Page 28 of Into the Shadows

“He’s Old Man Kavanagh's grandson. He came into the diner one time a few years back.”

Mom raises an eyebrow at me. I was hoping my nonchalant tone would be enough to throw her off the scent, but given the expression on her face, I've no such luck.

“He's back in town?”

“Yep. He moved into his grandad's place.”

She hums. “Well, I can't wait to learn more about him.”

There’s no doubt in my mind I will be given the third degree when we’re not in public, so I just grin at her. I'd had every plan to tell her about Teddy, but after a while, it just felt pathetic. The only person who knows I've been emailing him is Gia.

I stick around to chat for a bit longer, but when my stomach starts to growl, I make my excuses to head home.

The parking lot is dark, the cool air trying to blow through my jacket. I keep an eye on my surroundings, paying attention to the other cars around me and making sure there's nobody else around.

As I open the door of my car, my internal alarm starts screaming at me. I whip around, only to find nobody in the parking lot. My heart is racing, adrenaline pumping through me with every beat of my pulse. I have to take a deep breath to calm myself down.

There's nobody there.

After another deep breath, I turn around and start to get in my car when a hand reaches out and grabs my arm.

I just react.

Chapter 17

Teddy

One second, I’m reaching out to grab Lottie’s attention, the next, I’m flat on my back with her hovering over me.

Her eyes grow wide as I groan. Fuck, that hurt.

“Oh, my god,” she squeaks. “Teddy, what the hell are you doing?”

I wheeze, trying to breathe through the wind being knocked out of me. I hold up a finger and work to get my breath back to a normal rhythm. I didn’t mean to test Lottie’s skills, but at least I can confirm she can take care of herself.

Once I feel like I can take a deep breath again, I have Lottie help me stand up again. “Remind me not to piss you off.”

Lottie scoffs. “You scared me. I didn’t think anybody was out here.”

“Sorry, I saw you leaving, and I wanted to stop you before you got too far.”

She raises an eyebrow. “Oh?”

“I—” The words stick in my throat. Lottie's amber eyes are soft, her heart shining through them. I've never met a singlewoman as beautiful as her. It’s effortless in the way she can spear me open with only a look. It's one of the many reasons I'm afraid of letting her in. I can't afford to have her see how broken I am on the inside. Fuck, I'm broken enough on the outside, and I doubt she knows about it.

No, in fact, I know she doesn't. I've done my best to hide it. Yet she's looking at me with such patience and understanding that I don't stand a chance.

“I want to take you to dinner,” I blurt.

Lottie's eyes widened in surprise. “You do?”

“I thought…you wanted the same thing? You asked me the other day.”

She grimaces. “Yeah, I did. I just figured you’d agreed absentmindedly… That you were giving a rash answer to my question.”

I tilt my head. “Really? Do I look like the kind of person who makes rash decisions?” Well, I did just blurt the question out, so she might be on to something.

Lottie's shoulders soften, and she smiles at me. “No, I don't guess you do.”

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