He punched the talk button and tried his best to sound casual. “Hey. How’re the scrapes?” He had similar ones from crawling through two inches of broken glass.
“Healing. What about you?”
He kept his eyes on the house. “Same.” Why was she calling him if Ari just left? That was only one of the questions flying through his brain. He waited for her to say something and when she didn’t, an odd sense of trouble prickled the hair on his neck. Was it possible that what he’d just seen at her front door wasn’t what it appeared to be? Though they’d definitely kissed, she hadn’t been all over Ari. In fact, thinking back on it, she’d been stiff and unresponsive...and he wanted to see those pictures again to look for things he should’ve looked for the first time around. “Everything okay?” he asked.
Three coyotes emerged from some bushes two doors away and headed downhill toward Julie’s place.
“I guess,” she said quietly. “Are you working right now? Ari was just here and I didn’t see you so I didn’t know if you had the night off.”
He did have the night off, specifically so he could tail Ari and snap the pictures he needed. He’d been parked for thirty minutes before Ari got there. His zoom lens had no problem with the distance. “Yeah,” he said. “I’m a free bird.”
“I’ve been thinking about something, and I thought since you work in security, you might be able to help me.”
He shouldn’t have been disappointed, but he was. She wanted to talk business. The other night he’d been sure she wanted him and now all she wanted was his security expertise. Unless that was just her excuse. Not that he could act on it anyway. “What do you need?” he asked.
“Well, I’ve been in my house almost ten years and I love it, but other than an alarm, I don’t have a fence or other type of gate for security. My house is too close to the street to really build something, and I guess I need someone to tell me if I’m right on my assumption and I should move, or if I can secure my house and stay here.” She paused and sighed. “I know. Stupid question. If you don’t want to help me, then I wonder if you know someone who can.”
Even as she spoke, he studied the layout of the house. It was long and deep, and she was right about it being on top of the street. Building a wall would kill the curb appeal. Although staying alive beat out curb appeal any day of the week. But she’d clearly put work into the place, and the small amount of landscaping required for the front was top-notch gorgeous. A wall would kill the whole look. The front porch light switched on and the coyotes froze in the middle of her lawn, sniffing the air.
Troy sat up straighter in his seat, a thin line of panic crawled up his spine. “It’s not stupid, and what makes you think I wouldn’t want to help you?” Did she doubt him, his experience, or was it something else?
“I don’t know. I just don’t know how busy Ari keeps you. I wondered if you’d be able to come over, take a look at my place and give me your best advice. I’m happy to pay for your time.” Her voice cut out as if she’d jostled the phone.
“I don’t think that would be necessary,” he said. “What are you doing?” The idea of her walking outside right now with three hungry coyotes in her yard had adrenaline rushing through his veins. He reached in the glove compartment for the gun he only used in target practice. He’d purchased it to use on the job, but he’d thankfully never had to. He’d learned early on that the presence of a weapon escalated a situation and he wasn’t a fan of that type of escalation.
“I ordered a new citronella candle for my front porch and just unwrapped it. I thought I’d put it out.”
“Don’t.”
She paused. “Excuse me?”
“I mean...” He scrambled to find the thread of their conversation. “Don’t do it right this second. Describe your house to me and let’s see if I can’t help you over the phone.”
“Oh.” Did she sound bummed or was that his imagination working overtime? “I thought maybe you could come see it one of these days. Maybe take a walk through and tell me what I should do to secure