THE GIRL NEXT DOOR

by Cynthia Eden

  Hugh had been scared. No, he was still scared.

  “I’m delivering the same message to you. You’re one hell of a reporter. You’re got more grit and determination than anyone else who’s walked through the doors of the Inquisitor.” His shoulders thrust back. “But I don’t want to see you disappear, and the EOD can do that. They can make you vanish.”

  Her fingernails bit into her palms as her hands curled tightly. “The last thing Van McAdams did was leave that bloody message. You’re telling me that the EOD had him killed? Killed his girlfriend? Killed Lockwood and Kylie Archer?”

  “I’m saying that if you want to stay alive, then you need to forget about the EOD.”

  Like that was going to happen.

  “I don’t want you putting any more of a target on yourself. Your life isn’t worth a headline.”

  Hugh was a good man. Sure, he blustered, he bulldozed, but he cared about the people who worked for him. He—

  “If I have to, I’ll bench you,” he threatened. “I’ll pull you off the crime beat and get you to help Penelope with the gala coming up at the White House.”

  “You wouldn’t.”

  “To keep you alive, I would.”

  Hugh had an evil streak. She’d worked for him ever since she’d come to the city. First, she’d been a barely paid intern, but she’d climbed up the ladder. She’d proved herself.

  And she was not going to get benched into doing entertainment pieces. “I’ll take out the EOD reference,” Gabrielle promised.

  Relief slackened his features.

  “But I am not giving this killer a name—”

  Hugh waved that away. “You don’t have to. I already did.” He heaved down into his chair and started tapping away at his computer. “Didn’t you hear me? City Stalker. No, wait, maybe D.C. Stalker—that gets it more specific, don’t you think?” He snapped his fingers together. “I’ve got it now! The D.C. Striker!”

  Her temples were pounding.

  She turned away from him. There were other leads to follow. Actually, Hugh had just given her the best lead possible. She might not be able to print the story about the EOD—not yet, anyway—but now she knew where to start digging.

  She just needed to get the right shovel and to dig in the right place.

  There were plenty of skeletons buried in D.C. Skeletons and secrets. Time to unearth them.

  * * *

  “WE HAVE A PROBLEM,” Cooper said, voice low, as he held his phone in a too-tight grip. “Hugh Peters knows about the EOD. He’s in a closed-door meeting with Gabrielle right now, and he’s telling her about us.”

  The line was quiet. Dead silent. “I’ll take care of Peters,” Mercer finally said. There was a lethal menace in the director’s voice.

  “What about Gabrielle?”

  “Find out how much he’s told her. Then we’ll see if containment is necessary.”

  Containment? No. “She’s just trying to help,” Cooper heard himself saying. “She wants justice for the victims. She’s not trying to take down the organization.”

  “Marshall...” Now curiosity had entered Mercer’s voice. Emotion of any kind in Mercer’s tone was unusual. “Just how close are you getting to the reporter?”

  Not close enough.

  Cooper glanced up then because he heard the sound of approaching footsteps. The curvy blonde, Penelope, was strolling toward him with a wide smile. He bit back a curse. Like he needed this now. “I’ll update you ASAP.” Then he ended the call. Mercer would make sure that Hugh didn’t spread any more stories, and as for Gabrielle—

  Over Penelope’s shoulder, Cooper saw Hugh’s office door open. Gabrielle stood on the threshold.

  “Hello, again,” Penelope said. Penelope Finn. He’d glanced down at the nameplate on her desk when he’d been trailing Gabrielle into Hugh’s office.

  Penelope lifted her hand toward him. “I didn’t catch your name before.”

  Because he hadn’t thrown it at her. He’d been too concentrated on Gabrielle. And I still am. “Cooper.” Quickly, he shook her hand. Then he tried to step around her so that he could catch Gabrielle’s attention.

  Penelope sidestepped, keeping her body in front of his. “I was about to cut out for an early lunch. Want to join me?”

  Just then, Gabrielle glanced his way. Gabrielle frowned when she saw just how close he was standing to Penelope. He was pretty sure that Gabrielle shook her head in disgust, right before she turned away and headed for the door that led to the stairwell.

  “Wait!” Cooper called out.

  “Oh, I’ll definitely wait for you,” Penelope promised him.

  She couldn’t be serious.

  “I’m with Gabrielle,” he said flatly, because that was all he needed say. “Enjoy your lunch.”

  Her jaw dropped, but then she gave a little laugh. “Good, very good response.”

  He didn’t have the time to try to figure out that woman. He just skirted right around her. He rushed across the room and caught the stairwell door just as it was swinging closed.

  He heard the clatter of Gabrielle’s footsteps. Rachel had brought her a pair of high heels that morning, and it sounded like Gabrielle was trying to race away in them. He jumped down the stairs and caught her, locking his fingers around her wrist. “Partner—” he stressed the word “—just where are you going?”

  “Digging,” she mumbled. “Going to find my shovel and dig.”

  What? He pulled her closer, positioning them into the shadows under the stairs. As far as privacy went, this place was their best bet. “I want to know what your boss told you.”

  She bit her lower lip.

  I want to bite it.

  He shoved the thought back into the darkness of his mind. Later, he could try to get that delectable mouth beneath his again. At that moment, he had to find out if the EOD agents had been compromised.

  Gabrielle shook her head. “I don’t want to risk you. This thing...it’s bigger than I thought. If possible, even more dangerous.” She tugged her arm free from him. “The partnership was a bad idea.”

  Oh, no. This could not happen. He held his body perfectly still. “I thought the partnership had saved your hide a few times. Your boss was the one just saying you needed a bodyguard.”

  “But who protects the bodyguard?” Gabrielle asked, voice sad and a little lost. “I didn’t think about the risk to you. I was only concerned with myself. I can’t do that anymore. I can’t put you in jeopardy.”

  She was protecting him? He hadn’t needed protection, not since he’d been a kid.

  A scared teenager, clinging tightly to his mother’s hand and begging her not to leave him. The memory flashed through his mind. There had been tears in his mother’s eyes. She’d promised him, promised, that no matter what, she’d always be with him.

  His mother had lied. Before night had fallen, she’d been gone.

  He’d been alone. No father. No grandparents.

  Alone.

  “I’m sorry, Cooper,” Gabrielle told him. “But this is where we end. I’ll pay you for the time you helped me.”

  Back to payment? A growl rose in his throat.

  “You can’t work with me any longer. There are things that you’re better off not knowing about at this point.” She headed down the stairs.

  He stared after her a moment. She was seriously trying to protect him, him, from the EOD.

  Right now, he hated his job.

  The secrets between them weighed heavily on his shoulders, but he knew he couldn’t let things end like this.

  Despite what she’d said, they weren’t even close to an end.

  He stalked after her. Just as she was about to reach for the door that would take her to the ground floor, his hand lifted, and he shoved his palm against that do
or, making sure she couldn’t open it.

  Her scent—so sweet and light, not like the cloying scent of Penelope’s perfume—teased his nose.

  He bent his head closer to hers, following that tempting scent. “I’m not the kind of man who gets frightened by a little danger.”

  “It’s not little.” She turned her head, met his gaze. “And I can’t let you take this risk for me.”

  She was being honest. Brave. Caring. She was ripping his guts apart. He stared into her eyes, and he wanted her.

  Yet the truth was that she was so far out of his league it wasn’t even funny.

  She deserved someone who was just as honest as she was, someone who wasn’t working a second agenda.

  Someone who might not have to contain her.

  But he’d be damned if he’d step aside and let anyone else get close to her.

  Cooper brushed his lips over hers. He fought to keep the kiss light, but it was a losing battle. He needed her, desperately, and he wasn’t sure that he’d be able to hold back with her much longer.

  Her taste drove him wild. Made him need and want—only her.

  “Cooper...” She breathed his name.

  He took that breath, drinking it from her lips. He turned her in his arms, held her close.

  He wanted to give her something real. Not a lie. The desire wasn’t a deception. It was as real as he could get.

  She kissed him back, her response tentative at first, then stronger. Her fingers sank into his hair. Her body arched against his.

  I won’t give her up.

  He just had to find a way to stay at her side, because there was no other place that he’d rather be.

  When I’m with Gabrielle, I don’t feel alone.

  He felt alone when he was with other people. Alone at the EOD. Alone on his missions, even when other teammates were with him.

  He’d worked with another agent a while back, a man who seemed to have ice flowing through his veins. Drew Lancaster had been an untouchable agent. The guy had cared only about his job. No family. Few friends.

  I’m just like him.

  But something had changed for Drew. No, someone had changed Drew. The little doc who took care of the agents at the EOD. She’d gotten under Drew’s skin and thawed his ice.

  Cooper was afraid that Gabrielle was doing the same thing to him. Getting past the defenses he’d erected.

  The way she made him feel could be dangerous.

  He hadn’t let himself care about anyone in a very, very long time. Already the force of his desire for her was so strong—

  She pulled her mouth from his. He didn’t let her go. His body brushed against hers.

  “I won’t tell you,” Gabrielle said, lifting her chin, “what Hugh revealed to me in that office. So trying to seduce the information out of me just won’t work.”

  For an instant, he saw red. His pushed her back, caging her against the wall with his body. “We need to get a few things straight,” he gritted out.

  Her eyes widened.

  “I’m not going to be seducing you for information.” Was that what the other agents at the EOD thought he was doing? “I’m kissing you and touching you...because I want you. I want you so much that I want to strip you right here and take you in this damn stairwell.”

  Gabrielle swallowed.

  His hips were pressed against her, so she had to feel the proof of his words.

  “I’m not seducing you for information—” his voice was low and hard and anger bit through each word “—I just want you.”

  Her gaze searched his.

  “And you want me,” he added. “This isn’t about information. It’s not about anything but us.”

  After a brief hesitation, Gabrielle nodded.

  That little nod wasn’t good enough.

  “You aren’t going to ditch me. You’re not going to make me run by saying there’s danger around. Sweetheart, I’ve been handling danger all my life.” He’d lived on the rush for years. It’s what made me feel alive. “I can take any threat. I’m not going to run and leave you alone.”

  Leaving her alone was the last thing on his mind.

  “I’m not running, and I will have you.” He thought it was better to be clear about his intentions. “And when you’re under me in bed, it’s not going to be about seducing you for intel. It’s going to be about seducing you for the sheer, hot pleasure that we can bring to each other.”

  Because on that point, at least, there would be no deception.

  He started to step back.

  Her hands flew up and curled around his shoulders. “My turn,” she said, surprising him.

  Cooper’s brows climbed.

  “I’m not seducing you so that you’ll protect me from that killer out there.”

  She wasn’t—

  “When I’m with you, it’s going to be because that’s where I want to be. Because I want you.” Her voice dropped, got even huskier, seemed to stroke right over his skin as she added, “And I do want you, Cooper. I want you more than I’ve ever wanted another man.”

  She was going to bring him to his knees.

  “But I am not,” Gabrielle continued in the next instant, “going to tell you anything about the EOD. So I figure we have two choices. We can continue working as partners, but you don’t get to ask me about the EOD again. You just don’t. Hugh’s afraid of the group, and if Hugh is afraid, then I am, too. I won’t do anything to put you in their sights.”

  His teeth were clenched so tightly together that his jaw ached.

  “Or we can go with option two,” she said, her voice like sin. “We can forget being partners, just be lovers—and there will be no more questions asked from either of us.”

  His heart slammed into his chest. The blood in his veins heated and seemed to pump even faster, harder.

  “There’s another option,” Cooper forced himself to say. “Option three. We stay partners and we become lovers.” He paused, long enough to let those words sink in. “That’s the option I want.”

  She wet her lips. “Me, too...”

  Then that was the option they would take. And, maybe...maybe Gabrielle never had to learn the truth about him. If he could keep her away from the EOD, then Gabrielle could keep believing he was just a P.I. who lived in her brownstone.

  They could keep being partners...and lovers.

  He backed away from her. For now. She skirted toward the door and stepped into the lobby. But then she paused. Her hand reached for his. Her fingers curled around his.

  The touch was so innocent and light. An ache grew in his chest. “Gabrielle,” he began, but then Cooper saw the man rushing toward him. The man with a badge clipped on his belt and a burning glare on his face.

  Detective Carmichael had just joined the party.

  “Lane?” Gabrielle didn’t release Cooper’s hand. “Do you have news? Did you find out about—”

  The detective braked to a hard stop right in front of her. “Why didn’t you call me?” He pulled Gabrielle away from Cooper. “I just heard about the break-in! Damn it, Gabby, you should have let me know right away! I would have rushed over!”

  And Cooper realized that all along, the detective had responded a little too personally to Gabrielle.

  I’ve had one lover.

  Jealousy thickened within Cooper. He had the feeling he was looking at Gabrielle’s ex. He should have seen it before.

  “You’re homicide,” Gabrielle said as she glanced around the lobby. They’d attracted a few stares. “This was a B&E. Cooper said he had friends who could help and they—”

  Carmichael sent a withering glare Cooper’s way. “I’m sure he has plenty of friends. Just like the friend who managed to get him hauled out of my precinct last night.”

  Cooper
gave him a grim smile. Get your hands off her, cop.

  Carmichael maneuvered Gabrielle to the right, getting them in a private corner. Cooper followed right with him.

  “You and I are both connecting the dots, Gabby,” Carmichael said.

  Cooper hated the way the other man said Gabby. Her name was Gabrielle. A beautiful name for a beautiful woman.

  “It’s no simple B&E. You know it. The guy is after you.” He rolled back his shoulders and finally let her go. “I want you to consider moving into a safe house.”

  “No.” Her immediate response. “I have my own guard—my partner.” Her gaze darted to Cooper. “I’m safer with him than I’d be anywhere else.”

  “With anyone else,” Cooper clarified. Because the cop wasn’t going to keep Gabrielle safe. Cooper was.

  You’re an ex for a reason, buddy.

  Cooper was suddenly determined to find out that reason.

  “What do you really know about him?” Carmichael demanded as he rounded to glare at Cooper. “Because I’ve been digging into your past, Marshall.”

  Cooper stared levelly back at the man. Was he supposed to be worried? He knew that his service records were shielded, courtesy of the EOD.

  “You were in a boarding school until you were eighteen. Then...somehow...even though your mother was dead and you had no other relatives, you got a paid ride from an unknown benefactor. Four years at Yale.”

  The detective had been digging. But he still hadn’t discovered anything particularly impressive.

  “Four years, then you vanished. Not a blip on the radar until a year ago when you came back to D.C. and started working as a P.I.”

  He hadn’t vanished. He’d enlisted. And unless Carmichael got a whole lot more authorization, he wouldn’t ever see Cooper’s records. Cooper exhaled slowly. Carmichael was an annoyance, nothing more. “Perhaps you should spend less time looking into my past and a little more time looking for the killer. The city would be safer then.”

  Carmichael lunged toward him.

  Gabrielle put herself between Cooper and the detective. Carmichael kept glaring. In turn, Cooper kept his faint smile in place.