“About being followed.”
She doesn’t answer immediately. “No.”
“Then why did you freak out so bad?” I grit out, knowing she’s lying.
“Because I’m a woman driving alone in the dark. And in case you don’t remember, I did just have a stalker, so do you think maybe possibly I might still be on edge because of that?”
A wave of calm doesn’t miraculously wash over me. If anything, it makes it worse, because I do remember. And it reminds me I haven’t done a good enough job to make sure she feels totally and completely safe. “Where are you?”
“Yo! I’ve been waiting five minutes!”
“Keep waiting or get the fuck out,” Parker yells at the patron, and I don’t care that he potentially lost me a customer.
“I’m good, Ben. I’m not scared now. It just freaked me out for a second. I overreacted, that’s all.”
I can’t even think rationally. “Tell me exactly where you are, Annie.”
“Why?”
“Because I’m gonna find you and then follow you to my apartment, where I can lock you in until I get a lock on all this shit. I can’t do that if you’re sitting across from me at the bar.”
Parker’s listening intently, already grabbing bottles to cover for me.
“There’s nothing to get alock on,”Annie argues. “I told you, you don’t have to act like my bodyguard anymore. I’m safe. You made me that way, right?”
I don’t know if I’ll ever think she’s safe enough. I won’t give in, but I will compromise. “I’ll take you to your apartment and make sure it’s safe. Parker is gonna hang with you until I close the bar, then I’m spending the night.”
“That’s way too much.”
“That’s what I need right now, sweetheart, and I need you to give that to me. Now, where are you?” She gives me the street name. “Stay on the phone until I’m behind you.”
“Ben, it’s not that big of a deal.”
“Got my own refill, Ben!”
I turn to the voice and lift my chin at Ernie.
“Ben—”
“Honest to Christ, Annie, you know me, and you know I’m not gonna change my mind, so do me a favor and stop arguing.”
She huffs, and I see an image of her rolling her eyes, but even if I wanted to, I can’t smile at the memory. I’m fucking this all up, and I need to fix it.
“I got this, Ben. Go do what you gotta do, then I’ll hang with her so you can come back and deal with this place.”
If Parker gets caught serving alone, without someone with a manager’s license present, Someday’s can get shut down. But I don’t care about anything other than getting to Annie.
I take off and connect my phone to the Bluetooth to tell her, “I’m on the way.” Then speed to find my girl. A wave of reliefcourses through me when I see her car slowly creeping down the road.
I flip a U-turn in the middle of the street, and once I’m behind her, she asks, “Do I have permission to hang up now?”
“Why are you giving me attitude?”
“Because you’re giving me one.”
I press my lips to prevent a laugh, actually loving that she’s challenging me, just like she used to. “We’ll talk at the loft.”
“Great.”
