He sighed. “What is it, Jake?”
“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?”
“My job.”
“Since when is field work your job?”
“Since tonight. You knew I was filling in for Miles.”
“Shane, let someone else do it. You can’t work all day and then do surveillance all night.”
“Yes, I can,” Shane said. “Go bother someone else.”
Jake made an exasperated sound. “I’ll do it. I can be at her house in twenty minutes.”
“I said I’ve got this, Jake. Give it a rest. How’s Miles?”
“He’ll live, but he’s been admitted to the hospital overnight for observation.”
“Is anyone with him?”
“Yeah. Liam is.”
“Good,” Shane said. “Keep me updated.” And then he ended the call.
* * *
On the drive home, Beth kept replaying Shane’s parting words: Just call me, please. I want to see you again.
Had the sexiest man she’d ever met tried to pick her up in Clancy’s? And did he really expect her to call him? He couldn’t have been serious.
She was shaken out of her reverie when the cab pulled up in front of her house.
The cabbie hunched down to look out the front passenger window at her address. “Nice place,” he said.
“Thanks.”
The cab driver glanced back at Beth with a satisfied grin on his face. “Tell your boyfriend thanks for the bonus. He made my entire quota for the night.”
“Sure,” Beth said, even though she had no intention of seeing Shane McIntyre again. “Thanks for the ride.”
Feeling a little dazed, she walked up the stone steps to the front door and let herself in. Once inside, she reset the security system – one of Tyler’s demands.
The interior was dark except for the light coming from a stained-glass lamp on the hall table. The lamp cast a warm glow throughout the narrow foyer, making the dark mahogany floors gleam with a beautiful luster. A handsome grandfather clock that her paternal grandfather had given to her grandmother for their first wedding anniversary stood in the foyer, its large gold pendulum swinging gracefully as it marked the passing seconds. A burgundy floral runner ran the length of the foyer, leading to the kitchen in the rear of the house.
She loved this old house. Every time she stepped through the front door, she felt a sense of peace, a sense of homecoming. Knowing that her grandparents had lived nearly a half-century in this house gave her a sense of continuity that she cherished.
Like the other brownstones in her modest neighborhood, the building wasn’t very wide. The front staircase hugged the left wall of the foyer, leading up to a landing and a hallway that led to three small bedrooms and a bathroom.
Right now the house was quiet, as Gabrielle wasn’t home from work yet. As one of the top ranked sous chefs at Renaldo’s, Gabrielle worked the very desirable evening shifts and didn’t get home until a little after midnight. But as much as Beth loved Gabrielle’s company, she was relieved that her best friend wasn’t home. Right now she just wanted to be alone.
She left the light on in the front hall for Gabrielle and headed up the narrow staircase to the second floor, walking past the landing and the bathroom to her bedroom at the end of the hall.
Beth switched on the light in her bedroom, a vintage crystal chandelier that hung in the center of the room. It was an old-fashioned light fixture for an old-fashioned house. Much of this house still bore her grandmother’s loving touches from the ‘40s.
The walls in Beth’s bedroom were a pale blue. White lace curtains hung in the two tall windows that overlooked the back courtyard. The bedroom furniture was mahogany, too, and had once belonged to the grandmother.
She tossed her purse onto the bed and walked into the tiny adjoining closet. She kicked off her sandals, then stripped out of her clothes and hung them up. After grabbing a nightgown off a hook on the door, she headed to the bathroom to wash up for bed.
Assessing her reflection in the mirror, she frowned. Her eyes seemed a little bit bruised, thanks to the faint purple shadows beneath her lower lids. Her complexion, which was usually pale thanks to her Swedish mother, was still a little flushed from her encounter with Shane.
Comparing herself to the blond bombshell in all her striking, curvy glory, Beth thought her own reflection was quite unremarkable.
* * *
Shane made good time. Luckily, he arrived on Beth’s street just as someone was pulling out of a street-side parking space just four doors down from her townhouse. From his vantage point, he had an unimpeded view of her front door.
It was a quaint street of brownstones in very nice condition, decorated uniformly with window boxes filled with colorful flowers and decorative wrought-iron fences. The faux gaslight streetlights made for good visibility.
At the rear of the house, he knew, was a small yard enclosed by brick walls and a one-car garage that housed Beth’s Mini Cooper. An alley provided access to the garage and backyard. Jake had installed an extensive system of covert surveillance cameras at the rear of the property covering the alley, the garage, the backyard, and the back of the house. Those cameras were monitored 24/7 back at the office, and Shane could access those cameras at any time from an app on his phone – like he was doing now.
He shut off the engine and prepared to settle in for a long night. If he’d known he was going to be sitting in his car all night, he would’ve arranged to trade the Jaguar for the Escalade. He certainly wasn’t going to be able to stretch out his six-foot-two frame in the tight confines of the vintage car. After a couple hours of sitting here, his right leg would be giving him hell thanks to the two metal rods in his right femur.
As he took a sip of coffee, he wondered what the hell he’d said that had sent Beth running like that. He laid his phone on the front passenger seat and glanced at it. She wasn’t going to call him, damn it. He’d wanted to ask for her number, so he could do the calling, but that would’ve been too much, too soon. He’d just have be patient. He’d give her a few days to call him, and if she didn’t, then he’d improvise another chance meeting.
He’d already broken all the rules. Why not break a few more?
* * *
Beth switched her bedside lamp to the nightlight setting and slipped between the cool white sheets. She tried to relax, but she was too wound up to sleep. Her thoughts kept drifting to Shane’s business card, which she’d tucked into her purse. He was a complete stranger! Of course she wasn’t going to call.
She lay quietly as the minutes ticked by, waiting for her heart rate to slow. Call him? No way. It was so not happening. Half an hour later, she was still awake, edgy and restless. She grabbed her purse and pulled out his card. The URL for his company’s website was listed on his business card, so she pulled out her Kindle and fired it up so she could check out his website.
His company’s website was impressive, with a sleek, modern design. According to the About Us page, they offered personal protection and state-of-the-art security systems in over a dozen countries. Personal protection... as in bodyguards. They also had a division that designed and installed state-of-the-art security systems for museums, universities, hospitals, and government installations. They had a list of patents longer than her arm, and their client list read like a Who’s Who of Fortune 500 companies.
She clicked on a link that took her to the bios of the company executives and her eyes went right to Shane’s photo at the top of the page. She read his bio, surprised to learn he’d spent 10 years in the military. After he left the military on a medical discharge, he’d gotten his MBA at the University of Chicago and started his business. Still, she knew next to nothing about him, other than the fact that he was keeping her up tonight.
Frustrated, she put both her Kindle and Shane’s business card back into her purse. What might have happened tonight if she hadn’t run off? What if she’d stayed and talked to him? What would he have done? For a mo
ment, standing outside the cab, she’d been sure he was about to kiss her. He’d leaned right into her, his eyes glued to her mouth, but at the last moment he’d pulled back. If he had kissed her, she probably would have run away screaming, and he probably would have considered himself lucky to have avoided that nightmare.
“You’re such a fucking headcase!” That’s what Kevin – her first and only serious boyfriend – said when he walked out on her. He was right, of course. And she hadn’t dated anyone in the three years since. The one time she’d taken a chance had backfired on her in a big way.
“Ooh!” Frustration was eating at her. She turned on her side and wrapped her arms around the spare pillow, wishing she had someone to snuggle with. She closed her eyes and remembered the feel of Shane’s lips against her ear as he’d murmured to her. His voice had been low and just a little rough, enough to make her insides quiver. His warm breath ruffling her hair had made her shiver. Just thinking about him – thinking about what might have happened – stirred up inconvenient feelings she’d rather not have to deal with right then.
She felt herself growing increasingly restless, until sleep became the last thing her body wanted right now. She could feel the blood pooling in her sex, making her flushed and achy. Her body began to throb, as if it had a mind of its own and knew what it wanted.
Pressing her face into the cool pillowcase, she remembered the feel of his hand holding hers. God, she wanted more of that. She wanted those big hands on her again. She wanted those long fingers trailing over every inch of her body. Unfortunately, her body and her mind were at odds with each other.
Desperate for relief, Beth rolled to her back and reached up underneath her nightgown and into her panties. She was already so wet, her sex flushed with heat and unrelenting need. She discarded her panties, kicking them off somewhere under the sheets, then spread her legs and slipped her finger between the slick folds of her sex, sinking it into her core. She was so wet from just thinking about Shane – she couldn’t imagine what it would be like if he were actually here. The wetness spilled out, and she spread some of it to her already-sensitive clitoris.
It took barely any stroking at all before her belly began to quiver, before her muscles tightened in anticipation of her release. She stroked herself faster and faster as she reached for the oblivion she so desperately needed. She pictured Shane, imagining running her fingers through his hair. She wanted to tug on those beautiful strands and pull him close. She wanted to... damn it, she wanted him.
Desperate now, Beth opened her legs wider and surrendered to the inevitable tumult. Her muscles locked as her finger rocked her clit. She closed her eyes and imagined it was Shane’s finger stroking her, that it was his touch driving her crazy. His face was there in her mind when her body exploded in a mind-numbing orgasm. Waves of blinding pleasure radiated from her core, coursing through her body and stealing her breath. She was alone in the house, so she allowed herself the rare luxury of crying out her pleasure.
All too soon the waves receded, her limbs like jelly now, boneless and limp. She didn’t have the energy to find her panties, so she straightened her nightgown and rolled to her side, wrapping her arms around the spare pillow and wishing it were a warm male body. Tiny, residual tremors from her orgasm coursed through her body, and now she could finally relax.
As she drifted off to sleep, she heard Shane’s voice in her head.
Just call me, please. I want to see you again.
Her throat tightened with longing and regret as she pressed her hot face into the pillow. She couldn’t call him. She just couldn’t trust someone that much.
Chapter 5
Nearing the end of his overnight shift, Shane desperately needed to stretch his legs but there just wasn’t enough room in the Jaguar. He was stiff, exhausted, and hungry. If he stood in for Miles again, he’d sure as hell do it in the Escalade with a giant thermos of black coffee and a stash of food.
Sitting in that plush corner office was making him soft.
To make things worse, Beth hadn’t called. He hadn’t actually expected her to call, but still, there’d been that tiny hope she might. So he’d had six hours to sit here and think about her, reliving their encounter and trying to figure out exactly what had made her run. And of course thinking about her all night – remembering the delicate, feminine scent of her skin... how soft her hand had felt... how good her hair had smelled – had left him with a raging case of blue balls. He hadn’t felt this sexually frustrated since... well, since never.
Miguel Rodriguez showed up at 0545 hours, fifteen minutes before Shane’s shift was up. Miguel had texted him a heads-up of his impending arrival, and Shane vacated his parking spot just as he saw Miguel’s black Mustang come around the corner.
After leaving Beth’s street pre-dawn, Shane debated whether to head to the penthouse apartment on Lake Shore Drive in the Gold Coast or to the house in Kenilworth. He typically spent his weekends on his 25-acre estate in Kenilworth, right on Lake Michigan. But the Lake Shore Drive penthouse won out because the idea of leaving the city just now didn’t sit well with him. And, yeah, it was just an excuse to stick close to her. In case she did call.
Now that he’d met Beth, he realized why Tyler worried so much about her. The thought of someone trying to hurt her made him go a little nuts. The girl had absolutely no defenses.
Shane parked in his reserved slot in the underground parking garage of his apartment building and took the express elevator up to the penthouse floor. He stepped out into the private foyer and then walked into the apartment, which was silent at the moment, thank goodness. He really didn’t feel like explaining himself to anyone right now.
He’d half expected to find Cooper waiting to ambush him. While he loved the man like a brother, he wasn’t in the mood to be grilled. And Cooper would grill him. The man missed nothing.
He headed down the hall to the master suite, which was his private domain. Once in his own space, he stripped off his clothes, dropping them to the floor, as he headed for the bathroom. Right now the only thing he wanted to do was alleviate a very persistent erection.
He stepped into the granite-and-glass walk-in shower and flipped a couple of switches. Hot water shot out instantly from six different shower heads, and he groaned as he walked into the spray. His dick bobbed in the air, ruthlessly defying gravity like it had a mind of its own. The damn thing had been tormenting him all night, so he finally took hold of it and grabbed some body wash and began stroking.
A cold, clinical handjob held no appeal for him right then, so he closed his eyes and indulged himself in the remembered scent of Beth’s warm skin. He needed her scent in his nose again. Hell, he needed it all over his body; he wanted to be covered in it. He’d barely touched her, and he couldn’t get her out of his head.
He pictured Beth as she’d looked sitting in that damn cab, gazing up at him with those big, blue-green eyes, looking so damned lost. It had killed him to send her off alone in a cab. He’d wanted to take her home himself, but he could hardly have done that when she was in full flight mode. She wasn’t ready for that yet.
He’d had just enough presence of mind at the time to let her go – to give her some space. But his retreat was only temporary. One way or another, they’d be seeing each other again, soon. The only question was, how long did he have to wait?
Shane braced himself on the granite wall with one hand and pumped his erection with the other. He conjured up a pair of Caribbean ocean eyes, wide with anticipation. God, he wanted her. He wanted to feed his cock into her sweet body, one inch at a time, and watch her face as he filled her. He wanted to take her slowly, prolonging her pleasure and his, but he also wanted to drive his cock into her so hard and so deep that he banished thoughts of any previous lovers from her head.
His shout was loud and hoarse when he finally lost control and unloaded against the shower wall with a violence that surprised even him. Fuck! Cooper probably heard that.
Shane pulled on pair of gray swea
ts and one of his old Marine Corps t-shirts and padded barefoot to the kitchen. If he couldn’t satisfy his sexual appetite, at least he could fill his belly. He was grateful to find a pot of fresh coffee in the maker, and he knew he had Cooper to thank for it.
He threw together a deli sandwich – that was about the extent of his food preparation skills – and parked himself on a stool at the kitchen counter to eat, suck down some coffee, and peruse yesterday’s newspaper.
Cooper walked into the kitchen dressed for business in jeans and a black t-shirt, his empty gun holster strapped to his muscular chest.
Shane nodded in greeting. “Thanks for the coffee. You heading out?”
“Thought I’d go to the shooting range,” Cooper said. “What about you? It’s Saturday. I thought you’d be in Kenilworth already.”
Shane swallowed a mouthful of hot coffee and shrugged, aware of Cooper’s scrutiny. Apparently word got around fast. “I thought I’d stay in town this weekend.”
Cooper leaned against the counter, crossing his arms over his chest. “And why is that?”
And here came the interrogation. “Do I have to have a reason to sleep in my own apartment?”
“No,” Cooper said. “I’m just wondering if this has anything to do with your moonlighting last night as a covert bodyguard after putting in a full day at the office. Do you plan to sleep any time soon?”
“I already have a mother, Cooper. But thanks.”
“Yeah? Well, your folks aren’t here right now, so guess what? I get to do the honors. I promised Peggy I’d keep an eye on all you kids.”
Vulnerable: (McIntyre Security Bodyguard Series - Book 1) Page 4