CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

GIDEON

My phone rings, and Lindy's name pops up. Answering with a swipe of my thumb, I grin. "Hey, baby, how's it going?" We had a fun day at the zoo, so you'd think she had enough of me already, but I'm happy that's not the case. I can never get enough of my girl, especially after our rough start.

"I'm not sure."

There's tension in her voice, and immediately my shoulders stiffen. "What's wrong?"

"I think I'm being followed."

"What?" I straighten from my spot on the couch watching a college football game with Fox, Ranger, and Grim. Tiny's head is in my lap, but he senses the concern in my tone and sits up, a little whine coming from the back of his throat.

Someone mutes the television.

"I don't know if I'm being paranoid or what, but this car has been following me for the past fifteen minutes. It looks like an undercover cop vehicle with the bar of lights just under the top of the windshield. I can't tell if Dean's driving or one of his friends because of the tinted windows, but it's kind of freaking me out. I made a couple of random turns, and they followed each one, so now I'm worried they're going to pull me over."

"Don't panic. Stick to the speed limit. Use your turn signals, and get to the club as soon as you can. Even if they flash their lights, don't stop. How far away are you? Should I come and give you an escort?" I ask, hopping up from the couch.

"No, I'll be there soon," she says. Her breathing is heavy, her voice strained. "This could all be in my head. Just a weird coincidence."

"Don't do that. Don't minimize your instincts. Even if this is a false alarm, it's good that you're keeping aware of your surroundings." I head outside with Tiny and Ranger trailing behind me as backup, and I attempt to keep her calm by praising her survival instincts, but I'm not sure how well it works.

Eventually, her SUV rolls up to the clubhouse.

Sure enough, a black Charger bypasses the gravel drive a few minutes later. I can't see through the windows, but there's no doubt in my mind whoever's driving has something to do with Dean. Call it a gut feeling, but after years in the military, I learned early on to never ignore those.

"You okay?" I ask once Lindy gets out of the car.

"Yeah, I'm better now." She kneels to pet Tiny behind the ears, and he happily licks her face, generous with his slobbery kisses. "I'm glad they didn't follow me here, but why follow me at all?"

"I don't know." Though the bastard must have forgotten the dirt we have on him. The shady shit he doesn't want anyone to know about after we did some digging back when he was harassing Caroline to get to Lindy. "And it doesn't matter. He'll have to go through the entire club to get to you."

"I hate causing so much trouble."

"Hell no," I growl. "This isn't your fault. You're my Lindy Girl, and I protect what's mine. Do you want to pack a bag and stay with me at the clubhouse?"

"No, I think I'll be okay now that he's gone. If you could follow me home to double check no one's waiting around the corner or anything. I know it's paranoid but—"

"It's smart." I hate leaving her alone, though. So when Lindy and I arrive at her cabin five minutes later, I decide that I'm not.

"Thanks again… What are you doing?" she asks as I settle on her sofa after helping her put away the groceries she picked up.

"Spending the night. You're not staying by yourself."

"Gideon, you don't have to do that."

"Yes, I do. I can sleep on the couch if you want. I don't care, but I'm not leaving."

She sighs but nods, a look of relief flashing across her face before she turns to preheat the oven. "Okay. And you can sleep in the bed. We're both adults."

Damn right.

I vow to keep things strictly platonic tonight, despite having Lindy's warm curves so close.

I'm not going to fuck this up again.