Chapter Two
Ox
I expect a cabin. Instead, we pull up to a motorhome that’s been affixed to a slab of concrete and piped into the ground. I’ve heard of people living like this but haven’t seen it before myself. Everyone’s got a different name for them, but they all mean the same. People like Jo move constantly, live out of trailers, and don’t pay taxes. Hell, from what I’ve heard, I think it’s customary that they all meet up in the desert once a year for an orgy.
I need to make a note to work that into my conversation later.
“How long have you been here?” I ask, still lying flat in the backseat of her car. It’s a Honda Civic and an extremely tight squeeze for a man my size.
“Almost a year. I didn’t plan on settling down, but I got talking to Raven Baxter and she’s the one who was telling me that there was a rental space for a studio in town, so I thought I’d try it out for a while. I’ve always wanted to teach yoga, and I guess I needed a push. So, when one of the Baxters lays out a studio, her uncle’s goats, and some land to park on, you listen. Prior to that conversation, all I did was find ways to second guess myself.”
As we park outside the fifth wheel, I ask, “Why didn’t you think you could teach yoga?” The more I know about her, the easier it’ll be to figure out who the hell this asshole is that’s following her.
“Well,” she laughs, standing up out of the car, “I’m not in the kind of shape you’d think a yoga teacher would be.” The car door slams shut, and she looks at me through the window.
She looks in perfectly good shape to me.
“How are we going to do this?” Her voice is muffled through the glass, and I can’t help but laugh under my breath. Does she not realize that she’s talking to me through her car door? Whoever’s watching her would know I was here by now. That or they’d think she’s crazy. It blows my mind the way people glaze over details.
I sit up and open the door, exposing myself to the open. I make a mental note of the space outside. A forest surrounds us and there’s an open valley to the north. “We’re not. I’m going to walk in. Unlock the door, please.”
She moves quickly, and though the trailer is stable, it shakes as I climb up the steps.
“Holy shit.” She glances back toward me. “You really make this place look small.”
I feel like I make this place look small. Inside, my head nearly brushes the top of the trailer and the slightly smaller version of everything is overwhelmingly tiny against my frame.
That said, I’m impressed with what she’s done to the place. She’s completely renovated the space. I help myself to a tour. The kitchen isn’t a standard kitchenette like you’d expect in some trailers. There’s a full-size fridge, an oven, granite countertops, and a pantry. Behind that is a little sitting room with skylights above it.
Dark curtains stay pulled over the windows and a laptop sits on the small dining room table that looks custom built.
I climb three steps to find a loft that’s stuffed to the gills with bins before exploring further and finding a bathroom with tile floors and water droplets dripping from the head. The final stop is her bedroom in the back with a king bed and sage green linens and a closet with a stacked washer and dryer.
“You really helped yourself,” she says, as I step back into the kitchen.
“Sorry, force of habit. Always secure the environment upon entering.”
The hum of the fridge rattles in the background as Jo attends to dishes in the dishwasher.
“I’ve never been in one of these things. They’re pretty crazy,” I say, opening the control panel on the wall to study the details.
“The best part is the back balcony. Come on. I’ll show you.” Setting a glass up in the cupboard, she leads me past the living room onto the screened porch in the back. I don’t step out at risk of exposing myself again. Instead, I stay in the doorway as she spins around the small space.
She’s gorgeous. Dark blonde hair, full pink lips, curves, and a smile I don’t want to look away from. This place makes her happy. That much is clear. She points toward the rocking chairs and a table she’s set up with a little flowerpot in the center.
“It’s pretty great. Does this fold up when you’re driving?”
She nods. “Yeah. It’s awesome. I could also lower that bar and load four wheelers or whatever onto it, so I don’t have to tow them.”
“You ride four wheelers?”
“I did, but I haven’t in a long while. What about you?”
“Grew up riding ‘em. As a kid, that was all we did, and I got back into them again in Arizona. There’s so much space out there. You can go for miles and not run into anyone.”
I’ve wanted that kind of land for so long. Something where you’re so isolated that it might as well be your own deserted island. As my mind drifts, I can feel a sigh leave my lips.
Jo catches it quickly and says, “Are you ok?”
“Yeah. Sorry about that.” I chuckle a little as I say, “I guess that’s just what the thought of homesteading does to me. Kind of like your yoga, I might need a push to finally do it.”
Her eyes light as she walks back into the trailer and slides the lock closed. “ Homesteading? Oh my God. That’s my dream. I have this fantasy where I have this self-sustaining property. I wanted to do it with this place, but the soil is awful here and there’s no good spot to get water from. The whole area has massive rocks right under the topsoil.”
I laugh. “You’re so different from your sister. In all the time I’ve known her, I don’t think we talked about a single thing that wasn’t what she wanted to buy next.”
“Yeah, she’s a diva. When we were kids, she’d be inside with a literal bucket filled with makeup while I was out smearing mud all over my face.”
“Oh wow. A girl after my own heart.” I can feel myself unintentionally leaning in as I ask, “How did you two end up so different?”
A beautiful smile lights up her face. “My dad. When I was a kid, my dad and I spent Sundays fishing, and every night after work we’d head out for a hike. Siren wanted nothing to do with any of that, so it felt special. Like there was a time where I was the one getting all the attention.” Her smile drops a little as she says, “I kept all that up as an adult, but I miss having someone to go with. A walk through the woods by yourself is good once in a while, but I’ve found you need a partner to share the experience with to truly turn it into something special.”
I know I need to ask Jo questions, but I can’t get so personally invested. Maybe my first job shouldn’t have been for a curvy little thing in tight leggings. I drag in a breath, trying to regain my focus, and take a few steps back toward the kitchen. “What time of the night does your stalker usually come around?”
“I don’t know. Somewhere between seven and ten is when I usually see him. Does this happen to a lot of people? I feel like I’m imagining it or something.”
“It happens. Do you have any enemies? Any ex-boyfriends that could be disgruntled or past customers who claimed you cheated them out of money?”
She pulls a bag of chips out of the pantry and waves the bag toward me as though offering me some. They’re plain but they’re kettle cooked, which are a favorite of mine, but eating together is even more intimate than working together and I’m already letting this job get out of hand, so I shake my head to her offer.
She dips into the bag and moves a handful into her mouth, crunching as she starts to talk. I love how casual she is. “I don’t think so. I mean, I’ve dated a little, but nothing serious. The worst fight I ever got into was with this lady at the grocery store. I think we were both exhausted and we just lost it over a parking spot, but I don’t think she sent her husband to stalk me.”
I drag in a deep breath and let it out slowly. “What have you done for work? You’ve traveled a lot, so you must meet a lot of people.”
“That’s true. I meet people, but… I don’t stay long enough to build connections. Really, I have no idea who the hell this could be.” She walks into the living room and curls up onto the chair and stares toward me, dragging her chips in one by one. “You’re really not hungry?”
I nod toward my backpack by the door. “I brought my own food.”
“No. You have to eat with me, or I’ll be sad. You don’t want me sad, do you?” Her lip pouts out playfully. “Come on. Just one?”
I drag in a deep breath and stick my hand into the bag of chips, grabbing a few out for pleasantries. I tell myself it’s a calculated move to keep her talking, but I think the truth is, I didn’t like the look of her lip pouting. “Okay, but I need to know more about the people you’ve dated. Typically speaking, stalkers tend to be obsessed lovers from the past.”
She grins. “Is that what’s happening now? You’re still into my sister, so you hang around me to get close to her?”
My brows wrinkle. “That’s not what’s happening now. Your sister and I were… incompatible on so many levels.” I swallow down the salty chip. “She’s not my type.”
Jo’s brows raise. “She’s everyone else’s.”
I get the feeling that there’s some tension built between the two of them.
“Not mine. She’s high maintenance, dramatic, vain… should I go on?”
“Yes,” she grins, “please do.”
I swallow back the laughter that tries to escape. “I bet you’d love that.”
“I love her, I really do. And yes, she is those things, which is why we’ve had so much friction over the years, but the older we get, the easier it’s gotten to appreciate our differences. It’s so much better than letting them pull us apart.”
“Whose idea was that? Yours or hers?”
She looks down at the bag of chips, then at me again. “It doesn’t matter. I just want her to be happy. Right now, I’m not sure she’s happy.”
I bite back any negative talk I have about Siren. We dated for such a short time that I don’t know her all that well anyway, but I know for a fact that we’d never have worked out long-term.
“So in all the people you’ve dated, none have ever done or said anything weird that might mean something now?”
She studies the room as though the answer is hidden behind the couch. “Oh. Well, there is one weird thing. I dated this guy once who thought it would be fun to like tie me up. Call me crazy, but I’m all for the whole BDSM thing. I mean, I love it when a man takes control and demands what he wants. It’s so hot.”
My cock throbs at the thought of her tied up or on her knees, though not for some asshole.
She sighs. “The weird part was that this guy tied me up and then just left me there.”
My chest tightens. “What?”
“Yeah, he told me it was a part of his style of BDSM. It was a power thing, and that the longer he kept me there, the hotter it was.” She rolls her eyes. “When I managed to get myself out, I called the police.”
Blood boils under my skin. “How long were you tied?”
She shrugs. “Two hours maybe.”
“Where did he go?”
“I don’t know. He just tied me up and left. Needless to say, I never spoke to him again.”
My fists tighten. “When did this happen?”
She draws a heavy breath and looks into the distance. “Maybe five months ago. He tried calling me a few times since then, but I don’t answer his calls.”
I’m more invested than I should be already because I want to kill this fuck for hurting her. “What’s his name?” I growl.
“Paul. I think his last name was Earnhardt or Earhart. It was something like that. Why?” She looks back at me blankly as though she isn’t catching on to what this could mean. “If you’re thinking it’s him stalking me, it’s not. The police came, took his name, and did a background check on him. He’s an insurance broker with no record. The dude is as boring as can be.”
I groan. Police are notorious for glazing over things. “Do you have a street address on him?”
“It was a while ago. I don’t remember all the details.”
“A city? A phone number? Anything?”
“I know he was from just outside of Houston. I deleted him from my contacts, and I don’t have any other information.”
I nod and stand from the chair, grabbing my laptop out of my bag. “Okay. We’ll start there, and I’ll see what I can find.”
“Don’t you think this is a dead end? I mean, this was a while ago.”
“It’s the only lead we have, little one. So, we’re going to take it.”
Her cheeks blush. “Little one?”
Fucking hell! Did I say that out loud?
“Sorry.” I stand from the chair and move into the kitchen, leaning against the counter. “I should get some work done.”