lobby. Some dude in a Buick parked by the curb had even glanced over at Brent a few times, giving a cursory hey there nod.
Brent paced up and down the block to kill more time, his phone clutched in his hand. He reached the corner, turned around, and headed back. The guy was still in his car, his arm hanging out the passenger window, watching Shannon’s building.
A bit too closely for Brent’s taste.
The guy had been there for twenty, thirty minutes now, looking like he was reading a book, but he kept glancing up, scanning the street as if he didn’t want to miss anything.
It reminded him of a cop on a stakeout, only the guy didn’t reek of cop. Something about the guy rubbed Brent the wrong way. It was hard to say what it was, but as he neared the Buick again, he held up his phone as if he were answering a message. Instead, he snapped a few pictures of the license plate and the car, and then zoomed in on the guy’s arm, covered in ink.
He tucked his phone away as he reached the open window. “How’s it going?” he said casually.
“Good,” the guy grumbled. He had a baby face and looked young enough to be carded if he were at Edge. Brent continued along the block, and turned around again at the corner. As he returned, the Buick was no longer idling at the curb. The guy had pulled out into traffic, and was driving away.
Probably just some neighborhood guy. But Brent didn’t like the idea of anyone hanging out outside Shannon’s building for too long. Except for him. Call him a hypocrite, but he knew his own motives. Trusted his own motives.
Then he stopped thinking about anyone but Shannon when her number flashed across his screen.
At last.
He answered in a nanosecond.
“Hey, babe. I’m at your building. Hanging out outside. Looking like a stalker, or maybe like a caged lion in a zoo pacing back and forth. You want to put me out of my misery and make me just look like a man who’s waiting for his woman so he can tell her how much he loves her?”
She laughed, and he savored that sound, the sweetness of it, the way it threaded through him. He wanted to bottle it up and keep it close to him forever. “I can definitely make you look that way. And I got your message. My phone died after my flight, so I didn’t pick it up till a few minutes ago. But I’m glad you’re there because I’m on my way to see a stalking lion who I love, too.”
* * *
After she hung up, she listened to his voice message one more time on speakerphone as she drove. “My phone is in the dishwasher, so I’m calling from a friend’s phone,” he’d said. “I just want to say I love you madly. And I’m on my way over to your house because I’m not walking away. I’d never walk away, and I did a bad job saying that last night, so I’m trying again right now, and I want you to know that I’ve meant everything I’ve said to you in the last few weeks. I will do whatever it takes for you.”
Best. Message. Ever.
As she neared her street, she made one more call to a friend of his, the guy who ran the Luxe. He agreed to help with her project, and so she had everyone lined up. She ended the call as she turned onto her street, the kernel of hope expanding inside her, blooming into something bigger, something full of possibilities. She kept her eyes on the road, but peered up ahead, so damn eager to see him. She spotted him, outside her building, his tall strong frame coming into view. He was pacing as promised, aviator shades on, brown hair glinting in the late sun, and that grin she adored flashing at her. Her heart was fighting its way out of her chest, racing to him, knowing they’d somehow fix the mess they’d made.
Because he was waiting for her.
It was that simple.
She yanked the wheel in a sharp right, the tires squealing as she pulled along the curb and cut the engine. In seconds, she was out of her car, and rushing over to him. He held a bouquet of sunflowers in his hand, and the sight of them made her breath catch.