Page 5 of Untouchable
Her eyes light as she walks back into the trailer and slides the lock closed. “Homesteading? Oh my God. That’s my dream. I have this fantasy where I have this self-sustaining property. I wanted to do it with this place, but the soil is awful here and there’s no good spot to get water from. The whole area has massive rocks right under the topsoil.”
I laugh. “You’re so different from your sister. In all the time I’ve known her, I don’t think we talked about a single thing that wasn’t what she wanted to buy next.”
“Yeah, she’s a diva. When we were kids, she’d be inside with a literal bucket filled with makeup while I was out smearing mud all over my face.”
“Oh wow. A girl after my own heart.” I can feel myself unintentionally leaning in as I ask, “How did you two end up so different?”
A beautiful smile lights up her face. “My dad. When I was a kid, my dad and I spent Sundays fishing, and every night after work we’d head out for a hike. Siren wanted nothing to do with any of that, so it felt special. Like there was a time where I was the one getting all the attention.” Her smile drops a little as she says, “I kept all that up as an adult, but I miss having someone to go with. A walk through the woods by yourself is good once in a while, but I’ve found you need a partner to share the experience with to truly turn it into something special.”
I know I need to ask Jo questions, but I can’t get so personally invested. Maybe my first job shouldn’t have been for a curvy little thing in tight leggings. I drag in a breath, trying to regain my focus, and take a few steps back toward the kitchen. “What time of the night does your stalker usually come around?”
“I don’t know. Somewhere between seven and ten is when I usually see him. Does this happen to a lot of people? I feel like I’m imagining it or something.”
“It happens. Do you have any enemies? Any ex-boyfriends that could be disgruntled or past customers who claimed you cheated them out of money?”
She pulls a bag of chips out of the pantry and waves the bag toward me as though offering me some. They’re plain but they’re kettle cooked, which are a favorite of mine, but eating together is even more intimate than working together and I’m already letting this job get out of hand, so I shake my head to her offer.
She dips into the bag and moves a handful into her mouth, crunching as she starts to talk. I love how casual she is. “I don’t think so. I mean, I’ve dated a little, but nothing serious. The worst fight I ever got into was with this lady at the grocery store. I think we were both exhausted and we just lost it over a parking spot, but I don’t think she sent her husband to stalk me.”
I drag in a deep breath and let it out slowly. “What have you done for work? You’ve traveled a lot, so you must meet a lot of people.”
“That’s true. I meet people, but… I don’t stay long enough to build connections. Really, I have no idea who the hell this could be.” She walks into the living room and curls up onto the chair and stares toward me, dragging her chips in one by one. “You’re really not hungry?”
I nod toward my backpack by the door. “I brought my own food.”
“No. You have to eat with me, or I’ll be sad. You don’t want me sad, do you?” Her lip pouts out playfully. “Come on. Just one?”
I drag in a deep breath and stick my hand into the bag of chips, grabbing a few out for pleasantries. I tell myself it’s a calculated move to keep her talking, but I think the truth is, I didn’t like the look of her lip pouting. “Okay, but I need to know more about the people you’ve dated. Typically speaking, stalkers tend to be obsessed lovers from the past.”
She grins. “Is that what’s happening now? You’re still into my sister, so you hang around me to get close to her?”
My brows wrinkle. “That’s not what’s happening now. Your sister and I were… incompatible on so many levels.” I swallow down the salty chip. “She’s not my type.”
Jo’s brows raise. “She’s everyone else’s.”
I get the feeling that there’s some tension built between the two of them.
“Not mine. She’s high maintenance, dramatic, vain… should I go on?”
“Yes,” she grins, “please do.”
I swallow back the laughter that tries to escape. “I bet you’d love that.”
“I love her, I really do. And yes, she is those things, which is why we’ve had so much friction over the years, but the older we get, the easier it’s gotten to appreciate our differences. It’s so much better than letting them pull us apart.”
“Whose idea was that? Yours or hers?”
She looks down at the bag of chips, then at me again. “It doesn’t matter. I just want her to be happy. Right now, I’m not sure she’s happy.”
I bite back any negative talk I have about Siren. We dated for such a short time that I don’t know her all that well anyway, but I know for a fact that we’d never have worked out long-term.
“So in all the people you’ve dated, none have ever done or said anything weird that might mean something now?”
She studies the room as though the answer is hidden behind the couch. “Oh. Well, there is one weird thing. I dated this guy once who thought it would be fun to like tie me up. Call me crazy, but I’m all for the whole BDSM thing. I mean, I love it when a man takes control and demands what he wants. It’s so hot.”
My cock throbs at the thought of her tied up or on her knees, though not for some asshole.
She sighs. “The weird part was that this guy tied me up and then just left me there.”