Carina stepped into The Grind and gave herself a moment to soak it all in. The café was bright. And colorful. And so busy. Just about every table in the place was taken, which was fine. She was just planning on getting coffee to go.
Slowly, she slipped between the tables, making her way to the counter where Courtney stood. The woman’s lips widened into a smile.
“Carina! You finally made it in.”
She took a seat on a stool. “I did. Sorry it’s taken me so long.”
Courtney shook her head. “Don’t be silly.” She shot a glance over Carina’s head. “Flynn isn’t with you?”
“No, he’s away for a couple of nights for a job.”
“Ah, yes. The job in Idaho Falls.”
Carina tilted her head to the side. “Jason told you about it?”
“Not all of it. Just that some guy’s convinced someone’s stalking him and his wife, but they haven’t found much evidence of it.”
“That’s strange.”
Courtney lifted a shoulder. “If someone’s stalking the family, the guys will find him. Now, what can I get you?”
“Just a coffee to go, please.”
Courtney pulled back like Carina had offended her. “To go?”
She cringed. “Sorry. I need to be at Patricia’s place in twenty minutes.”
“All right, I guess I’ll forgive you.” She turned toward the coffee machine. “It means you miss out on the funny mugs, though.”
“No jokes on the to-go cups?”
“Afraid not. The mugs were my grandmother’s before she passed away. Well, most of them. I’ve become somewhat of an addict since, buying whatever I can get my hands on. Amazon loves me.”
Carina chuckled. “What was the last purchase?”
Courtney’s eyes flicked toward her feet before she set down the milk she’d been heating and disappeared beneath the counter. She pulled out a mug but had her hand over the front so Carina couldn’t read it.
“Okay, so there’s this guy who comes here a lot. Like, a lot a lot. And I should preface this by saying I love all my customers. But he always orders pickles with his meal, and he’s the loudest open-mouth eater I have ever heard in my life, so it just…” She closed her eyes like she was trying to calm herself. Carina chuckled. “The sound grinds my gears a little bit.”
By a little bit, Carina was assuming the woman meant a ton.
Courtney turned the mug around.
If I can hear you chew, I have fantasized about your death.
Carina’s eyes widened. “You give that to him?”
“No. Sometimes I give it to the customers around him, because he barely seems to read his own mug.”
Carina threw her head back and laughed. The woman was hilarious and fearless.
Courtney put the mug back before finishing the coffee, telling another hilarious customer story as she went. When she placed the to-go cup on the counter, Carina pulled out her debit card, but Courtney shook her head.
“Nope. First coffee is always free. Consider it a welcome-to-town drink.”
“Oh. Thank you.”
Courtney’s smile widened. “You’re welcome.”
“Do I get a free coffee?”
They both turned their heads to see Jason standing behind Carina.
“You, my darling, get all the free coffee your heart desires,” Courtney said, leaning over the counter and kissing him.
Okay. Cute. But also her cue to go. Carina stood. “Thanks again, Courtney.”
She was turning toward the door when she bumped into someone.
No, not just someone. Greg.
Her eyes widened. “What are you doing here?”
He offered her a small smile. “Same as you, getting a coffee. Are you going now?”
“Ah, yeah. I have to get to work.”
“I’ll walk you out.”
Not her preference, but she wasn’t going to cause a scene, so she gave a small nod. When she turned and said goodbye to Courtney and Jason, she didn’t miss the narrowing of Jason’s eyes or the smile-less wave from Courtney.
They stepped out of the shop, then spoke at the same time.
“Greg—”
“Carina—”
She shook her head. “You first.”
He shoved his hands into his pockets. “Okay. I know what you’re going to say. That I need to leave. That we’re over. But I wanted to remind you that we were friends before we were anything more.”
“That’s true. But once you’ve dated someone, you can rarely go back.” Especially after that someone tells you they still love you. That kind of squashes any chance of a friendship.
“I can’t just turn it off though. I, um…I’ve decided,” he started slowly, “that I’m going to stay for a few more days. Maybe a week. If you want to catch up during that time, I would love that. If you don’t, that’s fine too.”
Was it, though? His hopeful expression said otherwise.
“I just…” He sighed. “I can’t leave until I’m really sure you don’t want this.”
They stopped at her car.
His words confused her. Hadn’t she already made herself perfectly clear that she was really done?
His gaze skittered between her and a point in the distance. “If you really don’t love me anymore, if you really don’t want so much as a friendship, I’ll leave at the end of the week.” He took a small step closer. If her car wasn’t right behind her, she would have stepped back. “But…if you want to remember what we had, explore what we could be, then you have my number, and you know I’m close.”
“Greg, I appreciate the offer, but I don’t need a week, or even a day, to think about it. I’m not going back to Michigan. I’m happy where I am. And…I’m exploring feelings for someone else.”
His eyes narrowed. “Someone else?”
“Flynn.”
Greg’s jaw tightened, and an expression came over his face that she hadn’t seen before. There was definitely anger. Not to mention jealousy.
“I’m not going to lie—I don’t like that. But regardless, I’m not a man who gives up on what he wants, and I know what I have to offer. So I’m staying the week, Carina. I hope you get in contact.”
God, the guy didn’t stop.
He bent closer to kiss her on the cheek, but Carina quickly pressed a hand to his chest, pushing him away.
Another flex of his jaw. Then he blew out an exasperated breath. “Bye, Carina.”
He disappeared down the street. Carina was just about to climb into her car when she looked up to see Jason watching her from inside the café. And he didn’t look happy.
Flynn stood silently inside Paul Simmons’s home. Paul wasn’t here tonight.
They were trying a different tactic to draw the guy out. If there was a guy. Paul had entered his home this afternoon in broad daylight before sneaking out the back, through a neighbor’s yard, and getting into Tyler’s car.
Tyler was spending the night with Paul and his wife at the hotel, while Flynn remained here, hiding inside the house. They were counting on this guy having seen Paul enter alone.
Flynn treaded the carpet lightly. Fuck, he was tired. He’d already been awake for the last thirty-six hours, and he was going to be awake for another twelve. His body could handle less sleep than most, but tomorrow he’d sure as hell be crashing.
It wasn’t just the lack of sleep or the job that was making him frustrated though.
It was Jason’s message about Carina’s ex trailing her out of the café—and trying to kiss her.
It shouldn’t make him so annoyed. He knew that. But the fact that he wasn’t there… Yeah, it made his chest feel tight as hell.
He scrubbed a hand over his face right as his phone vibrated from his pocket. Tugging it out, he wasn’t surprised to see it was Tyler.
Any activity?
Flynn sent a quick reply.
Nothing yet. But it’s only midnight.
He was just tucking his cell back into his pocket when he heard it. The light rustling of feet on the ground outside. It was almost silent.
Almost.
Flynn held very still. Made sure his breathing and heartbeat were even. The footsteps drew closer to the house. They hadn’t put anyone on the street intentionally. Any time they’d surveilled the street, the asshole hadn’t shown. So now it was just Flynn.
He moved out of the bedroom. All the curtains were drawn, ensuring there was no way the asshole would see him. He reached the stairs and moved down slowly.
Suddenly, glass shattered somewhere in the house, closely followed by footsteps.
Footsteps moving away from the house.
Flynn took off, dropping down the last of the steps and leaping through the broken living room window, not caring about the shard of glass that cut through his clothes and slashed his skin.
The guy was on the street, running. When he turned his head, Flynn got a glance at his face. Saw the angry sneer.
Flynn cursed under his breath. The asshole was fast. A hell of a lot faster than he should be.
Paul was right. This guy wasn’t normal.
Flynn pumped his legs, ignoring the whip of the air on his face and movement of a car zipping past.
The guy turned a corner, and by the time Flynn followed, he was already turning another. He was too damn fast. Not faster than Flynn, but definitely his equal. All Flynn could do was keep pace.
At the next corner, Flynn saw him run into a backyard.
From his distance, he could hear the blasting of music and people. A party.
Flynn ignored the beeping of a horn, speeding across the road and into the yard. He watched as the guy jumped the fence into the yard of the next house behind. Flynn did the same.
That’s when he realized this was the place the music was coming from.
Fuck.
He ran around the house. There were cars all over the road. People everywhere. In the house. Out of it. In their cars.
He scanned the faces, but it was like picking a needle out of a haystack. All he’d caught was a glimpse of the guy. And right now, there were too many to single out his face, and worse, there were cars coming and going. He could be in the house. In a car. Already running again.
“Goddammit!” Flynn shouted, shoving his hands through his hair in frustration. He wasn’t going to catch him. Not tonight. But he had achieved one thing. He’d confirmed what Paul had told him. This guy wasn’t normal. Flynn wasn’t sure if he was exactly like them, but he at least had their speed.
And that was dangerous for a man on the wrong side of the law.
