The Shifter Romances The Writer

“Let’s go.”

For the first minute or so, they didn’t speak, just found a rhythm. Alex shortened his steps a little so that Roxy could keep up, and after a bit, they fell into a good pace.

When he glanced over at her, she seemed to be miles away. “You don’t look like you’re here.”

She turned. “What?”

He laughed. “I said you don’t look like you’re here. I doubt the mailbox is bothering you that much so it’s got to be something else. The divorce?”

She kept her gaze straight ahead. “That’s part of it.”

“What’s the rest?”

She stayed quiet and he let it be, figuring she didn’t want to talk. But then she answered him. “It’s a lot of things, I guess. The divorce, being behind on my book, working on my new life…feeling a little lonely.”

“Lonely?” He wanted to put his arm around her, but that was probably crossing the line of friendly neighbor.

She nodded. “Yeah, it’s weird. I’ve never felt this way before, but it really hit me last night. I just kind of fell into this dark place. My mom had some issues with stuff like that when I was a kid, so maybe I’m just extra sensitive to it.”

Now he really wanted to hug her. “Are you feeling better this morning?”

She made a noncommittal noise. “I guess.”

“Very convincing.”

She smirked. “Getting out for this walk was part of my ‘snap out of it’ plan.”

“Is it working?”

She smiled up at him. “Maybe.”

He changed the subject in an attempt to draw her out a little more. “Do you believe in soul mates? You must, right? You write about them after all.”

“I do write about them, but honestly, I think they’re mostly fictional.” She shrugged. “That might also be my divorce talking.”

“You sure this walk is helping?”

“Yep.”

But something lingered in her gaze, something he’d come to recognize in his years on the force. She wasn’t being completely honest with him. Something was still bothering her. He held the eye contact for a moment. “If you ever want to talk, I’m a good listener. It’s part of my job, you know.”

She shifted to look down the sidewalk ahead of them. “Thanks. I’ll keep that in mind.”

“We should go out.”

“What?” There was an edge of panic in her voice.

He put his hands up. “Just as friends. I could introduce you to some people, you know, help you feel less lonely maybe.”

“That’s really sweet of you. The thing is…I don’t really like people that much.” She laughed. “That sounds way worse than I mean it. I love my readers. I love the emails they send me and the notes they send via social media, but I’m not great in big groups.”

“This wouldn’t be a big group necessarily. Just some of the people I work with. Like a happy hour thing. Couple of drinks and that’s it. Unless you want to hang out longer. It would be totally up to you.”

A couple seconds passed before she nodded. “Okay. I’m sure it would be good for me.”

“Your enthusiasm is overwhelming.”

She laughed, but it died off quickly. “Bear with me.”

“Not a problem.” He glanced down at her, caught her gaze and something passed between them. Something that, to him, felt like a promise.

“Thanks,” she whispered, her voice thin with an unnamable emotion.

Whatever was going on with her, he wanted to help. But he couldn’t do that until she was ready to talk to him. Until then, he’d just be around for her as much as he could. The shifter side of him was born with a desire to protect, especially those he cared about, and Roxy definitely fell into that category.

The cop side of him felt very much the same way.

He wished he could explain that to her, but he didn’t want to complicate her situation with his profession of protection. She didn’t need to think her neighbor had just become her self-appointed body guard. Although he sort of had.

No, he’d just stay quiet, doing what he could to watch over her and make sure she had whatever she needed to get through this.

He glanced at her again, and whispered back, “It’s going to be okay.”

She smiled. And a single tear rolled down her cheek.

The tear fell before Roxy could stop it. Alex’s kind words hadn’t caused it, but they had brought it to the surface. Everything else had caused it. But the mailbox—and the fact that she was sure that either Thomas, or someone working for him, was spying on her—had been the straw that broke the camel’s back. She wiped the tear away as subtly as she could, but Alex stopped walking.

“Hey, what’s wrong?”

She shook her head, trying to keep one tear from turning into a full-on crying jag. She hated showing that much emotion. Crying in front of Thomas had always turned into more grief from him, so she’d trained herself to hold back. “Stress,” she mumbled.

“You want me to call Delaney? I know you two are friends. Maybe you guys should do a spa day or whatever it is women do.”

Roxy laughed, despite the knot of emotions inside her. “Delaney was just saying that.”

“Then do it. Your book can wait. And there’s nothing you can do to speed up your ex signing those papers, so take a day off.”

She nodded. “I will. I’ll call her as soon as I get home.”