“Is it . . .?” her voice trailed off.
“Is it who?” he asked.
“The man from the car. The sketch I gave you.”
“I don’t know. I’m asking if you think it’s him.”
“I think so. How did you find him?”
“I had one of the techs at work run him through the facial recognition software.”
“Why? Why would you do that? Couldn’t you lose your job?”
“I’ve got all that covered.”
“I thought he was no one, just some guy waiting on a caretaker or something.”
“Maybe. Maybe not. I checked out all your neighbors and they are all clean except that one guy, but he’s too disabled due to bad habits to be a threat. I don’t know who this guy in front of his house is, but I intend to find out. If it’s nothing, then that’s good, but I want to know if there is more to it.”
“You checked out all my neighbors? What is wrong with you, Ryan? You can’t just nose into people’s lives when they’ve done nothing wrong.”
Ryan was taken aback by her anger, but it was clear that she was unhappy about his prying around in other people’s business.
“I just want you to be safe. You and I are good together, Lucy. I want you to feel comfortable in your own home.”
“You know what? I did feel comfortable in my own home until I met you, Ryan. I mean, yeah, we’ve had some fun and some laughs, but this is too much. We aren’t even a couple and you’re investigating my neighbors? Who does that? You think because you are an Alpha, you can just do what you want to people and they have no say in it?
“Whoa, Lucy. Where is this coming from? Why are you so upset about me trying to ensure your safety?”
“I’m not upset about you trying to keep me safe. I’m trying to figure out why you think it’s okay to violate other people’s rights to do it and why you are just now telling me about any of this. You’re acting like exactly the sort of Alpha that I’ve avoided all my life.”
“Lucy, can we just sit and talk about this?”
She was silent for a moment. Finally looking up at him with tear filled eyes.
“I need you to leave.”
“No. Lucy, this is ridiculous.”
“The fact that you think how I feel is ridiculous is exactly why you need to go.”
Ryan felt bewildered and a little bit angry. How could she be so upset about him trying to take care of her? He wanted to stay, to talk to her, to not leave things like this, but he knew that it might only make things worse. He threw up his hands in defeat and turned to leave.
‘I just need some space,” she said, her voice barely audible.
“Okay, Lucy. Call me when you are ready to talk,” he said, pausing in the doorway. “For the record, this is not what I want.”
He didn’t wait for a reply, just walked out the door.CHAPTER ELEVENLucy
The night had been long. Lucy spent half of it trying to convince herself she hadn’t overreacted and the other half trying figure out how to fix this. She had feelings for Ryan, feelings she’d been fighting the whole time and now she’d fucked it all up. Was it really such a big deal that he’d tried to protect her? He was an Alpha and a cop. Of course he’d not just take a chance on her getting hurt.
Still, that wasn’t what she wanted. She didn’t need someone to take care of her. She needed someone who wanted a partner, an equal - not some protector. She managed to stop obsessing about it long enough to go to class and take her test. She felt like she was in a trance and wasn’t sure if she’d even come close to passing. It was a good thing her grades could handle one bad grade, even though it would take her GPA down a bit.
“Girl, what’s wrong with you?” Sasha asked afterward. “You look like the walking dead.”
“I didn’t get much sleep. Ryan and I had an argument and I kicked him out.”
“Hottie Ryan? The cop? I didn’t realize the two of you had gotten serious enough to have a fight, especially one that would cost you any sleep.”
“Long story, but I’m exhausted. I’m just going to go home and lie down for a while. I feel like toxic waste.’
“Alright, you do that. Should we expect you at girls night out tonight or no?”
“Yeah, I’ll be there. I could use the downtime and the company.”
“Good. I’ll see you tonight. We’ll cheer you up, girl.”
Lucy smiled and waved at her before getting into her car to go home. It took all her willpower not to turn in the other direction and go to Ryan’s house to talk to him. The longer she had thought through things last night and today, the more she realized how wrong she had been. She was scared of being so attached to someone and the way the day had unfolded had only made it worse.