I furrowed my brows. “What?”
“It sounded like hammering.” His mouth spread into a mischievous smile. “But it was only you coming down the stairs.”
“Ha ha.” I shook my head but couldn’t keep from grinning. He often teased me about my heavy feet despite being petite. It was true; I walked like stomping grapes. “Breakfast smells good. You seem to be doing okay without Sebastian.”
Lucas released a dramatic sigh. “Forced to fend for myself.” Then he smiled and nudged me into the kitchen. “Come on, let’s eat.”
After breakfast, I left Lucas’s house and headed to the Network. He planned to harvest some herbs before he came in.
“See you later, babe.” He kissed me before I left.
I walked outside and headed to my car in the driveway. A woman with dark hair and sunglasses watched me from her black SUV diagonally parked across the street. She looked familiar, but I couldn’t get a close enough look before she pulled away. What was up with her? Was she a nosy neighbor? Maybe I’d seen her around the neighborhood before.
A few days later, I spotted the woman again, sitting in her SUV like last time. She watched me. Without sunglasses this time, I recognized her at once. She was the dark-haired woman who’d wrapped herself around Lucas the night he’d danced at his former club.
Houston, we might have a stalker.
Before she could pull away this time, I waved. “Good morning. How are you?” I called out in a friendly tone.
She appeared surprised to be addressed. “Fine. You?”
“Great.” I strode toward her at a casual pace. “You know Lucas, right?”
She glanced behind me toward his house. “I do.”
“Are you here to see him?”
She started her vehicle. “Have a good day.”
Before I could ask her anything else, she drove off.
My gaze lowered to the license plate. I didn’t want to act like a possessive girlfriend, but the shady factors were rising.
When Lucas entered the Network, he held up handfuls of plants and sang, “Purple sage, all in my brain.”
I blinked at him while witches called out, “I’ll take some!” and “Me, please.”
My brain caught up to realize he’d changed up Jimi Hendrix’s “Purple Haze” to announce his latest bounty of herbs.
“I can’t grow this quick enough for you,” he teased as he handed cut sage.
“It comes in handy for smudging, protection, spells, and more,” Cassandra said and thanked him for the handful he’d give her.
He then strode over to me and stuck a stalk of sage sideways between his teeth. He bent his head forward and glanced up at me with desire. “Milady.” He then took my hand and led me across the Network in a rumba.
The witches cheered. This struck me as oddly similar to his performances at the club, only he wore clothes, and the audience wasn’t so raucous.
“Lucas.” I pulled away and playfully swatted his arm. “We’re at work.”
“You know how I feel about all work and no play.” He gave it a thumbs down. “Boo.”
“I need to talk to you about something.” After he followed me into my office, I summarized the interaction with the woman outside his house. “It’s the second time I’ve seen her there.”
His eyes flickered wider. “Oh.”
Shouldn’t he be more bothered by a potential stalking situation? “Who is she?”
“A regular from the club.”
