Page 8 of With Us

“She works at the coffee shop until late afternoon before having just enough time to get to the grocery store to start her shift there.” Luc checked his watch. “Which she’s probably about to do soon.”

“Is it that late already?”

He nodded. “Coincidental stop for milk?”

“And make her think I’m a stalker?”

Luc glanced meaningfully at the file.

“You know what I mean.” Gathering my things, including the stalker file, I stood and headed for the elevator. “I do think a cup of shitty coffee and a muffin have been added to my morning tomorrow.” When the polished silver doors opened, we got in, Luc pressing the button for the lobby.

As the elevator descended, Luc remained disconcertingly quiet, his toes tapping.

“What is it?” I asked.

“I left some stuff out of the file.”

My body tensed. “What?”

“It’s nothing bad.” He held his hands up, shaking his head. “Definitely nothing that would cause any problems for you. Squeaky clean background check. No connections to any competitors or disgruntled companies.”

“Luca, I told you to geteverything.”

“I did. I just didn’tgiveyou everything.” He sighed, taking out his phone. “If you want the information, I’ll email it to you right now. But sometimes it’s better to go in not knowing every detail already. She may have the personality of a gelatinous fish. She might be ‘The One’. I don’t know. I just think you should go in a little blind.”

We both fell silent as I thought about what he’d said.

Thanks to Luc’s skills, I usually knew more about people than they knew about themselves. It was a necessary part of my life, but it sure as fuck killed any shot at a relationship. Even just reading a basic background check meant I had a list of flaws and bad habits of any potential partners. By the end of scanning the report, it was like we’d already dated, grown apart, and broken up.

A little mystery might be nice for once.

“‘The One’?” I questioned, unable to hide my smile at his choice of words. “Getting romantic in your old age?”

“Says the guy who’s stalking the pretty barista.”

I chuckled. “Good point.”

When the elevator door opened, we made our way through the lobby to the waiting SUV, but my thoughts stayed on Dahlia.

Her petite size, delicate features, cat eyes, and full lips made me want to fuck her, protect her, and then fuck her again. It was more than just wanting to take her on every surface of the café, though. There was something about her that dug deep under my skin. I wasn’t sure what it was, but I was looking forward to finding out.

I just had to hope she didn’t have the personality of a gelatinous fish.

???

I lied.

Like the serious fucking stalker I was turning out to be, I kept my body hidden behind a cardboard display as I watched Dahlia work for a minute. Her hair was piled on top of her head, nothing blocking the view of her gorgeous, but tired, face. Her steps and movements were slow. Even without seeing her fourth yawn in the small timeframe, it was obvious she was exhausted.

Lost in her own world, she loaded the last of the fruit onto a cart, shutting down the cases for the night. I could’ve been standing right next to her, and I doubted she’d have noticed.

When another girl approached her, not looking anywhere near as wiped out, I moved to the end of the aisle. Pretending to contemplate cereal choices, I furthered my stalking career by eavesdropping.

“Hey, Dahl, almost done?” the girl asked.

“Yeah, this is the last of it. I have to put the schedules in Jerry’s mailbox for approval.”

“Cool. We’re all heading over to O’Gregor’s, do you wanna come? I’ll hang and wait for you, then we can walk over together.”

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