35. Chapter Thirty-Five
Chapter Thirty-Five
VIOLET
Why did it feel like no matter what we did, we couldn’t catch a damn break.
Good news was we could deduce the guy following me in the grocery store was likely the arsonist. Bad news?
He was careful. Wore a baseball cap and kept his face down and away from where the cameras were the entire time.
Just like in the video footage I’d already watched.
And I was convinced more than ever there was no way it was a coincidence. No one goes to the grocery store and walks around with their head down the whole time.
Dylan of course became super paranoid, and I couldn’t get him to agree on my suggestion to use me as bait.
Instead, he decided to have a patrol car drive by my house regularly.
Which brought me back to the conversation I was having with Seth as we laid in bed together, his arm wrapped around my shoulders and my head on his chest.
“It’s ridiculous. I don’t need a babysitter.”
“I’m with Dylan on this one. Better safe than sorry.” Seth pressed his lips to the top of my head. “I hate that I have to leave you in the morning to head to Charlotte, but knowing Dylan has someone keeping an eye on you makes me feel better about it.”
Probably good that I didn’t tell him about that great idea I brought to Dylan. Seth would probably go all alpha protective male if Dylan had said yes to using me as bait. I smiled. Somehow, I hated that idea less when Seth was the one being overprotective.
“Are you nervous about tomorrow?” I was trying really hard not to be jealous that he was going to the baby appointment with Lucy. I wanted him to know I was supportive. “Or excited? Both?”
“A little of both.”
“And you’re going to stay with your brother tomorrow night?”
“Yeah, since I have off until Thursday. Figured I’d spend the night there tomorrow and come back sometime Wednesday.” His arm tightened slightly around my shoulders, pulling me closer into him. “Unless anything else weird happens and you need me back here.”
I rolled my eyes. “I doubt anything will happen with patrol making their presence known.”
And that was my argument against them driving by or following me. We needed to catch this guy. And he wasn’t going to do anything catch-worthy with eyes everywhere.
“Good.” His voice was clipped, like he knew where my thoughts went.
I sighed and relaxed into his hold. There was no point in arguing since Dylan wasn’t budging anyway.
“Sure you don’t want to come with me?”
He’d asked the same question earlier. And he wasn’t in the habit of repeating himself. I raised up on my elbow so I could look at him. “I told you earlier, if you want me to go, I will. In a heartbeat.”
He searched my face. “But you’re ready to catch this guy…” He sighed. “Honestly, I want him caught too. Especially now that it seems like he has his eyes on you.”
I’d told him earlier that Dylan and Aiden would be working on pulling footage from a few of the other businesses that sat around the grocery store to see if they could get a glimpse of the guy or maybe what kind of vehicle he’d gotten into.
We were doubtful there were any cameras that covered the entire lot, just pieces of it, but thorough was the name of the game in these situations.
Regardless, I would be useful at the station tomorrow going through anything they did find.
All that to say, if Seth said he needed me in Charlotte tomorrow, then that was where I would be.
I studied him for a minute before he shook his head. “As much as I wouldn’t mind if you went with me, I agree they need you at the station right now more.”
It was nice to know he wanted me with him, but it wasn’t like I could go with him to the appointment anyway. I would just be waiting at his brother’s house until he got back. His practical side would see that as so much wasted time. I smirked at that thought as I relaxed back down on his chest.
“But…” he started, and I tensed, wondering what he was going to say. “The next time I go home to visit, I want you to come with me.”
I smiled. “I can’t wait.” Then something dawned on me. “Does your family know?”
“About you?”
I shook my head. “No. About the baby.”
“Oh.” His hand stopped its movement up and down my arm. “My brother does. I talked to him the other day. My parents don’t yet.”
I popped back up on my elbow and studied him. “Do you think they’ll be upset?”
“No, the complete opposite.” He sighed. “They’ll be excited. But I’m afraid they’ll think we’re getting back together. And when I tell them that isn’t happening, I don’t know how they’ll react. I want to have that conversation with them in person, not over the phone.”
I narrowed my eyes. “So you’re planning to do that while you’re there tomorrow?”
“Yes.” He brushed the hair back behind my ear. “And once I tell them that I found someone who I’m madly in love with, they’ll understand.”
I softened just a hair. “And if they don’t?”
“I don’t see that happening. But I also don’t need their permission or blessing to live my life the way I see fit.” He smirked. “I know once they see how crazy I am about you, they’ll get it. My mom already suspected even before we were together.”
“Huh?” I tilted my head.
“When I went home right before the softball game a few weeks ago, my mom asked my brother if I was seeing someone. Apparently, I couldn’t stop smiling like an idiot at my phone.”
I stared at him. Somehow that admission shouldn’t have surprised me, but it did.
“Don’t look so surprised.” He chuckled and lifted my hand off his chest, bringing it to his mouth and pressing his lips to the inside of my wrist. “From that moment I asked you to fake date me—probably even before that—it should’ve been obvious to both of us that I liked you.”
“I don’t know… You glowered a lot in those first couple of weeks.”
His lips pulled up into a smirk. “And now?”
“You still glower.” I traced my finger across his chest. “Just not at me.”
“Because you make me happy.” He covered my hand with his. “Really fucking happy.”
His words settled deep in my core, and I smiled as I thought about how different he was now. How much he had surprised me from the beginning. The guy who used the least amount of words possible turned out to steal my breath with the things he would say to me.
I thought back to how this all started. “Good thing for both of us you don't shy away from running into burning buildings.”
His fingers tangled in my hair, and he leaned forward and brought my lips to meet his.
The gentle, tender way he kissed me was perfect.
But I knew, like every other time, it wouldn’t take long before it turned to more.
The passion that blazed between us just seemed to get stronger with every passing day. And I prayed it would never diminish.