Hot and Bothered - Erika Wilde Page 0,54

against reading the note, morbid curiosity won over common sense. She opened the napkin, and her gaze scanned the words written in a bold, masculine scrawl: Be more careful of your surroundings. I’m watching you and waiting to make you mine again.

“Oh, God,” she croaked, and immediately dropped the ominous note as if it were toxic. Her entire body shook uncontrollably, the tremors starting deep and working their way up to the surface.

The words be more careful of your surroundings echoed in her mind, and an image of the man at the restaurant saying them formed in her head. Had he followed her here to where she worked? And if so, why?

The questions came fast and furiously, but unfortunately there were no answers. Her head spun, an awful pressure grew in her chest, and an unexplainable fear clawed inside her, as if attempting to break loose. She swayed on her feet, desperately trying to tamp down those alarming emotions, afraid if she dared to set them free they’d strangle her.

“Natalie?” Apprehension laced Gina’s voice, and she grabbed her arm to steady her. “You look like you’re going to pass out!”

Natalie leaned against a bar stool before her legs collapsed and reached for the only lifeline she knew she could count on. The only person who might make sense of what she was experiencing.

“Get me Noah,” she whispered.

* * *

“Noah, Natalie needs you.”

The panic in Gina’s voice snagged Noah’s attention, putting every one of his personal and professional instincts on full alert. Abandoning his casual conversation with Bobby, Noah searched the room for Natalie, until he finally found her sitting at the far end of the bar, her face buried in her hands.

Without hesitation he started after her, with Bobby and Gina following. “What the hell happened?” he demanded, feeling as though a mile separated him from Natalie. He couldn’t seem to get to her fast enough.

“I was waiting on a guy in my section,” Gina said, taking two steps to his every one to keep up with his quick stride. “He seemed nice enough, and he gave me a note to give to Natalie. Whatever it said set her off.”

Shit. “What did he look like?” Without asking, Noah knew who’d sent Natalie the note. But he had to ask Gina, just so both he and Bobby could document the information on an official report.

The quick description she gave him matched Chad Freeman exactly and made Noah’s blood run cold at the thought of how close the other man had been to Natalie…and Noah hadn’t even known. Fuck.

“He was sitting at that far booth facing the window, and after I gave Natalie the note I looked back and he was gone,” Gina explained, the contrition in her voice clear. “I didn’t think anything of it, really. I mean, he knew Natalie’s name, so I automatically thought she knew him.”

As much as the situation made Noah’s gut twist, he couldn’t blame Gina for her actions. If anyone was at fault, it was himself. He was responsible for Natalie; he knew what kind of danger she was in, and it was his job to protect her.

While he’d informed Murphy and Gina of Natalie’s amnesia and the engagement ruse, he hadn’t seen the need to tell them she was being stalked. Not when Noah had been right there in the establishment to make sure she remained safe. Yet the creep had found a way to get to her, anyway. Dammit, he should have stayed up front to be closer to her.

“Maybe he went to the men’s restroom,” Gina suggested in an attempt to smooth things over.

Noah highly doubted that. Most likely, Freeman had hightailed it out of there after asking Gina to deliver the note. As Noah rounded the end of the bar, he exchanged a knowing look with Bobby.

His friend nodded in silent understanding, and said, “Go to Natalie. I’ll check out front and the restroom.”

Noah was grateful for his friend’s assistance, but knew Freeman wasn’t stupid. He wasn’t going to stick around to get caught. He wanted Natalie, and he was teasing her, playing cat and mouse with her memory and her past.

The bastard.

Reaching Natalie’s side, he gently grabbed her arms to pull her hands away from her face so he could comfort her, and she flinched at his touch. Then, seeing that it was him, she visibly relaxed, though the terrorized look that remained in her eyes nearly sent him over the edge with fury at what Freeman was doing to