Protecting What's Mine: A Security Romance Collection

by Apryl Baker

  “I wish it wasn’t getting chilly because I want to go swimming.”

  “I keep it warm enough that we’ll be fine, so we’ll swim tonight. In another couple of weeks, I’ll close it down until next spring.”

  “Really?” She claps and bounces up and down in her seat. “That’s great! I can’t wait to get into the water.”

  “Okay, tonight we’ll stay at my house and after dinner we can go for a swim. That’ll be good.” I can’t wait to get her in her little bikini again.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Harley

  My legs are wrapped around Jack’s hips as he thrusts into me over and over. I know I’ve got to be hurting him the way I’m gripping his hair, but I don’t think he cares. Jack reaches between us, strumming my clit until I’m close to detonating.

  “Fuck me, but you feel amazing,” he whispers against my neck. “Are you going to come for me?”

  “Yes…now…” I come long and hard, and I know I’m a wet mess, but I feel too good to care. Jack pumps once, twice, and then buries himself to the hilt as he begins to come. I wrap my arms around him, hugging Jack to my chest. He pulls out as his dick starts softening.

  He kisses me once before climbing out of the bed and disappearing into his bathroom. I grab his pillow and hug it to my chest, smiling.

  Earlier today I worked a little on my book while Jack hung out with his daughter and the kids. I got excited because a signing downtown had a spot open up, so I’m getting to attend now. I paid my fees and when they announced me, I was excited to see people were actually excited that I was going to be there.

  Maybe Jack and I could get a hotel room and make it a romantic weekend away. My happy bubble was burst, though, when I went through the rest of my emails and found one from Martha.

  Eva,

  I was hoping after your little “accident” that you’d stop that vulgar writing, but I’ve seen your posts on social media, bragging about your new book. You’re turning women into whores with your pornography.

  1 John 1:9

  If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

  Confess before it’s too late. God will forgive you like he’s forgiven me.

  Martha

  I was surprised when Jack said they wanted me to placate her and apologize, but that’s just because they want her to make a move, and that makes me nervous. They’re the experts, though, so I should trust their judgment.

  I forward the email to Egan with the question, “What do I say to her?” When I finish with the other emails, I check the ads I have running constantly on Facebook. I’ve spent a fortune on marketing classes, but it was worth it.

  I email my editor letting her know that I’ll be sending my manuscript at the end of next week. It’ll go through one more round of edits and a proofreader before it’s ready to get formatted, and still there are sometimes tweaks that need to be made.

  My release is set for seven weeks from now. Things will get crazy while I prepare for release day, but I’m used to it. Of course I still get release day jitters, and I’m sure I always will. Most authors I talk to say they still get them too.

  For dinner tonight we ate with Del, Reece, and the kids. Charlie is obsessed with looking me over for more owies—I think she’s going to be a doctor or a nurse. The kids were in rare form and made me smile constantly. Delilah had music playing, and both kids were dancing for us. It was adorable and made me long for children of my own.

  Jack and I haven’t had the us talk yet, but I hope we’re on the same page because I’m falling in love with the man. I can see a future with us, but I’m scared because for so long everyone I’ve ever loved has always left me.

  We stayed at their house until the kids went to sleep, and that brings us back to now. It had been since before my accident that we’d last had sex, and when we became us again we’ve only done oral or hand jobs.

  I wasn’t sure if I should make the move or see if he was going to make it. In the end I threw caution to the wind and stripped out of all of my clothes, lying there waiting for him. When he came into the room, he froze. In seconds he came unstuck and was shucking off his t-shirt and then his jeans.

  He’d basically tackled me in bed.

  Now he’s situating us so I’m lying half on and half off him. My fingers draw imaginary circles on his chest. “I forgot to tell you that I’m doing a signing next month downtown. They had an author cancel and I was the next in line.”

  “That’s great, baby.”

  “Will you come with me? I thought maybe we could get a room downtown and have a romantic weekend.” I rest my chin on top of my folded hands and look at him in the dark.

  “Just admit it—you want me to come be one of those cover models. You know, stand behind you and flex,” he says, making me laugh.

  “Har, har…that’s not even how it is, but yeah, you can just sit there and look pretty.” Jack tickles my sides until I’m squealing. “Okay, s-stop!”

  “Egan showed me the email,” Jack says quietly. I was expecting him to ask me about it earlier tonight. “I don’t think I’m ready for you to reply yet. Things could escalate rapidly, and I need to get a lot more things in place before you do that.”

  “I wasn’t thrilled about responding anyway. I won’t until you tell me to.”

  He hugs me tightly, and it isn’t long before he’s asleep, and I follow after him.

  ***

  I take a drink of my coffee as I stare at the email on my laptop. How am I supposed to respond to this? She hasn’t emailed this close together before, either.

  Dearest Eva,

  1 Corinthians 6:18-20: Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a person commits are outside the body, but whoever sins sexually, sins against their own body. Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.

  I know you’re taking up with that man I’ve seen you with. Sex before marriage is a sin. Not only do you write that filth, but now you’re being intimate with a man you’re not married to.

  Your punishment is coming, mark my words.

  Yours in Jesus,

  Martha

  I grab my phone and call Jack. He answers on the second ring. “Hey baby, what’s up?”

  “Um…Martha emailed again. I know you guys want me to email her, but I don’t think I want to email her back.” I take a deep breath. “She knows about you.”

  I may not be in the same room as Jack, but the silence is very telling—he’s pissed. “What do you mean she knows about me?” I read him the entire email and he cusses quite a bit. “Are the doors locked?”

  “I think so.” I bite at my thumbnail and stare out the window.

  “Go check them while we’re on the phone.” My heart starts to beat faster as I rush through the house to the front door and flip the deadbolt. At the backdoor, I flip that lock too. “Are they locked?”

  “Yes, I’m really freaked out right now. Is she watching me? Is she watching us?”

  “Pack your bags, get Fifty ready, and when I’m done here I’ll come get you. We’ll stay at my place. I have a state-of-the-art security system.”

  “Okay. I’ll be ready when you get home.”

  He’s quiet for a moment. “Baby, listen to me. You’re safe, okay?”

  I do believe him…or at least I want to. “She knows who I really am, she knows about you…how?”

  “Forward me the email so I can get it to Egan. Cobi has already said he’d watch that couple if I changed my mind. I know we ruled them out, but I just need to be sure.”

  After we hang up I can’t focus on anything else, and I can’t just sit and watch TV or read, so I clean my place from top to bottom. When Jack gets home, I’m knee deep in reorganizing my closet.

  “What are you doing? You probably shouldn’t be on the floor, baby.” He helps me s
tand up. “Did you pack?” God, he’s overprotective.

  I shake my head. “Earlier I couldn’t sit still, and I couldn’t focus on anything. I decided to start cleaning and I went a little crazy, I’ll admit. Can you get Fifty’s stuff together while I pack?”

  I watch him disappear out the door.

  It takes me about a half hour to get clothes, toiletries, and my writing stuff all together. I wheel my suitcase out into the living room and find Jack in the kitchen with his phone to his ear. “I’m bringing her to my place.” He pauses. “Yes, come. We’ll throw a shower for Delilah and you can meet Harley. Mom, I’m forty-three years old—I think I can handle putting a party together for my daughter.” Jack turns and holds out his hand to me. “Fine, you plan her party, but I’m paying.” He smiles. “Okay, we’ll see you in a couple of weeks.” Jack kisses the top of my head. “I love you too.”

  He disconnects the call. “My daughter spilled the beans about us, so my mom was pumping me for information. Don’t worry: If you don’t want to meet them, you don’t have to. My mom’s just a little protective.”

  “Umm…sure, I’d love to meet them…unless you don’t want me to.” I pull back and look up at him.

  “Of course I do. Do you have all your stuff together?” I nod, and he takes my suitcase out to his SUV before returning for Fifty. I make sure everything is locked up and follow Jack. Once we’re both inside, we head to his place.

  After getting Fifty situated, I head upstairs to put my clothes away, and then Jack takes me into his office. He rearranges his desk so I have room to work. “You didn’t have to do this. I feel bad enough that you have to babysit me.”

  Jack moves around the desk until he’s standing right in front of me. “You haven’t made me do anything. I don’t call it babysitting—I call it taking care of someone that I care a lot about.” I know it’s not a declaration of love, but it still feels really good.

  I wrap my arms around his waist. “Thank you so much.” I let go of Jack’s waist and grab his face, pulling him down to me for a fierce kiss. “You’re an amazing man, Jack Mackenzie.”

  He lifts me up and sets me on the desktop. Jack spreads my legs and fits himself between them. He brushes my hair out of my face. “You are so, so pretty.”

  I feel my face heat up. “Thank you. What should we have for dinner?” I grab onto his shoulders.

  “Do you want to order out, or go somewhere?”

  “I’d rather stay in, if you don’t mind?”

  We order Chinese and while we wait for it to come, Jack teaches me to play chess. I’m actually surprised that he plays. His dad taught him when he was a kid, and he started playing again when he was in the hospital after he got shot.

  I listen as he tells me about the pawns, rooks, knights, bishops, queens, and kings. I’ll admit I don’t understand half of what he’s saying, but the first game we play he helps me. It’s actually a lot more fun than I thought it would be.

  When our food comes we continue playing while we eat. It’s safe to say I’m terrible at chess because I’m losing pieces faster than I know what to do with. Jack gets up to get a beer and me a glass of wine. “When did your parents move to Florida?”

  “The minute my dad retired from John Deere, they were gone. My mom runs a bookstore in Panama City Beach. If my daughter would stop popping out babies, I want to take them down there for a vacation.”

  I smack his arm. “Stop…you know you love those babies.”

  “I do. I remember when she told me she was pregnant with Charlie. I was so pissed and didn’t react well, but I went to that first appointment and heard the heartbeat and I was over the moon. I wasn’t happy at first when I found out Reece was the dad. It wasn’t that he wasn’t a good guy—we served together, and he was always a good friend, but she was too young for him.”

  He takes a drink of his beer. “Luckily it all worked out. He’d die for her and those kids.” Jack clears his throat. “Do you want kids?”

  How do I answer that? How do I tell him I’ve always wanted a house full of babies, but that my fears keep me from thinking that’ll ever be a possibility? Everyone I love leaves me, and I know I need to stop thinking that way, but I can’t help it. I don’t say anything, though—I just shake my head.

  “Why?”

  I don’t want to talk about this, and I don’t want to admit to him that I’m afraid. He’ll think I’m pathetic like John, my last boyfriend, did. All I can think is lie, lie, lie. “I don’t know…I just haven’t been with someone I’d want to have babies with. I figure I’ve missed my shot.” I stand up. “I’m going to get more wine. Do you want another beer?”

  In the kitchen I grab our drinks and bring them back into the living room, sitting back down in front of the chessboard. Jack grabs my arm. “I only asked because I don’t want more kids.”

  Why does that hurt? Instead, I push it away and smile. “Okay then, we’re on the same page. Let’s finish this game.” He looks at me closely. Can he tell it’s all lies?

  Jack takes a drink of his beer. “Yeah baby, let’s finish it.”

  Chapter Fifteen

  Jack

  “I wanted to bring something to the table that’s been on my mind a lot lately.” I look around the table at each member of my team—each one hand-selected by me. “I’ve been thinking about expanding. The space next door is available, and I’ve spoken to the contractor who did this space. He said we’d be able to do it.”

  I take a sip of my water. “We’d start hiring just a couple of guys first. Marcus, my hope is to get you a couple more bounty hunters. Shayla works with you a lot more, so she’d be in charge of keeping track of all your cases.”

  Marcus glances at Erik with a mischievous grin. “Your wife’s going to be all mine.”

  “You couldn’t handle my girl, pussy.” Erik was the cocky dog until Shayla and Grant came into his life. Now he’s a devoted husband—finally—and father.

  I end the meeting and the guys all get up except for Reece. “What’s up?”

  “Not much. Del’s excited for Jerry and Kim to get here.”

  “They’re excited too. My mom’s been talking to yours about the baby shower for baby boy.” Reece’s chest always puffs out when his upcoming son is brought up. Then he rolls his eyes. “I can only imagine the spectacle they’re going to turn it into, but Del deserves it. This pregnancy is wearing her out already, but she keeps smiling. Your daughter’s a robot,” he says with a laugh.

  “Nah…she just loves being a mom,” I tell him.

  We head out of the conference room and I grab a bottle of water before heading back to my office. Earlier today Cobi emailed me some of his surveillance photos of the couple that owns the IP address where Harley’s emails have been coming from. They’re your basic couple: They go to work, sometimes out to dinner, she grocery shops, they hang with friends, and on Sundays they go to church.

  Now that would raise red flags all over the place, but Cobi said it’s one of those super-relaxed churches. He even said that there appears to be no abuse going on, but he said he’d do more digging.

  Harley’s been a little quiet since I moved her in with me. A part of me thinks she’s just worried about Martha, but then again, the way she shut down after our brief discussion about kids has me thinking that’s it.

  She’s still been affectionate with me and the sex has been phenomenal, but it’s like she’s keeping me at arm’s length. Yesterday she finally took her new car out for a drive. I’d gone with her, and Harley got really nervous going through intersections or if someone was following us too closely, but I was so proud of her because she did it anyway.

  I shut down my computer and decide to stop by to say hi to the kids. As soon as I pull into Del’s driveway, I look over at Harley’s house and the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. I climb out of my SUV.

  “Hey, Dad.” Del waves from the front steps.

  I move toward her. “I’ll be right back—I need to check Harley’s house
really quick.”

  Across the yard, I head toward the back of Harley’s house. I look around and don’t see anything unusual in the yard. The windows at the back of the house are still locked. I check the sliding door, and that’s still locked too.

  Once I move around the other side of the house, I examine the ground. Right in front of her bedroom window, the grass is depressed. I pull my phone out of my pocket and snap a few pictures.

  I send a quick text to Del and ask her to bring me a bottle of baby powder. She meets me at the fence. “What’s this for?”

  “Nothing you need to worry about, honey. I’ll be over to see you guys in a few minutes.” I head back to the other side of the house. At the window, I grab my little kit out of my back pocket. I sprinkle some baby powder in my hand and use my little brush.

  I find nothing, but I still don’t feel right. Someone was here snooping around. I was hoping to find a fingerprint or at least a partial, but I couldn’t get that lucky. I use the keys that she gave me when I was staying here with her and step inside.

  I turn off the alarm system and do a quick walk-through, but I don’t see anything out of order. In her bedroom I look around, and everything is how she left it. I arm the system and lock up.

  “Papa!” Charlie calls from her timeout chair as I step into their house. “I was bad.”

  Jinx greets me with a bark, and I bend down to pet him and notice his hair is sticky. “Your granddaughter thought the dog needed a bath, and instead of shampoo, she used a gallon of milk,” Delilah says as she blows a stray strand of hair out of her face. “I can’t lift him enough to get him in the tub to wash it off, so we’re waiting for Daddy to get home.”

  “I’ll take care of the dog. Where’s Jackson?”

  “He’s in his crib while I cleaned up the mess.” She holds up the baby monitor in her hand.

  I pick up Jinx, carry him upstairs to the bathroom, and stick the dog in the bath. In no time, the milk is rinsed off and he’s all clean.