“But you want me to meet someone. Someone you met while you were a hostage?”
“Yes, someone I met. He’s a personal security expert and he’s, um, staying with me for a few days. I met him after the hostage thing. During the, um, rescue and stuff.”
“Oh my God—staying with you? Like with you? Or with you? And isn’t that awfully fast if it’s with you?”
Tallie laughed. Only Sharon could complicate the situation and make everything sound somewhat confusing at the same time. “Well, I don’t know which of those withs is which—but he’s staying in my bedroom. With me.”
Because she’d never been able to hide stuff like that from Sharon and she wasn’t going to try now. Sharon would see straight through her.
“Not that my mother needs to know that,” she added. “She thinks he’s a friend who’s here to help set up my alarm system and make sure I feel safe.”
“And she bought that?”
Tallie laughed. “Not really, but I wasn’t ready to admit the truth to her. She never liked Calvin. I’m not letting her chase this one away before we’ve even gotten good and started.”
“And he’s a bodyguard?”
“Yes.”
“Is he there to bodyguard you?”
“Um, he’s here to make sure everything’s okay.”
“Why wouldn’t it be, Tallie?”
Oooh, Sharon was too shrewd sometimes. “I don’t know. I just know he’s here and I feel safer for it.”
“Okay, okay. Don’t get your panties in a twist. Does this bodyguard have a name?”
“His name is Brett. He’s from Texas, but he lives and works in DC.”
“Oh dear. That’s a little far—unless he lives on the Virginia side, maybe?”
“The Maryland side.”
“Well it’s not the West Coast, so at least there’s that.”
Tallie didn’t want to think about how far away Brett lived. “So will you come? It’ll just be something simple. Wine and pasta and a salad, maybe.”
“Of course I’ll come. But are you really sure? You just got home. And you’ve been through a lot.”
Tallie’s throat tightened. Sharon had no idea how true that was. “I’m sure. Yes, it was an ordeal and I’ll probably have nightmares and stuff—but I feel like I have to get back to normal. Because I’m afraid if I don’t, it’ll start to get into my head and then I’ll feel worse, not better.”
“Can I bring anything?”
“Just your sunny smile. I missed you.”
“Aw, that’s sweet. I’ll be there. But I can’t come empty-handed. I’ll pick up a chocolate cake at Spencer’s. I know how much you love them. No arguing.”
Tallie couldn’t help but smile. “Fine, no arguing. See you later.”
“See you! Can’t wait to meet the bodyguard!”
Sharon hung up and Tallie shook her head. That’s why they were friends. Whatever Tallie threw at her bestie, she went with it. She was always supportive, no matter how crazy the idea—and Sharon probably thought Tallie was crazy for shacking up with a man she’d only known for a few days.
Hell, maybe she was. But life was too short and uncertain to not go after what you wanted. If Tallie had learned anything the past couple of weeks, that was the most glaring.
Brett enjoyed having dinner with Tallie and her friend. Watching her in her own environment, he appreciated her even more than he had before. She was graceful and beautiful and so full of life and energy.
Tallie glowed when she was taking care of others. She liked fixing food and sitting at her round kitchen table. She’d set it with a white tablecloth, fresh flowers, and simple white plates that she placed on top of silver chargers. She added polished silverware and crisp white napkins. The whole thing was elegant and welcoming.
Just like her house. He’d thought her mother’s shop was inviting, but Tallie’s house was more so. He’d spent the first part of his life in rundown trailer parks, and then he’d spent time moving around to different foster homes, some nice and homey, others kind of rundown and crappy. He had never, not once, thought about decorating anywhere he lived with anything more than the basics. Couch, chairs, bed, tables, television. Preferably a big television.
But Tallie’s surroundings were designed to make a person feel cared for and interested. That was how she designed her dinner party, too, even though it was a party of three and not dozens.
Crystal, china, silver, nice wine and simple food that she prepared with ease. She’d confessed, while he chopped onions for her, that she had a couple of favorite go to recipes and those were the ones she trotted out when she needed something on short notice.
Which is how he found himself sitting down with two women, eating fettuccine primavera in a white cream sauce, garlic bread, and a salad of greens, ripe tomatoes, and feta cheese that she drizzled with a honey vinaigrette. For dessert, there was coffee and a chocolate cake that Sharon had brought with her.
Brett liked Sharon. She was taller than Tallie and quite a bit fuller figured, with dark hair and intelligent eyes. When Tallie had answered the door, the two women hugged and sniffled before Tallie finally broke off and said, “Sharon, I want you to meet Brett.”
Sharon had asked a few pointed questions about Tallie’s captivity and rescue, but she accepted it when Brett told her there were things he wasn’t authorized to talk about. Once she seemed to understand that her friend was doing well and adjusting, she left the topic and moved on to other things.
“Anything interesting at work?” Tallie asked as she twisted pasta onto her fork. “Sharon is a real estate agent,” she added in an aside to Brett.
Sharon swallowed the bite of food she’d taken. “Oh my gosh, the crazy shit that happens sometimes. I took a listing for a house just last week where I had to get the photographer to not take photos of the dungeon in the basement. I mean that thing was unreal. When I told the couple they might need to put some of that stuff in storage until we sold the house, you’d have thought I asked them to renovate the kitchen or something. All I said was, hey, could we take down the sex swing and gothic punishment table with straps and maybe put the whips and chains away for a while? You know, nothing unreasonable.” She shook her head. “Nope, they didn’t want to do it. I think they will once they realize no one is making an offer with those things there. I mean somebody might, but most people can’t see past that stuff.”
“Oh my goodness,” Tallie said.
“Right?” Sharon replied. “I don’t care if they want to get kinky with each other. I just care that some of those things could be off-putting to buyers! Just pack it away for a while. That’s all. Tuck the butt plugs into the bedside table for heaven’s sake and enjoy all you want. But maybe lay off the dungeon until you get to the new place.”
“Takes all kinds,” Tallie said.
“Sure does. Oh by the way,” she added casually, twisting her fork into the pasta. “I met a guy.”
Tallie dropped her fork. “What? You should have led with that! What guy? What does he do? Do I know him?”
Sharon laughed as she held up a hand. “Whoa there, Tal. I just met him a couple of days ago. He came into the office looking for a house, and we hit it off. He took me to coffee yesterday at the Williamsburg Inn. That’s where he’s staying. He’s moving to the area from New York.”
“The Williamsburg Inn is a very nice place,” Tallie told Brett. “Expensive. The Queen of England and Prince Phillip have stayed there. Twice.”
“Yes, it’s definitely expensive,” Sharon said, looking sort of pleased.
“Who is this guy?”
“His name is Robert and he has his own business. I don’t know precisely what he does yet. There’s only so much prying a girl can do on the first date.”
Tallie lifted her wine glass in a salute. “That is very true. I just hope he’s a great guy. He needs to be if he’s going to date you.”
“I hope so too. I mean so far he’s fabulous, but that’s a couple of afternoons
of house hunting and a coffee date. I’m taking him to some houses tomorrow as well. He’s, uh, looking at some pretty fabulous properties. Two mil and up.”
“Oh wow.” Tallie leaned forward, a grin on her face. “Is he going to need a decorator?”
Sharon laughed. “If he buys one of these houses, I’ll bet he does.”
They talked about other things after that. Brett mostly listened, though Tallie tried to make him a part of the conversation. But he was used to observing so that’s what he did.
And what he observed were two friends who genuinely adored each other. He was happy for Tallie that she had that, especially since she’d lost her sister nearly a year ago.
After a couple of hours, Sharon insisted she had to go. They’d had cake and coffee and Brett had quietly cleaned up while Tallie entertained. When she’d realized he was doing it, she jumped up to help him but he told her to sit back down and enjoy her friend.
Sharon stared at him as if he’d materialized on the spot while riding a unicorn or something, but then she smiled and winked at him before turning back to Tallie and their conversation. He took that as approval.
Once Sharon was gone and he’d locked up for the night, Tallie looked at him shyly. They hadn’t made love in her house yet, mostly because they’d gotten interrupted earlier, and he thought she might be feeling somewhat like she’d landed in the Twilight Zone.
The return to normal life after a mission was sometimes hell. It was a full stop where everything was suddenly ordinary, and you wanted to scream at everyone that they were being complacent because the big bad scary world was out there waiting to eat them alive.
Brett went over and gathered her to him. She was small and perfect in his arms. He liked having her there. She slipped her arms around him and lay her cheek against his chest. He kissed the top of her head.
“I’m not expecting anything, Tallie. In fact, just holding you while we sleep will be enough.”
Was he going soft? Colt and Ty would rib the hell out of him if they could see him now. Jace, however, would probably smirk knowingly.
“Let’s go to bed and see what happens, shall we?”
He scooped her into his arms and carried her upstairs to the master bedroom. He really did intend to sleep, but when he set Tallie down, she went to work on his clothes, ripping his shirt over his head, unbuttoning his jeans and shoving them down his hips. When she dropped to her knees and took him in her mouth, he thought he’d die.
Fortunately, he didn’t. He didn’t let her make him come, either. When he was getting close, he dragged her up and stripped her while she protested that she wanted to finish.
Only when he had her naked did he let her touch him again. He pulled her onto the bed, urged her up to straddle his face, then went to work making her come while she sucked his cock.
When it was over, when they’d both come apart and pieced themselves back together again, she lay in his arms and fell asleep.
Brett wanted to sleep, too. But it wouldn’t happen. He lay awake and thought about a lot of things. But mostly, he thought about Tallie and the way he felt. There were things going on inside him, things he didn’t understand.
He’d known her a little over a week, but it felt like a lifetime. It felt… right.
But he had to be mistaken because he’d thought he’d felt this way before—and he’d been seriously, seriously wrong that time. How could he trust himself to know for sure?
Chapter Twenty-Two
It took some time, but life slowly got back to normal. Tallie returned to work, though she found herself daydreaming a lot more than usual about what it might be like to have her own design studio. The kind of place where she took on big clients but also rose to the challenges of smaller budgets.
And then there were the buying trips overseas. She didn’t want to go alone, though it wasn’t time to consider it anyway. The buying trips would start again in the spring, but that was a few months away. That gave her time to talk to her mother about organizing trips where she took clients with her and they learned how to shop the markets.
The biggest change in her life was Brett. He stayed with her for five days, and then he announced one morning that he had to get back to Black Defense International’s headquarters in Maryland. Her heart fell and then started to beat very hard.
Brett tipped her head back with his fingers beneath her chin—those long, perfect fingers that knew just how to strum her body into quivering orgasms—and looked at her very seriously.
“We aren’t done, Tallie. I have to go back to work, but I’ll be down here whenever I have time. And you can come see me if you want to. You’ll like my house, I think. Well, you’ll like the view anyway. You’ll probably shriek at the decorating.”
She put her hand on his wrist, felt his pulse. He meant something to her. It hurt to see him go. “I’d like to see your house.”
“We’ll talk every night, and I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
“Are you sure, Brett? I mean you’ve done your job where I’m concerned. You don’t have to keep coming back if you don’t want to.”
He kissed her, hard and swift. Her lips stung. She welcomed it. “I want to,” he whispered against her mouth. “I’m going to.”
“Okay.”
She hated that he was leaving even though it meant that everything was back to normal. Her life was hers again, and she was no longer in danger. Yet she’d been changed by what happened to her and she couldn’t pretend she hadn’t been.
“Thanksgiving is next week,” she said, heart thrumming. “Will you come?”
“I will if I can.”
“It’s at Mom’s. I’ll understand if you don’t want to.”
“I want to.”
He kissed her again and then he picked up his bag and went out to his truck. She stood in the doorway, watching him toss his stuff inside and then turn to her. He put his fingers to his lips and blew her a kiss.
Tallie stood in the door as he backed out of the driveway, her heart beating so hard she thought she might pass out. She didn’t want him to go. She didn’t know if he’d ever come back, no matter what he said.
If they were a couple. If they were in love with each other—
Tallie clutched her hand over her heart, stunned at the idea of it. But her eyes stung and her heart ached and she knew it was what she wanted. They hadn’t said those words, but she felt them in her soul.
Not even a month with him. Not even two full weeks.
And she was in love.
The drive back to Maryland felt worse with every mile. Brett hated leaving Tallie in Williamsburg but he’d been there five days and there was absolutely no sign of Heinrich von Kassel or anyone else coming to take her away. She’d been in the wrong place at the wrong time, and she’d paid a high price for it.
But it was over. She was safe and it was time to get back to what he did best.
He reached HQ late that afternoon and went up to the operations center. Ian was in his office—not the one that he greeted potential clients in, but the one inside the ops center—when Brett used his palm print to gain entry to the secure area and walked inside.
The boss looked up as Brett strode into the heartbeat of ops, smiling as he approached. Ian stood and waited for him to walk into the glassed-in office.
“The prodigal son returns. How’s Miss Grant doing in Colonial Williamsburg?”
Brett had a flash of Tallie standing in her door, watching him drive away with her heart in her eyes. He hadn’t wanted to leave her, and his gut had churned with chaotic feelings as he did so.
“Her house is secure. She’s back to work at her mother’s business and all seems normal.”
“Excellent.” Ian’s brow furrowed. “I liked her. Tougher than she looks.”
“Tallie Grant is definitely not an idiot.”
Ian looked speculative. “She speaks fluent French. Knows where to find antique treasures in France. She has connections—she could be useful to us.”
/> “No,” Brett said coldly.
Ian arched an eyebrow. “Ah, I see.”
“See what?”
Shit.
“Nothing, kid.”
Ian called them all kid sometimes, even though he wasn’t much older than they were. Ten years max, Brett thought, which would put him at thirty-eight. But even then Brett wasn’t sure he was right about that.
Brett backpedaled. “She could give us information, maybe. If she returns to France. She won’t go alone, but she’s thinking of taking clients on buying tours. And if she does, she might have some observations.”
Ian seemed to consider it. “That would be enough. You didn’t think I wanted her to engage in ops did you?”
Brett had no idea what the boss wanted sometimes. “No. She’s not trained. Or suited to the work.”
“No, she’s not.”
Brett’s heart ached suddenly. He was here and Tallie was three hours away. No more Bavarian chalets and snowy walks together. “What do you have for me?”
Ian returned to his desk and sat. He flipped through some papers. “Heinrich von Kassel is still in Monaco, losing a mint at the tables. He seems to have had an infusion of cash from somewhere, but I think he’s moved on from the idea of finding Tallie. He doesn’t seem to know her identity anyway. I’ve been paying close attention to that. The only people who know her real name are those who work for the Syndicate. And they aren’t about to risk stealing her away from her life in America.”
“They got their money,” Brett said bitterly. “Any luck on tracing it?”
Ian shook his head. “None yet. I’ve got Lane Jordan on it. He’s the best IT person we’ve got so if there’s any way to do it, he’ll get it done.”
Brett felt marginally better, though he still didn’t like that there were people out there—criminals—who knew Tallie’s identity.
“Don’t worry,” Ian said, seeming to sense his turmoil. “It’s really not in the Syndicate’s best interest to snatch her again.”
Black Tie: HOT Heroes for Hire: Mercenaries: A Black’s Bandits Novel Page 18