She got in her car, started the engine, and began to pull out. He came around the side, and to his surprise, she rolled down the window and slowed for a moment, looking up at him with the cutest frown he’d ever seen.
“When I get back, I want you gone, Dallin.”
“As your dragon protector, I must advise you not to go to the store alone like that,” he said, leaning down and placing his elbow on the roof of her car, trying to not smile at how tiny she looked.
Her eyes widened momentarily as he got closer. Then she pressed a button, rolling up the window of her car defiantly. “Good-bye.”
As the car pulled away, he waved sarcastically at her reflection in the rearview mirror, knowing that the second she turned the corner, he’d be following her scent to wherever she was headed right now.
Even on foot, he could be as fast as he needed to catch up.
So she thought she could be rid of him that easily, huh?
Jo was going to find out very soon that she was wrong.
4
Peace and quiet. Finally.
The store near Jo’s home was pretty calm for an early afternoon, which meant she could take her time and just clear her head after everything that had happened earlier.
It was nice to have an excuse to think about something other than Dallin, since it had been hard to focus on anything but the huge guy pacing around her property like some overprotective psycho.
Granted, she had to admit the view wasn’t at all bad. Tall, built dude. Great face, especially when it wasn’t scowling (though that seemed to be always, in her limited experience).
But it was all just a little too farfetched to be real.
“Okay, check and check,” Jo said to herself, marking things on her shopping list and heading for the refrigerator aisle for butter.
She had a cake to bake, after all. And hopefully, Dallin would take a hint and be gone by the time she was home.
But as she scanned the rows of products for what she was looking for, she felt a tingling on the back of her neck as though she was being watched from somewhere.
When she looked up, she saw a familiar figure standing at the other end of the aisle, holding up a huge tub of unsweetened yogurt.
Dallin? How had he…?
The aforementioned, self-proclaimed “dragon” was just reading the packaging, looking as calm as a summer afternoon at the beach, humming to himself while Jo stared in disbelief.
Did he have a tracker or something on her? Maybe it would have been better to go to the store on the other side of town.
No, Johanna didn’t have to rearrange her life around some stalker. She could go where she wanted when she wanted.
Dallin’s eyes slid from the yogurt upward to meet hers, and for a moment, their gazes met, locked together by some indescribable force.
A full-body shiver moved over Jo at the casual, relaxed way he appraised her. But the harder she stared, the more he just kept watching as if entirely unchallenged by the contact. Even at this distance, she could see his irises focusing, watch his body tighten slightly even as the air seemed to crackle with energy between them.
With a shake of her head, Jo turned away, and Dallin seemed to do so at the same time. As if both of them had felt something, but neither was going to say anything about it.
So instead, Jo just took her cart and made a beeline for the chip aisle, hoping to lose her follower there.
Maybe the big guy was just here for groceries too?
Jo didn’t think so.
I’m here to protect you, Johanna. His words flashed through her mind as she made several twists and turns, thinking she was sneakier than she probably was.
How could a man like that say something so ridiculous so sincerely?
Jo let out a little huff, looking at the jars and cans around her, not realizing she’d been so lost in her own thoughts she hadn’t been watching where she was even going.
Get it together, girl, she told herself.
But that telltale, hair-raising sensation was still there. And when Jo whirled to look behind her, Dallin was standing only ten feet away, casually rifling through jars, making the shopping cart he had one hand on look child-size by sheer dint of his size.
She’d finally had it.
Jo left her cart and strode forward, folding her arms and looking up at Dallin with the most serious face she could muster.
Dallin, as if to spite her, just ignored Jo for a few long seconds as he looked at products. Then he lifted a brow and slowly turned to look down at her as if he hadn’t even known she was there.
Jerk.
“Oh, fancy seeing you here,” he said nonchalantly.
“I told you not to follow me.”
He grinned, showing a hint of perfect white teeth behind his full lips. “I recall you saying you wanted me gone when you got back. So I left to do a little… shopping.”
She grimaced, her fairly stellar patience being tested.
“You’re still being a stalker.”
“No, I’m not.” He turned back to the jars on the shelves next to him as he spoke, picking up one large glass jar easily with a big hand, hefting and appraising it boredly.
“Yes, you are.” She felt a little like she was dealing with a toddler who was smart enough to say anything to keep himself out of trouble.
“No. I’m shopping for…” He looked at the jar in his hands, brows furrowing for a moment as he read the name. “Sawyer-crat. After all, humans love this stuff, and I, a human like you, need it.”
Jo tried to suppress her laugh at how poorly he’d said it, which only made Dallin’s face screw up more in consternation. But she was still angry.
“That’s sauerkraut. And no, I think you’re lying.”
In an instant, his face relaxed back to cool casualness. “Nope, you can’t prove it. After all, I happen to be an enjoyer of sauerkraut myself. I like my sauerkraut… extra fermented.” He frowned a bit, then took the jar and put it in his cart, which already had a few things in it for some reason. And then, while Jo watched, he put several more in as if to make his point.
Even though he hadn’t even known how to say the name correctly.
Jo didn’t know if she wanted to laugh hysterically or scream in annoyance.
“What do I have to do to get rid of you?” Jo asked earnestly, foot tapping nervously on the ground.
Dallin finally turned to face her fully, one hand in the pocket of his jeans, the other rested calmly on the handle of his cart. “Funny you should ask that. As I am not following you, you have no need to get rid of me. So all you need to do is just pretend I’m not here, and you can go on with your life like normal.”
Jo got the impression that even if she told Dallin that being followed around by a big guy like him was the very opposite of normal, he wouldn’t get it.
Maybe this was her life now, being followed by a huge hunk who insisted he wasn’t a stalker.
A woman appeared at their side, breaking the quickly rising tension between her and Dallin, and politely asked, “Excuse me,” as she reached for something on the shelf between them.
Jo, taking the opening, just sent Dallin one last glare, which Dallin responded to with the coolest shrug possible. As if to say, I know you’re watching, but I don’t give two shits.
That was kind of Dallin in a nutshell, from what she’d experienced.
Jo moved to leave, and when she looked over her shoulder, she noticed the woman from before was eagerly talking to Dallin, giggling and checking him out so hard it made the tiniest twinge of jealousy bite at Jo’s chest. Dallin, waylaid by the woman’s cart blocking his, just frowned irritably.