Lucas had a point, damn it. She’d let her fear take over and do the one thing she swore she wouldn’t do after she changed homes again: she involved someone else. Tommy hated when she did that. He was convinced that whatever was between them needed to stay between them.
And Boone, of course.
But no one else.
She bit down on her bottom lip. She’d already said too much. With the laser focus of Lucas’s icy stare and the sympathy written on Tessa’s pretty face, she knew she’d involved them far more than she should have.
What was a little more information?
“They ride around in a fancy car. A Jaguar. Black. It might be out in the lot somewhere if they’re still here. I have to know… I should check. If they’re still here, I’ll tell you.”
Lucas shared another glance with his wife. She took his hand and nodded. “You go.”
“What?” yelped Grace. That’s not what she wanted. “No—”
“Stay here,” Lucas said in a clipped voice that brooked no argument. “Both of you.”
He strode back into his apartment, returning a few minutes later fully dressed. He pulled on a t-shirt and grabbed a black leather coat, an expensive pair of running shoes o
n his feet. Instead of waiting for the elevator, Lucas took the stairs, eating them up two at a time as he hurried out of sight.
Torn between feeling relieved and terribly guilty that she was hiding out in the apartment complex while Lucas went searching for Tommy, Grace started to make her apologies again—and her excuses—to his wife when she noticed the strange way Tessa was looking at her.
“Tessa?”
“It wasn’t about a rat yesterday, either, was it?”
Since the cat—or the psycho ex, as it were—was out of the bag already, she didn’t see much use in continuing with her ridiculous lie. “No, it wasn’t.”
“You moved onto our floor about two months ago, right?” When Grace reluctantly nodded, she asked, “Is this guy the reason you moved here?”
“Yes.”
“How many times?”
Grace was so thrown by the change in subject, she didn't understand what the other woman meant. “What?”
“How many times have you moved?”
“Twice so far.” Her heart sank. It was all too easy to think about running off into the night to make a flashy statement that Tommy hadn’t caught her yet. It was harder to have to admit that to Tessa. “When I leave Strawberry Village, it’ll be the third time.”
And she’d have to leave—and soon—especially now that she’d confessed so much of her troubles to Tessa and Lucas. Sure, she might’ve managed to keep Tommy’s name out of it, but that was more for her sake than theirs. As soon as anyone discovered the lengths she went to avoid Thomas Mathers’ attention, they thought she was being stupid. She didn’t want her newest neighbors to question her, either.
Especially when, as the days passed with no sign of him stopping, Grace couldn’t help but wonder why she didn’t just give in.
Tessa’s brow furrowed. “Are you sure?”
“I’ve got no choice. I thought Dayton would be safe enough. He’s too smart.” Too determined. “All it takes is one of his tools or… or his gadgets and I can’t hide from him.”
“Do you want to?”
There was something in the way that Tessa said that. As if she knew something about what Grace had just admitted to her.
“Do I want to hide from him? God, yes.” Glancing behind her, she spied the coffee cup again. To open her door and not have to worry about finding something—or someone—waiting for her? “You have no idea how much.”
“Have I ever told you about my husband’s hometown?”
Most of the conversations she’d had with Tessa were of the Hi, How are you?, Lovely weather we’re having sort. Mindless chit-chat when they rode the elevator together. She might even go as far as knock on their door if she needed to borrow sugar or something and didn’t want to risk a trip to the store. That was all.