A Man You Can Trust

by Jo McNally

  Cassie watched in horror as Nick West covered the side of his face and doubled over, yelling in pain and letting out a string of curse words.

  “Oh, my God. I didn’t know it was you!” She stepped forward to help, but her lungs started to burn and she couldn’t get a good breath. She started coughing, her chest burning. Still hunched over, Nick grabbed her arm, spinning her around and shoving her away with a hand to her back.

  “What are you...?”

  “Get away from me!” Nick’s growl was rough and loud. “Get away!”

  He was angry. He pushed her. She immediately fell back on a practiced reaction.

  “I’m sorry...”

  That wasn’t what she was thinking. She was thinking Nick was an idiot to frighten her like that. But before she could take back her apology, coughing overtook her. Tears ran down her face.

  “Damn it!” Nick’s hand wrapped around her wrist and he dragged her to the grass along the dark edge of the lot. Then he propelled her even farther away from the cars, sending her stumbling. He was bent over, looking up at her with one eye tightly closed, like the Hunchback of Notre Dame. Rage burned in that one open eye. His voice was tightly controlled. Almost calm.

  “Stay back. You inhaled some of your own pepper spray. Hell, Cassie...” He dropped to his knees, raising his hands to his face but not touching them to his skin. “Water...”

  She dived back into her bag and pulled out a water bottle. She started to hand it to him, then realized he couldn’t see her. “Turn your face up toward me, Nick. I’ll pour the water.”

  He tilted his head. “Just the left side...” She poured the water slowly over the side of his face, and he took a deep, ragged breath. She did the same, noticing her lungs didn’t feel like they were in spasms any more.

  “What were you thinking, sneaking up on me like that? I thought you were kayaking.” He didn’t answer, just sat on the grass, his head between his knees, both eyes tightly closed. A low, steady groan was the only sound he made. She sat next to him. “I was only defending myself...”

  Sun Tzu said it perfectly. Invincibility lies in defense.

  His whole body went rigid and he raised his head, glaring at her with his right eye. The left side of his face and neck were bright red in the glow of the parking lot light, his left eye tightly closed.

  “Defending yourself? I could write an entire training manual on what not to do from your performance just now.” He closed his good eye and grimaced. “Damn, that hurts.”

  Cassie was caught between sympathy and anger. Anger seemed easier. “A training manual, huh? Since you’re doubled over in pain right now, I’d say I did a pretty good job of rendering you harmless.”

  Before she could blink, Nick’s hand snaked out and grabbed her wrist, yanking her almost onto his lap. His face was so close to hers that she could smell the pepper spray on his skin. She was too stunned to scream, but her heart felt like it was going to leap straight out of her chest.

  “Do I look harmless to you right now, Cassie? If I’d been an attacker, you’d be dead, or worse. I could have forced you into your car and...” He growled to himself and released her with another curse, driving his fist into the ground at his side. “You did everything wrong. You let me get too close. You used the keys first when you should have used the spray. The keys-in-the-fingers trick only works when you’re in close hand-to-hand combat, which should be your last resort. You took so long getting the pepper spray that I would have had your purse away from you before you could reach it.”

  Nick picked up the water bottle and poured what was left down the side of his face and neck. “You gave me time to turn away, so you didn’t completely incapacitate me. And then, instead of running when you had the chance, you stepped forward, right into your own cloud of pepper spray, and nearly incapacitated yourself.” He turned to focus his good eye on her. “So, yes. A whole training manual. On what not to do.”

  Cassie stared at the dark ground, focused on bringing her pulse under control. Nick had been careful not to hurt her when he’d grabbed her, but he’d still frightened her. On purpose. She’d hate him for it if it weren’t for the truth of what he’d said. If he had been some random attacker—if he’d been Don—she would have been a victim. Again.

  “Why are you armed with pepper spray? Did something happen to you?”

  She didn’t look up.

  “Yes. Something happened.”

  “Here?”

  She shook her head, her body trembling so badly she didn’t trust her voice. The only sound was his wheezing breath. He finally cleared his throat.

  “Okay. Something happened. Somewhere.” His voice was gravelly from the pepper spray, but it was calmer than it had been a few minutes ago. “And you wanted to protect yourself. That’s smart. But you need to do it right. I’ll teach you.”

  Her head snapped up. He was doing his best to look at her, even though his left eye was still closed.

  “What are you talking about?”

  “I’ll teach you self-defense, Cassie. The kind that actually works.”

  “Are you talking karate or something? I thought the pepper spray...”

  “It’s a tool, but you need more than that. If some guy’s amped up on drugs, he’ll just be temporarily blind and really ticked off.” He picked up the pepper spray canister from the grass at her side. “This stuff will spray up to ten feet away. You never should have let me get so close before using it.”

  “I didn’t know that.”

  “Exactly.” He grimaced and swore again. “I need to get home and dunk my face in a bowl full of ice water.” He stood and reached a hand down to help her up. She hesitated, then took it.

  “Are you okay to drive, Nick? Do you want me to...”

  “I’m fine. I’m only a couple miles from here, and I have one functioning eye. How about you?”

  She was rattled to the core and definitely wouldn’t get any sleep tonight, but one of her favorite things about Nora’s place was that there were few places for anyone to hide in the wide-open loft. She always parked her car right next to the metal stairs that led to the back entrance. “I’m good. Don’t worry about me.”

  Nick walked slowly to his Jeep, still cradling the side of his face with one hand. She felt bad that he was suffering, but she also felt a tiny spark of pride. Maybe she hadn’t fought back successfully, but she’d fought. That was something, right?

  * * *

  Nick went into the office for a few hours on Saturday morning, but there was no sign of Cassie. He should have been relieved, considering she about killed him with that damn pepper spray the night before. Instead, he felt a nudge of disappointment, and more than a nudge of concern.

  Something happened.

  One of the reasons he wasn’t a cop anymore was that he’d run out of patience with victims. He looked at Jada’s wedding photo on his shelf. No, that wasn’t completely true. He’d run out of patience with victims who didn’t help themselves. Who willingly allowed themselves to be victims. That’s why his partner was dead. If Beth Washington hadn’t gone back to her husband, Jada would still be alive.

  But Cassie had armed herself with pepper spray and she hadn’t hesitated to use it. She’d used it badly, but she’d used it. It was a good thing she was so bad with the stuff—at least she’d blinded him in only one eye.

  He slid his notes from his time with Brad into a manila folder and put it on the corner of his desk to review on Monday. Blake Randall would be back in the office, and Nick’s orientation period would come to an end. He looked forward to getting down to business. But first, he needed to finish unpacking and get himself settled in the small house he’d rented on Gallant Lake. He was getting sick of living out of cardboard boxes.

  It was weird not seeing Cassie sitting at her desk when he left the office. He wondered if she’d take him up on his offer to teach her sel
f-defense. She didn’t need to become a Krav Maga expert to protect herself. But she was so damn jumpy and twitchy about everything. She’d have to lose that spookiness to be effective at self-defense, which was all about outthinking the enemy. Nick frowned. He didn’t like the thought of the quiet brunette having enemies. Especially the kind who drove her to have such a quick trigger finger on a canister of pepper spray.

  The heavy blue stapler sat on the corner of her desk, just begging to be hidden somewhere. Maybe he should leave her alone, especially with the boss coming back next week. But what was the fun in that? He set the stapler on the windowsill, tucking it behind the curtains that were pulled back to show the view of Gallant Lake and the surrounding mountains. Maybe he’d get out in the kayak tomorrow if the nice weather held.

  But he woke the next morning to the sound of rain pounding on the metal roof. Kayaking was out of the question. He slid out of bed and opened the blinds on the window facing the water. Looked like a good day to do some shopping for the basics he needed to fill his pantry and refrigerator. He liked to cook healthy meals, but this transition week had seen him settling for far too many pizzas and frozen dinners. Time to get back on track. But first, there was an interesting-looking little coffee shop in Gallant Lake that he’d been meaning to try, and this was a hot-coffee sort of morning.

  Apparently lots of people felt the same way, because the Gallant Brew was busy. As he stood in line, he studied the local artwork that lined the brick walls. A large bulletin board was filled with fliers about local events—a quilt show at the library, a spring concert at the elementary school, a senior travel group meeting at one of the churches. Slices of a small-town life he had no idea how to navigate.

  His rising sense of panic settled when he saw the notice from the Rebel Rockers climbing club. The group was advertising a spring multipitch climb at the Gunks. The famous Shawangunk Ridge was known to be one of the best rock-climbing sites in the country, and a group climb like this would be a great way for him to learn his way around the cliffs. He’d get to know some local climbers, too. He tore off one of the paper strips with a phone number on it. Maybe this wouldn’t be such a bad place after all.

  There was a collective burst of female laughter from the back of the shop, and one of the voices sounded oddly familiar. There were two women bustling behind the counter, trying to serve the large group ahead of Nick. One was older and tall, with a long braid of pewter-colored hair. The other was petite, with dark hair and a bright smile. She said something over her shoulder toward the hallway that disappeared into the back of the shop. That’s where Cassie Smith stood, juggling a large cardboard box in her arms.

  The shorter brunette was filling a metal pitcher with frothy steamed milk, her voice rising over the hiss of the high-tech espresso maker. “Just set those mugs in the kitchen, Cass. I had no idea how low we’d gotten. You’re a lifesaver!”

  “No problem. I’ll go get the second box for you.” Cassie, dressed in snug jeans and a short pink sweater that teased a bit of skin at her waist, turned away. Hot damn, her auburn hair was swinging free this morning, falling past her shoulders thick and straight. The box struck the corner hard as she turned. Her grip slipped, and she threw a knee up to keep the box from hitting the floor as she tried to regain control.

  Nick was there in three long strides, grabbing the box away from her. To his surprise, both women at the counter rounded on him like he’d gone after Cassie with a machete.

  “What the hell do you think you’re doing?” The older one slammed the cash register shut, ignoring the protest of her customer and heading his way with fury in her eyes. The petite one was less confrontational.

  “Sir, you can’t be back here...”

  “Nick?” When Cassie spoke his name, both women stopped.

  “You know this guy?” The taller woman looked him up and down, clearly unimpressed with what she saw. “I’ve never seen him in here before.”

  “He works at the resort, Aunt Cathy. He’s okay.” She reached for the box. “I’ll take that.”

  Nick shook his head. “It’s heavy. Tell me where you want it.”

  She opened her mouth as if to argue, then reconsidered, pointing to the kitchen. “Anywhere in there. Thanks.” He set the box down on the stainless steel counter in the tiny kitchen, then turned to face her.

  “That’s too heavy for you to be carrying.”

  “Apparently not, since I managed to carry it down a long flight of stairs just fine. I didn’t steer very well, that’s all.” She turned away and headed down the hallway, then looked over her shoulder at him in confusion when he followed. “What are you doing?”

  “You said there was a second box. I’ll get it.”

  She turned slowly, her right brow rising.

  “No. You won’t.”

  Nick shook his head in frustration. “We can stand here and argue about it as long as you’d like, but I am going to carry the other box down. If you’d bumped that one into the wall on the stairs, you could have fallen and broken your neck. Do you care anything at all about your own safety?”

  “Seriously? I pepper-sprayed you in the face Friday night. I think that shows how much I care about my safety.”

  “Yeah? You still haven’t agreed to my offer to help you learn how to protect yourself. And you’re fighting me about carrying a box of coffee mugs when you know damn well I’m right.” His voice rose slightly on those last words, and she stepped back. Her voice, on the other hand, dropped so low he barely heard her.

  “I’m sorry...” Her brows furrowed as soon as the words came out, as if she hadn’t expected them.

  “You don’t have to be sorry, Cassie. Just be smart. And accept help when it’s offered. Come on...” His hand touched her arm and she flinched. What the hell? Was she afraid of him? He dropped the “cop voice” Jada always used to give him hell for and raised his hands in innocence. “Hey, I’m trying to be a nice guy here. Leave the door open. Tell your aunt to call the cops if we’re not back down here in five minutes. Do whatever you need to do, but I think you know in your heart you’re safe with me. And Cassie?” He waited until she made eye contact with him, eyes full of uncertainty. “Bring some comfortable clothes to the office tomorrow. We’re going to hit the workout room and you’re going to learn some self-defense moves.”

  Chapter Five

  I think you know in your heart you’re safe with me...

  It was Thursday, and Cassie couldn’t stop rolling Nick’s words around in her head. There wasn’t a man in the world she considered safe. Maybe Blake Randall, but as her employer, he held an awful lot of power over her. She trusted him, but he wasn’t exactly “safe.” There was a difference.

  She hadn’t felt afraid when Nick stepped inside her apartment Sunday morning to take the second box of mugs from where Nora had them stored in the laundry room. She’d felt...uneasy. On edge. His presence, with his loud, confident, king-of-the-world attitude, seemed to suck all the air out of the place. He was true to his word, taking less than five minutes. He’d taken the mugs downstairs, accepted a free to-go cup from Nora as thanks, then left with barely a nod in her direction.

  She pulled the office curtain aside and picked up the hidden stapler. It was the second time this week Nick had used that hiding spot. He was slipping, probably distracted now that Blake was back from vacation and grilling him about his plans for this resort as well as setting up a travel schedule to visit the other Randall Resorts International properties during the next quarter.

  But Nick hadn’t forgotten his promise to teach her self-defense, no matter how many times she tried to tell him it wasn’t necessary. On Monday, he’d pointed to his face and said “pepper spray” to remind her of her so-called failure. Today would be their second session, and he’d warned her things were going to get more challenging. On Monday, he’d basically lectured her about judging proximity—when to use pepper spray
(six to ten feet), when to use car keys in the fingers (within a foot) and when to go for the crotch kick (only if there’s body-to-body contact). He explained the thumbs-to-the-eyeballs trick for if the struggle was up close. She’d objected, doubting she could press on someone’s eyeballs, and he said the move was for life-or-death situations. She’d been in that type of situation more than once with Don. Yeah, she’d have gladly put his eyes out if she could have.

  She heard the elevator ping down the hall, followed immediately by the sound of male voices echoing loudly in the hallway. Nick was telling a story about some would-be thief they caught nude in a chimney in LA. She braced herself just as the door to the office suite flew open. Blake was in the lead, laughing and giving her a quick nod before heading to his office. Right on his heels were Brad from IT and Tim from security, and bringing up the rear and laughing the loudest was Nick. The onslaught of noisy men set off all of Cassie’s alarms, but she’d taken a deep breath before their arrival and managed to flash them a smile. Brad and Tim waved and greeted her before following Blake, but Nick stopped at her desk, a furrow of concern appearing between his brows.

  “Everything okay?”

  “You mean other than being invaded by what sounded like the entire second fleet? Yeah, I’m fine.” She thought she’d managed to hold on to her bright smile, but he clearly didn’t buy it.

  “Sorry about that. I wasn’t thinking.”

  She wasn’t sure what to do with his apology. It wasn’t something she had a lot of experience with when it came to men. Before she could come up with a response, Blake stuck his head out of his office door.

  “You coming, Nick?” He frowned when he saw Nick leaning over Cassie’s desk. “What’s going on?”

  “I was just apologizing to Cassie for the racket we made. I’ve gotta grab my file on the lighting I was looking at for the parking lots, and I’ll be right in.” Nick headed into his office, but Blake stayed put.

  “Did our noise really bother you?” he asked.