Page 76 of Indigo Sky

"Tyson," I muttered, remembering that asshole from weeks ago.

"Tyson? Who is Tyson?" the other cop asked with interest, already retrieving a pad of paper from his pocket.

Kate blew out a breath. "He, um … he was a customer who tried to"—she cleared her throat and shuffled from one foot to another—"f-force himself on me last month."

I saw red and shook my head, throwing my gaze to the sky as my mouth twisted and my gut churned with discomfort and fury.

"You got his full name?" the cop asked, and Kate gave it to him. He wrote it down and nodded. "All right. We'll look into it and be in touch. In the meantime, get home safe, all right? I don't mean to scare you, miss, but make sure you lock your windows and doors. Don’t keep anything important inside your car. We don't really know what we're dealing with here. Could be nothing, but just in case, be aware of your surroundings."

She shuddered at my side but nodded. “Okay.”

He swung his gaze to mine. “You’re her … husband?”

My heart pulsed at the thought as I shook my head. “No, uh—"

“He’s my boyfriend,” Kate corrected, cutting in with a declaration that not only warmed my entire body with elation, but also puffed my chest up with an immense amount of pride.

Her boyfriend. Significant other. Partner.Shit!It felt good, and, fuck, I wished this could’ve happened at a moment when we weren’t dealing with something serious and potentially dangerous. And yet, somehow, that only encouraged something else to course steadily through my veins and bones and all the way down to the center of my soul—the fervent need to protect her.

The cop nodded. “Make sure she’s safe,” he said. “Call us if you need anything else.”

They wished us a good night, although that seemed unlikely, given the circumstances. And, man, I was pissed about that. It had been a good night. No, scratch that. It had been fuckinggreatuntil we got out here.

And now, I was finding it hard to remember she had kissed me and that this thing felt like an actualthingbecause some asshole had vandalized her fucking car.

Except this wasn’t just some asshole, was it? This was a repeat offender. Someone who’d been hanging around for at least a couple of weeks. And, yeah, maybe it was Tyson. Made sense. This shit had all seemed to start happening around that point, as far as I was aware. Although call it a gut feeling or whatever … but I wasn’t convinced.

“I should follow you home,” I said, suddenly exhausted and realizing it had been way too long since I’d slept.

Kate shook her head. “No, I’ll be okay.”

I was skeptical. “It’s not a big deal. I can—"

“No, really. My dad’s nurse will be there. I’ll call you while I drive. I just …” She trailed off for a second before continuing, “My dad gets really worked up over changes in his routine, and if other people are involved, it’s worse. He doesn’t do well with it. But thank you. You know, for being so sweet and such a good guy.”

I stared at her, reluctant to back down so easily. But she seemed so sincere and concerned, and I had no reason to believe she wasn’t telling the truth.

“Okay,” I said, already worried this was a bad idea. “But you’re staying on the phone with me the whole time.”

She held my gaze and nodded. “The whole time.”

“And you’re not hanging up until the door’s locked.”

“Not until the door is locked,” she agreed, reaching out to slip her hand into mine.

I sucked in a deep breath and took a step closer until my body was nearly flush against hers, our toes parallel and her hand holding mine. I craned my neck and kissed her forehead before releasing the breath from my lungs.

“I don’t like this,” I said quietly.

She shook her head. “Neither do I. Honestly, I have the most bizarre amount of déjà vu right now. Like I’ve done all of this before. But you know what’s crazy?”

“What?”

She mustered a smile as she looked up at me, squeezing my fingers with hers. “I know I should be more upset or scared, but I’m too happy.”

“Yeah, that is crazy,” I teased before a sardonic chuckle huffed up my throat. “‘CauseI’mupset and fuckin’ terrified.”

“But that’s why I’m so happy,” she whispered, eyes on mine as she took one of her hands and lifted it to touch my face.

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