Adrenaline pulsed as he mentally braced himself for her reaction when she spotted him. With her being alone and hell away from any sort of help, Olly fully expected her to see him walking toward her from the shadows and start screaming.
He could almost picture her yelling at the top of her lungs from fear and racing back to her car. Tires would squeal, and she’d take off like a bat outta hell. Maybe even try to run his ass over in the process.
Any one—or all—of those scenarios would happen within his next few breaths. Olly was almost certain of it.
Any second now…
But Scarlett hadn’t noticed him yet. She was still just standing there, staring at that damn boarded-up door as if itheld the answers to all her burning questions. Unfortunately, Olly knew from experience that it didn’t.
Been here, done that, sweetheart.
Olly watched her closely, realizing the woman was so lost in her own thoughts that spooking her was pretty much inevitable. Deciding it was best to just rip that particular bandage off and be done, he continued moving toward her.
He swallowed once and then cleared his throat before announcing, “They shut the place down about a month ago.”
A sharp gasp traveled through the night air as Scarlett swung her whole body around to face him. Thanks to her car’s headlights, Olly could easily see the shock and fear that had instantly filled those wide, gorgeous eyes.
Half a breath later, those same eyes began to slide back and forth between him and her running car. He could practically feel the wheels spinning inside her head.
In a moment of perceived danger, the woman hadn’t screamed or become hysterical. She wasn’t running away into the dark like some dimwitted character in a cheesy horror flick.
Scarlett was thinking. Contemplating. Possibly even planning. And damn if that didn’t make him feel almost…proud.
She’s gonna make a run for it.
Reading the intent behind that intelligent, alarmed stare, Olly could sense the woman was seconds away from running straight to her car…away from him. He raised both hands, palms up. The universal sign letting her know he meant no harm.
“Easy, there.” He inched forward. “It’s just me. Oliver Garcia.”
Olly knew what he looked like. Some sort of psycho stalker who’d followed her here and hidden in the shadows. And yeah, okay. So that’s exactly what he had done. But not because he was a psycho out to hurt her.
Quite the opposite, in fact.
Scarlett’s eyes landed on him once more. She blinked and then squinted, her lids narrowing in her search to bring his image into focus.
“Olly?” The pretty redhead looked around them as if she expected there to be others with him. “Wha…what are you…” She stumbled over her words as those gorgeous green eyes came back to him. “H-how did you even…”
“I followed you here,” he put her out of her stuttered misery.
Hearing this, the woman’s spine stiffened, and her expression became even more alert. “You…followed me?”
Yeah, that probably wasn’t the best thing to say to admit to a woman he’d just met. And though Olly never had been one to sugarcoat the truth, he did attempt a quick backtrack.
Doing his best to appease her obvious trepidation, he further explained, “I went to your hotel. Just to check in with you and…”
And what?
Should he tell her Jax and Ivan’s dig into her background had come back clear? That the badass private eye and his trusty sidekick had essentially put his mind at ease regarding her and her motives? Or maybe he should show her the file he had containing her entire life story.
No, Olly didn’t suppose any of those things would ease the tension he saw rolling through those delicate shoulders. Instead, he went with another truth.
“I was about to get out of my car when I saw you getting into yours. I assumed you were headed to grab a quick bite, so I left. Since we were driving in the same direction, I couldn’t help but follow, and when I noticed you making your way out here, I got concerned.”
“Concerned.” Scarlett frowned at the repeated word. “Why would you be concerned about me? I mean…you don’t even really know me.”
No. No, he didn’t. But as he stared into those wary, confused eyes, he couldn’t help but wish he did.
“Look around you, Red.” The nickname just sort of came to him in the moment. “Not exactly the safest place for someone to be hanging around by themselves. Especially at night.”