Page 19 of Somebody's Watching Me
Good.
Maybe she was finally ready to accept this for what it was.
“Three,” he replied. “Do you want their names so you can look them up on social media?”
“I would do no such thing.”
“If you say so.”
An incredulous huff blasted through the phone. “Oh, like you don’t look into the men I go out with.”
“Hell yeah, I do,” he admitted. “And then I meticulously destroy them.”
“Rude.”
Rowan shrugged, even though she couldn’t see. “I don’t like people touching my things.”
“I am not a thing.” She stuck her head out from the side of the door’s opening to glare at the camera. Her long, wavy hair cascaded over one shoulder, and Rowan’s fingers itched to get tangled in it. “And I don’t belong to anyone.”
“Except me.” Seeing her had his heart soaring. Nothing compared to this woman. “And I don’t want to fight. Not tonight. Come out and talk to me.”
Reluctantly, she appeared, wearing a plain white T-shirt that ended just below the hips. Normally, she greeted him in something more provocative. Annabeth had an addiction to lingerie, which he gladly indulged. At least once or twice a week, he sent her orders from the various shops she frequented online so she could model them for him on their Friday nights.
Doing as he asked, she moved to the chair and sat, crossing her legs primly. She adjusted the earbud in her ear and placed the phone on the table next to her. “Did you sleep with them?”
The women had wanted him to. One even tried to drag him into her house when he walked her to the door.
He didn’t accept. He never did. Not with the one he wanted so close to being his. The dinners were all for show so Jamison would eventually spread the gossip to Annabeth.
“Would it bother you if I had?”
“Yes,” she answered, her posture snapping straight. “Did you?”
“I did not.”
On the screen, he saw her give a satisfied nod. Rowan laughed. “Did you sleep with any of the men you went out with?”
She hadn’t, of course. He would have known. Since that first moan slipped past her lips when they tumbled into this arrangement months ago, Rowan had become a certified stalker. There were cameras all throughout Haven House, and then there were the ones in and around her bookshop. The little eateries where she met her dates within the Firewater development were also heavily monitored, and he could see her whenever he wanted.
So, basically, all the time.
Yes, he’d taken his obsession to the max and wasn’t at all remorseful over it. He loved watching her. Loved seeing her laugh in the bright sun or stop to admire a rainbow appearing on a rainy afternoon. Sometimes, after closing the bookshop for the day, she would stand and watch the surf. The look on her face, one of yearning and appreciation, tore at him every time.
One day.
One day it would be possible for her to walk on that beach.
And he sure as hell wasn’t going to miss it.
She was so smart on how she handled her limitations. The cafés she went to were always outside, and whenever she hosted a book signing, she held it on the shop’s small patio in case the interior became too crowded.
Then there was the gym. Two doors down from the bookshop, it was one of the few places Annabeth felt confident enough to enter alone. Out of all the locations he watched her, the gym at Firewater was hisfavorite. His girl came alive there. Fear had shrouded her life for so long, but in that gym, Annabeth took control. It was amazing to witness not only the changes in her mindset but also in her body. Where she was once small and fragile, she now had become a powerhouse of slender muscle.
The self-defense lessons were going on two years now, and when Rowan searched for a private instructor, he made sure to find a female one who was close to Annabeth in size. Someone who would make Annabeth feel comfortable, but also show her that a woman like herself could be just as strong as anyone else.
She had no idea he had arranged the lessons, thinking the instructor was part of the gym membership. It was better that way, and he’d left it alone, only wanting to see her thrive in this new life she was creating for herself.
“I didn’t sleep with them,” she replied after a lengthy silence. “I have a feeling you already know that.”
