Total pages in book: 42
Estimated words: 39596 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 198(@200wpm)___ 158(@250wpm)___ 132(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 39596 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 198(@200wpm)___ 158(@250wpm)___ 132(@300wpm)
Gabby grinned at him. “I already ordered you the house coffee and got some pastries for us to share. Hope that’s okay.”
“It’s great. Thanks.” He set his briefcase on the seat beside him, tucking the note underneath it. He’d find a way to work it into their conversation. But Gabby’s sharp eyes ruined his plans. She reached across the table and snatched up the note, too fast for him to stop her.
“What’s this?” she asked as she unfolded the paper. Her face went pale as her gaze shot to his. “What the hell, Lonnie?”
He sighed and removed his gloves to set them on the table. “If there were fingerprints on that, you just screwed them up.”
“Fingerprints? Lonnie, where did you find this?”
“This one was on my car under the windshield wiper.”
“This one?” She leaned over the table and lowered her voice. “Are you telling me you’ve gotten more than one letter like this?”
He shrugged. “Yeah. This is the fifth one. The first two were on my desk, one was through the mail, the last two, including this one, on my car.” He smiled up at the server as she set down his mug of coffee, returning his smile. He quickly took a sip, sighing over the blend of cardamom, cinnamon and ginger. “Oh, that’s good as always.” The server set down their pastries, including his favorite cream cheese-filled sweet bread with honey. He loved the way the pastry was shaped like honeycomb.
“Have you called the police?” Gabby asked as their server left to go back to the counter. She was still keeping her voice down, which he was thankful for since the cafe was busy as usual. Every single table held people, and most were working quietly on laptops, so it would be easy to hear their conversation.
“No.” He hitched his voice low. “I’m not sure it would help. But with this one, I was considering it.”
“If you’re not going to report this, then you need to do something else.”
“Like what?”
“Protection.”
He blinked at her. “You mean, like a bodyguard?”
She nodded. “I know just the company to call, too. My friend told me about it after she hired their services. Said they’re affordable.”
“Affordable is still probably not cheap enough for me, and you know that.”
“Then I’ll hire them.” She sat back and crossed her arms, a familiar sign that she had already made up her mind.
He glared at her. “With your husband’s money? No, thanks.”
She smirked. “I don’t need his money—though he’d never miss it. Did I mention that romantasy is huge right now? My latest hit three different bestseller lists, and I’ve got some nice royalties coming.”
Lonnie groaned. “Again? And I haven’t even managed…” He trailed off, not wanting to spoil her good news. He really was proud of her. Just… It was hard.
She touched his hand. “Still not done?”
“I’ve been working on my book, but teaching takes up so much of my time, I’m just too busy.” He snorted. “Ironic, isn’t it? I’m the one who teaches writing, and you’re the one who’s actually doing it.”
She patted him. “Well, maybe you could focus better if you weren’t dealing with a creepy stalker. So let me—”
He held up his hand. “No, I don’t want you to pay for a bodyguard. I’ll figure this out. Probably go ahead and report this to the cops, at least. But let’s not overreact. It’s probably just a student of mine. I’ll pay more attention to see who’s acting differently in class.”
“Look around when you’re walking, too.” She waved the letter in the air. “This is scary, Lonnie. I don’t like it.”
“I’m not much of a fan myself.”
“What did the other ones say?”
He’d put each one in a baggie and kept them in his briefcase, so he pulled them out for her. She laid them out on the table and read each one, growing even paler.
He knew them by heart.
Why don’t you pay attention to me? Don’t you know you’re mine?
I like the sweater you wore today. Was near while you were in line at a coffee cart and loved the way the sunlight brushed your hair with color.
Today, you talked about stating the theme in the opening, and I wanted to share mine. You, Lonnie. You are my theme.
Then the one that had filled him with real fear, instead of just annoyance.
You went on a date. I followed you, and you never saw me. You paid attention only to that man. You shouldn’t have done that.
“Lonnie, these are more than scary. Do you think it’s Richard?”
“My ex?” He shook his head before taking another sip of coffee. The mug clattered against the saucer when he set it down—his hand was shaking, he realized. This was bothering him more than he’d wanted to admit. “Nah, Richard wants nothing to do with me. Walking in on him with someone else ended something that should have ended ages ago. You should have seen the guy he was with—no soft middle on that one.”