“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 snagon 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?
