Chapter 22 Tom
TOM
“Tom!” Kat’s voice has a weird tone to it, and her footsteps are quick on the stairs as if she’s running.
“What happened?” My gaze is laser focused as she comes around the corner, ready to deal with whatever it is that has her so animated.
“Emerson sent me a text. About tomorrow. Is that real?” She’s almost panting, her face flushed and her blue gray eyes bright as they lock on mine.
“Emerson…” Well, shit. “If by ‘is that real’ you mean are we heading into Chicago early so you can get ready before the signing? Then yes.”
“Hair. Makeup. And nails.”
“Yes.”
“Because of a offhand comment I made that you overheard.”
“Yes…” I admit even though that feels too raw.
“You did that for me? You set that up? On Monday?”
Monday feels like a lifetime ago and I’m not looking forward to the conversation I’ll undoubtedly have to have with Emerson after this.
Pressing my lips together, I take a moment to get my words just right. I’d done it without thinking before the rest of this week even happened.
Before I really wanted to see her smile.
And happy.
“I reached out to Emerson on Monday, yes.”
I should have seen it coming, but nothing could have prepared me for the way Kat lunges at me, her arms wrapping around my waist as she presses her face against my chest.
“Thank you.”
“Kat…” We shouldn’t be doing this. The contact’s already short-circuiting my brain as she grips me tighter.
“Shut up and hug me.”
The demand is unexpected, and I snort out a laugh, ignoring the way her body fits so well against mine with all those feminine curves and God, she smells good. It’s light but expensive like wildflowers and summer rain bottled especially for her.
Giving in to the moment, I let my arms wind around her back. “I wanted you to have some normalcy tomorrow.”
“And you think going to a high-end salon before having to interact with kids and parents is just a normal day?” she teases, holding me for a second longer before releasing her grasp and stepping back.
Not far, but far enough that I notice her absence.
Miss her warmth.
I cannot get attached to this woman.
“I was focused on the facts.”
“Which were…”
“You were sad about not having time to do something for yourself, you’ve had your whole world turned upside down but are trying to act like everything is fine, and I know that Emerson and her cousin used to go regularly to a place not far from where you need to be.
” Still keeping my expression neutral, I add, “It seemed like something I could facilitate.”
“Well, you, Thomas Oakden…”
“Tom.”
“You are top-tier book boyfriend material.” The line is delivered with a sexy smile as she backs out of the kitchen. “And on that note, I have to shower and shave my legs since I planned to do that in the morning.”
Lord have mercy.
“Sleep well, Kat.”
“I plan to.” She winks and throws a little wave over her shoulder. “Night, Tom!”
“So, about those reports…”
Son of a bitch.
I drag my hand down my face and pray for the patience required to deal with my nephew the moment I sit down in front of my laptop.
The one I forgot still had a video chat playing when Kat raced down the stairs.
“Why didn’t you just end the call?” I bark as I drop back into my chair, his shit-eating grin telling me there wasn’t a chance in hell of that happening.
“Have I told you recently you’re my hero?”
“Can we get back to work, please?”
“We can, but Emerson and I have been sending live updates back and forth. It’s better than reality TV and Kinsley is going to be so pissed she missed out.”
“No one is missing out because there is nothing to miss out on.”
“She called you top-tier book boyfriend material.” Royce gives a low whistle that makes me want to strangle him. “That’s a big deal.”
“You’re fired.”
“No, I’m not.” He laughs. “Plus I have information you want, so at the very least it buys me some time.”
This is why I keep to myself and don’t form relationships or show emotion.
“Tell me.”
“Hazel is still status quo. I can’t count her in or out yet.”
“How come?” I all but growl, stopping myself just barely from digging the tip of my pen into the legal pad in front of me.
“There are several social media accounts that use her Wi-Fi to post hateful comments about Kat.”
“Okay…”
“The problem is I’m not one hundred percent sure she is the one doing it. Someone could be accessing her signal.”
“The aunt?”
“It’s possible. I’m still looking into her too. Seems weird that a woman in her sixties would dedicate hours a day to bullying Kat online.”
“Weird, but not out of the realm of possibilities,” I remind him and he agrees, shoving a pencil behind his ear as he shuffles through a stack of papers.
“Nothing usable from the book or the packaging. The only thing worth noting is that it wasn’t purchased recently, so either our suspect got it secondhand or they purchased it and have been holding on to it all this time.”
The second option has the hair on the back of my neck standing up.
“How many books were burned at the rental?”
He clicks the mouse and adjusts his glasses and I have to stop myself from being momentarily distracted by seeing him in the office I still keep for him at my place.
Our place.
It’s the only place that’s ever felt like home.
“It looks like twenty-six. Kind of a weird number.” The last part is mumbled as he keeps clicking away at something only he can see.
“Why?”
“It’s a lot of books. Heavy and not easy to move. Probably expensive if they were bought outright.”
“Check Kat’s book sales over the last year. Look for large purchases from her inventory, online, and all that.”
“This is interesting…” he murmurs. “The book you pulled from the mailbox was not personalized but it was signed. About half the ones from the rental fire were signed as well.”
“Options?” I ask, my mind racing with the possibilities and trusting Royce to follow my line of thinking.
“Person uses fake or real names and addresses to directly ask for books to be signed and shipped, or it’s someone that owns a bookstore that she shipped signed books to that either never put them out or someone came through and cleaned out the shelf. Or maybe a resale site?”
“I don’t like any of those. What else?”
“She…”—his fingers fly across his keyboard—“sometimes posts in her videos that she leaves signed books in free libraries around Chicago and other places she visits. I talked to Colt, and he said sometimes he’ll take a stack of books on the road with him and do the same thing.”
“Videos too?”
“Yeah, he said he makes sure he’s not in them at all or he takes just pictures of the books in the free library and sends them to her. She posts them with the location tagged like a scavenger hunt.”
“Fuck.” Rubbing my hand over my hair, I let my palm fall to the back of my neck and squeeze, the muscles tight with tension. “Find the last three times they did it locally and see if there are any cameras within view.”
“People?”
“Probably not, but we might catch a glimpse of the sedan.”
“I’m on it,” he says confidently and I believe him. “You guys set for tomorrow?”
“Yeah.” I curse when my gaze lands on the clock at the top of the screen. “I need to get some sleep.”
“Good luck tomorrow. I’ll be standing by so I can drop what I’m doing if you need me to hack something on the fly.”
“You got it.”
“And remember to embrace that top-tier book—”
I close my laptop before he can finish that statement.
I don’t need any distractions.
Especially not a gorgeous, blonde author that was naked and wet in the shower after pressing her body against mine.
Definitely not.