Allegra Wright could still hear the growl that had come from way down deep inside Phoenix Addler’s chest, even though she was at least a half a mile from him and his cute little cabin in the woods.
She scoffed at the mental description of his house. “Cute little cabin…not.”
Of course she hadn’t called the rangers on Phoenix. He worked in the State Forest, and he wasn’t the one who’d be considered trespassing. She’d hung up with her laughter painting the sky, and she’d thrown him a glare as she walked away.
“Not so fun when it’s you, is it?”
He hadn’t answered, not that she’d expected him to. Phoenix was a man of few words, which made him all the more mysterious and dreamy and just plain dangerous to Allegra’s health.
She couldn’t help being attracted to him—anyone with two X-chromosomes would be drawn to him like metal to a magnet. Heck, most people with only one X-chromosome probably felt some pull of attraction to him.
He was just that delicious.
“And completely off-limits,” she told herself as she navigated away from Sunshine Shores Cherry Orchard and back toward the town of Forbidden Lake. She lived in town, but actually operated out of an office twenty minutes away in Williamsburg.
Truth be told, there wasn’t a whole lot to do for the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, and most days held more boredom than anything else. She was seriously considering signing up for the Conservation Officer school, which ran from mid-July through December. She needed to decide soon, as the March first deadline wasn’t that far away.
Allegra could just hear her mother then, and she rolled her eyes as she rolled back into town.
An officer? Her mother would clutch her chest like Allegra had just confessed to a heinous crime, her nose wrinkled in distaste. She already thought Allegra a tree-hugger for her work as a biologist and land surveyor for the state.
But Allegra didn’t care what her mother thought. She cared that she felt completely stalled in her life, both personally and professionally. She hadn’t been out with anyone in a year, and she glanced to her rearview mirror to make sure she wasn’t being followed now.
Devon McKnight had been turning up behind her more and more often in the past four months, no matter how much Allegra had tried to pretend he hadn’t. The last man she’d gotten serious with, Devon had freaked her out with his talk about their life in Forbidden Lake, how many and exactly when she’d be having babies, and he’d even taken her past a house for sale that he’d deemed perfect for them.
Allegra had only been seeing him for about six months when that talk all started, and even that had almost taken an act of God. After all, her boyfriend before Devon had actually been her fiancé. And Gavin had been fooling around with Allegra’s Maid of Honor for months before she found out.
Her heart had definitely been through the wringer before, and Phoenix Addler couldn’t have a single piece of it.
She saw a blue sedan pull out of a parking space down the street, and her pulse picked up. Devon drove a blue sedan, and Allegra’s fingers tightened on the steering wheel.
He’d started showing up more and more outside her apartment at night, and while he had to get through a coded gate and then buzzed into the building, Allegra knew he could do it if he wanted to.
Devon was dark-haired and gorgeous, and he had a real charming way with almost everyone he came into contact with. She’d never given him her address, and yet he had it. She was sure he knew which apartment was hers, as he didn’t even park on the street in front of the building, but the one on the side where her place sat.
A shiver went down her spine, and she had the fleeting thought that she should run right back home. Down the freeway to Lansing, where her parents still lived.
Instead, she aimed her car toward the diner that sat immediately across the street from Forbidden Lake’s City Offices, where there were dozens of people on the street all the time, and which was located immediately beside the police station.
Devon wouldn’t dare try anything in this busy location, even if it wasn’t quite lunchtime yet.
In fact, Devon had never really done anything yet, which was almost as scary as him attempting to contact her, come to her door, or converse with her. Her mind could take any path it chose, and everything she imagined was grisly and terrifying.
Not only that, she had no legal grounds against him, and the restraining order she’d tried to get had failed. Just like all the injunctions against Phoenix and the cherry orchard.
Feeling defeated and depressed, she pulled into the nearly full parking lot at the diner and waited, not even looking for a spot. Sure enough, the blue sedan slowed down as if it too would turn into the lot, but it didn’t.
The angle of the sun made it such that she couldn’t see the driver, but he was clearly looking for her. Time hung in that moment, and Allegra trembled when she felt the weight of eyes on her.
Then the driver punched the gas, the tires squealed, and the blue sedan shot down the street.
With shaking fingers, Allegra found a space in the back of the lot and sat in her car, too keyed up to even make the quick walk to the entrance and get lost in the obvious crowd inside the diner.
She had several friends in town, but she’d told none of them about Devon—if he even was the stalker. “Of course it’s him,” she whispered to herself as she thought about who could come meet her for lunch and then might allow her to sleep on their couch that night.
Leah Hoff, a woman she’d met almost eight years ago when she’d first moved to Forbidden Lake, came to mind. Allegra texted the bank teller and asked her to lunch, relief almost stronger than happiness when Leah said she could make it.
Leah was tall and strong, and she also happened to be dating a firefighter with more muscles in his body than humanly possible. Allegra should really tell someone about Devon, and as the minutes ticked closer to when she was supposed to meet Leah, her determination to get some help before the sun set that winter day hardened.
All she needed was someone to go by and feed her four cats….
“Rise and shine, Queenie.”
Allegra’s eyelids fluttered open to see the sun had already started to lighten the January day. She sighed as she heard Leah giggle as she moved into the kitchen.
“You have to go home, don’t you?” Leah asked.
Allegra pushed herself into a seated position, Leah’s couch more comfortable than her friend claimed. “Yes,” she said. “I can shower there and everything.” She drew her knees to her chest. “Thank you, Leah.”
“You should file a complaint,” she said from the kitchen, the distinct sound of bread being set in the toaster pinging through the small house. “I mean, what right does he have to scare you?”
“Did you talk to Bryson?”
“Yes, and he said you should file a complaint.” Leah hooked Allegra with her dark eyes. Her afro looked particularly good today, and Allegra would give anything to have hair that held even a smidge of a curl.
“I tried that,” she said.
“No, you tried to get a restraining order. Bry says there’s a difference. He’s coming over tonight to talk to you about it.”
“Great,” Allegra said, though a tremor of fear squirreled through her. She wasn’t sure why, but she felt like a baby when she talked about Devon possibly stalking her. Like she should be able to take care of herself somehow.
“I might be a bit late,” she said. “I’m out in the State Forest again today.”
“He’s bringing Chinese food and maybe a friend from the fish and game department.”
Allegra groaned loudly and rolled her eyes. “I don’t need to be set up.” Hadn’t Leah heard that Allegra’s last boyfriend was now stalking her?
“All right,” Leah said with false nonchalance. “But I have to go. See you tonight. Bring a bag, hon. Stay as long as you want.” She gave Allegra a hug and breezed out the door, leaving Allegra to stare at the door and wonder what it would be like to be able to waltz through it without peering through the peephole first.
Without having to check left and right before leaving the apartment for good. Without having to constantly check over her shoulder to make sure she wasn’t heading into a remote area with Devon right behind her.
She checked her phone and found a few pictures of her less elusive felines from her friend Bea, who’d gone over last night to make sure the cats got fed and watered.
Thanks! she texted back before asking, Can you check on them again tonight?
Bea didn’t answer right away, as she worked swing shift at the mall and usually got home pretty late. Allegra didn’t offer any explanation, and Bea hadn’t asked last night. But she fully expected her neighbor across the hall to start asking questions once she got up and saw the texts.
“So you’ll deal with them then,” Allegra told herself.
She ended up showering at Leah’s and putting on the same clothes she’d worn the day before. She wasn’t going into the office today, and no one would be the wiser.
Outside, rain fell, and Allegra groaned. It seemed like even Mother Nature wanted to make her life miserable, and Allegra added her to the list of people she’d like to punch in the throat—right below Phoenix Addler.
At least she wouldn’t be seeing him that day, even though he worked in the State Forest full-time. Their paths didn’t cross professionally, thank goodness. Allegra wasn’t sure she’d be able to resist him then, as she’d seen him in that forestry service uniform once. The very memory still made her throat dry.
As she drove toward the Forbidden Lake State Forest east entrance, there wasn’t a single car behind her, and she thought maybe she would catch a break that day, even if the sky itself looked angrier than a caged cat.