21. Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-One
DYLAN
I flicked my wrist and checked my watch. Hattie would be down any minute. I’d gotten up even earlier than usual and put on a pot of coffee. Now I was making eggs and bacon. Hattie wouldn’t eat the eggs, but even though she didn’t eat breakfast, she loved bacon. Who didn’t?
I only indulged on occasion, but since I’d discovered she liked it, I’d been making it regularly.
Anxiety gnawed at me as I turned off the stove. Would today be awkward? I hoped it wouldn’t be.
After I’d gone to bed last night, I couldn’t stop thinking about her. Her flushed cheeks and the mask of indifference she’d slid into place when she said she understood my reasons for not wanting to get involved were hell to deal with. Even worse? Thoughts of her touching herself kept popping into my head.
At the sound of her footsteps on the hardwood, I glanced over my shoulder.
“Good morning,” she said with a smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes.
Although she was dressed, her hair was still wet, and she hadn’t done her makeup. She would grab a couple of strips of bacon and a cup of coffee, then she’d head back to finish getting ready. It was routine by now. What was abnormal today? She was missing that morning pep I’d started looking forward to.
“Good morning.” I wasn’t sure what to say to make this right, to explain to her that she was important. That, in fact, she was so important that I was afraid to cross a line we couldn’t come back from.
If it were only the Rhett issue, I could argue that Jackson had already barreled over the line drawn between a guy and his best friend’s sister. He’d gone as far as to marry her. Was that what I wanted? I couldn’t say yes for sure, but then again, how would I know if I didn’t give myself a chance to find out?
Regardless, the bigger issue was that it was stupid to get involved with a person I had been tasked with protecting. It complicated things and added a distraction I did not need. And after what Aiden told me last night, I needed to be even more focused. This guy wasn’t letting up, and his moves were getting more daring.
“Coffee’s in the pot.” I tipped my head toward the coffee maker sitting on top of the granite countertop a foot away. “And your bacon is on the island.”
“Oh.” Her gaze bounced from the island to me before landing on the coffee pot. “Thank you.”
She brushed past me, bringing with her the smell of fresh rain. When she opened the cabinet above the coffee pot and pulled out a mug, I found myself leaning closer to breathe her in.
Turning over her shoulder, she locked eyes with me. I couldn’t help but drink her in. High cheekbones, face free of makeup, long lashes.
Christ, she was beautiful.
When her gaze locked on my lips, I blinked and turned away, forcing myself to focus on the eggs that needed to be plated.
The moment she left the kitchen, her absence was a physical ache.
Half an hour later, though, when her long locks brushed my forearm as she leaned over the middle console to place her backpack purse behind the seat, I was cursing her presence.
The drive to The Dock was awkward. She didn’t speak and made sure to remain engrossed in her phone the whole time. It was equal parts torture as well. I hated the rift that had developed between us. And deep down, I knew there wasn’t anything I could do to fix it.
Did I want her? Of course. Increasingly more so each moment I spent with her. But I didn’t see how we could get what we wanted without comprising my friendship with Rhett, my job, and, most importantly, her safety.
Once I pulled up outside the restaurant, she threw the door open and thanked me without looking back.
I breathed a sigh of relief as I drove to the station, thankful for a few minutes of peace to get my shit together and stop obsessing about what stood between us.
Once I stepped inside the office, I headed straight to my desk, ready to focus on the case.
Aiden was already in front of his computer. “I have the footage pulled up from last night.”
“Just mine?” I’d sent him my recordings before heading upstairs to bed and then inadvertently listened to Hattie pleasure herself.
I stiffened and blinked. Do not think about that .
Aiden cocked his head and narrowed his eyes, but after a moment, he said, “The neighbor sent me hers this morning.”
“Perfect.”
When Aiden called last night and told me that the woman who lived a few houses down had called about a possible intruder lurking in her backyard, I immediately downloaded the recordings from my exterior cameras.
“I went through mine briefly last night before sending them, but I’ll go through them again while you watch the neighbors.”
He nodded.
“I’m assuming none of the patrols found anything last night?”
He raised an eyebrow. “I would’ve updated you if they did.”
“Yeah, of course.” I shook my head.
“You okay?” He gave me a worried frown.
“Yup.” I scoffed. “This guy is starting to get under my skin.”
A chuckle rumbled out of him. “It could be unrelated, you know.”
He’d said the same thing last night, but I highly doubted it.
“My gut tells me it isn’t.”
I sat at my computer and got to work watching the footage from my backyard. From there, I went through what the camera mounted above my garage had caught. But nothing stood out as odd.
All thoughts of Hattie had been pushed to the back of my mind, but that changed when, on the screen, my SUV pulled into my driveway. I slowed the recording down and watched. Her car had been parked in my garage for the last week, and I had been parking outside.
Hattie stepped out of the vehicle, her long hair floating in the breeze, and as I came around the front of the car, she smiled at me. My stomach sank when I watched myself place a hand at the small of her back and usher her up the walkway.
Jesus, the look on her face when she glanced at me over her shoulder was like a punch to the gut. I was officially an asshole. Despite my attraction, I shouldn’t have been touching her like that. But the more time I spent around her, the more I found myself looking for any reason to make contact with her. I wanted to touch her in the most intimate of ways, to feel her writhe under me as I brushed my fingers over her bare skin. Grip her thighs as I plowed into her?—
“Dude,” Aiden snapped, pulling me out of my thoughts.
Sucking in a harsh breath, I turned to him. What the fuck was his problem?
“What’s up with you?” he asked, narrowing his eyes.
“What do you mean?”
Huffing, he rounded my desk and squinted at my computer screen. “Huh. Figures.”
“What?” I shrugged. “I’m watching my footage.”
“More like watching your girl.”
A flash of irritation mixed with guilt spiked in my veins. “She’s not my girl.”
“Yeah, not buying it.” He crossed his arms and loomed over me. “I’ve never known you to zone out like that.” He pointed at his desk. “I had to say your name three times to get your attention.”
I shook my head. Dammit. He was right about that. I hadn’t realized he was speaking until he snapped at me.
“I’m just laser focused right now. I want to catch this guy.”
I locked my jaw because part of me wanted to add so I can figure things out with Hattie . Because once we caught the stalker, the only obstacle we’d have to overcome would be Rhett. And I was hopeful that issue could be solved with a simple conversation. Rhett wouldn’t love it if I dated Hattie, but he’d get over it. Eventually.
“You need to figure this shit out.” Aiden pointed to the paused image of Hattie and me walking up the sidewalk. “Because this is one hell of a distraction for you, and I don’t like it.”
“Noted.” I pushed away from my desk with a huff and stood. “Going to make a cup of coffee.”
Was he right? Was I distracted?
And to think this was what I had been trying to avoid.
Fuck. I had no idea how to keep my mind from drifting to her. Even when she wasn’t around, my thoughts were always about her.
Regardless, sleeping with her was a bad idea. Right?