Total pages in book: 144
Estimated words: 133531 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 668(@200wpm)___ 534(@250wpm)___ 445(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 133531 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 668(@200wpm)___ 534(@250wpm)___ 445(@300wpm)
Scott Tinsdale kept his seat at the bar, eating a few pretzels and ordering a second drink. He was very pleasant without being overly flirtatious. He talked to the man on his left side and bought him a drink. He watched the mirror quite a bit. He wasn’t looking at the women in the room. He wasn’t even looking at Dana. Most single men looked at Dana. Tinsdale kept his eye on Rory, but he also appeared to be watching both entrances. He was subtle about it, but he was aware of who came and went from the bar.
As the night wore on, she realized Tinsdale paid attention to anyone conversing with her. Once, she was certain he had hit the record button on his phone and laid the phone on the bar, which really made him a creeper. She was tempted to accidentally knock it off the bar while she worked, but she turned away to help several people down the bar from him. Scott Tinsdale was making her very uneasy. She had walked to the bar earlier in the day and would have to make her way home on foot.
Last call for alcohol was announced, and Tinsdale slid off the barstool. With a friendly wave, he went out the side door toward the parking lot. That meant she no longer had eyes on him. She wasn’t scheduled to close. Lani was staying late with two of the waitresses, and Brutus, one of the barbacks, was cleaning.
Rory went to the back room and used her nebulizer, taking her time, inhaling the medicine while she considered her options. She had no choice but to walk back to her apartment in the dark unless she wanted to call an Uber or a cab. Leaning against the long cabinet, she did her best to clear her mind and focus on Gideon. Again, she couldn’t connect with him at all. Where before she’d felt warmth when she reached out to him, there was nothing but a cold abyss. Instantly, she didn’t want to go home; she wanted to go to his house to check on him. No one had contacted her to tell her he was all right. What could have happened to him?
She stood there in the break room, her heart pounding, her nightmare coming back to her. Had she brought him into it somehow? The idea was preposterous, but she’d been curious about various paranormal talents, and she’d read about them. Experiments had been done in quite a few countries. Some had centered around dreams. She’d heard his voice calling out to her.
Gideon. She whispered his name in her mind. Please be all right. Please don’t let me have done something terrible to you.
She pulled out her phone and stared down at Gideon’s name. What if she had inadvertently hurt him? She remembered waking up with owls flying all around her. She’d been standing right on the ledge of her patio. Had he been locked on to her? She should never have gone out with him. All along she’d been nervous about dating him. She’d been too attracted, the connection between them far too strong. Nothing about their relationship made sense.
They had bonded too fast. She had already begun to make plans to stay when she never stayed anywhere for long. She’d blurted out private things to him she’d never told a single soul. That wasn’t like her either. Nothing about Gideon and her made sense, and yet . . . she couldn’t stop thinking about him. She wanted to be with him. She was obsessed with him.
Rory glanced at her watch and then pushed the call button. Gideon’s cell went directly to voice mail. She left him a text message. I’m worried about you. Was coming over to check on you. When you get this, call me back. She hesitated but decided to tell him about Tinsdale just in case. Am about to walk home from work. Strange man was in tonight and he gave off a weird vibe. I’m a little nervous. Check in with me, okay?
She felt like a complete fool. She wasn’t a woman to be so anxious she had to ask a man for protection. She wasn’t clingy. Yet she was becoming that woman. Shoving her phone into her pocket, she stomped out of the break room to the back door. Mostly, she had to know he was alive and well, even if he didn’t want to see her anymore, which, truthfully, would be best for him.
Habits were ingrained in Rory. Even as she stepped out the door of the bar, she automatically scanned the parking lot and then the street for signs of danger. Finding nothing out of the ordinary, relief rushed through her, making her feel a little weak. Shouldering her small backpack, she walked briskly toward the apartments, grateful it was only a couple of blocks from where she worked.