Page 57 of Mine to Keep

“Can you connect it with my laptop?”

He was so cute. “I’m sure I could manage something, but you have the one monitor so you’d have to shift back and forth, but maybe six at a time.”

“Jesus, Nick, how many cameras did you put up?”

“Enough. Now go work.”

He chuckled and disconnected.

I had to get this done.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

Matt

Olivia,the little girl I was working with, was so sweet. I’d met her today, had done an assessment and would start fully with her on Thursday. She lived only a few blocks from Belle’s Beanery, so I stopped in for a coffee pick-me-up.

The bell jingled above the door, and the aroma of fresh-ground goodness filled my nose.

“Good afternoon, Matt.” Beth greeted me with a smile.

“Hey, Beth.”

“What can I get you today?”

She took my order, and I moved to the pickup section. It was a little busy today. It was coming on two, so a lot of people usually needed a lift this time of day.

“Here you are.” She slid my caramel almond latte to me, and I may have moaned as I sipped. “Good?”

“Oh yeah, just what I needed.” I leaned in, and she met me halfway. “I’m seeing one of the Saint brothers and I promised I’d stop by Saintly Sweets next week. I don’t know how to tell themmy loyalties lie here.” I winked but she didn’t appear happy; her brows furrowed and she stepped away.

“You’re seeing someone?”

I thought she’d playfully give me a hard time about trying a different place, and her question threw me.

“It’s new.”

“I see.” Her face pinched, and she hooked a thumb over her shoulder. “I gotta get back to work.” She turned on her heel and walked away.

“She’s always had a thing for ya. Likely just hurt?” I spun and saw one of the other servers, Tim, I thought.

“I had an inkling, but I thought it was just a silly crush.”

He waved it off. “She’ll be fine.” He rolled his eyes. “She had a thing for some guy last year, a lawyer. And when he told her he was moving she cried in the break room for like an hour.”

“That’s…”

“Crazy?” He chuckled. “Yeah, but she’s harmless. I’m sure she’ll fall for someone else next week.” He shrugged and returned to wiping the tables.

First Nicole going into my apartment, now Beth…was I paranoid now? Seeing things that weren’t there because I didn’t know who was stalking me?

I didn’t stay at the shop, opting to walk to my car and head to my apartment. Nick had texted that he was driving back to his house to make sure everything looked good on his end and would come by tonight if I wanted him to.

Oh, I wanted him to.

My ride home was uneventful. I parked in the garage and as I made my way up to my apartment, there was a sense of ease knowing that Nick was possibly watching me right now. I scanned the elevator, and I couldn’t see a thing that was different, but somehow I knew.

I waved at my Ring camera like a dolt and went inside. Everything was clean. He’d even wiped counters and as I took a breath, I smelled him. I loved that.

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