Hearts Divided (Cedar Cove #5.5)(38)
Jake stopped, drawing her with him off the sidewalk and onto the grass. The flow of pedestrian traffic continued past them, the walkway crowded with noisy students on their way to lunch.
“You think you’re being stalked?” He searched her face, read the uneasiness on her features and looked back at the busy sidewalk, studying the crowd for any visible threat.
It can’t be a coincidence that she feels she’s being followed so soon after meeting me, Jake thought grimly.
He’d never forgive himself if he’d made Chloe a target for whoever had been following him for the last six weeks.
Three
Jake shifted her behind him, concealing her from the crowd with his body while he continued to inspect the busy walkway.
“I haven’t actually seen anyone following me but I have this…this eerie feeling that I’m being watched.” Chloe’s fingers closed over his forearm and she felt his muscles flex. “I swear the hair rises on the back of my neck.”
“When in doubt, trust your gut instinct,” he said. “If something doesn’t feel right, it probably isn’t. Soldiers learn that lesson the first week in a combat zone.”
“I’ve never had anything like this happen to me before,” Chloe told him. “I’ve read about it, and seen it in movies. But in real life and to me personally? No.”
“You sound more annoyed than scared.” Jake swept one more glance over the surrounding area. “Do you still feel you’re being watched?”
Chloe paused, assessing, and was relieved when she realized the eerie feeling had disappeared. “No.”
“Good.” He checked his watch. “Let’s resume this over lunch.” He took her arm and they left the grass for the sidewalk. He didn’t return to the subject of a possible stalker until they were seated at the restaurant with slices of hot pizza and cold drinks in front of them.
“What about a boyfriend?”
Startled, she looked up, her glass of ice water halfway to her lips. “I beg your pardon?”
“Have you had a fight with a boyfriend lately?”
“I’m not dating anyone at present.” Chloe caught a quick flash of satisfaction.
“What about ex-boyfriends? Any relationships that ended badly? Guys who might be looking for revenge?”
“No.” She shook her head. “Definitely not a possible scenario.”
“That leaves us with professional enemies.”
“I work in the English Department at a university,” Chloe said. “None of my fellow assistant professors are the James Bond type. In fact…” She smiled. “My sister calls them Woody Allen–wannabes.”
“Really?” He raised his eyebrows. “That bad, huh?”
“Not bad,” she protested. “They’re very nice men.”
“Hmm,” he murmured, but didn’t comment further. “So you have a sister?”
“I have two, actually.”
“Either of them have a reason to follow or threaten you?”
“No.” A swift mental image of Alexie made Chloe laugh.
“What?”
“I just pictured Alexie trying to stalk me. She has no patience—she’d last maybe two minutes before she confronted me and told me exactly what she wanted.”
“I think I like her.” Jake’s lips curved in a smile. “Apparently both you and Alexie inherited some of your grandmother Winifred’s character traits. You said you have two sisters?”
Chloe nodded. “Alexie is my older sister. Lily is younger than me by five years. And before you ask…” She held up her hand to forestall his next question. “Lily’s on a buying trip in Europe for her lingerie boutique. And my mother’s with her, so neither of them could possibly be connected to this. Not that there’s any possibility of that, anyway,” she added. “I have a normal family, Jake. And I live a perfectly average life. I have no idea why someone would want to follow me or who this person might be.”
“Maybe you have nothing to worry about,” he said calmly. “Have you talked to the police?”
“No. What would I tell them—that I feel someone watching me?” She frowned. “They’d call in a psychiatrist and have me committed.”
“Not necessarily. They get more complaints like yours than you might think.”
“I’m guessing they file them in the ‘paranoid’ folder.” Chloe was unconvinced. “I’d rather wait until I have something concrete to tell them before I call.”
“What sort of evidence are you waiting for?”
“I don’t know.” Chloe bit her lip, considering. “Something beyond an uneasy feeling. If I’d actually seen the person who’s following me, then I’d have something solid for the police to investigate.”
“But you haven’t noticed anyone unusual or out of the ordinary? No one who made you feel uncomfortable?”
Chloe instantly thought of the man wearing sunglasses outside David’s shop.
“What is it?”
“Probably nothing.”
“Tell me.”
“The other afternoon I was in downtown Seattle, picking up a gift for my grandmother’s birthday. I saw a man outside the shop who seemed to be staring at me through the glass. But I may have been imagining it. I turned to speak to David and when I looked back, the man was gone.”