The Shifter Romances The Writer (Nocturne Falls Book 6) (18 page)

Hugh Ellingham, Delaney’s gorgeous husband, hopped out of the car, umbrella in hand, and came around to open Delaney’s door.

“Must be nice,” Roxy said.

Delaney grinned as he helped her in. “It is. Very nice.”

Roxy gave Hugh a little wave. “Hi.”

He nodded back. “Hello, there. Nice to see you.”

“You too.”

He shut Delaney’s door then turned to Roxy and lifted the umbrella. “Can I walk you to your car?”

“Sure—oh, crud. I just realized I left my earrings on the counter in the dressing room. Thank you so much, but you go ahead.”

“All right then.”

She waved at Delaney and ran back in. Her earrings were right where she’d left them. She scooped them up and went back outside.

She stood a moment under the awning, waiting for the rain to let up and thinking about Hugh and Delaney. How amazing it would be to have that kind of relationship.

The drizzle wasn’t getting any better, so she ducked her head and ran to her car. She got in as quickly as she could, but had to wipe rain out of her eyes. Oh well. She was already covered in a bunch of different lotions and potions, what was a little rain water? And her car could totally use a bath.

Her thoughts went from Hugh and Delaney to Alex. Had he found anything out yet? She pulled her phone out and turned it back on now that she was out of the spa.

While she waited for it to start up, she glanced into her rearview mirror to look for cars behind her and went very still as she saw the back window. The rain had washed some of the words away, but enough of it was still readable, etched into the grime.

Have fun?

Alex woke to the ringing of his cell phone. He grabbed it off the nightstand without opening his eyes, a reflex born of years of being on call. He mumbled, “Cruz,” and waited for Birdie to fill him in on whatever emergency required his attention.

“Alex, it’s Roxy. Thomas followed me to the spa.”

Alex sat up, wide awake. “Are you okay?” She’d sounded stressed. The exact opposite of how she should sound after her spa day.

“Yes, I’m fine. Just shaken up.”

“Where are you?”

“Home. I didn’t actually see him at the spa. He wrote something in the dirt on my car window.” She hesitated, then blurted, “I feel like I’m being watched. That’s probably just my nerves, though. This is really freaking me out.”

“On my way over. Don’t answer the door for anyone else.”

“Okay. Thank you. I won’t.”

“You got it.” He hung up and got dressed, glad he’d showered before hitting the sack. He threw on jeans and a T-shirt. For a second, he thought about taking his off-duty weapon, but Thomas was a human. Alex wouldn’t need a gun to take the man down. Even if Thomas had a weapon, Alex was a shifter. It would take more than a bullet to stop him. That decided, he raced over.

He stood on her porch and checked the street in both directions. A steady drizzle had turned the day gray and dreary. No pedestrian traffic. No suspicious cars. But maybe the rain had sent Thomas back to wherever he was staying. Alex knocked. “Roxy, it’s me, Alex.”

She answered the door. “Hey.” Her tense expression gave way to a slow smile. Not the greeting he’d been expecting considering how she’d sounded on the phone. Then she pointed at his feet. “You forgot to put shoes on.”

He glanced down before answering her. “So I did. Is that a problem?”

She shook her head and stepped back so he could enter. “No, I think it’s very sweet that you were in that big of a rush to get over here.”

“You sounded worried.” And he was grateful that she’d called him. That he was who she’d chosen to reach out to when she needed to feel safe. Sure, he was a cop, she didn’t know that many people in town,
and
he lived next door, but he was still glad he was the one she’d turned to.

“I am a little worried.” She sighed as she closed the door. “Actually, I’m not freaking out as much as I was before. I don’t think I’m in danger, but I’m really ticked off. I just want Thomas to sign the stupid papers and disappear from my life.”

“What exactly happened at the spa?” She smelled great and looked…glowy. Must have been the spa treatments.

“When I got out to my car, he’d written on the dirt on the rear window. It said, ‘Have fun?’ like he knew I’d been in there.”

“Did you take a picture to document it?”

She frowned. “No, I didn’t even think about that. I just drove straight home. The rain washed it off.”

He studied her. “You said you don’t think you’re in danger, but how can you be sure? He’s obviously trying to rattle you. And if he doesn’t get what he wants soon, which I assume is for you to retract the divorce, he could escalate.” Alex hoped that was all Thomas wanted and not something more sinister.

She wrapped her arms around her torso and took a long moment before answering, her eyes losing some of their sparkle. “His temper can be scary.”

Alex took a breath, wishing he didn’t have to ask her the hard questions, but he needed to know what they were dealing with. “Did he ever hit you while you were married?”

“No.” She bit at the inside of her cheek. “But he put holes in walls. Threw a few things. Raised his voice a lot.” She shrugged. “I think he’s capable of it.”

He reached for his cell phone, then realized he’d left it on the night stand. He started to move toward the phone in the kitchen. “I’m calling the station.”

She put her hand on his arm, stopping him. “Please don’t. If the police get involved—I mean, I know you’re a cop, but the more complicated this gets… I just don’t want to give him any more reason to keep sitting on those unsigned papers.”

“You need an RO.”

“A what? Oh, restraining order?”

“Yes.”

“He hasn’t really done anything, though.”

Alex gave her a stern look. “And it needs to stay that way.”

“I’ll think about it. It’s not like I could get one today anyway.”

“You might. I could try to move things along. Plus, you’re a friend of Delaney’s, and the Ellinghams can make things happen.”

She shook her head. “I don’t want to ask her husband for a favor like that. Not yet. Not unless I really need it.”

He could have argued that point, but he also understood. He wasn’t someone who liked to be indebted to anyone either. “Okay, but you do need some kind of protection until we know for sure what’s going on.”

“What kind of protection?”

He put his hands in his pockets, the tile floor of her kitchen cool under his bare feet. “Me.”

Her brows lifted slightly, as did the corners of her mouth. “My own personal police force, huh?”

He nodded. “Something like that.”

“Okay, I’m game. What’s the plan?”

He took a breath. “First, I’m going back to my place. If Thomas is watching you, I want it to look like I was here and left. I’ll return to my house, gather a few things, then cross over from my backyard into yours. You can let me in through the slider.”

Her eyes narrowed. “There’s no gate in the fence between your yard and mine. And that fence is at least six feet tall. You plan on getting a ladder out?”

“Something like that.” Actually, he planned on jumping it. “Just be ready to let me in.”

“Got it. Then what?”

“Then we wait until dark, see if anything else happens. I hope not, but it would be nice if this came to a head sooner rather than later. If it doesn’t, I’m going to do some more investigating, see if I can figure out where he’s watching from, that sort of thing.” He also needed to check in with Birdie and Jenna again.

She bit at her cheek again. Like she was still worried.

“Hey, nothing’s going to happen to you. I’m not going to leave you alone until this is sorted out. When I’m not here, I’ll have another deputy on watch outside. But mostly, it’ll be me. Right here with you.”

She nodded, then lifted her head to look at him. “You’re going to stay here all night?”

He tipped his head toward the couch. “That’s why I’m coming back with a few things. I plan on staying in the house. On that couch. So long as that’s cool with you.”

She stared at the couch and let out a breath as her shoulders relaxed. She’d been more worried than she’d wanted to let on, that was obvious. “Yeah, that’s totally cool with me.”

He cupped her elbows and smiled at her. “Nothing’s going to happen to you. Nothing. Think of me as your own personal Wolfgang Blackborne.”

Her little half smile wasn’t that convincing as she muttered, “Thanks. If only you
could
change into a big scary wolf.”

He laughed. If only she knew. “I’m glad you think so highly of my ability to keep you safe.”

Her smile turned genuine. “No, no, I know you’re good at what you do and all that. I just…Thomas can be sort of be a bull dog about stuff like this.”

He gave her a wink. “Then maybe it’s time he was neutered.”

In the twenty minutes that Alex was gone, Roxy checked out her front windows twice, sent a quick email to her assistant, and opened a bottle of wine. Because if she was going to be a prisoner in her house, she was going to enjoy it.

Which was how she finished the first glass before Alex got back. She stood at the sliding door that led into the backyard, glass number two in hand, staring at the fairy house and wondering if her life would ever level out to something normal.

She sipped her wine, then sighed a long, slow breath that fogged the glass in front of her. She wiped it away with the heel of her palm, clearing the spot in time to see Alex appear in her backyard.

She blinked. It had looked like he’d jumped over the fence, but that wasn’t physically possible. He must have pulled a ladder up to his side and jumped from there. That’s all she’d seen.

He strode toward her door, shoes on this time, and a duffel bag in one hand. The litheness of his movement was fascinating.

A little anticipatory shiver ran through her. Deputy Hotness was sleeping on her couch tonight. If that wasn’t romance novel inspiration, she didn’t know what was.

She unlocked the slider and pulled it back, careful not to spill her wine. “That was fast.” Actually it had seemed like forever.

“All quiet?” He walked into the house.

She raised her glass. “All quiet. You want a glass? C’mon, have a drink with me.”

He hesitated. “I probably shouldn’t, but I guess one small one couldn’t hurt.”

She smiled, happy that he was joining her. “One it is.” Then she frowned as she got a second glass and filled it with wine. “It’s okay that I drink, right?”

“It’s fine. If it helps you relax, even better.” He took the glass, touching it to hers before lifting it. “I don’t want you stressing about this anymore than you already have. I’m going to do everything I can to make this problem go away.”

His wording made her eyes widen. “You’re not going to…kill him, are you?”

He choked on air. “No. Why on earth would you think that?”

She shrugged. “I’m a writer. Worst-case scenario is kind of my wheelhouse.”

“Okay, well, great, but no one is killing anybody. All we want to do is catch him in the act of trespassing or something else that’s an arrest-able offense. Once we get him in front of a judge, it’ll be a lot easier to nip this behavior in the bud. Are we clear on that?” He drank the wine while watching her.