Page 48 of The Chad Next Door
I may be grinning like an idiot—who wouldn’t be with a hunk like Chad begging them to come home?—but I don’t want him to know that. “Has anyone told you that you can be such a baby sometimes?”
“Houston tells me all the time.”
Man, I really want to meet Houston now, and not just because he’s a famous pitcher. “So, what’s my plan here, Grizz? How do I follow a guy who’s already following me?”
“If you can bump into him and make it seem like an accident, he’ll think you didn’t see him, so he won’t be on his guard. Think you can do that?”
I laugh. “Have you met me? I don’t need to remind you about the hardware store, do I?”
“Please don’t maim him. He needs to be able to walk back to where he’s staying, or this whole conversation will have been pointless and I could have been kissing you for the last ten minutes.”
“Is that what you think we would have been doing?”
“Am I wrong?”
Heat floods my face, and I’m glad the only person to witness any of this conversation is my new buddy Oscar behind the counter. “Are you always such a shameless flirt, or is it just me?” I ask, unable to help myself.
Chad chuckles. “I have never been this way with anyone but you, Hope. And that’s why I need you to be careful.”
“I promise. I’ll do everything you say. I trust you.”
He’s quiet for a second. “Thank you. Are you ready for this?”
“So I’m going to bump into him, and then what? Is there, like, a manual on how to lose a tail?”
Chuckling, Chad seems to have relaxed in the last few minutes, which honestly has me feeling better too. If he was still nervous, that would probably mean this was a bigger deal than it is. “Remind me to give you the crash course later. For now, you’re just going to apologize and head to the hardware store. Tell June you need to go out the back way and you’ll tell her why later.”
Though I should wait until I have all the instructions, I shift closer to the door anyway to get ready to go. “What if she asks questions?”
“Don’t let her.”
“Easy for you to say! June and I are friends now.”
“So tell her you’re being followed. Once you’re in the alley, I’ll tell you where to go.”
“You make this sound so easy,” I mutter, sticking my phone in my jeans and tucking the pain meds into my coat pocket. “How often do you have to sneak around like this?”
He laughs. “Not as often as you seem to think. I just like being prepared in case I need to make a getaway, especially if I’m in a new place.”
“Well, here I go. It was nice knowing you, Chad.”
He groans.
I push through the door before I can think too hard about this, ducking my head against the cold and colliding with the man’s shoulder. “Oh!” I say as I legitimately stumble forward. “I’m so sorry! I didn’t see you there.”
As I give him a sheepish smile, he gapes at me for a second before he recovers and flashes a phony grin. “No worries. Hopefully I didn’t hurt you.”
Hmm, he sounds genuine about that, though it’s not like I can claim I’m an expert on people or behavior. Still, I can see why Chad doesn’t think this guy is dangerous when he looks more nervous about me looking at him than he should.
I smile wider despite Chad’s voice in my ears telling me to keep moving. “No worries. I’m all good. Sorry again for running into you.” I head down the street, dutifully stopping at my car to drop off the meds and take a glance behind me. “Looks like he’s following,” I mutter, knowing Chad is probably trying his hardest not to demand a play-by-play. “So, head to the hardware store?”
“You can spend a few minutes inside before you head out the back. Make sure he sees you looking at the shelves or something.”
“I feel like a spy right now.”
“Yes, that is definitely what you’re doing.”
I can’t help but laugh as I lock my car again and cross the street to get to June’s store. “I don’t appreciate the sarcasm, by the way. Maybe this is child’s play for you, but this is way more exciting than anything I’ve ever done before. Just let me enjoy this, okay?”
