Page 51 of Recklessly Yours

Aiden cocked his head and narrowed his eyes, but after a moment, he said, “The neighbor sent me hers this morning.”

“Perfect.”

When Aiden called last night and told me that the woman who lived a few houses down had called about a possible intruder lurking in her backyard, I immediately downloaded the recordings from my exterior cameras.

“I went through mine briefly last night before sending them, but I’ll go through them again while you watch the neighbors.”

He nodded.

“I’m assuming none of the patrols found anything last night?”

He raised an eyebrow. “I would’ve updated you if they did.”

“Yeah, of course.” I shook my head.

“You okay?” He gave me a worried frown.

“Yup.” I scoffed. “This guy is starting to get under my skin.”

A chuckle rumbled out of him. “It could be unrelated, you know.”

He’d said the same thing last night, but I highly doubted it.

“My gut tells me it isn’t.”

I sat at my computer and got to work watching the footage from my backyard. From there, I went through what the camera mounted above my garage had caught. But nothing stood out as odd.

All thoughts of Hattie had been pushed to the back of my mind, but that changed when, on the screen, my SUV pulled into my driveway. I slowed the recording down and watched. Her car had been parked in my garage for the last week, and I had been parking outside.

Hattie stepped out of the vehicle, her long hair floating in the breeze, and as I came around the front of the car, she smiled at me. My stomach sank when I watched myself place a hand at the small of her back and usher her up the walkway.

Jesus, the look on her face when she glanced at me over her shoulder was like a punch to the gut. I was officially an asshole. Despite my attraction, I shouldn’t have been touching her like that. But the more time I spent around her, the more I found myself looking for any reason to make contact with her. I wanted to touch her in the most intimate of ways, to feel her writhe under me as I brushed my fingers over her bare skin. Grip her thighs as I plowed into her?—

“Dude,” Aiden snapped, pulling me out of my thoughts.

Sucking in a harsh breath, I turned to him. What the fuck was his problem?

“What’s up with you?” he asked, narrowing his eyes.

“What do you mean?”

Huffing, he rounded my desk and squinted at my computer screen. “Huh. Figures.”

“What?” I shrugged. “I’m watching my footage.”

“More like watching your girl.”

A flash of irritation mixed with guilt spiked in my veins. “She’s not my girl.”

“Yeah, not buying it.” He crossed his arms and loomed over me. “I’ve never known you to zone out like that.” He pointed at his desk. “I had to say your name three times to get your attention.”

I shook my head. Dammit. He was right about that. I hadn’t realized he was speaking until he snapped at me.

“I’m just laser focused right now. I want to catch this guy.”

I locked my jaw because part of me wanted to addso I can figure things out with Hattie. Because once we caught the stalker, the only obstacle we’d have to overcome would be Rhett. And I was hopeful that issue could be solved with a simple conversation. Rhett wouldn’t love it if I dated Hattie, but he’d get over it. Eventually.

“You need to figure this shit out.” Aiden pointed to the paused image of Hattie and me walking up the sidewalk. “Because this is one hell of a distraction for you, and I don’t like it.”

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