Page 52 of Lawton

My response, when it came, was too quiet. "No." Working to be cool about it, I returned my gaze to hers and shrugged. "I asked, you asked. No big deal." With what I hoped was a smile, I handed her Chucky's leash.

Silently, she took it and said, "Will you be walking tomorrow?"

Would I? I didn't know. Again, I shrugged. "Hard to say." I glanced in the general direction of my own house. "I gotta run."

Before I could make a bigger ass of myself, I turned away and began walking toward my own place. I wanted to look back. I didn't. And I knew why. Because seeing her with another guy wouldn't be good for anyone – not me, not her, and not him.

Tomorrow, I decided, I'd be cool with it. But not now. Not yet.

Even as I walked back to my own place, I knew it was a lie. I wouldn't be cool with it. But I couldactcool with it. She deserved that.

But the next evening,when I saw the guy for myself, all bets were off.

Chapter 25

It was ten o'clock at night. I was out in my own back yard, doing a perimeter check of the iron fence that surrounded my property. Yeah, I had people who could do that for me. But old habits died hard, so at least a couple times a month, I walked the edges, looking for anything out-of-the-ordinary – busted lights, ladders where they shouldn’t be, that sort of thing.

I'd just returned from my downtown office, where I'd spent the last fifteen hours pretending to get some work done. In truth, I was distracted as hell.

Today, I hadwantedto be home, watching for her, walking with her, talking with her. But as much as I wanted that, it was time to back off. So I'd gone into the office and stayed there until dark and then some.

Now, it was two hours before midnight. No way she'd be walking now.

No temptation. That was the idea.

I'd just reached the back part of my fence, the part that divided my property from Chloe's. I looked toward her house. The place was dark – the yard, the house, the bonus garage out back, everything. I shook my head. Probably, I shouldn't be looking at all. Spying on her wasn't the plan, as tempting as it sounded.

I was just turning away when something made me stop. It was a friendly male voice calling out, "Hey neighbor."

I stopped dead in my tracks. I turned to look. I saw nothing.

"Up here," the voice said.

I squinted into the darkness. The voice sounded like it was coming from the attic above Chloe's bonus garage. Finally, I spotted a small, open window with a silhouette moving behind it.

From up above, the same voice called out, "Hey, wait up, will ya? I'm coming down."

As if I'd be going anywherenow.

A minute later, the garage's side door swung open, and some guy walked out. With a neighborly wave, he started heading toward me.

Through the fence, I watched him approach. Dark as it was, it was hard to get a good look, but I caught the basics. He was tall and lean with big pale hair. He wore a flashy business suit, along with bright white sneakers. He strode toward me like he owned the place, which – I realized with a sinking feeling – he probably did.

Odds were pretty good that this was Chloe's boyfriend or the next closest thing. I reminded myself to be cool about it. He was a neighbor. He seemed friendly. He might even be a good guy. It wasn't his fault that I was crazy for the girl who lived there.

When the guy reached the fence, I got a better look at his face. It made me second-guess my first assumption. He was older than I thought – at least fifty, maybe even sixty. Chloe's dad?

I sure as hell hoped so, because the alternative wasn't something I wanted to think about it.

The guy flashed me a grin. "I knowyou. Lawton Rastor, right?"

Was it meet-the-parent time? Or meet-the-slimeball-I-wanted-to-kill time? I had no way of knowing. Not yet. But just in case, this was no time to be a dick to the guy.

Ignoring the tightness in my shoulders, I tried for a smile. "Right."

The guy's smile widened. "I go by Leo." He spread out his arms. "Welcome to the neighborhood."

Behind him, the house was still dark. What was he doing out here? And where the hell was Chloe?