Page 19 of Lies Beneath Secrets (Skeleton Crew #1)

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Con

I may or may not have been standing by my window, waiting for her to walk up to the building. When she does though, I’m glad because she’s clearly crying. Her hand swipes across her flushed cheeks, and she walks quickly to get inside. Like the stalker I’ve become, I stride right over to my door and put my eye up to the damn peephole.

Gabby is still in school and won’t be home for at least two hours. I knew if I had a chance to see Lauren one on one, today would be my best shot. She works so much and the last time I was there, I might have snuck a peek at the schedule.

Her footsteps are light, and I barely hear them through the door. I watch as she steps into view, then gets closer to her apartment. When she starts to unlock all of the locks she must have attached after that night, I make my move. Pulling open the door, I do my best to pretend that I’m leaving to go somewhere. “Oh, hey, Lauren.”

“Shit!” she yelps and drops her keys.

“I didn’t mean to scare you.” That’s the truth. I thought I had been loud enough when I opened the door.

“It’s fine.” She brushes me off and grabs her keys again. “Crappy day.” She proceeds to open her door still.

“Is everything okay?” I’ve already seen that she has been crying before she came into the building but now that I’m closer to her, she seems agitated as well. Her movements as she puts a key in each lock are jerky and her tone has a sharpness to it I haven’t witnessed before.

“Just wonderful,” she tells me sarcastically, then pockets her keys. “Have a great day.” Even that comes out with some snark. Something clearly is going on with her.

“Lauren,” I say her name but when she doesn’t respond, I decide to push it just a little further. “Lauren.” This time with more of an edge. I do one better and put my hand out to prevent her from closing her door.

“Damn it, Conner. I’m not in the mood for company,” she snaps at me and jerks her head up to meet my gaze. She darts her eyes from inside her apartment then back up to me before letting out a huff. “What do you want?”

“To be honest, all I wanted to do was say hello, then I saw how pissed off you were,” I say, wondering how far I should push my being here on her.

“I went to visit my mom.” She lets out a dry laugh. “I really don’t know why I do.” She tips her head back, then brings her hands to her cheeks to swipe away her tears. They go under her glasses, over her eyes, then drop to her sides. “She had a stroke two years ago and is just a shell of who she once was.”

“She has to know on some level that you’re there and still care though.” Her hands clench into fists, then she drops them to her sides, again rubbing over the top of her thighs. She has on jeans today and not them damn stretchy things she wears that cling to her ass like a second skin.

“Yeah,” she whispers. “Look, I really need to just be alone right now.” She tries to go inside her apartment once more, but I hold out my arm again.

“I don’t think that’s such a good idea.” This nagging feeling in the back of my mind tells me not to let her out of my sight.

“I don’t think that’s really up to you,” she retorts without missing a beat.

“Maybe not.” I step a little closer to her, eating up the space between us. “Doesn’t mean I can’t try to stop you.”

“What?” The word comes out in a husky whisper. I’m damn near crossing a line with her, letting my true nature come through this single father next door act I’ve been putting on. It’s exhausting. If this situation were different, I would have had her in my bed weeks ago. Instead, I’m being forced to pussy foot around to find out what she knows. What if I just dropped the act and flat out asked her? Pushed my way into her apartment… Jesus, I’m losing my shit over her.

“I’m just meaning that having someone to talk to could help,” I tell her and force myself back a step and drop my arms from her door. Before she even makes a move, I know the door will be closing in my face. I pushed things too far and spooked her. Strong willed as she may be, she still is human. The blood that had drained from her face floods back, and she makes one swift move to be fully inside her apartment.

“I’m good,” she snaps before closing the door in my face.

Shit.

That went fucking well.