where I lived, no matter where I was living. And every time I would come home to find something in my apartment moved or messed with.” She let out a humorless chuckled. “And I don’t believe in ghosts, Mr. Raynes.”
We had just given each other permission to use our first names, but she called me Mr. Raynes, anyway. That meant she knew I was going to say no, or she wasn’t going to trust me beyond this arrangement.
My irritation level spiked again.
I wasn’t so clueless as not to know that we saw through each other the second we shook hands. She knew I wasn’t going to believe her and do this, and I knew she wasn’t expecting me to.
“Karla’s explained about how your cameras never seem to work, and she mentioned that you’re not exactly comfortable with a gun,” I replied.
Fallon nodded in agreement. “I think he might be into computers, or something, because my feeds are always corrupted. And she’s right about a gun. I have nothing against them. I just don’t think I’m…calm enough to be responsible with one.”
“And the police have never found fingerprints or…anything like that?”
“Contrary to popular belief, the police don’t go to great lengths for victimless crime,” she answered with a little bite in her voice. She obviously felt let down by our men in blue. “I’ve never been attacked, and nothing has ever been stolen, Mr. Raynes.” That ‘Mr. Raynes’ crap was really starting to annoy me for some reason. “After all these years, it’s still just my word that something is amiss.”
“And you think living off the grid, with nothing in your name, will finally get you free of this person?”
“Nothing else has worked so far,” she replied. “And, right now, I don’t have a better idea. I’ve moved too many times to count, and he or she still finds me. Do you have a better idea?”
I didn’t. But then, this was all new to me. I’ve never had a stalker or have stalked someone. I didn’t know the first thing about taking precautions for something like this. But I did find it strange that someone obsessed with her enough to stalk her for years has never attacked her.
I stared at this stunning woman in front of me and I knew I wasn’t going to help her.
I couldn’t be sure it wasn’t all in her beautiful, crazy head.
Chapter 7
Fallon~
He wasn’t going to help me.
I knew it the second I shook his hand.
He looked at me like he already knew I was more trouble than I was worth. There was no logical reason for him to invite drama into his life, and I didn’t blame him. I just resented this little song and dance he was insisting upon when he knew he wasn’t going to help me.
I doubt he ever was.
“I’ll admit, I’ve never had to deal with something like this, so, no, I don’t really have any…informed ideas on the subject,” he answered.
I began to digest his words but quickly stopped. His words didn’t matter at this point. Besides, it was probably a good thing that he wasn’t going to help me.
When Xander walked out of the house onto the deck, I couldn’t help but notice how hot the man looked. He was tall, even by men’s basic standards. He had to be a couple of inches over six-foot, at least. He had rich, dark brown hair and light brown eyes. His eyes were bright and intense, and a person could easily get lost in them. He filled out his button-up and jeans beautifully, and his sleeves were rolled up to showcase muscular, sinewy forearms.
He had a straight nose and sharp cheekbones. His jaw was strong and pronounced, and it worked for him. Karla had mentioned he was thirty-years-old and he looked it.
He looked good.
The last thing I needed was to give into the possibility of an attraction that can usually occur between men and women simply for just being a man and a woman.
“Look, I understand this is…unconventional, and…” Christ. How do you explain something so personal to someone who doesn’t believe you or doesn’t care? “I know this is a lot to ask.”
Xander cocked his head and his eye narrowed a bit, studying me. “It’s just…difficult to grasp that someone has been stalking you for years, yet, hasn’t made a move to…I don’t know. Isn’t the point of stalking someone to, eventually, get to them?”
“Sometimes, it’s about the hunt,” Karla said, chiming in. “I’ve read up on it, and the