30. Chapter 30
Chapter 30
Arlo
It’s been a week since we broke my bed and decided to make a real go of things. Of course, that was the same day that some creeper decided to ask Rina to make her a bed. Ever since she forwarded the email thread, I’ve been her silent shadow. She doesn’t know I’ve been following her and basically living out of my truck. If she did, she’d probably kill me.
But her instinct was right. There was something wrong with whomever sent the inquiry, and I couldn’t leave her by herself until I figured it out. Audrey’s been up my ass about working out of the office, and Oakley’s annoyed he can’t just walk across the street to brainstorm and come up with a plan to catch whoever is stalking Rina.
We did finally have a breakthrough with the damn box that was left on Rina’s doorstep.
A scrapbook of pictures, date ideas, and house plans were inside, and it made my stomach physically roll when I dug deeper. Combining that with this new furniture inquiry, Oakley and I are ninety-five percent sure they’re connected. The number he gave was a dead end, but we’re working on getting through the red tape to locate the IP address, so hopefully that narrows things down for us.
Thank God Oakley decided to help out on a case-by-case basis because his connections and knowledge have eased me off the edge with Rina’s case. I think I’d be losing my mind every day if I didn’t have his help.
Rina and I have been going at a much slower pace as well. I think the other night freaked her out, and I understand her reasoning for wanting to take things slower. She may have mostly forgiven me, but that doesn’t mean we can just pick up where we left off. We’ve been talking, texting mostly, about everyday life, but nothing past that. No other mentions of the past, of us being married, or the future. However, tonight, we’re going on a date.
And I’m nervous as hell.
One wrong move could topple this carefully held together truce, and that’s the last thing I want to happen.
My phone pings, and I sigh as I pull it out, expecting it to be Audrey again, yelling at me that the meddlesome trio is bothering her about my whereabouts again.
Rina:
How long are we going to pretend you aren’t sitting outside in your truck all day, every day?
Busted.
Me:
Umm…
Rina:
You should just come work at the desk in my workshop. That’s if you can deal with the sounds of power tools… On second thought, that’s probably obnoxiously loud. You could work in the house?
Adorable; she’s completely adorable when she rambles.
Me:
The desk sounds perfect. I’ll be there in a minute.
I would pay good money to have my workday be in the same building as Rina. I probably wouldn’t get much done, but the life of a small-town sheriff isn’t all that busy to begin with. Watching my wife work her magic on some planks of wood? Definitely sounds like a great day to me.
I grab my laptop, phone, and bottle of water before heading to her barn workshop. When I step through the door, my teeth grate at the knowledge that anyone could just walk in here. Closing the door and locking it behind me, I finally take in the view in front of me.
Rina’s wearing dark purple leggings and a grey tank top. Her hair’s plopped on the top of her head, and she’s wearing safety glasses that somehow look endearing on her. There’s also a sexy-as-fuck smirk on her face that I would give anything to wipe off her face with a couple of orgasms, but work needs to come first right now.
“How long would you have kept up your watch dog act?”
“As long as it takes to make sure you’re safe,” I say. “Although, I’m disappointed I wasn’t more discreet.”
“You were. I just seem to have an innate sense of you whenever you’re close by.” She shrugs .
Warmth blooms in my chest at her words. It’s starting to feel like we aren’t as far away from my ultimate end goal as it seems. That’s not to say I won’t continue to work my ass off to be deserving of her because I know it will take continual work on my end. But her words, no matter how much of a smartass she tries to be, give me endless hope about the future.
“Good to know if I ever want to surprise you,” I say quietly.
Rina clears her throat. “I don’t have a ton of work left, but I will be sanding a ton and ripping some larger pieces of wood. Is that going to be okay?”
“Absolutely. Pretend I’m not even here.” I set down my stuff at her desk as she stares at me with a look I can’t decipher.
“Yeah, super easy. I’ll just ignore the tight jeans and baseball hat. Let’s not even mention the tights-as-fuck sheriff shirt that shows all your muscles.” Her murmured tone is almost too low for me to hear but not quiet enough.
I grin. I can’t help it. “What was that?” I ask like the asshole I am.
“Oh, shut up. You heard me. If I cut myself today because I’m distracted, it’s all your fault.”
“I can take the T-shirt off if it’s too distracting,” I offer with laughter.
She narrows her eyes at me before spinning on her heel and going to the opposite end of the building.
Within twenty minutes, she’s working away like I’m not even here while I’m stuck staring at her, mesmerized by her capabilities. Seeing the end product is so much different from seeing her actually build them. Logically, I know she’s good at her job and she makes beautiful things, but watching her process and how she can turn raw wood into works of art is truly something to behold. I don’t think I’ll ever get over it .
Our deal about building me a bed pops into my head, and I can’t wait to see what she comes up with. Although, I’ll sleep on a mattress on the floor for as long as it takes to get to that point. With the injections, my back isn’t totally fucked in the mornings anymore, so getting up off the floor no longer poses the challenge it would have a few months ago.
I start thinking about what I want our life to look like. Things like moving into this house with her, getting a dog, run like a motion picture through my head. The land she has here is perfect, but I would want to add to the house. Really turn it into something that works for both of us and possibly any additions we bring home.
I’m so caught up in my daydreams that I don’t realize the power tools have stopped and the gorgeous woman I can’t stop thinking about is standing right in front of me.
“Must be thinking about something really good,” she observes with a small smile on her face.
“You have no idea, Emmerdeur,” I whisper.
“I’d love to hear all about it at dinner. I need to change, and I didn’t know if you did as well.” She gestures to my “distracting outfit”.
“I do. We could stop by my place on the way out if that works for you.”
“Since you aren’t leaving my side, apparently, that works.”
“Don’t act like you don’t love it,” I tell her as I get up and walk around the desk.
“I do, but I can’t let you know that. You’ll just get a big head, and Lord knows, it doesn’t need to get any bigger.”
I lean down and press a kiss to the side of her mouth. “You like my big head. Who else will you spar with every day?”
“I’ve done well on my own so far,” she snarks, but it hits a cord for me.
“Have you? Are you living the way you want to?” I ask softly as I wrap my arms around her waist.
“I-I don’t know. You make things complicated, make me question a lot of things, and I’m still trying to figure out what that all means.”
“Well, we’ve got all the time in the world, and I plan to be right by your side as we figure it out together.” I press another kiss to her temple before stepping back and tapping her ass. “Go get ready. We’ve got a date to get to.”
I happen to know Rina hasn’t been to the new bistro that opened up in Rosedale yet, so I thought it would be the perfect date night spot tonight.
Somehow, we didn’t end up getting distracted as we changed, so we made it on time for the reservations I called in a couple of days ago. She changed into a dress I’ve never seen her wear, her long hair floating down around her shoulders with just the hint of makeup around her eyes. I tossed on a button-down black shirt and the only pair of nice slacks that I have when we stopped by my house. Although technically not our first date, I wanted to make sure it felt like I was still courting her, still putting in effort to show her how important being with her is to me.
The hostess walks us to a table near the back, and I pull out Rina’s chair once we get there before I sit down.
“I feel out of place,” she leans forward and whispers .
My heart drops, and I start to backpedal. “We can go. If you don’t feel comfortable, we can go somewhere else.”
“No! God no, what I mean is, I live in leggings and usually have a layer of sawdust on me at all times, and this is fancy and normal. I’m used to not being put together enough to go somewhere like this, but I love it. I love the change of pace, I promise.” She places her hand on mine and gives it a soft squeeze. “And you look hot as hell in a button-up, not going to lie.” She smirks.
A surprised laugh leaves me. “If I had known all I needed to do was dress up occasionally, I would have done it sooner.”
“Oh please, you look good in anything. It’s insulting, honestly. I look like an overworked science experiment most of the time, and you just stroll in looking sexy as hell every single day.” She rolls her eyes.
“You know you could be in a burlap sack and I’d still want to fuck you, right? You are literally the sexiest thing I’ve ever seen, especially when you’re covered in sawdust. Never doubt for a second that you are anything short of gorgeous, every single day.” I grab her hand and press a kiss to the top.
“Did you learn how to be poetic from Oakley? Because you’re damn good at it, and I need someone to thank for it.”
“Why do you think I would learn it from Oakley?”
“Because he’s dating Willow, and she’s the resident writer; it makes sense that they would both be decent with words, and I’ve heard the way he talks to her sometimes… Poetic, I’m telling you.”
And I’m suddenly in competition with Oakley.
“This is all me, Emmerdeur,” I tell her with a sternness that I only let out in the bedroom. The arch of her eyebrow tells me she didn’t miss it .
A throat clears next to us, and we see a young man holding a notepad ready to take our order. We both jerk back, Rina’s face turning red as I roll my lips to keep from laughing.
“Good evening. How are we doing today?”
“Great, how about yourself?” I ask.
“Good, thanks for asking. Can I get you something to drink?”
I defer to Rina.
“I’ll have the grapefruit gin and tonic, please.” She places her menu down and looks at me.
“I’ll just have an iced tea, thank you.” He nods before leaving and leaving us on our own once again.
“Not drinking?”
“I haven’t been much of a drinker since my accident. It and pain meds didn’t mix well, so I just stopped drinking altogether and never looked back. I’m also almost always on call, so drinking doesn’t really lend itself to that either.”
“Makes sense. So, why are you parking in front of my house every day? I never asked you.”
I sigh, not really wanting to get into this on our date but knowing she will keep pressing until I do. “Between the box that was left and the furniture inquiry, I don’t feel comfortable leaving you alone.”
“It’s that bad?” she asks, fear in the undercurrent of her voice.
“It’s not necessarily bad; it’s just unknown, and sometimes that’s worse. If I’m able to protect you and take away the chance that this person gets close to you, I’ll do it. Oakley and I are still working to narrow down some firmer leads, so I don’t have much to tell you at the moment.” It kills me to admit that.
She nods, looking pensive. “What if we speed things along? ”
I already know I’ll hate whatever direction her thoughts are going. “How?”
“By being bait. Draw them out somehow.”
“Absolutely not.”
“Arlo! We’re not any closer, and this is starting to rule my life. I don’t like living this way, looking over my shoulder, wondering what’s coming next. If there’s a chance that I can do something to help, I want to do it.”
“No.”
“You’re a stubborn mule,” she mutters.
“But you’re safe, and that’s all that matters.”
She gives me a death stare as our waiter delivers our drinks. I thank him before ordering my food and then turning my stare to Rina. She confidently orders her meal, and he leaves just as quickly as he came. She turns her hard stare back at me.
“Be mad at me all you want. It’s not happening.” I bring my iced tea to my lips and take a sip as she rolls her eyes.
“I’ll just talk to Oakley.” She smirks.
“Like hell you will,” I growl. Pinching the bridge of my nose, I realize she’s just trying to goad me, but damn, it’s working. “Please, just give me time to figure this out.”
“I’ll try, okay? That’s all I can give you because it can’t be like this forever.”
“I know. It won’t be. I just need a little more time,” I beg. I know she hates this whole situation. She’s freaked out more than she wants to let on, but I absolutely can’t let her take things into her own hands.
A throat clears from behind me as whoever it is scoots back in their chair, bumping into mine in the process. I roll my eyes, but my eyes snag on Rina’s facial expression. She looks uncomfortable, and I start to turn around before she grabs my hand and shakes her head subtly.
“Fancy seeing you here,” a man’s voice sounds from behind me, presumably the man who bumped into me.
“Tyler, hi. Looks like things are going well for you,” Rina says with faux friendliness.
Tyler. Why does that sound familiar?
“Apparently for you as well.” The slight anger in his tone has my back straightening.
Rina cringes but doesn’t say anything.
“Well, I was just running to the bathroom,” he mocks. “Before going back to my date.”
I have never wanted to punch a condescending asshole as much as I do right now. I think this is the guy Rina was on a date with that I interrupted. I’m especially not sorry now that I know he’s a total dickhead.
Rina throws a little salute as I watch him walk to the back of the restaurant. So much for a nice, easy date.