Tackling Tobias (Big Sky Universe)

“Luckily we have plenty of bail money,” Landon says, handing his wife a present.

“Hey, I was only picked up once. And they let me go as long as I promised to be on my best behavior.”

“Oh Lord. I’m in trouble,” Landon teases, running his hand down his face. When he pulls it away, my sister’s staring up at him and I already know what’s going to happen next. A low guttural sound comes from him before he kisses her.

“Okay, boys. Let’s open the gifts before they get carried away.” We spend the next hour opening gifts, laughing, and taking pictures. It’s a great Christmas despite missing our parents with us.

I’m spending my last morning with my family before heading out. The boys are playing with all their toys and we’re talking around the table. Just then, my phone’s notification goes off. It’s not the usual text message. It’s the notification of my security system. I open up the app and watch the video while Landon and Lara continue chatting. “What the fuck?” I growl.

“I think my stalker is in my bedroom.” I really need better damn security.

“I thought she moved on by now,” Lara says.

“I thought she did too, but who the hell else would be in my room?” Zooming in on the footage, I get a better look at my stalker.

She’s a petite blonde, slender but with killer curves in all the right places, and she’s walking around my bedroom. She brings in my blankets and sheets and removes the old ones, then begins making the bed. I can’t help but keep my eyes glued to my phone and this woman’s ass as she stretches across the bed to add the fitted sheet. It’s pretty hard on a California King mattress, but after two tries she gets it. I should be fuming, livid as all hell, but I’m not. She stands straight, trying to stretch out her back, and that’s the first time I get a really good look at her face. She’s beautiful. Her eyes are light grayish blue and her lips are a pale pink, but she looks tired. She has dark circles under her eyes and irrationally, I feel bad for her. If her eyes are like that, it’s because she’s probably been busy finding a way to get into my house.

“Let me see.” Lara stands over my shoulder, trying to get a better look at the little troublemaker. Over two years ago, I started receiving fan mail to my home. Most of it was standard post, but it made no sense because my address had mostly been private unless you knew what to look for.

“Oh my God. I know her,” Lara gasps, grabbing my phone out of my hands. I nearly snatch it back, but she moves out of my way. “I know her. Landon, we know her.”

“Well? Who the fuck is she?”

“Babe, what’s her name?” She hands the phone to her husband.

“Oh, that’s…”

He snaps his fingers as he tries to think of this woman’s name, but Lara’s the first to get it. “Oh, it’s Ava something.”

“Oh yeah. I remember now. She’s Ava Henry. Her father’s a big-shot District Attorney in Indiana.” I’m trying to figure out if I’ve ever come across her before, and I can’t for the life of me. I would have known and more than likely asked her out.

“Well, I don’t know her. I’ve never met her. Why is she stalking me?”

“I’m actually shocked that she’d be stalking you. She was dating one of the guys we saw her with at the gala last time. Are you sure she’s your stalker?”

“Why else would a woman who goes to parties with you two be in my bedroom?”

“I don’t know, but somehow she didn’t give me that impression, and I don’t think that when I spoke to her I even mentioned I had a brother.”

“Well, thanks, Lara,” I say sarcastically.

“It’s so women don’t start fawning over your celebrity. You know you hate it anyway.”

“I do.”

“Funny, she made your bed and walked out. That doesn’t look like someone who’s stalking you.” I take my phone away from my brother-in-law. Irrationally, I’m jealous of him looking at her in such a private place. It’s my bedroom and she doesn’t belong in there, but then again, a part of me doesn’t want to let her walk out of the room.

“Landon’s right. She would be rolling around in your sheets.”

“Maybe she’s taking those as a souvenir or some shit,” I grumble. Why else would she be in there?

“I don’t know, big brother.” She rubs my back as I stare at the still I captured on my phone.

I try to call John, but it goes straight to voicemail. I try several of the guys, but I can’t get through to any of them. “Strange. I can’t seem to get ahold of a single employee and it’s not going to voicemail.”