Long, Lonely Nights (14 page)

Logan watched Riley ride away. Then he looked over towards his neighbor’s house and wondered what she was doing. She had been terrified earlier when she had banged on his door. She calmed down before the police arrived, but not by much.

Those brief moments when she had clung to him had felt like heaven. It was too late for him. He was already in over his head with Tina. The only question now was what was he planning to do about it?

* * * *

Tina called in to the office and told them she wouldn’t be in, but would work with what she had at home. Then she called Jenna to let her know she was going to stay home.

“Are you okay? Do you need anything?” Jenna asked when she phoned her.

“No, I’m fine. I just need a day off to rest is all. This will give me a three day weekend.”

“You sure you don’t want me to bring you anything at lunch? I don’t mind,” Jenna said

“No, I’m fine. Thanks though. I’ll talk to you again later.” Tina hung up.

She hated not telling Jenna the truth, but she needed to handle this herself. If Jenna knew the intruder had been in her house, she would be over there now, packing her up to stay with her. Jenna’s mother was staying with her for a few days. There wouldn’t be enough room for both of them, but Jenna would insist. No, it was best if her friend didn’t know about the latest trouble.

Tina set to work cleaning up the powder the crime scene techs had used all over her kitchen. It seemed to have gotten in everything in the kitchen. It took her well over an hour to clean it all up. By the time she was finished, it was nearly time for lunch. She fixed a peanut butter sandwich. She didn’t have much of an appetite, but tried to eat anyway. She managed to get down a little over half of the sandwich.

A knock at the door startled her. She had to take a deep breath to calm her racing heart. She checked the window and asked who it was. The guy held up a card that said he was the locksmith she had called. She disarmed the security system and opened the door. He nodded and asked her what she wanted done.

“You’re not the one who came and put these in,” she said.

“No, that was probably the owner. He hired me ‘bout seven months ago. Name’s Arthur Biggs.” He smiled and opened his bag.

“Nice to meet you Mr. Biggs,” Tina said.

“Call me Art. Everyone does.” He began fiddling with her kitchen door. “I’ll get all these done in a jiffy.”

“Thanks, Art. I’ll be in my office if you need anything,” she said. Then she remembered. “Oh, and I have a pair of French doors in my bedroom off my balcony.”

“I’ll come get you when I finish the front and back doors,” he said.

Tina nodded and went to her office to settle in and get some work done. At first, she had trouble concentrating, but finally settled into the work and forgot she even had anyone in the house with her. A knock at the office door brought her back to awareness quickly.

“Okay, I’m ready to go upstairs to your bedroom now.” The locksmith stood just outside of the office doorway.

She led him up the stairs and into her bedroom. He crossed the room and set to work on the doors. Something about him seemed familiar then. She realized he smelled like Old Spice. It floored her. The stalker smelled like that. She remembered also that he had green eyes. What color were Art’s eyes? It seemed like they were hazel, but she couldn’t be sure without seeing them again. But, he could wear contacts, right? She fought the panic that threatened to well up inside her.

“Um, Art? How long have you been a locksmith?” she asked.

He looked up and smiled. “Oh, since I was old enough to play with my Dad’s stuff. He was one before me. I planned to take over his business when he retired, but he got sick when I was still in high school and lost the business.” He shrugged. “So, here I am. Maybe one day I will open my own business, but this is fine for now.”

His eyes were hazel, like she thought. Still, he might be wearing contact lenses. She studied him as he worked on her door. He seemed tall enough but maybe he was a bit too heavy. He had a small belly on him.

She checked his hands and realized he was married. That wouldn’t make much difference though. Her stalker could be married with six kids for all she knew. True psychopaths from what she had heard usually had a family and kept everyone around them in the dark about who and what they were.

Tina swallowed and took a step back from the locksmith. Surely, he wouldn’t try anything in broad daylight, she reasoned, but what about the locks? Now she couldn’t trust that the stalker didn’t have keys to her locks. She eased around the bed to the opposite side and kept her hand near the telephone. She had left her cell phone downstairs in the office. Stupid, stupid, stupid, she chastised herself.

The sound of him closing the door and locking it jerked her back from her thoughts.

“Looks like that’s it. You’re all done.” He began putting up his tools. “Would it be okay if I washed my hands in your bathroom? I don’t want to get key oil on the door knobs or wood door facing.”

“No, of course not,” Tina said.

She waited while he washed and dried his hands in her bathroom, then led the way down the stairs. He went out to his truck to write up her ticket, and she noticed the slight scent of the aftershave remained behind him. Then it dawned on her that it was the same scent she’d smelled that day, but hadn’t know what it was. The bastard had been in her house before, and she hadn’t even realized it.

The locksmith returned and knocked on her door. He presented her with the bill and told her to mail in a check if that was okay with her.

“I have two more stops, so I don’t plan on going in to the office today. Don’t like carrying money, even checks, around on me for a day or two. Just send it to the address on the bill.” He smiled and left.

Tina watched him drive away, then locked her door. She checked every other door and window in the house and set the alarm system. She was paranoid now she realized. It didn’t matter if it kept her safe, she decided.

Instead of returning to the office to finish up what she was working on, Tina decided to read for awhile. It was still sunny outside, so she chose a book and settled outside on her deck to read. The air was hot and humid, but she needed to get out of the house with the lingering odor of Old Spice.

She couldn’t help glancing over at her neighbor’s house several times. There was no sign of him. She had heard Riley’s bike earlier that day, so he might have gone somewhere with his friend. It didn’t matter, she told herself. He meant nothing to her, nothing other than a neighbor who helped her when she needed it.
And fucked you when you didn’t.

She couldn’t regret it though. She admitted she enjoyed it, but it didn’t make it right. He was more than she could handle, and she knew it. Right now, she had more than she could handle in her life anyway. Still, she couldn’t help thinking about it. The knowledge she had driven him to lose control enough to take her up against the wall thrilled her. She closed her eyes and drew in a breath through her nose. She could almost feel him there inside her again. Her breath caught, and she felt the heat of arousal burn her face and neck.

“You’re getting too hot out here.”

Tina jumped and dropped her book.

“You scared the crap out of me!”

“Sorry, I thought you heard me over here trimming the shrubs.” Logan held up the pruning shears.

“No, I didn’t, and I’m not that hot,” she said.

“Your face is red. Maybe you need to put on some sunscreen.”

Tina inwardly cringed. She knew why her face was red. She sure didn’t want Logan to know.

“Maybe I will.” She stood up to go back inside.

“Wait. Did you get your locks all changed?” Logan asked. He rested the shears on top of the fence.

“Yes, he re-keyed them all and checked the locks on the windows for me as well.”

“Was he the same one who came last year?”

“No. He works for the man who came last year though. Why?” she asked.

“No reason. Just wondering.”

But Tina knew better. He wouldn’t have asked without a reason, and since she had thought about it herself, she figured he was wondering if the locksmith could be the stalker.

“I was going to come by later to tell you to call me when you come and go until they catch this guy, so I can watch out for you.”

“That’s really nice of you, but I don’t need you to do that. I’ll be careful, and I’m not planning on going anywhere after dark regardless.” She turned and walked across the deck to her back door.

She reached to open the door, but a hand over hers stopped her. She turned and stared up into Logan’s dark brooding eyes. He didn’t say anything at first. He just watched her until she pulled away from his stare to look pointedly at her hand.

“Tina, call me when you come and go. I won’t bother you. I’ll just watch and be sure you get inside all right. That’s all.” He let go of her hand.

She didn’t turn back around, but nodded her head and opened the door. Once inside she locked the door behind her and leaned back against it. She was shaking. Just his touch had her all confused. Why did he affect her this way? It had to be about the sex. He was good. Damn, he was better than good, and all she had experience wise was that one time. One time, and her body craved his. She had to regain control again. There was too much going on in her life right now to have the hots for her next door neighbor.

She rubbed her hand where his had touched hers. Even as hot as it was outside, she could still feel his burning touch against her skin. Yeah, she would call and let him know when she went anywhere. It was the safe thing to do, and she wasn’t stupid. She was lucky he was next door to watch for her. The police couldn’t babysit her twenty-four hours a day. The most they could do would be to make extra passes by her house at night.

Tina, you’ve got to get yourself under control. He lives next door to you. You’re going to see him all the time. Stop with the hormone thing already.

That was easier said than done after months of watching him at night from her balcony. She had come to enjoy and look forward to watching him sit outside in his boxers at night. Now she knew he had watched her as well. How much he had watched her, she wasn’t sure, but she had a good idea. Even though her nightly voyeur game had ended, she hadn’t stopped dreaming about him between the nightmares. Of one thing Tina was certain, her body would always want Logan.

* * * *

Tina expected Jenna to come by the house since she hadn’t gone to work. Sure enough, at five-thirty, someone knocked on her door. She checked to see who it was and smiled to herself. She opened the door and Jenna stalked inside. “What’s going on?”

“Nothing, why?”

“Why? You didn’t come to work today. You always come to work.” Jenna set her purse on the kitchen counter.

“I needed some rest. I haven’t been sleeping well lately,” Tina said.

“Don’t bullshit me. I know something is wrong. You might as well spill it. I’ll get it out of you eventually.”

“Someone was in my house last night. They left a present on my counter.” Tina swallowed and winced when Jenna’s mouth flew open.

“While you were here? Oh my God! Why didn’t you call me? I would have come over. You must have been scared to death. What did you do?” Jenna asked.

“I ran next door and acted like a fool to Logan. I was so scared I didn’t even think. I just ran.”

“I might have done the same thing. Only I probably would have just stood in my kitchen and screamed first,” Jenna said. “What did he do?”

“He called the police for me and stayed with me until they left. I called a lock smith and had them come and change my locks.”