Page 14 of Saved from Obsession

“No, I want to play.” I grab the bag of tiles and give it a vigorous shake. “I’ll have you know, I actuallywona Scrabble tournament. So I’m not afraid.”

“A tournament? Thatisimpressive.“ Leo settles himself on the floor across the coffee table from me, folding his large frame into an uncomfortable-looking pretzel. He selects his tiles, studying them as he places them on the tray.

His lips twitch as he looks back at me. “I don’t know that I’ve ever played against a tournament champion before. Maybe Ishouldbe worried.”

“It was in high school,” I admit, my own lips curving. A little laugh bubbles up at my own admission. “I can’t believe I just told you I played in a Scrabble competition. That’s pretty embarrassing, actually.”

“No, it isn’t.” Leo glances at the board. “You can go first.”

After some consideration, I play the wordcheckerson the double letter and triple word spaces. This time when I look at Leo, it’s with a little burst of satisfaction.

“Damn.” Leo chuckles. “You weren’t kidding.”

“I used to play with my mom all the time when I was a kid,” I explain. “One year the public library had a competition. The top prize was one-hundred dollars in gift cards to some of the stores in town. I thought if I won, I could give them to my mom as a Christmas present.”

Leo pauses as he’s placing his tiles on the board, raising his gaze to me. “That’s really amazing, Georgia. I bet your mom was thrilled. And it’s not at all embarrassing.”

A burst of pleasure heats my chest, radiating all the way to my cheeks. “Thanks. Not just for that.” I pause, not wanting to say the wrong thing. “For remembering the games. And playing Scrabble with me. I know you don’t have to be doing this right now, but… I really appreciate it.”

Leo’s gaze doesn’t leave mine, and for once I don’t feel self conscious. “It’s my pleasure, Georgia. And you don’t need to thank me. I love playing board games, too.”

Then his serious expression shifts to one more devious, and he quickly adds his tiles to the board. With a wide grin, he lifts his hand away to show the wordslippery, also hitting a double letter and triple word tile. He winks at me and says, “Maybe we’ll have our own tournament.”

As we exchange smiles, the band around my chest loosens. “I’d like that.”

CHAPTERFIVE

LEO

As it gets closer to my time to guard Georgia, I find myself watching the clock.

Even though I’m technically off duty from eight A.M. to four P.M., the time I wasn’t sleeping was spent thinking about Georgia. Thinking about what craft she’d be working on when I went over to guard her, what game we’d play, what we’d eat for dinner, and how often she’d smile.

I have the four to midnight shift over on Georgia’s side of the duplex, then from midnight to eight I spend my time watching the surveillance cameras and working on the investigation side of the case.

I’ve been pouring through all the names Georgia gave me, trying to find anyone with a possible motive for stalking her. Ex-boyfriends, former bosses, other models she beat out for a job—anyone who could have a problem with Georgia is being thoroughly investigated. There haven’t been any hits yet, but it’s only been a few days since I sat down with Georgia to question her.

It’s my least favorite part of the process, having to press someone to come up with anyone who could want to harm them. It’s not pleasant having to consider that someone from your past—someone you possibly cared about, even—could be behind something so traumatizing.

But Georgia held up like a champ; she never hesitated or shied away from giving me answers. Her eyes got damp a few times, but she never asked for a break and refused whenever I offered one. When I asked about old relationships, she went pink before answering. At first, I thought it might have been because she’d dated a lot and was embarrassed to say it—not that she’d have any reason, and I’m not one to judge—but then she quietly told me there she’d only ever dated two men and neither relationship was serious.

I didn’t say anything, but something on my face must have given away my surprise because she explained, “When I was in high school, I didn’t date at all. I was shy, and I mostly focused on school and working part time. I didn’t have any friends that were guys, either.”

“None?”

After a little dry laugh she said, “There was the boy who used to lend me pencils in math class, and the one with the locker next to me who would kick the door when it got stuck. Plus the guy who waited at the same bus stop but only listened to music and never talked to me. I don’t think any of those count.”

“What about after high school, once you moved to the city?” A woman as beautiful as Georgia must have had tons of men asking her out.

Georgia frowned. “I never knew if a guy wanted to be with me, or just wanted my connections. Men would ask me out and then on the first date, they’d drop into the conversation that they were hoping to get into modeling, acting, or did I know so-and-so who could help them out with a job… it was just easier to say no instead of always wondering about their motivation.”

Then she gave a little laugh, dry and self-deprecating, and said softly, “I guess I won’t have to worry aboutthatanymore.”

In the time I’ve spent with Georgia, it’s impossible not to see how self-conscious she is about her scar. She’s always tilting her head so her hair covers her injured cheek, and when she reads or works on her crafts, her hair is a golden curtain on either side of her face.

When she talks to people, I can tell she wants to duck her head away—her expression gets tense and her eyes flicker with discomfort—but she won’t let herself do it. The only time she looks at me without any worry is when we’re playing games. She gets caught up in the competition, the banter between us, and she doesn’t get a chance to feel self-conscious.

We’ve fallen into an easy routine—when I come over to her side of the duplex, first we make dinner, then pick a board game from the collection and play a few rounds of it. Then we both sit in the living room while Georgia reads a book or watches TV and I work on my laptop.

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