"Do you want some coffee?"

"Always. I'll make it," Ethan said as he grabbed the teapot and filled it with water. While he did that, she ground the beans and put them in the French press. Once the water was near boiling, they added it to the pot and carried everything out to the patio. The sun was just setting, and it was the perfect fall evening, even if her insides were in turmoil.

Passing Ethan his black coffee, she added sugar and half-and-half to hers before reclining in one of the chaise lounges. It was so peaceful. She sighed with pleasure and sadness that she was about to open a can of worms.

"What's wrong, sweetheart? I don't know if you realize it, but everything you're thinking shows on your face. So don't bother trying to say it's nothing."

The immature Anna wanted to stick out her tongue and say, "bite me." But she had to be an adult, and that meant coming clean. "Something weird happened after the open house on Saturday."

"And you're just telling me now?"

"With everything going on it kind of slipped my mind. I got home and smelled your amazing dinner, and all I could think about was food."

"Umm, sure. Nope not buying it. So what happened?"

"Well..." She hesitated and took another sip of coffee as she searched for the right words to use. The last thing she wanted was for him to freak out and decide she wasn't safe. "I'm sure it was nothing."

"If it worried you then it's probably something. Gut instincts are usually right."

He was right, it had freaked her out and just because she didn't want it to be true didn't mean it wasn't. "When I closed up the open house on Saturday, there was a guy leaning against a rusted green pickup truck and smoking. I don't remember ever seeing him before, and he kind of gave me the creeps."

"Can you describe him?"

"Probably, it wasn't dark yet. He was wearing sunglasses, but I got a pretty good look at his face."

"Good. Anything else?"

"Yeah. Umm..." He was going to be pissed, so pissed. Why hadn't she realized it before? Because you're too stubborn for your own good, that's why. He put this coffee cup on the table and crossed his arms, like he knew he wasn't going to like what was coming next.

"Outside the open house wasn't the only time I saw him."

"What? God dammit. And you waited until now to tell me? You really need to work on your trust issues, sweetheart."

"I know. But when I got home and hadn't seen him following me, I figured it was all in my imagination."

"Even if it was, you should have told me. If not right away, then definitely after you heard about the robberies."

He was right, and she had no excuse other than she'd honestly forgotten until then. With all the other stuff going on it had been the furthest thing from her mind. "It was stupid, yes, I realize that now, but I really did forget."

"Well, there's nothing we can do about it now. For all we know, he's the one planning the robberies. Or maybe he's stalking you. Either way, we need to take care of it as soon as possible. Please promise me you won't hold back any more information whether you think it's pertinent or not."

"I promise."

"Good." He softened his tone now that she'd agreed to do what he wanted, but she didn't care. In this instance, he was right, and she was wrong. She was woman enough to admit it. "Where else did you see him?"

"At the office. Not at first but the truck was there when I was leaving to come home. At least, I think it was the same truck. I couldn't see the guy, just the glow of his cigarette through the tinted window. At first, I didn't think anyone was in there until I tried to drive by to get the license plate. I only got the first two letters before he took off in a hurry."

"Good instincts but dangerous, especially because we don't know why he's following you."

"We don't really know that he is following me either. He might have been there for some other reason.

The look he gave her was classic and would have made her parents proud. It was the typical 'are you shitting me, do you need to be punished' look and he wore it well. She struggled to keep the grin off her face. He definitely wouldn't have taken that well.

Ethan pulled out his phone and tapped out something, she was sure it was to Steele. "What were the two letters you saw?"

"An S and an R. It was the regular sunshine state plate too."

"Okay. Did you recognize the make or model of the truck?"

"No sorry. Just that it was old, rusty and looked like it was on its last leg, except for the tinted windows. Now that I think about it, that's kind of weird."

"Very. I know you're always too busy for much of anything, but do you think you could come by the station at some point tomorrow and work with a sketch artist?"

"No promises, but I'll try. It might be late; you know like after work."

"That's fine, but I really would like to get that sketch circulated as soon as possible." He typed some more and then slid the phone back into his pocket. Apparently, it was police business, and it wasn't going to be shared.

"Maybe I'll be able to stop by before I go in. I'll have to see how much I get done tonight."

"What do you have to do tonight?"

"My usual prep for the week, schedules, plans, new listing information, bills, the usual stuff. Then I usually do some yoga, shower and go to bed."

Shaking his head, he had a weird expression on his face. "Do you ever just have down time where you don't do a damn thing, and you're spontaneous?"

"Well yeah of course I do." Did she? Now that she thought about it, maybe she didn't. It had worked for her, until now anyway. Kept her busy and focused on the end game. But now all of that had changed once she'd let Ethan into her life. If she hadn't had blinders on, she would have realized it a whole lot sooner.

"So is this your way of saying you want me to go home so you can get your stuff done?"

Did she want that? Just a bit ago she was all ready to show him the door, but now after telling him about Mr. Creepy Pants, she would rather he stayed.

He had to fight the urge to strangle her, well not really, but God dammit, why hadn't she told him. He wanted to go off on a rant, but he knew better. She would have closed up like a night-blooming jasmine in the morning, and that would have been that. So he'd kept his cool. Fuck. He deserved a freaking Oscar for that performance. Now he was just waiting to see if she wanted him to stay or not. With all of her "excuses," he figured any minute she was going to ask him to go home. He couldn't blame her either, she'd had a hell of a weekend, and he still didn't have any clothes or toiletries. On the other hand, he didn't want to leave her alone in this house, alarm or not. She carried his heart, and he would give up his life to protect her, whether she knew it or not.

"It's been great having you here, but I do think I need some time to myself to wrap my head around everything. I know you think I'm not safe, but I am. I will set the alarm as soon as you walk out the door, you can even double check all the doors and windows before you leave."

She was trying to placate him, but it wasn't working. Until he knew more about the dirt bag who'd been following her, he wanted her under his protection. "Are you sure you won't feel safer if I stay? And there's the added bonus nookie-time."

"I know, honey, I do. But I really think I need some time to myself before I have to take off running for another week. I promise I'll come by the station at some point tomorrow to work with the sketch artist, I'll keep the phone by the bed with your number primed for the call. I promise I'll be safe."

She was stubborn but so was he, and this was one time he wasn't backing down. He was not leaving his woman alone even if it meant he'd be sleeping his car on her driveway. "I don't doubt that you believe that. But I'm not going to give in on this. Until we know more about this guy, I don't want you to be alone."

"But..."

"Nope. If I have to, I'll stay in my car, but I'm not leaving the grounds." She crossed her arms, and storm clouds gathered in her eyes, but he didn't care. He was waiting for the explosion but instead the storm passed.

"You'd really do that for me. Sleep in your car?"

"Of course. How many different ways do I need to show you how much I love you before you start to believe it? Has no one in your life ever put your well-being first?" He expected a quick retort but instead tears welled in her eyes, and threatened to fall.

The tears were his undoing. Before she could say another word he was on his knees next to her chair and pulling her into his arms. She didn't make a sound just tucked her head under his chin. He wouldn't even have known she was crying except his t-shirt got wet from her tears. He rocked her and let her cry, and he wondered how long she'd held it in.

7.

Monday morning arrived way too early. Usually, Anna woke refreshed and ready to tackle the new week, this morning not so much. For the first time in forever, she hadn't prepared for the week, instead crying herself a river in Ethan's arms before he led her to the bedroom and made love to her most of the night. She'd never felt so loved and cherished in her entire life. But she was paying the price this morning. There wasn't going to be enough coffee on the planet to make her perky.

"We're agreed, right? You're going to be hyper-vigilant until we catch this guy. Any sign of him or the truck and you're going to call me. Or Steele if you can't reach me. Which won't happen. Oh and I programmed Steele's number into your phone."

"Yes, boss," she answered with a yawn. Two cups of coffee down and they'd had no effect whatsoever. Ethan smacked her on the butt as he grabbed an apple and then dropped a kiss on her lips.

"I mean it, baby. No risks is your motto. Got it?"

"Yeah, yeah. And what about your motto? You take more risks than I ever have."

"I'm a man. I'm equipped." That was ballsy, but she knew he was trying to lighten the mood, and it had worked. She laughed and tossed a banana at his head.

"Hey, that's gonna leave a bruise."

"Awww, did I hurt the big bad police detective?" She knew she was in trouble before the sound of her words dissipated. Ethan grabbed her around the waist and swung her around so fast she thought her coffee was going make a speedy return.

"If we had more time, I'd show you just how big and bad I am. Although, after last night, I am surprised you need a reminder." The mischief in his eyes should have warned her, but she was either too slow or too tired, and next thing she knew she was laying on the kitchen island, and he'd lifted her shirt and blew raspberries on her stomach. Then he stood her on the floor, kissed her soundly and was gone.

"Holy crap. That man is full of surprises."

"I heard that, and don't you forget it," he called from the front room before she heard the click of the door closing. Then the alarm dinged when the door was reopened. "And don't forget to set the alarm. Later, my sex goddess."

All of a sudden the house seemed way too quiet. It seemed like every time he left, whether he was there for ten minutes or in this case almost thirty-six hours, he took all the happiness with him. Was her life really that dull? Had she let all the happiness drain away to keep herself insulated from hurt? It sure as hell seemed like it, and she was more than ready to live again. Exhaustion be damned, today was the first day of the rest of her life, even if it meant lots of stress and worry, it was okay. She felt alive, really alive for the first time in years.

It didn't look like she'd have time to stop by the police station before work, Ethan would just have to get over it. She'd see if she could make it at lunch or after work it would have to be. Monday's were usually her busist days, and she'd be swimming upstream all day.

Instead of being the first one in, she was the last one in to work. Greeting everyone as she headed to her office she smiled at the looks of surprise on their faces. She had a half hour before the Monday morning staff meeting, and a shitload of listings to go through, or not. Maybe it was time to start delegating. It's not like it was complicated. That decided, she opened their in-house program, and she checked the status of everyone's listings. Two sales on Saturday, excellent. Noting the information to discuss at the meeting, she still needed to figure out what if anything she was going to say about the rash of break-ins. Chances were if she'd seen it on the news so had at least a few of them.

A knock at her door distracted her train of thought. "Morning, Anna. You looked like you could use this," Jenny said as she put a steaming mug of coffee on her desk.

"Oh hell yeah. Thank you."

"You're welcome. How'd the open house go?"

"We had a lot of traffic, I think Adria might have a sale this week, well except..." her voice trailed off when she remembered the robbery. Had they trashed the house? Was it even sellable at this point?

"What's wrong?" Jenny's face showed concern, but there was something weird about her expression. Maybe she'd heard the news and was waiting to see if Anna would say anything.

"I didn't get a lot of sleep last night. I think I'm just a little slow today," Anna said with a laugh.

"Too much weekend. Or maybe I should say, too much Ethan in your weekend?"

"Maybe." Anna grinned, it wasn't out of character for her and Jenny to discuss any of this, but after Ethan's warning, she second guessed everything. "How about you? Did anything come up while I was out?"

"Nope, it was all quiet. I think the weather was just too nice to spend the weekend inside. I hung out with some friends, ate pizza, drank beer, and just chilled. It was good."

"Sounds like it. Good for you. There's a lot to be said for chillin'."

"What kept you at home?" Adria said from the doorway.

"I think that's my cue, meeting in ten."

"Thanks." Was there something off with Jenny today or was it just Anna being "hyper-vigilant" for weirdness. Ethan was going to turn her into a paranoid mess before this was through. "I might have had a house guest," she said after Jenny closed her office door.

"No way! Ethan stayed over? Hot damn. It's about time."

"Actually, he stayed Saturday night too."

"Holy crap, woman. When you finally give in you really go for it."

Anna laughed. Yeah, she guessed she did and that part of the weekend was amazing. Then she remembered Ethan and Steele would be trying to get warrants for the phone taps and some of the sunshine of her morning dimmed. "I guess I did or do. Depending on how you look at it," she said with a forced smile. But Adria was so excited for her Anna didn't think she noticed. She was going to have to tread carefully today, being extra tired was going to make it more difficult to not slip.

"I want details. I have to live vicariously through you."

"No you don't, you're just even more stubborn than I am."

"But Scotty..."

"Don't use Scotty as an excuse. He's in junior high now, do you think he wants to have to worry about his mom when he'd rather be hanging with his buds? You're just scared, and trust me I know all about scared."

Adria sighed and leaned back in the chair. "Maybe, but..."

"No buts allowed, and I think I found the perfect guy for you too."

"Oh God, no. No blind dates."

"You'd be missing out if you couldn't see. He's hotter than..."