“I’m leaving now.”
The relief almost weakened her knees. “Thank you.”
She hung up and texted him her address. And the second she lowered her phone, she scanned the street again. The empty street. Because no one was watching her.
So why did she feel so uneasy?
Suddenly, her legs were moving. She crossed her front lawn and slid into her car before locking the doors.
She wasn’t sure how long she sat there, but at some point she closed her eyes and leaned her head back. When she opened them, a shadow moved beside her house.
She straightened. What was that? An animal?
Or maybe it had been nothing at all. Maybe it was her eyes playing tricks on her.
But what if it wasn’t? What if someonehadbeen following her, she wasn’t crazy, and they were here right now?
A smart person would stay in their car. But that wouldn’t help her figure out if this was all in her head or not.
Quickly, she rummaged through her purse before pulling out a can of pepper spray.
Thank you, Dad. She received one from him every year for Christmas. Every. Single. Year. And she’d never used a single one…until maybe now.
Quietly, she slipped out of her car, the can clenched between her fingers. If therewassomeone following her, the asshole would regret it in about five seconds.
She walked down the side of the house, checking the bushes that would be easy to hide within. But no one was there.
A crunching noise suddenly sounded behind her.
She spun and lifted the can, but before she could spray it, the bottle was snatched from her grasp with one hand and her wrist was grabbed with another. The move was so fast and skilled, she barely recognized what was happening. But strangely, it was also gentle.
Then she was looking into a very gray, very confused set of eyes.
CHAPTER 5
Noah frowned at the fear in Addie’s eyes, fingers still wrapped around her wrist. “Are you okay?”
Her gaze shot behind her before she looked back at him. “I’m fine, sorry. I just…I thought I saw something but—”
“What did you see?”
“A shadow. But it was dark. You can’t see a shadow in the dark.” She slapped a hand over her eyes. “God, I feel stupid.”
He scanned behind her, then back to the driveway. He would argue that in the dark, a shadow could still be the outline of a figure.
He slipped his hand from her wrist to the middle of her back, not even caring if the touch was too intimate, before nudging her forward. “Come on.”
Awareness from where he touched her warmed the skin on his palm, shooting up his shoulder. He’d been driving home from the park when her call had come through. It had surprised the hell out of him to see her name on his screen, but in a good way.
“You always keep pepper spray on you?”
A hint of a smile curved her lips. “I could start an Amazon store with all the pepper spray I own, courtesy of my father, so I may as well keep one in my purse.”
Good. Noah liked that she had a way to defend herself. Not that she should have to.
When they reached the front door, he handed her the canister and pulled out the flathead screwdriver and slim tension wrench from his back pocket.
“What are you doing?” she asked.
