Obsessed (Whiskey Run 3)

She puts her hand over her chest. “Evan. You scared me to death.”

She looks me up and down. “What are you doing here?” She looks at where my truck is parked. “Did you stay out here all night?” No doubt she’s noticed I’m in the same clothes I had on yesterday.

I scrub my hand through my hair. “I did.” I grab her hand and pull her with me. “C’mon, I’ll take you to work.”

She walks a few feet with me. “Wait, you stayed out here all night?” she asks in awe.

“I did. I need a shower, but first I’m going to make sure you get to work okay, have Sam keep an eye on you, and then I’ll run home and shower.”

She’s going to argue with me, I know she is. Either about me staying out here all night or about me taking her to work, but I’m ready for it.

She finally starts walking toward the truck, and when I open the door for her she climbs in.

I get into the driver’s seat and put the truck into gear. “You really slept out here all night?”

She’s stunned, and I don’t understand why. “Yeah, why wouldn’t I?”

I peek over at her and she’s looking at me incredulously. “Why would you?”

I’ve shocked her; that’s probably the only reason she’s letting me drive her to work. “Why would I? Uh, because I got to the end of the road and knew I couldn’t leave. I wanted to make sure you were safe, and the only way to do that was to be outside your house in case you needed me.”

“Evan,” she says, and I wait for her to continue. “Evan, no one... I mean, well, I can’t believe you did that... for me.”

“I wasn’t joking last night, Sierra. I meant what I said. I know you don’t trust me or believe we could make a go of this. Heck, I can’t even convince you to date me, but I don’t plan on giving up.”

She doesn’t comment, and we ride the rest of the way in silence. I walk her to the entrance of the library and walk in with her, making sure everything is secure. I go down the line of everything she needs to do to be safe, to not leave without me, and to call if she needs anything.

“You’re making a bigger deal of this than you should. It’s probably nothing, and I feel bad that you’ve completely changed your life to deal with it.” She says it in a quick jumble of words.

I ignore her as if she didn’t say anything. “What about lunch? I can come by and take you somewhere or I can bring you something.”

She points to one of the bags she just set down. “No, I brought it.”

With her distracted, I move closer to her, and when she turns back to me, I kiss her quickly. “Okay, I’ll be back at five, but promise to call me if you need anything.”

She touches her fingers to her lips. “Okay.”

With another glance at her, I walk out of the library and across the street to the office. Luckily, I had a change of clothes in my truck, and I shower at the office. I work all day, and I discover that I’m obsessed. I pull up the feed of the library’s security system, and I’m able to see her when she walks by the front windows. A few times through the day, I notice she’s staring out onto the street, and I walk out of the security firm and look her way. As if caught, she waves and then slinks back behind a shelf. Was she looking for me?

My heart swells in my chest thinking that maybe she was.

At five o’clock, I’m picking her up and walking with her to the truck. “Anything out of the ordinary happen today?”

She shakes her head. “No, see, I told you we were making a bigger deal of this than we should.”

I help her in and when I get in, she exclaims. “What is that smell?”

“I picked up pizza from Giovanni’s. And a movie.”

She folds her hands in her lap. “Are you inviting yourself to my house for dinner and a movie?”

I put the truck into gear and drive toward her house. “Well, if I can’t get you to go out with me, then I guess I’m going to stay in with you.”

She laughs, and I relax a little. She could’ve point blank told me no, but she didn’t. Maybe I’m at least moving in the right direction and making her feel like she can start to trust me.

“I hate to ask, but do you care if we stop at the grocery store real quick? I’m out of coffee.”

I gasp. “Out of coffee? Oh no.”

She slaps me playfully as she laughs out loud. “You laugh now, but you haven’t seen me without coffee.”