Page 21 of How to Flirt with a Hellhound
Shit.
“Yes, he’s the one neighbor,” I said, hoping Liam would leave it there.
“Would he happen to be the one you were asking Jude how to talk to?” Liam questioned.
“Hmmm,” I replied noncommittally. “Well, I gotta run. I’m starved, and steak is calling my name. I’ll be in touch if I need you.”
Liam did some grumbling, then muttered about looking into buying at least one of the houses, and then he thankfully got off the phone without any more questions. I would guess he would also be doing a background check on Toby, but I wasn’t worried about that. I didn’t even know why he bothered when we could see someone’s soul, but Liam liked doing background checks—it made him feel human. Eh, to each their own.
I threw the steak and thinly sliced potatoes on, thinking back to Toby. I wondered if there were any other details he needed for his book? I’d have to find my way outside next time he ordered a delivery so I could run into him and check.
Stalkerish? Maybe. But I didn’t think Toby would mind running into me again. And I was always happy to be helpful with research for his books.
A hellhound’s job was never done.
Chapter 9
Toby
Ifinished revising my scene and tried not to think about Dex without a shirt.
All those muscles. And the tattoos. And he smelled really good. And he was super helpful when it came to my work.
There weren’t honestly that many people I could talk to about my writing. Josh and Sebbie were proud of me and respected all that I’d accomplished, but they were more amused by my random ramblings. They didn’t actuallyhelpme. They joked about me following the trails of plot bunnies and laughed at my macabre search history, but it just wasn’t their thing. And that was totally fine. When Josh started talking about spreadsheets, my eyes glazed over in boredom, but I still listened.
That’s what friends did.
Still, it was really cool to have someone who was so interested and helpful. Of course, Amy, my PA was super helpful too, but she had a ton of clients, and I hated to bother her with random stuff unless I was really stuck. She handled all my social media and my releases, and she was a godsend for doing it.
Who knew that being an author was so much more than writing books?
Still, I couldn’t complain. I was doing what I loved, and I made a successful living at it.
That reminded me that I probably needed to let Amy know about the most recent email. She had been the one to actually block him on my socials, since she had the sign in for all those accounts and monitored them more closely than me, especially when I was in the middle of writing a book. I should probably forward the email to her as well.
I opened my inbox to do just that, and I saw that there were more messages.
As in, numerous messages.
I opened the first one and skimmed it, then went through the rest. I felt sicker as I read each one, snippets of them jumping out at me and blazing across my mind.
I’m your biggest fan.
I’m sure that bitch of a PA is the one who blocked me. I know you would never do that to me. Hopefully she isn’t checking your email, too. Don’t worry, I’ll find some way around that bitch.
I’m sure it’s lonely being an author, but I’ll keep you company and provide inspiration for ALL your scenes.
I can protect you and take care of you just like Carlos did for Antoine in your book.
Because that was the stalker guy from my book that he’d already referenced. I felt like screaming. That wasfiction. This wasreal life. Stalking wasnot sexy. Ok, so maybe being a bit stalkerish about my neighbor was sexy, but hey, we knew each other, so that didn’t count as stalking. I almost giggled hysterically, and I knew I had to pull it together.
I counted the emails. Ten. He’d sent me ten emails in the span of twenty-four hours.
What. The. Fuck.
What was I supposed to do with this? WhatcouldI do with this?
I had no idea what the guy’s name was or where he was from, and it was only a small consolation that he had no idea what my real name was either.
