“I’ve been dreaming of that since the first time you smiled at me,” I said.
The breeze was picking up, and I didn’t want her to get cold, especially since her little sandals were on the damp sand.
&n
bsp; “Let’s get you home before you get chilly, gorgeous.”
“Okay.”
Hayden held my hand as we slowly walked back along the beach. I reached down to pick up three pretty pink stones with flecks of quartz in them, dropping them into her hand.
She grinned, then slipped them into a side pocket on her purse.
As we drove back to her apartment, chatting about work, and a movie from last winter that we both thought was overrated, she seemed to relax. I just hoped that Craig’s stupid car wasn’t in front of her building when we got there.
At least I had finally gotten a good look at the guy back at her office building. He didn’t seem genuinely threatening in the slightest. He honestly didn’t look smart enough for that.
Unfortunately, I knew the type. The psychological profile was pathetic. He had absolutely no power in his own life, and no ambition. So the easiest way for him to create an adrenaline rush and a hit of dopamine was to stalk a girl.
He probably didn’t want to hurt her, but every time he found her, he felt like a triumphant hunter. Every time he saw her, he felt powerful. In his twisted mind, every sighting made him a winner.
The problem was, there was no way to tell what would make some men give up and find a new target, and what would make others snap and become aggressive.
From the profile I was compiling, Craig didn’t seem aggressive. No history of anything athletic or competitive. But Hayden definitely wasn’t the first girl he had made feel unsafe.
As we pulled up in front of her apartment building, I saw that Hayden breathed a sigh of relief. Craig’s car was nowhere to be seen. But that didn’t mean he wasn’t nearby. Seeing me could have pushed him over the edge, and into hiding.
I ran around to open her door, and we walked toward the building.
Then I stopped. The door that should have been locked was wedged open with a piece of wood. There were boxes and chairs cluttering up the lobby.
Dammit. August first. Moving day.
Which meant that door could have been open for hours.
Hayden saw where I was looking, and her face fell. “Will you please come check my apartment again?”
Should I go into details of how he could be hiding in any stairwell? Tell her that he’d now had plenty of time to study her door lock?
At what point would I cross the line and make her paranoid? The more she was afraid of Craig, the more she might be afraid of all men. Which would do nothing but make it more difficult to encourage her to fall in love with me.
And I only had fourteen days.
Chapter 5
_____
Hayden
I could see that Leif was upset, but wasn’t sure why. After all the trouble he’d gone to give me a perfect summer evening, I wouldn’t have thought that checking my apartment with me was that big a deal.
Then I noticed his expression was tense. As if he were processing something.
Was I in more danger than I knew?
My blood ran cold as I realized something important. Leif was in security. He seemed very dedicated to his new project of protecting me.
What if he had run Craig’s plates or something like that, and found out that he was a real criminal? Maybe he had a record, and he’d hurt girls before. Maybe Leif’s concern was based on more than he was telling me.