Page 122 of Stormswept Colorado

I held my breath. Teller’s warm hand rested on my back.

“At first I wondered if you sent them,” Bryan said to Teller. “Since you send Ayla presents all the time. But the sender is anonymous.”

And I’d told Bryan and the other guards about my stalker. They didn’t know many details, but they knew about the flower arrangements and the need to carefully vet deliveries.

“Is the driver still here?” I asked.

Bryan nodded. “Yeah, we stopped him. We’re keeping him at the gate. Want me to call the police?”

“Not yet. I want to see the flowers. Are there red daisies?”

Bryan frowned, clearly confused. “I don’t know. I could go look, but why?—”

Teller stepped past the threshold, putting himself in front of me. “Hold on. First, I want to talk to this delivery guy.” Heglanced back. “If that’s okay with you, sweetheart. For all we know, this could be the stalker.”

I gripped Teller’s arm. “Then I don’t want him near you. What if he’s got a weapon? What if he tries to hurt you?”

“That’s something I’m trained to deal with. Bryan, are you armed?”

“No doubt. I’m fully up to date on my training. The agency requires it.”

“Good. You and I will talk to the guy. Depending on what he says, we can decide whether to call the police.”

Bryan lifted his chin. “Works for me.”

Teller went inside briefly to snag a T-shirt. He tugged it on over his sweats, not bothering with shoes, and he brought me a hoodie to cover my tank top. The hoodie said Silver Ridge PD across the front.

“Be careful,” I said.

Teller kissed me. “I will. You be careful too. Stay back and out of sight. I don’t want him seeing you.”

We’ll see about that, I thought, grumbling to myself about being left behind while Teller walked into danger. Potential danger, anyway.

No, there was no way I could just wait patiently for my man to return. That wasn’t me.

I slid into a pair of shoes. Tiptoeing across the stone pavers outside my door, I approached the long, tall hedge that hid my house from view of the driveway and the road. When I reached the edge, I peeked around the bushy plant wall.

“Hey, man, I’ve made my delivery,” an unfamiliar voice was saying. “Can I have my ID back and go? I have a lot more flowers and traffic to deal with.”

“I haven’t seen your ID yet,” Teller said. “I want to know who the hell you are.”

Teller, Bryan, and another of the security guys were spread out, surrounding the delivery driver. I’d never seen the man before. A truck with flower decals was parkedbeside him.

I spotted the flower arrangement on the ground. Bigger than any of the others I’d received so far. The splotches of bright red were visible from here.

Red daisies. Shit.

There was a small card stuck into the new arrangement. I had to know what it said.

“Why are you people making such a big deal about this? I deliver the flowers. That’s it.”

Bryan handed the ID to Teller, who studied it. “So you work for the florist, Christopher?”

“Yeah, that’s what I’ve been telling you.”

Whatever was going on, I didn’t believe this guy was my stalker. Biggest Fan had been too careful in the past, never revealing his identity even when he’d ordered those flower arrangements to be sent.

Teller had asked me to stay out of sight, but that just wasn’t going to work for me. He was my boyfriend and the most important man in my life, but I’d already told him that I wouldn’t fade into the background. That would never be me.

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