Damn. He was right. That was what she’d done for his son’s friend. It was how she worked. But she didn’t want to spend time with his nephew. Maybe she could shadow Carter or Dex...
“Don’t you have a job providing security for Mr. Nakamori and his family this week?” Mr. McCall asked.
Mac reeled back. “How’d you hear about that? We only just signed them on an hour ago.”
His uncle smiled. “I may not run McCall Enterprises anymore, but I still hear things. We’ve had long-term business dealings with Mr. Nakamori.”
McCall Enterprises was a very successful computer software and hardware company located in Houston, but with worldwide reach. Stefanie had hit the jackpot when his son, Cole, had passed along her information to a few of his local associates. Those accounts were the reason she was able to open her business.
Maybe working for Mac wasn’t such a bad idea. The exposure of his logo could lead to more clients, too.
“Yeah, we just have to drive them around for a few days,” Dex spoke up.
“Perfect.” Mr. McCall grinned. “Then it isn’t dangerous, and Stefanie can tag along.”
She shoved her fist in her pocket to hide her frustration. Men. Why did they feel compelled to make decisions for her? Since what they’d proposed happened to benefit her, she remained quiet.
Mac nodded, but she could tell by his hardened jaw that he wasn’t a fan of manipulation either, but understood the merit of the situation.
At least they had that in common.
“Is this why you stopped by?” Mac asked his uncle.
Mr. McCall shook his head. “No, I came to see you both to remind you about the surprise dinner for your aunt Leeann’s birthday this Sunday.”
Another family dinner? Man, the McCalls did that a lot. They were nice people, but Stefanie always felt a little odd that she was included. Her sister had married a McCall, not her, nor was she ever likely to marry into the family. Her gaze drifted to the last unattached McCall. Definitely not. He may be dead sexy, with dark hair and dark brown eyes that seemed to have the ability to reach into her soul, but he liked to boss her around and treat her like a child. Way too alpha. She barely tolerated the guy, and now she had to spend time with him this week and on Sunday.
Thank God others would be around.
“Of course,” Mac said. “Work permitting.”
His uncle slapped him on the back. “Of course.” Then he gave her a smiling nod. “I’ll leave you to work out the details.” After bidding the others goodbye, he disappeared into the alley.
“I’ve got to get going too. My two-thirty will be here soon,” Mel said, before slipping out the door.
Abby smiled and lifted a hand in a half-hearted wave. “And I have some things to set up.”
“Need any help?” Carter asked.
“Sure, but shower first. You stink.” Her friend wrinkled her nose at her brother and left.
Carter and Dex mumbled something about showers as they entered the building through a door in the garage...leaving her alone with Mac.
She used the opportunity to set things straight. “You don’t need to worry. I won’t get in your way. I’ll only be along to quietly observe. But if you need me to do anything, don’t hesitate to ask.”
“Just observe,” he said, stepping closer. “I mean it. Don’t interfere.”
Jerk. Why did she even bother to speak if he wasn’t going to listen? “Pretty sure I already covered that,” she said, lifting a hand to pat his cheek, when what she wanted to do was smack him. “Give me your email address.”
He stilled, and his eyes narrowed. “What for?”
Wow. He had some serious control issues. Or trust issues.
Or both.
“So I can send you a questionnaire to fill out,” she replied, removing an ink pen and two business cards from her pocket. She carried both with her wherever she went. “Keep one and write your email on the back of the other.”
Surprisingly, he did as instructed without complaint.
Progress.
“Keep the pen,” she said, but took the card he held out, her fingers brushing his.
Once again, awareness skittered through her in a rush of heat that had all her good parts eager for attention. She gave her body orders to not respond, but her damn gaze lifted up to meet his, and her pulse hiccupped. His eyes wore that mixture of surprise and heat she’d seen earlier when retrieving Reggie from his arms.
His gaze flicked down to her lips, and dammit, she felt herself swaying forward. It was as if the bugger was controlling her body. She sure as hell wasn’t, although, at the moment, she was suddenly not all that opposed to a repeat of that holiday kiss.
He must’ve been on the same wavelength because he drifted closer and lowered his head. Then stilled and stepped back.
“Turn in early tonight,” he said, his voice sounding a little gruff as he turned and headed for the door Carter and Dex had disappeared through a few minutes ago. With his hand on the doorknob, he turned to face her. “We leave for Houston at five a.m. If you’re not here by then, we’ll leave without you.”
A second later, he was gone.
“Guess I’m dismissed,” she said into the empty garage. Even though she was alone, she couldn’t resist the urge to salute. So she did. And stuck out her tongue.
It was better than flashing the other appendage that came to mind.
***
By the time noon rolled around the next day, Mac was already sorry he’d agreed to let Stefanie tag along. Not because she was getting in the way. No. It was for purely physical reasons.
His body came to life—and his brain took a hike—whenever the damn woman was in the same room. The drive in was bad enough, with her sitting in the passenger seat, her skirt riding up, giving him a glimpse of her lush thighs. The air conditioner didn’t help alleviate his overheated body. Damn thing picked up her perfume, distributing the flowery scent throughout the SUV, and messed with his senses.
Thrilled to have escaped the close confines of the vehicle, Mac was checking out the penthouse in the high-rise apartment building where the Nakamoris were set to stay tomorrow, while Carter and Dex checked out the rest of the building.
Just when he thought he’d regained control, Stefanie would walk by and prove him wrong. Heat raced through his body, fogging up his brain. It pissed him off. He was working. This job was the most important one Eagle Security & Investigations would ever carry out. If things went well, not only would they provide security for future business associates of McCall Enterprises, he’d brokered a similar deal with Mr. Nakamori, too.
The last thing he needed was to lose his head over another pretty girl and screw things up for him and his team.
Not happening again.
Never again.
“Are we staying in the penthouse too?” she asked from her perch on a stool at the kitchen snack bar, her long legs crossed, looking sleek and supple. “It’s Kevin’s, right?”
Kevin Dalton was the VP of McCall Enterprises and the brains behind most of their software. It sometimes boggled Mac’s mind that the kid he remembered as the wise-cracking, chick-magnet, best friend of his cousin, Cole, had grown up so smart and successful. The guy owned the penthouse often loaned to out-of-town guests of his company.
“Yes, and Mr. Nakamori and his wife and two daughters will stay here,” he said, realizing he’d left that part out when he’d reviewed the basics of the assignment on the drive in. Unsure of what else he might’ve left out during his attempt to keep his mind off her damn body, he decided to go over the job one more time. “We secured an apartment two-floors down. You’ll stay there, and Dex, Carter, and I will take turns securing the foyer here.” He pointed to the alcove with the private elevator.
“How will I be able to observe what Eagle Security & Investigations does if I’m on a different floor?” she asked. “The Nakamoris are going to be here for two nights. Surely I can just as quietly sit in the foyer a few times and silently obs
erve you or your men?”
He sighed. “I have to put the client first,” he said. “I’ll run it by them, but if they disapprove, you won’t be allowed up here.”
“Okay, thanks.” She nodded and pulled out her phone. “So, besides being a chauffeur, checking windows, doors, the accessibility to entrances and exits here and anywhere your clients go, what else do you have to do on this assignment? And do you expect this to be a typical one?”
Happy to have work to discuss, he walked into the kitchen and leaned against the furthest counter from her. “A lot of the job will be mundane.” He’d worked a few assignments in his former commander’s security company to test the waters to determine if this was something he’d wanted to do before recruiting his buddies and spending a dime. And even though this was their most important assignment to date, it wasn’t their first one. They’d worked a few similar security details, although those clients had stayed in a hotel. Nothing as fancy as this three-million-dollar penthouse.
“Mundane? Really?” She smiled.
“We’ll act as gophers.”
“Gophers?” She raised a brow.
“Yeah. Go for food, booze, smokes, clothes. Whatever they request.” He smiled as her other brow rose. “No, nothing illegal. And don’t worry, this assignment will only require some of that. And yes, for the most part, it’ll be typical.”
She typed some stuff into her phone, then glanced at him. “So, now what? What do you do to prepare? Is this when you get the food and booze, or do you wait until they arrive and tell you what to get?”
“Some like to eat out,” he said. “Some wait until you pick them up, and some provide a list of things they require ahead of time—like the Nakamoris. They emailed a detailed list of groceries and items they want and don’t want in here.”
She glanced around the kitchen and huge living room it opened into. “What don’t they want?”
“Televisions.”
She gasped. “You’re going to remove Kevin’s...what? Ninety-inch big screen?” She pointed to the huge, special-order television Mac, and most of the guys he knew would give their right nut to own.
“A hundred and thirty inches.” He laughed at her second gasp. “And, no. I’ve already made provisions with management to have the cable shut off for the next few days.”
Her brows rose again. “They can do that? Not the cable company?”
He smiled. “If you have connections.”
She stood up and walked to the floor-to-ceiling windows with the three-million-dollar view of Houston. “Is the apartment we’re staying in this fancy?”
A sliver of disappointment shot down his spine. He wasn’t surprised she was impressed with the place. She seemed like a penthouse type of girl. His brain immediately jumped to a different kind of penthouse, and the secret fantasies he harbored of her flashed through his mind. Damn things had plagued him ever since he’d returned from active duty and found the curvy woman in his bed at his cabin in Comfort, Texas.
He’d climbed into bed in the early morning hours and discovered warm, soft, gorgeous curves. His heaven was short lived when she’d kneed him in the groin and punched him in the face. He’d sported a shiner for days. A smile twitched his lips.
It’d so been worth it.
“No,” he finally replied, walking over to join her by the window. “The view is nice, and layout is similar, but on a much smaller, more modest scale.”
“Thank God,” she said, expelling a breath that fogged the window in front of her.
If she had shown up that morning wearing an ape costume, he wouldn’t have been more stunned.
“You don’t like Kevin’s place?” he asked, studying her face, still not convinced she wasn’t pulling his leg.
She nodded. “It’s nice. Don’t get me wrong, I like how it isn’t flashy, except for maybe the TV, but it’s just too big. Too elegant. It makes me a little uncomfortable.”
Well, hell. She’s just described his opinion of the place.
A smile tugged her kissable lips. She turned to face him. “You thought this was my style, didn’t you?”
Knowing a loaded question when he heard one, Mac chose his words carefully. “A lot of people do.”
He lifted a finger to brush a strand of hair behind her ear and realized his mistake the second he touched her soft skin. Now he wanted to touch more of her.
Dammit.
Her breath hitched, and her eyes, those gorgeous aqua-colored eyes, deepened their hue, drawing him in, pulling him closer. God...he could stare into those eyes forever. The heat in her gaze warmed the deep chill inside he hadn’t realized was there.
Shit. This was bad.
She set her hands on his chest, her palms warm as they slowly moved north. He silently urged her to push him away, to do what he could not.
But instead, she swayed closer, as if she was caught in this wild vortex of need currently biting at his ass. Damn woman was making it tough for him to hold on to his control. Her lips parted, tempting him with the promise of a kiss he knew would be as hot as it was sweet.
Fuck it.
He wasn’t strong enough. He’d wanted a repeat, a re-taste for three months now.
Muttering an oath, he thrust his hands in her hair and cupped the back of her head as he brought his mouth down on hers.
Chapter Three
She moaned, opening up to him, allowing his tongue access, and he took advantage, plundering inside as she practically climbed him, making him hard as hell.
As expected, the woman tasted hot and sweet but so hungry, he wondered if he’d be able to keep up with her demands. But then his own hunger grew, intensified, until his blood burned in his veins and he shook with the need to get them both naked.
The ding of the elevator echoed through the room, and they broke apart like heavyweight fighters retreating to their corners. She immediately twisted around and rushed back to her stool, and he marveled at how she picked up her phone and pretended to scroll through it as if they hadn’t been going at it hot and heavy.
Unless she wasn’t pretending.
His heart rocked. Is that what she was doing? He had no damn clue. He was lucky enough blood had returned to his brain to give him control of his breathing. Christ, the last thing he needed was those two yahoos to suspect what had just transpired.
They’d already been razzing his ass last night over the horn incident.
“Building’s secured, boss,” Dex proclaimed, walking further into the penthouse.
Followed by Carter. “Garage, too.”
He nodded. “Dex, you’re with me. We’re going to head to McCall Enterprises.”
“Then that means you and I get to do the supply run.” Carter stepped over to Stefanie and held out his arm. “Shall we?”
The smile she gave his friend lit up her face. “Absolutely.”
An unfamiliar sensation pulled at Mac’s gut. She’d never smiled at him like that.
He shoved his hand in his pocket and gripped his phone. “You two go ahead. I need to check on something.” He yanked out his cell, noting Carter’s nod and the hand he set on Stefanie’s back—just above her sweet ass—as they walked toward the foyer.
Heat shot through his veins, and he clenched his jaw to keep in the oath rolling around in his head. It was definitely better to let them go first.
No way was he about to get into a confined space with the woman. Whether she was playing some kind of game with him or not, that would be too dangerous.
Doing some pretend scrolling of his own, he waited until the elevator doors closed before stowing his phone. If Dex suspected anything, he wisely remained quiet.
Mac was not in the mood for any shit. He left the penthouse with a sourness in his gut, and he wasn’t sure if it was because Stefanie appeared to have recovered from their kiss before she’d left—or the fact that he hadn’t.
***
The following afternoon, Stefanie found herself alone with Mac again. An invisible wall seemed to have gone
up between them. He was unreadable, silent, jackassable, and she suspected it didn’t have anything to do with his job persona. She was conflicted. Half of her wanted to tear down that wall because she’d caught a few glimpses of a warmth in him so real, so strong, it reached the part of her heart she’d thought would never feel again. The other half wanted to build the wall higher for the same reason.
If she’d learned anything while her tongue tangoed with his yesterday, it was that she’d enjoyed it far too much. She could still feel the sensuous scrape of his beard against her chin. An unexpected shiver rushed down her body. Thank God he was too engrossed in whatever was on his laptop to notice. Her reactions to him were too dangerous. He might have some redeeming qualities, but he was still controlling and bossy.
She did not want a repeat of Craig. By the time she’d wised up and left her ex-boyfriend, he’d snuffed out a lot of her personality. It’d taken Stefanie a long time to find herself again. She wasn’t the same—never would be—not after almost three years of living under his thumb. A situation that had happened so slowly she’d never even realized it, until a coworker at the prestigious graphic arts company they all worked for pulled her aside and told her what he’d done to her cousin, the girl he’d lived with before Stefanie.
The gradual controlling of what she wore, who she saw, what she ate, was done in way that made it seem as if the choices were her idea. Christ. How could she have been so stupid? And his lack of trust sucked. He’d not only accused her of cheating on him, he’d accused her of stealing his ideas at work...when he was one the one stealing hers. She grit her teeth and counted backward from five. The slow suffocation of her desire to hang out with others, even her relationship with her sister had been affected.
Thank God, Chloe had never realized.
Stefanie’s heart rocked in her chest. It was mortifying to admit it to herself, so there was no way she’d ever reveal any of it to her sister. Not because of the humiliation, but because she knew her sister would carry unwarranted guilt. That was never going to happen. She’d never allow it. Hell, Stefanie still hadn’t forgiven herself for being so blind and stupid. She still wasn’t back to pre-Craig standards, but she was close.
Mac (HC Heroes Series, #1) Page 3