The Grayce Walters Romantic Suspense Series

by Jacki Delecki

  Interesting that he didn’t mention that it helped him. Yeah, macho thing. After her time with the guys on the street, she understood male posturing.

  “I spoke with Dr. Walters about helping with the search for Angie and Maddy.”

  “You did?”

  “I wanted to get her clearance in helping you with the chat rooms. I didn’t want to overstep my place.” He closed the space between them.

  There he was doing it again. Didn’t seem like he minded overstepping with her. And for some damn reason, she actually liked him getting close, which made no sense since she usually hated anyone invading her space. She never liked being cornered.

  “I told her that it all depended on you and whether you wanted my help, since you obviously know what you’re doing.”

  Her heart whacked against her T-shirt. Right when she wanted to protest his involvement and hold on to her control, he acted sweet and considerate by respecting her choice. How could she say no? Finding the women was the focus. And she could use his help to look through the forums. It’d be lame to turn down his help.

  She turned and sat behind her desk. “Sure, whatever.”

  Talley lay on the floor as Nick followed her. He propped his hip on her desk, making himself comfortable. “I’ve got my laptop in my car. I thought Talley and I could go over to the coffee shop—Insteads?”

  “You mean Milsteads?”

  “Yeah, the one across the street. I could start to cruise the chat rooms unless you got something from the Google search.”

  “I found the website designer. I went through all his T-shirt designs, and he’s really into cataclysmic shit. But his website is called Earthbro.”

  Nick shook his head. “What a douchebag name.”

  Hollie grinned. “Exactly my thought.”

  He gave her the irresistible, full-wattage smile—emphasizing his perfect white teeth and the crinkles around his eyes.

  Hollie’s heart pounded. Her throat constricted. Did he have any idea how much she…liked him?

  “Why don’t Talley and I head over to Milsteads and see what we can find.”

  “Sure.”

  “Can you meet up after work and we could compare sites?”

  Her heart pulsated in her throat, and her stomach fluttered. She rearranged the pencils on her desk, and then started on the paper clips when she caught herself.

  She could feel his penetrating scrutiny. He definitely knew he had threatened her in the most basic male-female way.

  “Sure, my place isn’t air conditioned. I’d love to be in a cool place.”

  With his hot gaze locked on her, he clearly wasn’t buying her lame excuse for working with him. “Great. We’ll head over and get to work.” He pulled on Talley’s lead. “Come on, girl.” He stopped at the door. “You’ll show, right? You’re not agreeing just to get rid of me.”

  She paused and tapped her finger on her chin, taking time to consider her answer. “Payback is hell, isn’t it?”

  He studied her intensely as if he were touching her. He closed the door, but she could hear his deep chuckle as he strode down the hall.

  Chapter Nine

  Nick parked himself and Talley at the corner table in the coffee shop, opting for private and cozy—perfect for socializing with the cantankerous Ms. Hollie. He checked his watch again—after five. He wondered if the argumentative assistant planned to ditch him. A woman had never stood him up before.

  He didn’t like the idea that Hollie had perceived his charm with the ladies and was messing with him. His body drummed with anticipation tweaked by her sassy retort that payback was hell. He wanted payback—in the very basic male manner.

  He glanced up at the front door for the hundredth time. Reading horny, stoned dudes’ chatter had been entertaining for the first half hour, but he was ready to spar with a real woman. Her lateness was torment.

  He thought of all the carnal ways he’d like to pay her back, make her lose the anxious look she worked hard to hide. He wanted to have her relaxed, enjoying herself. Not a great idea in a public place to get a boner. Must be all the damned sex-starved-guy talk on the forums.

  Hell, who was he kidding? Hollie had him ready just with her smile. He definitely lusted after her, but she drew him in; something hopeful, deeply buried in him, responded to her. He couldn’t believe how her face had shone with kindness and compassion when he’d come out of Dr. Walters’ office. He loved the soft, tender woman beneath her hard edge.

  Her badass act was a shield. He understood being defensive. He had been shielding himself from the moment he’d returned home to the arms of his concerned family. The wretched way his mom and his sisters couldn’t hide their worries. He had even caught his dad checking him out, struggling with the idea that his son might have changed irreparably, become a stranger. Nick had manned up and given them what they wanted to hear. He was doing fine. He and Talley were both healing. His reassurances calmed them enough that they’d backed off, as he had intended.

  He looked up when the door opened. Hollie had arrived. Her face was flushed from the heat. One wisp of hair was plastered across her forehead. She toted a black shoulder bag decorated with a picture of a kitten. When she spotted him, her lips curved into a tentative smile.

  He and Talley both stood up and watched as she made her way across the crowded room. One big guy with a bushy beard and fat stomach eyeballed her. Looking around the room, he realized all the dudes, who hadn’t looked up the entire time he had been here, were following Hollie’s movement. She was a sexy woman in her tight blue jeans and tight T-shirt.

  Possessiveness surged through him. He wanted all the nerds to get their heads back down to their screens. She was his, all his. The bearded dude said something to her, probably some dumb-ass pickup line. Hollie shook her head and laughed. He wished he’d chosen the table by the door so the guys couldn’t watch her sashay across the coffee shop.

  Behind the counter, the barista who had earlier had been hassled stopped working and propped his arms on the counter. “Hey, Hol. You’re looking hot today!”

  Hollie smiled in a very friendly and familiar way. She stopped and chatted with the tattooed barista. The guy kept copping looks at Hollie’s chest, probably bullshiting that he was interested in her T-shirt.

  Nick stood up. He was a man on a mission. He commanded Talley to wait and went to Hollie’s rescue from the oversexed dude. He covered the space between him and Hollie in a few strides. As if sensing him approaching, she turned, shifted her weight onto one hip as if she was about to tap her foot, and then she rolled her eyes.

  What the hell? Why was she censuring him?

  The intimidated barista scampered back to his espresso machine. Nick took a slow, easy breath. Suddenly very confused by his aggressive response, his hair-trigger reaction—exactly what the counselor had described. He looked around the room. All eyes were on him. He needed to get his shit together.

  He wasn’t the jealous or the possessive type with women. Part of the reason he’d been chosen to work with Talley was his easygoing manner. He and Talley were known for their chill attitude.

  Embarrassed and unsure, he turned to go back to the table and wait for her.

  Hollie, as if she perceived his scrambled emotions, stepped toward him and touched his arm. “You’re looking a bit wired. Did you drink too much espresso waiting for me?” She had never touched him before, and he felt her soft touch down his entire body.

  Confused by the way her dark eyes searched his face in concern, he could only nod. “Yeah, maybe.”

  “I want you to meet Eric. He’s a crazy gamer.” She widened her eyes and nodded her head toward the gamer, signaling him to make nice with the guy. “I told him about how you and I are both into Warfare.”

  She leaned on the counter. “Hey, Eric. Come meet Nick.”

  Eric, with a diamond stud in each earlobe, wiped his hands on the cloth hanging out of his waistband and walked over. He eyed Nick warily, and then offered a handshake.


  Nick shook his hand. “Heard you’re quite the gamer.”

  Hollie nudged him with her elbow. “Eric has made it to dungeons level.”

  Nick nodded and smiled, but he still felt unsettled. Maybe he wasn’t ready to be out in public. His hot and heavy pursuit of Hollie was a way for him not to deal with his issues. He found himself sinking down, wondering what the hell was he doing here, playing hero for missing Marines when, at some level, he was MIA himself.

  He wasn’t aware that he had missed the entire conversation between Hollie and Eric until Hollie linked her arm into his. “Talley’s waiting for us.” She led him back into the corner.

  Her closeness and gentle touch eased the tight pressure in his chest and his pounding heart.

  He looked down at her glistening face, and his anxiety faded. “I wasn’t sure if you were going to ditch me.”

  “Had you guessing, did I?” she teased with the sassy voice he liked.

  His laugh was a bit rusty. “You know you did.”

  “We got an emergency call, and I waited for Dr. Walters to finish.”

  Talley’s tail started to thump when Hollie got closer. “Talley, aren’t you a hip dog, hangin’ in Fremont.” Her high-pitched voice made his dog’s tail thump louder.

  Hollie dropped his arm, and he felt the sudden loss of her touch. She went down on one knee and hugged Talley. The dog licked her face before flipping to her side to offer her stomach.

  The afternoon sunlight pouring through the window shone on her ebony, twisted hair, reflecting almost-blue highlights. She rubbed Talley as she talked in a quiet, soothing way. He was glad to see his devoted dog getting the kind of attention she needed. He and his dog were starved for human touch and connection.

  His therapist had explained his withdrawal from his family and friends as survivor’s guilt. He and Talley were the only ones who hadn’t died in the explosion they had been responsible for preventing. Somehow, when he was near Hollie, he forgot for a few moments.

  “Guess it’s showing that Talley and I’ve needed a woman’s touch.”

  She twisted to look up at him. Her dark eyes shuttered.

  Shit. He had done it again. He didn’t intend the comment to be sexual. But how would she know the difference between sincere feelings and male primitive?

  He bent over to help her up. “Did you order a drink? Can I get something for you?”

  Ignoring his outstretched hand, she stood and swung her big tote bag onto the floor.

  “Nah, I have a water bottle.” She was distant as she sat down across from him and pulled out her laptop. “Have you found anything?”

  Talley shifted so that her head lay on top of Hollie’s sandals.

  “I’ve been following three forums, looking for any kind of talk about violence since you told me Earthbro was into that kind of stuff. So far, it’s mostly adolescent guys letting off steam.” He avoided saying anything about randy guys making all types of sexual jokes.

  “Yeah, but I’m not sure they’re only teenage boys. There are grown men on the site acting no different than horny teenagers.”

  “You know all guys’ minds are wired that way—no matter what age.”

  “Whatever.” She rolled those dark eyes, and the shiny piercing on her eyebrow bobbed. He didn’t like the idea that she had violated her beautiful skin with a piercing and the large tattoo.

  Her head was bent as she logged in to her computer. He stared at the way her long, thick eyelashes fanned on her cheekbones. “I can’t really come up with an easy way of finding Earthbro. He probably has many character names.”

  “Exactly. It’s why I’ve been looking for someone who was spouting off about blowing stuff up. But that’s, like, most of the players,” he said.

  Hollie laughed, a deep, husky laugh that rushed down his spine and his lower body.

  He shifted in the chair, avoiding eye contact—afraid she’d see how she affected him.

  He cleared his dry throat. “Have you thought about just emailing Earthbro and asking about Maddy’s order?”

  “I did think about it, but why would he give that info out? I was hoping we could discover where he hung out and follow the chatter as a lead to Maddy. Angie’s mom said that Maddy had family problems and had lived on the streets. Also, the boss thought she might have a past with drugs. Street people use chat rooms to do drug deals and all kinds of crazy shit.”

  He wanted to ask her how she knew about the street, but he could imagine Hollie’s defenses growing into an unscalable brick wall if he asked about her past.

  “Your idea is that we try to watch the chatter for possible patterns other than the randy or stoned guys?”

  He enjoyed sitting here with her, working together. She was sincere and had committed herself to finding two total strangers. He had to wonder how much these women’s issues touched her own struggles.

  “I was surprised. Dr. Walters doesn’t seem like the kind of person who’d want you to call her boss.”

  Hollie’s dark eyes lightened. “She prefers Grayce, but it doesn’t feel right. I’m her assistant, and her clients respect her.” Her voice had gotten warm. Whatever was in her past, Hollie was attached and very loyal to Dr. Walters. He admired loyalty.

  He wanted to tell her that she was an amazing woman, but instead, he took a sip of his decaf. Hollie wasn’t the kind of woman to smother with compliments.

  Hollie’s cell rang. She fumbled in her kitty tote bag searching for the ringing phone.

  “Hey, boss, what’s up?” Hollie stood up and walked outside. She held up her hand to signal she needed a minute.

  Talley went into alert mode. She tracked Hollie’s movement out the door. With her eyes focused on the door, the big dog stood at attention.

  Nick rubbed the bulky head. “It’s okay, girl. She’s coming back.”

  He would’ve laughed at Talley’s anxious posture if he hadn’t seen the parallels between them.

  He and Talley both fixated on the door, waiting for Hollie. He had no idea if evening calls were part of her routine.

  Within a few minutes, Hollie came back into the shop. He immediately noticed the change in her posture. Her neck and shoulders were pulled back and tight, and she chewed on her bottom lip. Something had happened, and she was worrying.

  He stood and pulled her chair out. Distracted, she sat and absentmindedly caressed Talley’s head.

  “This is insane. Angie just showed up at the office.”

  “Angie? Like, the missing Marine Angie?”

  She sat back in her chair and massaged her neck, realizing how much she had tightened. “She doesn’t know where she’s been the last weeks. She had some sort of head injury that her MD thinks triggered a flashback.”

  Icy fear hit Nick straight in the back of the neck and down his spine. He avoided the tragic stories of other soldiers with PTSD. He hoped he hadn’t given any sign of the dread gripping him.

  Hollie searched his face and then leaned toward him. “Hey, I’m sorry. Didn’t mean to be harsh.”

  “Don’t worry about it.”

  Hollie rolled her eyes. She wasn’t buying his abrupt manner.

  He didn’t want to show any reaction to his deep-seated fears or the disappointment that their work together might already be finished. “Did Dr. Walters say anything about Maddy?”

  “That’s the whack part. Angie asked the boss to help find Maddy.”

  She leaned back in her chair and crossed her legs. He tried to look away from her long legs as he imagined peeling her out of the jeans. “Why would a Marine ask Dr. Walters? What about contacting the police?”

  “Angie wants to protect Maddy’s privacy—not wanting her drug use to become a legal problem. And of course, the boss, the bleeding heart that she is, has agreed to help.”

  He could hear the affection and respect in Hollie’s voice.

  “What are they going to do?”

  “The boss doesn’t know yet. Angie’s going to call her tomorrow.”

  �
��Talley and I could help.”

  Talley’s ears perked up at the mention of her name.

  Hollie shifted in her chair. “I’ll tell her that you offered. The boss asked if we could keep looking for Maddy in the chat rooms.”

  “No problem.” He couldn’t believe in less than two weeks since meeting Hollie, he and Talley were sitting in a crowded coffee shop and not waiting for disaster to strike. Earlier, he had been close to having a meltdown, but Hollie’s calm touch had brought him back. Who’d have known that a pierced, tattooed woman with attitude would bring him and Talley back to the world of the living?

  Chapter Ten

  Hollie dropped onto her desk and covered her head with her arms, struggling to suppress the scary thoughts of the boss’ car accident. Anxiety clawed through her; she couldn’t shake the fear. Last night, the boss’ brakes had failed, and she had rammed into a tree.

  Hollie kept the panic at bay. She had to put on a professional front with all their clients. The boss was depending on her. She was determined not to fail. In her most authoritative voice, she reassured each client that the boss was recovering, while she was the one who most needed the reassurance. The boss was her family—her only family.

  The boss’ outrageous best friend had been serious and brief when he’d woken her this morning to give her the upsetting news. Without his usual flamboyance, James had given a solemn description of the boss’ concussion, leaving her worried that he was trying to spare her the scary details. Cold terror slithered up her spine and into her neck. What wasn’t James telling her?

  She was scanning the calendar, checking each day’s appointments, when the office door opened. Nick and Talley had arrived. In her distress, she had completely overlooked their plan to work together.

  Nick came straight to her. “What’s wrong?”

  She shook her head, trying to avoid looking into his concerned face. She was determined to keep it together, not to get all emotional.

  He gently grasped her by the elbow and pulled her up into his arms. And this time, she let him. He wrapped her in his heat.