Free Watching You by Gemma Halliday Page A

knew she’d spend the next twenty minutes in there, bathing, then emerge wrapped in a towel, slide beneath her silk sheets, set her alarm, and fall asleep.
    Dale set the binoculars down, wiping the back of his hand across his forehead. Jesus, it was hot. He pulled his little notebook from his pocket.
    9:26pm. Bubble Bath.
    He leaned back against the torn headrest, flipping on the radio, listening to the Giants game while he waited for her to finish her nightly ritual. When she was done, he’d drive back to the shitty little apartment he’d rented two blocks away and close his eyes for a couple hours before being back here at dawn again.
    He’d close his eyes, but he was never sure if sleep would actually come. Lately, all he saw behind his eyelids were images of her.
    Her.
    Always her.
    He breathed in deeply and could swear he almost smelled the soft, floral scent of her bubble bath.
    Soon. It would all be over soon.
    The one thought that kept him sane. She’d become his whole world, his every thought. He didn’t know how much more of this he could take.
    Soon…

    * * *

    4:15pm. Starbucks.
    Dale watched as she walked into the café across the street, standing in the queue behind half a dozen other caffeine addicted suits for her afternoon pick-me-up. He waited three beats, then got out of his car, the rusty hinges of the Ford Festiva groaning in protest. It was a shit car; Dale was surprised it even ran. He’d purchased it two months ago. Cash. On the upside, at least he didn’t have to worry about anyone stealing it.
    Dale waited for a pause in the afternoon traffic, then jogged across the street just in time to see Isabella give her order to the multi-pierced barista. He pulled his ball cap lower on his head, careful not to glance her way too often as he got in line, and ordered. Plain coffee. The barista snorted at him, making her lip piercing bounce up and down, but put in the order. He slid to the side, taking a position along the wall as he waited for his drink.
    Which came up first, of course. The reason he forwent the cappuccino he really wanted, instead adding mass amounts of sugar and cream to the bitter black coffee that he knew was a fast order. One that would have him ready to move when she was.
    “ Isabella?” the kid behind the counter called, shoving a frosty looking thing full of whipped cream to the window. Her one indulgence.
    He watched her grab it, her pupils wide like a kid staring at a shiny Christmas bike. He couldn’t help the corner of his mouth tilting up. She was cute like that. He could almost picture her as that kid.
    She wrapped her lips around the straw, taking that first heavenly sip. Her head lulled to one side, her throat bobbing up and down, her eyes fluttering closed for half a second.
    Which is probably why she didn’t notice the suit to her left and bumped right into him, spilling his expensive latte all over his sleeve.
    “ Oh, God. Oh, I’m so sorry,” she said, grabbing at a pile of napkins.
    Dale receded behind the growing number of people waiting for drinks, keeping his back to her.
    “ No, no, it’s fine. My fault. I should have had a lid on it,” the man responded. He was blond, clean cut, polished to a high shine. Either a stock broker or a used car salesman.
    “ Oh, your suit! Look what I’ve done.”
    “ No, it’s fine. Really. It’s getting warm out there anyway, I’ll just take the jacket off.” He smiled down at her. A thing that must have cost his parents a mint in orthodontics.
    “ You sure? Here, at least let me buy you another drink,” she offered, still mopping at his soggy sleeve.
    He grinned. “From a pretty gal like you, that’s an offer I can’t refuse.”
    What an asshole.
    Dale watched them both get back in line, the blond’s hand skimming the small of Isabella’s back. He grabbed a paper from the rack by the window and settled into a worn chair, flipping it open. World News. Whatever. It was a prop, nothing more. His attention was