Page 23 of Adrian (Love Under the Lights 3)

I was able to shave a couple of minutes off my drive time, and Casey must’ve called ahead to the gate for the neighborhood because the guard waved me in when I pulled up. She was sitting on the front steps, her chin leaning against her knees and her arms wrapped around her shins. I barely had my Jeep in park before I jumped out and raced toward her. “Are you okay?”

“I’ve had better days, but I’ve also had worse.”

“I’m sorry you couldn’t reach me when you needed me. I had an incident at the grocery store, and my phone got broken.” I pulled it out of my pocket to show her the smashed screen.

Casey looked over her shoulder and frowned. “Did this incident have anything to do with a stalker?”

“Yeah.” Considering her sister still lived with their parents and kept up with the gossip sites, it wasn’t that much of a surprise that Casey had found out about my stalker. “How much do you know already?”

“Not much,” she sighed, turning back to look up at me. “Cindy mentioned a restraining order, but I didn't ask what she meant. She’s not exactly the most trustworthy source.”

Dropping down on to the step next to her, I pulled her onto my lap before I told her about the break-in that prompted my move. “She tracked me down at the grocery store today. Dane thinks she saw the article, and it pushed her over the edge. Which was bad for me since she went batshit crazy when she saw what I was buying. I’m still not sure where she got the knife she tried slashing me with.”

“Holy crap! She came at you with a knife? Are you okay?” Casey patted my chest as though she was searching for a knife wound.

“I’m fine,” I reassured her, brushing my lips across her forehead. “The only thing that got hurt was my phone. And since she was out on bail, the cops told me she wouldn't be released again anytime soon.”

“That’s a relief.” She rested her head against my shoulder and asked, “Why did she freak out over what you were buying?”

I tightened my hold on her. “Condoms and chocolate must’ve been a dead giveaway that the article was right, and I’m off the market.”

Her blue eyes widened as she gasped, “Oh, crap! We haven’t been using protection.”

“Which is why I bought the condoms.” I heard footsteps nearing the door, and I lowered my voice when I added, “So I’d have them around when we needed them.”

She leaned back to smile at me as she whispered, “Good plan. Throwing an unplanned pregnancy into the mix is probably not the best idea.”

The paparazzi would have a field day if Casey turned out to be pregnant with my baby, but I was surprised to discover that the possibility didn’t bother me as much as it should since we’d only known each other for three days. But that was something to explore when someone wasn’t eavesdropping on us. “Why were you sitting out here?”

“To get away from my mom and sister. They’re having a difficult time wrapping their heads around the possibility of you and me as a couple, and I got tired of hearing about it.”

The mystery of who was listening in was solved when the door flew open and two women stomped out. They both had the same blue eyes as Casey, but that’s where the similarities ended because everything else about them was fake. They both had the same platinum-dyed hair, deep tans, and blindingly white smiles.

“Hello there. I didn’t realize we had company.” Casey’s mom nudged her other daughter forward. “Casey, introduce your sister. I’m sure Mr. Clarke would love to meet her.”

It was easy to see where this was headed, and I wasn’t going to put up with this bullshit. Lifting Casey off my lap, I stood and held my hand out for her. When her palm slid against mine, I helped her up and tucked her into my side. “Hello, Mrs. Smythe. Casey’s told me a lot about you.” Unfortunately, none of it was good. “Casey and I have to get going. The paparazzi caught wind of our relationship earlier than we planned, so we need to decide how we want to handle it now that the news is already out there.”

“Did you just say… are you serious? This is a relationship?” Cindy shrieked in disbelief.

“I’m surprised Casey didn’t tell you all about it.” I tilted Casey’s chin up to brush my lips against hers. “It’s too bad TMZ beat her to the punch.”

Her mom pressed a hand to her chest. “We thought they’d gotten it wrong.”

“You have to admit that the two of you as a couple is a colossal mismatch.” Cindy’s gaze darted back and forth between Casey and me.

“Huh.” I glanced over at them and shook my head. “Most of what you read on the gossip sites isn’t true, but I figured anyone who knows Casey would easily see how we feel about each other.”

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