Obsession Falls(11)

“Hey, I don’t mean to be hard on you.” His voice took on the soothing quality he’d always used to get out of an argument. “Is everything okay?”

I lost my job and now I’m living with my mother after I swore I’d never move home; my new job is a disaster, and I’m going to spend all my off-hours trying to keep my dog away from my mom’s pampered cat. No, everything is not okay.

Obviously I didn’t say that.

“Yeah, fine. I was just looking for a career change and this happened to be where I wound up. Life is funny that way.”

He nodded slowly and I could tell he didn’t believe me. “Good for you.”

“Thanks.”

“We should get coffee sometime.” He stepped closer and gave me the same flirtatious grin that had given me butterflies back in high school. “Catch up properly.”

Why was he looking at me that way? His eyes traveled up and down, lingering on my chest much longer than was polite.

“How’s Lorelei?”

For half a second, he froze, and a flash of anger hardened his features.

He reminded me of my father.

That was disconcerting.

“She’s great.” His expression melted back into his cocky half-grin. “You should stop by. She’d love to see you.”

Nice save, buddy. “Yeah, I will. I really do need to get going. My dog is in the car and I don’t want to leave him out there too long.”

“Of course. Me too. Gotta get home before the old ball and chain thinks I’m running around on her.” He winked and a part of me wondered if he was cheating on her. Or would, if given the opportunity.

Dang it, Colin, don’t be that guy. “Have a good night.”

“Bye, Audrey.” He paused, locking me in his gaze. “It really is good to see you.”

“You, too.” I was such a liar. It wasn’t good to see him and I would have avoided it for as long as I could.

“I’ll see you around.” He winked again, then turned and sauntered off.

I let out a long breath and headed for the check out, feeling mildly icky. I’d felt that way when I’d seen him at my dad’s funeral, too. Instead of just expressing his condolences, like a normal ex-boyfriend, he’d cornered me and insisted on giving me a long hug. Somehow his offer of anything I needed had struck me as inappropriate.

Fortunately, today he hadn’t tried to hug me, just asked me to coffee, which could have been perfectly innocent. Maybe he did just want to catch up and see how I was doing.

I paid for the chicken salad and headed back to my car. Max was diligently watching for me as I walked across the parking lot and I could see his bushy tail start wagging as soon as he caught sight of me.

Silly dog.

Out of nowhere, a chill ran up my spine and the hairs on my arms stood on end. I had the strangest feeling that I was being watched, and not just by my dog. The sense was so strong, and so pervasive, it made my heart race, as if I were walking in a dark alley in a big city, not the parking lot of a small-town grocery store in broad daylight.

I couldn’t decide whether to look around to see if anyone was actually watching me, or sprint for my car, so I wound up doing an awkward combination of both. My head turned from side to side, too quickly for me to make out much of my surroundings, and I darted forward. I dug into my purse, scrambling for my keys. Where were they?

Max’s nose left wet streaks across the glass of the passenger side window. He probably interpreted my dash across the parking lot to mean something fun was about to happen.

I kept waiting for a rag with chloroform to clamp over my nose and mouth or a sharp object to stab me from behind.

It’s possible adrenaline gave me an over-active imagination.

I got to my car, pressed the remote to unlock it, and scrambled inside, locking the door as fast as I could.

Max wagged his tail while I tried to catch my breath. My heart pounded and the tingly, I’m-about-to-be-stabbed feeling took a long moment to go away.

I looked out the windows and in the rear-view but didn’t see anyone. Not even Colin.

It had probably just been him, pausing outside his car to watch me when I came out of the store. Just my not-dangerous ex-boyfriend. The worst thing Colin would do was eye me inappropriately and suggest we have coffee—and quite possibly cheat on his wife, but I wasn’t going to have any part in that.

No reason to fear chloroform rags or being stabbed from behind.

Max put his paw on my arm.

“Thanks, good boy. Your dog-mom is ridiculous. I hope you know that.”

He looked up at me with his big brown eyes, as if there was nothing wrong with me at all.

Dogs are the best.

My heart was slowing down and my arms no longer resembled a hyper alert porcupine, so I turned on the car and left. I kept the chicken salad container in my lap so Max wouldn’t get too curious. I didn’t need to wind up with dinner and dog slobber all over the inside of my car.

I told myself in no uncertain terms that I was not being followed on the drive home. There was literally no one behind me, but apparently my adrenaline-fueled imagination wasn’t quite done.

It was just the stress of – everything. My stint with unemployment, the rampant rejection of applying to a million jobs and never hearing back, plus the move home. Not to mention running into Colin. It was a lot.