Free Forever Hers by Ednah Walters

make a mean cup of coffee and I don’t go about scaring off people by offering to help them with their problems.”
    She chuckled at the rendition of the words she’d said the morning after his arrival. “I made the coffee, Fitzgerald.”
    “I added the cream.”
    She took the cup and sipped. “Not bad. FYI, you didn’t scare me by your offer.”
    He’d missed her sharp tongue. “I did, but let’s agree to disagree. So, what’s for breakfast?”
    “I was going to shower first.” She checked her watch. “Can you hang in there for half an hour?”
    “I can make breakfast. I make really amazing oatmeal.”
    She eyed him suspiciously. “Really?”
    “You’ll love it. Hit the showers. By the time you come out, I’ll have everything ready.”
    Shaking her head, she disappeared toward her bedroom. Left on his own, Eddie contemplated the contents of the fridge. He’d watched her cook and she made it seem effortless. He sucked at cooking. Chase had tried to teach him a few times with terrible results.
    He was chopping the apples for the oatmeal when the house phone rang. He picked it up. “Yes?”
    No one answered. Frowning, he placed the phone down.
    It rang again. By the third call, he was pissed. “Listen, you son of a bitch. You want her, you’ll have to go through me first.” He placed the phone down.
    Amy had a stalker. In most cases, the only way to deal with one was to catch him in the act and throw his ass in jail. The stalker angle didn’t explain Raelynn’s fear of the police though. Not knowing bugged the hell out of him. Chances that Amy was a fugitive and was being stalked were slim, yet there had to be a connection.
    The first call Eddie placed was to the local police. He had put off calling them the last few days because he had been busy trying to figure out Amy and winning over Raelynn. Now he might need their help.
    “Sally Paige, please?”
    “Who’s callin’?” the woman on the end of the line asked.
    “Eddie Fitzgerald.” He put a cup of oatmeal, three cups of water, chopped apples, salt and cinnamon in a pot as he waited. He turned on the stove and stirred the mixture.
    “Detective Fitzgerald,” a high-pitched voice said. “It’s wonderful to hear from you. Baron mentioned you’d be in town sometime this weekend.”
    Eddie chuckled. “Does that mean you haven’t caught the burglar?”
    She laughed. “I wish.”
    “Then we need to talk, Ms. Paige.”
    “Sally, please. And yes, we need to talk. The lead detective on the case wants to see you too. Do you think you can stop by in the next day or so?”
    “Sure. Is four o’clock today okay?”
    “That would be wonderful. We’ll be waitin’.”
    As soon as he hung up, he placed the second call to a sporting goods store. They needed boxing gloves and guards for practice. Putting the phone down, he searched inside the fridge, found a large container of plain yogurt and added some to the oatmeal. He stirred the mixture, tasted it and grinned. Perfect. He turned off the stove.
    Amy walked back into the kitchen as he scooped the meal into two bowls.   As usual, she wore shorts, except the material was soft and the edges frilly as though she’d cut off a pair of sweat pants. The neon green color of her tank top added flecks of green to her brilliant blue eyes. The top hugged her generous chest, drawing attention to it.
    Eddie shifted uneasily as blood rushed to his groin. The high kitchen counter came to his rescue, but he had a feeling it was too late. Amy watched him with a naughty gleam in her eyes that said she knew how she affected him. Sometimes, he wondered if she deliberately dressed in the bare minimum to drive him nuts.
    She cocked her brow. He gave her the pitcher of orange juice. “Go on outside and stay put,” he ordered. “I’ll bring everything.”
    Amy chuckled as though she knew he was deliberately kicking her out. The gentle roll of her hips as she walked away shot his imagination into hyper drive.   He