Leo(A Sign of Love Novel)(6)

"I scared you?" I say incredulously, glaring at him, "You're the one following me like a creeper." I cock my head to the side. "By the way, pointer, if you're going to stalk someone, you should be less obvious about it. For instance, standing in the middle of the street gawking at your victim tends to be a giveaway." I narrow my eyes.

He remains silent, staring at me intently, his lips slightly parted. His lips! They're really nice lips! Don't be distracted, Evie! He could still be a serial killer! At the very least, a serious weirdo.

I put my hands on my hips. "Don't despair though. I'm sure with some study, you could get better. There might be an instructional video or something you could pick up… maybe a book on the subject, Creepy Stalker for Dummies?" I raise one eyebrow.

He stands still, continuing to stare at me without saying a word for several seconds, and then he bursts out laughing. "Well, holy hell, you really are something, aren't you?" but there's appreciation in his voice. And his laugh. Wow, his laugh is really nice.

I study him for a minute. Good God, I thought he was good looking before. But up close, this man is devastating, all square jaw, straight nose and deep brown eyes. If there is any imperfection to him at all, it's that he's a little too perfect, if that's possible. He's tall and broad and very masculine with a shadow of stubble on his jaw that looks more purposeful than unkempt. And when he laughs like that, I swear a piece of my soul, the part of me that keeps secrets even from myself, tries to lunge towards him, like his happiness is an invisible pull to my own heart. It's crazy. I don't even know this guy.

"Okay," I say, "Well, the gig is up. Why are you following me?" I narrow my eyes at him again. But truthfully, I'm not nervous. There are absolutely no danger vibes coming off of this guy at all. And I've contended with just about all brands of human f*ckery. You could say I'm an expert in human f*ckery.

Then he does something to knock me off balance completely. He runs his hand through his thick carmel brown hair, drops his head so he's looking up at me, and raises his eyebrows in a gesture that looks shy and doubtful, yet sexy as hell. And I almost swoon. That, right there. That's his deal sealer. I bet that look has girls all over the city dropping their panties right on the spot.

But then he speaks and I snap out of it. "I've been that obvious, huh?" and he has the grace to look embarrassed. He takes a step towards me. I take a step back. He stops. "I'm not going to hurt you," he says, sounding like my distrust of him is truly hurtful. I mean, really? Need I remind him again that he's a creepy stalker? And truly, I'm not afraid of him, but I don't know him either and a healthy distance from strangers is never a bad idea.

"Yes, you've been THAT obvious. Enough games. I want to know why you're following me."

He seems to consider whether to answer me or not. Then he looks me in the eye and says softly, "I knew Leo. He asked me to check on you."





CHAPTER 4



My world comes to a screeching halt and I freeze, my mouth falling open. "What?" I croak out. With one name, he's left me a trembling, reeling mess. I steel myself though. This stranger doesn't need to know that. I straighten up and ask in a stronger voice, "What do you mean you knew Leo?" I don't let on that I'm afraid of what that past tense means.

Of course, I've wondered a thousand times if something happened to Leo, convincing myself that something had to have happened to Leo for him not to have contacted me all these years, and especially for him to break his promise to me about writing as soon as he arrived in San Diego. My mind came up with a million scenarios over those first few months about why my beautiful boy disappeared from my world… a car wreck on the way from the airport to their new home… surprising a robber in their house as they arrived...

When I was 16, I went to the library and sorted through California newspapers from the week he moved, in search of any news stories about the untimely demise of a mom, dad and their teenage son. Each fruitless search brought both relief and frustration.

I even created a fake account on Facebook once and looked up his name but came up with nothing. I didn't keep an account of my own. There were too many people from my past who might attempt to contact me and that I did not need.

The problem was, I had precious little information about Leo's family to go on, except for the fact that his adoptive father worked in a hospital. I didn't know if that meant he was a doctor or an administrator or what, but that piece of information, the city they were moving to, and Leo's name and age is all I ever had to work with.

Of course, my resources were small, a library computer and old newspaper microfiche, so it's no wonder I never got far.

After my unsuccessful attempts at finding any information on him, I made a vow to myself that I would stop wondering all the time. It was too painful. And so on my 18th birthday, the day he had promised to come for me, I closed my eyes and pictured him smiling at me on a roof under a winter sky and that's where I left him in my mind.

I look up to see that the man is studying me closely, a small frown on his face, but he doesn't move closer now or attempt to touch me in any way. I turn around and walk to some porch steps a few feet behind me and sit down and take a deep breath. My legs feel shaky. I repeat my question, "What do you mean, you knew Leo?"