Intimate Secrets (The Love and Danger Series) (8 page)

She sighed and scooted farther away from him, wishing she could lower the windows a tad so she could get some of the cool
, morning air on her warm cheeks.  She was pretty sure Walker could see the effect his closeness had on her and she didn’t like it.  Not one little bit!

He pulled up outside of her school building and she practically leapt out of the truck.  She was just about to slam the door shut when Walker’s voice stopped her.  “Remember, Amy.  Don’t come out until I drive up.  And make sure that you’re not alone.  Always be with another person.”  She thought he was finished and started to turn away but he stopped her again.  “And don’t hesitate to call me if you think something is wrong.  Or call nine-one-one.  Got it?”

She nodded, not as angry this time because he was only looking out for her safety.  This time, she stopped herself from slamming the door.  She’d just turned away when a thought occurred to her.  Looking back at him, she pulled her book bag higher on her shoulder, she opened the door again.  “Did you walk around my house this morning without a shirt on and without clothes just to….” She couldn’t say the words, too embarrassed to even be thinking it.

“To turn you on?” he finished for her.

That heat came into her cheeks again and, instead of the appropriate reaction, she let anger take over.  “You did, didn’t you?  You did that simply to torment me!”

He didn’t respond verbally, but the slight crinkling of the corners of his eyes told her everything.  “You…” she
hmphed, not sure what to say that would put him down firmly enough.  “Don’t do it again!” she snapped, then slammed the door closed and stomped into the building.  She was furious with him and glared at anyone who looked like they might stop her as she made her way to her classroom. 

Until the morning bell rang and her students rushed into her classroom, she was still fighting her anger with Walker.  How dare he storm into her life like this and, within twenty-four hours, try to take up right where they
’d left off?!  They couldn’t just pick up again. They couldn’t simply pretend like the past twelve months hadn’t happened.  There was too much that needed to be discussed.  Too much hurt and distrust to work through! 

By lunch time, she’d finally calmed down, soothed by the children’s routine and their happy, eager faces. 

“Knock knock!” a friendly voice called from her doorway. 

Amy looked up from grading papers and eating an apple to see her co-worker, Linda, step into her classroom.  Linda had the first graders in the classroom next door and they often shared lunch together while the lunch room attendants watched the kids. 

“You’re looking pretty exhausted today.  What’s going on?”

Amy looked down at
her peanut butter crackers and cold water.  “I didn’t sleep well last night,” she replied with a deep sigh, propping her head up on her palm. 

“Lilly still struggling to sleep through the night?” she asked, but then Linda’s eyes moved towards her bulletin board.  “Why did you take down those pictures of you and Lilly?” she asked.

Amy looked over to her board, wondering why Linda would ask.  “I didn’t….” sure enough, they were gone.  Amy’s heart started to beat rapidly when she noticed other small things.  Her smiley stickers weren’t in her sticker folder and she’d just bought new ones last week.  Her flower pens were gone and a few other minor items she always kept on her desk.  It had been such a busy morning, not to mention a crazy evening with Walker coming into her life again, she hadn’t noticed the small things that were missing. 

Amy swallowed painfully, wondering if the missing items had been taken by one of the kids or…could HE have somehow gotten into the school? 
“Has anyone been into the rooms to clean recently?  Or someone else wandering the hallways?”

Linda shook her head emphatically.  “You know the office doesn’t allow people to enter the classrooms unattended.  Not even parents can come down unless they are helping in the office.”

Amy’s stomach clenched painfully but she forced a smile onto her face.  “I must have brought them home with the other stuff last night,” she lied, not sure if one of her students had taken the pictures and other items, or if there was a more dangerous explanation. 

Perhaps it was a good thing that her teaching assistant brought the students back to the classroom at that point.  Linda headed back to her
own classroom and Amy had reading assignments to get her class started on.  She didn’t have time to call Walker until the school day had ended.  And even then, there was an after school meeting with the teachers, papers to grade and e-mails from parents to return.  By the time four-thirty rolled around, she was rushing down the hallway so that Walker didn’t have to come inside this time.  Last time was bad enough.  If a tall, gorgeous man came to check on her twice?  The other faculty would start asking her questions.  Since Amy didn’t have answers, she thought it would be prudent to simply avoid having the questions asked. 

“Why are you out of breath?” he demanded when he came around the truck to open the door for her.  “And why do you look so pale?”

She waved his concerns aside, not sure if she should tell him about her suspicions regarding the missing classroom items, or if she was just being silly. 

“I’m just tired,” she said softly and stepped into his truck. 

Walker didn’t believe her for a moment.  But he walked around to the other side and drove out of the parking lot.  “What happened at school today?” he asked. 

Amy’s eyes slashed to his.  Unfortunately, he caught her look before she could hide the worry. 
“Nothing.  It was just a quiet day.”

Walker navigated traffic for several moments before he pulled into the parking lot to pick up Lilly.  “Tell me,” he said, turning to face her with the engine turned off.

Amy shook her head.  “Lilly is waiting for me.”

He put a hand to her shoulder, stopping her almost instantly.  “Tell me,” he commanded again. 

Amy sighed, her body almost sinking with fatigue and the anxiety that had plagued her ever since Linda pointed out that the pictures were missing.  “Some things in my classroom are gone.  It was probably one of the students who took them which is why I didn’t say anything to you.”

“Why not?”

“B
ecause you’ll make a federal case out of it and scare all of my students.  I don’t want you coming into the classroom and scaring them,” she told him firmly.  “I’m pretty sure that the issue with the stalker guy and the missing items in my classroom are not connected.”

His mouth was grim while she explained, but as soon as she finished he said,
“Amy, you’re only hoping they aren’t connected.  But I don’t play the wishing game.  If someone broke into your classroom, I’m going to do something about it.”

She didn’t like what he might be thinking.  He was a giant of a man and her students weren’t even four feet tall.  If he came into her classroom, they would all be terrified. 
“You’re not going to talk to my kids!” she came right back.  “They’re sweet little kids that might not understand that they took something valuable to me.”

He thought about the issue from her perspective for a moment, trying to understand what she might be protecting.  In the end, he said,
“If one of the kids took the pictures and items, I won’t get involved.  But I’m going to get back into the school and do a little investigating tonight.”  His eyes turned hard before he said, “If I find a connection, this is ramping up.”

She had no idea what “ramping up” meant but she knew that Lilly needed to be picked up.  “Can we discuss this later?”

Walker looked out the windscreen and sighed.  “Yes.  Let’s get Lilly,” he said and opened his car door.

Amy didn’t wait for him to come around this time but met him in the front of his truck.  Together, they went inside and picked up Lilly.  This was one of the exciting parts of Amy’s day, seeing Lilly playing in the swing or with one of the toys and then the excitement, the grins and giggles on her sweet face when she spotted her mother. 

Amy laughed and lifted Lilly up into her arms, kissing her on her cheek several times.  Walker had already gone over to get the diaper bag and slung the black and gold bag over his shoulder, unconcerned if it diminished his masculinity or not. 

Which, of course, it didn’t.
  In fact, he looked even more manly carrying the bag.  It created a stark dichotomy between his handsome rugged features and the girly diaper bag.  She almost laughed at the idea of exchanging the black and gold bag for one of those aqua or pink ones with all the baby animals covering it.  She wondered if he would be so quick to sling it over his shoulder if it looked like that. 

He touched her again as they walked out and
Amy started to wonder why he was doing that.  More of the morning treatment?  She wondered, but couldn’t ask him since so many other parents were coming and going with their children as well. 

“What’s the afternoon routine?” he asked as soon as he pulled up to Amy’s house. 

Amy glanced back at Lilly who was still playing with the toys hanging down from her car carrier.  She looked happy as a clam, but Amy knew that wouldn’t last long.  “Generally, we get the mail, go around the neighborhood for a walk or something before dinner.  It’s starting to get a bit colder in the evenings now, but perhaps tonight would be a good night to just…explore?” she suggested.  She wasn’t sure what a big guy like Walker would want to do.  “If you don’t want to go outside, then we could read or play with her inside.”

Walker thought about the things he wanted to do, but he didn’t want Amy to know he was doing them.  “I have a couple of things to do, but I don’t want you to be out in the neighborhood without me.  Would you mind staying inside tonight?”

She bit her lip, knowing that he was holding something back.  “Should I be concerned?”

Walker’s mouth twitched slightly.  “Definitely,” he told her honestly.  She’d see through anything else so honesty might just throw her off.

It didn’t.

“You’ll be careful?” she asked, shifting slightly to look into his eyes more directly. 

“Always,” he said and his knuckles brushed against her cheek.  “Would you mind hanging out at my place?  Just for a few hours?  I’d feel better if I knew you were safely in my house, taking you out of your normal routine.”  She looked nervous so he added, “I’ll finish what I have to do and then come back to pick you up.  I’ll grab clothes so I don’t have to wear the same thing another day.”  He looked down at his jeans.  “My boss might think I’m getting lucky.” 

Amy knew he was teasing her, but she was too anxious about
him going off and doing these mysterious tasks that he wouldn’t elaborate on.  She was assuming they must be dangerous if he wouldn’t tell her what he was going to do. 

“Fine.”
  She wasn’t sure she had an alternative.  Walker didn’t act like he was going to take no for an answer.  He might have a fight on his hands when she protested, but…and her face turned red as she remembered the last time she’d gotten into a fight with him.  It had ended well enough, but the process this time around….well, she wasn’t sure she was ready for that process. 

Walker watched her soft cheeks turn pink and almost laughed out loud. 
“What just popped into your head?” he asked, his uber-observant eyes catching everything so, of course, he would caught her blushing. 

“Nothing,” she said and looked down.  “Lilly is only willing to sit in her car seat for a few minutes, then she starts to get restless.”  She forced her mouth to smile as she added, “You won’t like the way she asserts herself when she’s restless.” 

Walker smiled through his eyes but understood.  With a glance behind him to make sure Lilly was secure once more, he put his truck into gear and drove to his house.  But he didn’t go directly home.  “Why are we turning this way?” she asked, looking around curiously.

Walker noticed the
grey van again, the same one he’d seen last night and he definitely didn’t like it.  He was trying to swing around the block and get in behind it, get a license plate he could call in.  But the car was doing a good job of hanging back just far enough to avoid being obvious, but Walker knew what was going on.  “I’m just being cautious,” he told her, looking in the rear-view mirror again. 

She watched him closely.  “Why do you feel the need to be so cautious?” she asked after a moment. 

He glanced down at her, then in the mirror again.  “Trust me.  If there was a problem, I’d…”  He picked up his phone and dialed a number.

“What’s up?” Sam asked. 

“I’m guessing you’re at Hannah’s shop?”

“Sure.  You want something?” Sam offered instantly. 

“I need you to run out to the curb and catch the plates off of a grey van.  I’m about three blocks out.  I should be there in about twenty seconds.”

“I’m on it,” Sam said and hung up the phone. 

Walker’s eyes narrowed and he hung back slightly, not wanting the van to get too far away, but he also didn’t want the driver to know he’d been ‘made’ and disappear.  It was too much of a coincidence that the same make and color car was following him two nights in a row.  He didn’t like the idea of Amy and Lilly being in the car, but if his instincts were correct, this was the same guy who was tormenting Amy.