34. Chapter Thirty-Four
Chapter Thirty-Four
VIOLET
Friday night and all day Saturday with Seth had been amazing.
Our schedules could be hectic, but it was nice when we both had a day off together.
It surprised me how easily we fell into a comfortable domesticity.
How natural it felt to be there with him.
From making breakfast together to helping him water plants and picking some vegetables he had growing—it all felt so right.
My favorite part of the day, though, was getting to watch him chop wood while I sat on the porch pretending to read one of my spicy romance novels on my phone.
It wasn’t that I didn’t want to read it.
I’d had every intention of immersing myself in it.
But the way his muscles flexed as he brought the ax down hard on the wood had been too distracting to focus on my book.
But all good things must end eventually, and he was back at work while I got to do my favorite Sunday chore—grocery shopping. I actually loved going to the grocery store early on a Sunday. No one there but me and some of the town’s elderly population.
I picked up some pasta and made my way down the aisle, freezing at the end when a sudden feeling of someone watching me hit. I glanced back down the way I’d just come. No one was there.
Was I losing my mind?
Was this a lingering effect of a sex hangover?
Was that a thing? Because the amount of times Seth had made me come in the last thirty-six hours was definitely a first for me.
In fact, in the past, I’d had issues. But now I had to wonder if it was more about the person I was with than a problem with me.
I continued my shopping, stopping at the meat section to get some chicken and ground beef. As I reached for a package of chicken breasts, the hair on my arm felt like it was standing up. I shivered—not in the way Seth made me shiver—the feeling of being watched enveloping me again.
I spun quickly, looking one way and then the other. Literally, there was not a single person in sight.
I stood there for a minute, just to make sure, before I finally shook it off, focusing back on the meats.
My last stop was the produce section toward the front of the store.
After grabbing peppers, onions, and brussels sprouts, I moved on to the fruits.
I weighed the options of cherries or grapes, one package in each hand, raising and lowering them as I decided which one to get. Maybe I’d just get both.
I glanced up and choked back a gasp as I caught sight of someone wearing a dark green hoodie exiting the store.
The figure was so similar to the one on the video footage I had scoured from two of the fires.
I dropped the bags of berries and sprinted after the mystery man…
or woman. Once outside, I froze out on the sidewalk, looking around.
He was gone.
I blew out a frustrated breath and glanced up at the camera pointed at me. I had to call Dylan and get him down here. I wanted a look at the grocery store’s video footage.
Maybe it was nothing. Or maybe it was the arsonist. A chill worked down my spine. He had no problem sending Logan a message back in June when he lit his garage on fire, and it was no secret I was helping with the case.
Did I need to be worried that he was purposely following me, ready to send me a message, too?
One thing at a time. First call Dylan, and then worry about the fact that the arsonist might’ve been watching me.
I didn’t believe it was all a coincidence. In my line of work, those were few and far between.