“I’m not following you… I was just going in the same direction as you were.” He looked down the bridge of his nose at her arrogantly.
Zoey wasn’t going to let him get away with it this time.
“I’m not stupid. I see you every time I go out. Once is a coincidence, maybe even twice, but three times is deliberate.”
“You want me to be straight with you?”
“Yes, I do.” Nodding, she crossed her arms over her chest, waiting for his answer.
“I was going to ask if you wanted to hang out sometime.” His arrogant attitude changed to flirtation, which she wasn’t buying for a second. The hard biker had no interest in her.
“I thought you said you were going to be straight with me? You’re lying. Being shy isn’t a problem with you. If you wanted to ask me out, you would have already done it. You wouldn’t have followed me through Queen City to do it.”
“I was picking my moment to approach you.”
Zoey stared at Stump. He was lying through his teeth.
“If you’re going to continue to lie, I’m going to call the police.” Taking her phone out of her pocket, she prepared to call 911.
“Go ahead.” Calling her bluff, Stump made no move to stop her. “You don’t have any proof that I was following you. It’s a free country.”
“That’s true.” Zoey pressed a number on her contact list, putting the phone to her ear.
“Who’re you calling?” His hard gaze turned suspicious.
“Grace.”
He snaked his hand out so quickly that she couldn’t prevent Stump from taking the phone or disconnecting the call.
“You’re not afraid of the cops, but you’re afraid of Grace?” Zoey couldn’t prevent the grin that came to her lips. “That’s hilarious.”
“I’m not afraid of Grace,” he denied.
“Oh, I see. It’s Ice who you’re afraid of.”
“I’m not afraid of him either. Just saving myself the headache.”
Zoey turned toward her car. “Keep the phone. I’ll have a chat with both Grace and Penni went I get to my office.”
“Wait.”
The short command had her turning back.
“Penni and Grace are worried about your stalker.”
“I do not have a stalker.” She heatedly took a step toward him. “They shouldn’t have asked you to watch me.”
“They didn’t. Ice did. And before you get on your high horse, both Ice and Jackal don’t want their wives caught in the crossfire between you and the fucker who is determined to see you dead.”
Paling, Zoey started shaking. “They seriously think someone is going to hurt me?”
“They don’t want to take the chance with their wives’ lives.”
“I see. How much?”
“How much what?” Stump frowned in confusion.
“To pay you to be my bodyguard. Isn’t that what Ice wants you to do?”
“I wouldn’t say bodyguard… Ice wants me to find out who sent you the flowers, notes, and who set off the fire alarm.”
“Ice thinks it’s the same person?”
“We know it is.”
Stump’s firm assertion had her stomach starting to churn. Taking a deep breath, she unconsciously started rubbing her abdomen.
“How does he know for sure?”
“We watched the security tapes.”
“How did they get access?” Zoey saw his jaw clench stubbornly. “Never mind. I don’t want to know. Maybe if I saw the video, I could recognize who it is?”
“The fucker concealed his face both times. He pretended to be a firefighter when he set the alarm. You wouldn’t recognize him if you stood right next to him.”
“Okay, then how much to find out who it is?”
“Why would you want to pay me for that? I’m already doing it for free.”
“Because I can’t accept help without paying for it. That’s just how I am.”
“Then you’re a bigger kook than I thought.”
“I’m not a kook.” Hurt at the way he thought of her had her staring out at the busy parking lot. “Do the Predators normally help other people for free?”
“No. And it’s not for you that I’m doing the job. It’s to make sure Penni and Grace aren’t hurt.”
“Do they know?”
“That I’m watching you?”
“Yes.”
“No, Ice and Jackal are keeping that fact from them.”
“Why? That’s a lot of time and effort just to keep them from being worried.”
“Grace and Penni won’t just sit back and leave you alone if they knew for sure that someone is stalking you.”
“Ahh… they have their own self-interest at heart. Ice doesn’t want an uninvited house guest or have Grace spending time away from him.”
“You could say it that way.” Stump shrugged, taking a packet of cigarettes out of front T-shirt pocket.
“Do you mind not smoking around me?”
He put his cigarettes back in his pocket, beginning to look harassed.
“Look, I’ll keep back so you won’t notice me—that’ll make everyone happy—and then we can go on our merry way when I find the fucker. Cool?”
“Do I look happy?”
Stump gave a long-suffering sigh. “What’s going to make you happy, other than me not doing the job that Ice ordered me to do? Which, by the way, isn’t gonna happen.”