Stalker in the Shadows

“Where do you need to go this next week?” He may as well figure out a plan for protecting her even with her schedule.

“I have—” she began, but they were interrupted when his father entered the kitchen.

“Sorry to keep you waiting, Shaun…” His voice trailed away at the sight of him. “What happened to your face?”

“The stalker was here tonight,” Monica said quickly. “He attacked Shaun.”

“What?” Augustus Grant wheeled into the kitchen. His face was drawn with both worry and anger.

“We were just about to call Detective Carter,” Monica said, giving Shaun a meaningful look.

He interpreted it easily—Let’s talk later.

Yes, and in the meantime, he’d plan what he needed to do to keep her safe. Maybe he’d find this stalker and somehow find redemption for how he’d failed his only sister.

“Is this absolutely necessary?” Monica followed Shaun into the gym at the Rubart Towers Hotel in Sonoma, a hotel that used to belong to Shaun’s father before he sold it to the Rubart hotel conglomerate.

“I would think you’d want to learn some self-defense moves.” Shaun led her into a general purpose room at the back of the workout room, a large area with mirrors all around and soft mats on the floor.

“I took a self-defense class.” She removed her sweatshirt, leaving her only in a T-shirt and workout capris that made her shiver in the air-conditioning.

“I’m going to teach you some jiujitsu moves that will help you in close quarters.”

“Aren’t you supposed to keep me from getting into that situation in the first place?”

She meant it as a joke, but to her surprise, he turned away from her. In the reflection from the mirrors, his expression was almost anguished.

Then he turned back to her and he was back to normal, his face serious and intense. “Let’s get started.”

He taught her a few types of arm bars, which she felt comfortable with since they didn’t require extraordinary strength or quickness on her part. Then he moved to a guillotine hold, and she felt guilty causing him pain as she practiced the move over and over.

But more than the moves themselves, Shaun showed her that she wasn’t a weakling. He gave her confidence in her ability to fight someone rather than just giving in. If the stalker attacked her, she wouldn’t feel quite so vulnerable.

“This last move is a triangle choke hold,” Shaun said. He explained the jiujitsu move, which involved her performing a choke hold with a triangle formed with her legs. “Now lay on your back and visualize to yourself that I’m the stalker, I’m trying to hurt you.”

When she did, he angled himself on his hands and knees on top of her, and a rush of feeling passed through her to see his blue eyes so close, staring down at her.

A long moment passed where he simply looked at her. She couldn’t look away, she was drowning in that cerulean sea.

She couldn’t get herself to visualize the stalker, because this was so obviously Shaun. His strength and capability made her feel protected and secure, even in this vulnerable position on the ground. He gave off the aura of protectiveness that made her believe he would never hurt her, he would never abandon her, he’d do anything to keep her safe.

Something about his blue gaze became less businesslike and more intense. Her breathing quickened, and she could smell his musk, the scent of a pine forest after the rain. His eyes flickered to her mouth, staring for a long moment, and then he lowered his head and kissed her.

His lips were softer than she would have expected from such a tough, masculine guy. His hand stroked the hair wisping out from her temple, his touch gentle. He kissed her with a kind of wonder and carefulness, as if he were holding a butterfly in his cupped hands. She felt cherished and honored.

Reason filtered through her mind slowly, but when it made itself known, she remembered that she couldn’t be doing this. Shaun was a lawman. He’d always be in careers where he could protect people, putting himself in harm’s way to save them, like he was doing with her.

She couldn’t bear loving a man and sending him out to danger every single day, wondering if today was the day he wouldn’t come home. She’d seen those women in the Emergency Room, she’d comforted them and been devastated by just the thought of their pain. She had vowed she wouldn’t be one of them.

She planted her feet and thrust up hard with her entire torso, bucking him off her so she could roll away and jump to her feet. He had tumbled to his side with a look of surprise on his face, but now he took his time standing up, and he didn’t look at her.

She had a hard time looking at him, too, although she tried to adopt a businesslike demeanor. “Not a triangle choke hold, but it’ll get me away from the stalker so I can run for help.”

“That’s good,” he said gruffly. He turned his back to her and walked to the corner of the room, where a basket of clean towels stood. He tossed one to her.

“Thanks.” She dabbed at the sweat on her neck.

When he turned back to her, he was again stalwart and confident, but not as aggressive in his stance as he usually was. A haunted look floated in the back of his eyes, something that went deep. What was it? Did it have to do with his sister? No, he’d had that look even before finding out about the stalker and telling her about his sister. He hadn’t had that look when she’d met him ten years ago, but it had been clouding his eyes ever since he had returned to Sonoma after quitting the border patrol. Did that have something to do with it? It made her want to help him heal from whatever had gripped his heart.

No. She couldn’t get involved with him.

She gave him a false smile. “We’re good, right?”

“What?”

“The k-kiss—” she had a hard time saying the word “—wasn’t a big deal. Just the heat of the moment.”

He seemed startled at first, then a look like relief relaxed his brow line. “Yeah. We’re good.”

The relief should have comforted her, but perversely, it created a buzz of irritation in her head. “Good.” She turned away from him and headed out of the room.

As she picked up her purse from the gym locker, her cell phone rang. She answered it as she exited the women’s locker room to meet Shaun near the gym entrance. “Hello?”

“Hi, Monica, it’s Phillip Bromley. I hope I’m not calling at a bad time.”

“Not at all. I’m at the gym at the Rubart Hotel.”

“One of Patrick O’Neill’s hotels, right? Before he sold it to the Rubart hotel conglomerate?”

“Yes, have you been here?”

“Last year. It’s fantastic. Anyway, I’m calling to ask if we can reschedule our meeting.”

“Sure.” They decided on lunch the next day at Lorianne’s Café again.

As they were talking, she reached the gym entrance, and when Shaun saw she was on the phone, he moved a short distance away so she could finish her conversation. When she hung up, he asked, “You have a lunch appointment tomorrow?”

“At Lorianne’s Café. You’ll come with me?”

“Yes. Who are you meeting?”

She hesitated before admitting, “Phillip Bromley.”

His brow flattened. “I warned you to stay away from him.”

“Why? What do you have against him?”

“It’s complicated.”