly surprised.
Jelly and I exchanged a look, and I tried to hide my smile.
Jelly cocked her head. Never one to sugarcoat things she asked, “What’s the deal with you and Carmen? Are y’all together or not?”
He almost spit his Coke out at her bluntness.
“Uh… that’s um…” his voice trailed off, and he looked around for one of us to rescue him, but we were just as curious as Jelly was.
“I don’t know,” he finally said, staring up at the sky for a moment.
“It doesn’t seem so,” he said quietly. He stood back up and started to walk away.
I kicked Jelly’s foot.
“Ow! What the hell, Daze?”
“What are you doing? You made him sad, and it wasn’t any of your business, anyway.”
She frowned. “You think I made him sad?”
“Definitely,” Nia agreed with me, looking at him thoughtfully.
Jelly sighed and rolled up to a sitting, then a standing position. “Shit. I’ll go fix it.”
She walked over to him, talking quietly enough that we couldn’t hear what they were saying.
“You like him,” I said, watching Nia stare at their interaction.
“He’s amazing,” she said. “He just seems… too mature or something for me. Like he only wants to be with older women. Women in their thirties, I mean.”
“He thinks you’re gorgeous,” I said.
Her eyes shot to mine. “You think so?”
I nodded.
“I don’t stand a chance against someone like Carmen Salazar. If that’s his type of woman, I’m screwed.”
I scrunched up my nose. “Why?”
“She’s beautiful, smart, has a killer body, is a lawyer, owns successful businesses, has self-confidence oozing from her pores… do I need to go on?”
I waved a hand in the air. “Details. If you’re into him, go for it.”
She looked tempted, but also doubtful. It wasn’t a look I’d seen on her often. Nia wasn’t the type who had to ask guys out. They came to her.
But I had a feeling Byron would take some convincing, no matter how attractive he thought she was.
She changed the subject. “I think this is working.” She nodded her head at him. Then she gave me a kind of mad look. “I still can’t believe you were trying to hide this from me.”
I sighed, laying back on the quilt and looking up at the clouds. “I was trying to protect you. I didn’t want you anywhere near the stalker, and I thought you might try to move in with me or something. We’ve been over this.”
“I know. It’s just… unnerving that something that serious was going on with you and you hid it from me.”
“You haven’t hurried to tell me why you want to work at Sugar,” I clapped back.
My phone buzzed. I rolled over to check it.
I’d been expecting a call from Madeline, who was going to take me for a dress fitting.
Jack was having a party at Salazar Nights in a couple of days to announce progress on CaveSphere 4.
He had these parties every now and then.
He said his sister thought it was important to keep people connected and excited about the sequel.
I’d had to hurry and shop for an appropriate gown for the event.
Jack’s last date to one of these ‘hype’ parties as Laura called them, was a famous model.
That was a hard act to follow, so I wanted to look my best. Madeline had found me a slinky, floor-length beaded gown with an almost inappropriately low neckline and super high leg slit.
It was a peacock gown, with several shades of blue, purple, and green fading into each other.
It was the prettiest dress I’d ever tried on, and I couldn’t wait to wear it to the party.
I picked up the phone, expecting to see Madeline’s name, but UNKNOWN flashed across the screen instead. The text was simple and to the point:
Unknown: They can’t stop me.
“Fuck,” I whispered, but Nia heard me. She must’ve flagged Byron over, because before I knew it, he was beside me.
“What does it say?” he asked, crouching down next to me.
I held it out to him.
He took it, standing tall and looking around. “I bet he’s watching now. Time to pack up ladies,” he said, the casual fun of the day over.
I had a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach. I’d been lulled into a false sense of security, thinking my stalker had taken one look at Byron and turned his attentions elsewhere.
But that hadn’t been the case at all.
I packed everything up hurriedly, and Byron ushered me, Jelly, and Nia into his car. He stayed on the phone for most of the short drive back to Cinnamon House. We heard him update the mayor and the sheriff.
He pulled up in front of the house. “Jelly, Nia, why don’t y’all go on inside. I’ll take Daisy to her dress fitting and then back to her condo. Nia, I know you don’t live here…”
“I’ll take her home. Don’t worry,” Jelly assured him.
He nodded. “Good. Neither of you need to walk or ride your bikes anywhere by yourself for a while. This guy knows who you are. He’s seen you with Daisy, and we don’t want him snatching either of you in order to get her to come to him.”
I winced. This was the exact thing I’d been trying to keep from happening.
“Bye, y’all.” I gave them a half wave, horrified to have brought a stalker into my friend’s lives.
They waved back, worried looks on their faces as they watched me leave.
“It’s not your fault,” Byron said kindly. “And you don’t need to worry; we’re going to get this guy.”
I smiled at him, but I could feel that it was wobbly.
What if they didn’t catch him? What if he caught me first? Or worse, one of my friends?
I couldn’t stay in West Bay with Jack. That was just a dream. Besides, he hadn’t even asked me to. Not really. I had to wake up to reality.
And if I didn’t want to endanger my friends, that reality wasn’t going to be in West Bay.