by Alexa Rynn
“I’ll take care of it,” I barked, turning around to face them again. I grabbed my suit jacket off the back of my chair and slipped it over my shoulders. “I’ll take care of it.” I rounded the desk and started to make my way toward the door of my office.
“Where are you going?” Hayden demanded from somewhere behind me.
“I’m going to get the damn glove back.”
My sister leaped around my body and threw herself in front of the door. “And how the hell do you plan on doing that without letting her figure out who you are?” She stuck her bottom lip out the way she always did when she was being stubborn. “It’s too risky. You should let me go, she doesn’t trust men right now. After what she went through last night she will probably scream bloody murder before you get within ten feet of her.”
Trent puffed from the other side of the room, forgetting about the name familiarity for the time being. Hayden shot him a look but he just shrugged. “There’s no girl that Braden can’t impress. A normal guy, sure, maybe he would have some trouble. But Braden?” Trent leaned back and crossed one leg over his knee. “Please, he’ll have that glove back in no time.”
This was true. “The man does have a point.”
Hayden didn’t say anything for a second then just shrugged and backed away from the door with the same defeated expression she always got when I got my own way. “Fine. But be careful and you better make sure your ass is back here by 4 for that conference call!”
I waved her off and headed out the door. “Yeah, yeah. Do I ever let you down?”
But I didn’t stick around to hear her response.
Chapter Six
ADDISON
I refreshed my email browser for about the tenth time in five minutes. What the hell was taking everyone so long to get back to me? Didn’t they know this was the story of the century? I mean, hello, a stranger with a broad chest and big arms breaking into someone’s house in the middle of the night to save her from a serial rapist? It had goldmine written all over it!
They should have been lining up around the block to break it, not ignoring.
I tried once more then slammed my cup of coffee down on the café’ table when once again I was greeted with no results. The couple that sat at the counter next to me turned around and gave me a nasty look.
Well, excuse me. Some of us didn’t have the best night.
“Hey, what did that mug ever do to you?” A deep voice came from behind me and despite the goose bumps that shot up and down my body I swung around ready for a fight.
But then I saw his face.
And then my attitude was lodged in my throat with the rest of my emotions.
He was dark and rugged, so handsome that he looked like he just stepped out of a Versace catalogue. Dark black hair and piercing blue eyes that reminded me of the ocean when it was clean and clear and sparkling so bright that you had to look away.
“I… sorry, what?” I squawked.
He crossed around the table and sat his big body down across from me. “The mug.” He nodded toward the cup I was just abusing and leaned forward in his chair. “Did it offend you in some way? Maybe it owes you money?”
I laughed nervously. “I… I’m sorry. Do I know you?”
He shook his head and leaned back in his chair. “No but you want to.”
Wow.
It wasn’t bad enough I’d had the night from hell, I had to be hit on by a cocky asshole first thing the very next day, too. A sexy as hell cocky asshole, but still. I glanced down at my current appearance and rolled my eyes. He must be pretty bored considering I hardly looked my best. I glanced around the café. Not many options at this time of day. Not that a coffee shop was the ideal spot for picking up woman anyway.
“I actually don’t.” I somehow found my voice even though the butterflies inside of my stomach were flying around at a mile a minute. “I’m in the middle of something very important here.”
The sexy mystery man’s eyes traveled down to my computer and the various papers and folders I had spread out around me. “Yeah, it looks real life or death.”
I snapped one of the files shut in front of me. “As a matter of fact it is. Not that I would expect a spoiled rich boy from the hills to know anything about what little ole’ town folks are doing out here in the outer squares of town.”
He smirked, not offended in the least. “How do you know I’m a spoiled rich boy?” He reached over and took the cup I’d almost just cracked over the table and brought it to his lips, taking a small sip.
I gasped and tried to grab the cup back but he held it out of my reach. “Give me that back!” He ignored me and pushed the cup to the other side of the table. Ugh, how could someone so good looking be so damn annoying? I leaned back in my chair and crossed my arms over my chest, taking in his expensive suit and the rich aura that surrounded him. “And please, a blind person could smell the money coming off of you.”
“Ah, but what about the people who spend all their money on expensive things so they can give off the impression that they have a lot of money? I could be one of them.”
“Trust me, you’re not,” I snapped and reached for my cup of coffee again.
“But how can you know for sure?” He moved the white mug back toward him.
“What is your problem?” I barked. I wasn’t sure when I got so confident but I really wasn’t in the mood to deal with assholes, even handsome ones. I guess I could thank my friend from last night for my newly found confidence.
He sniffed at the liquid in disgust. “This is horrible, revoltingly bad for your health, too. You can’t even taste the coffee, it’s all watered down by the cream and sugar that you put in here.”
I got up from my chair and grabbed the cup away from him. “Thanks, dad, but I’ll think I’ll take my chances. Besides, it’s not sugar, it’s…” I trailed off when I saw the disapproving look on his face.
“Research shows artificial sugars are worse for you than most sugar.”
“Who cares?” I took a big sip of my nuke warm coffee to prove not me. “This isn’t health class, I don’t need you to teach me about the right and wrong foods to eat.”
“Coffee isn’t a food, it’s a beverage.”
I took a deep breath and tried to not lose my temper with him anymore than I already had. “Look, I don’t know if this whole cocky playboy thing works for you normally but I’m not interested.”
“You’re kind of full of yourself, aren’t you?”
“Excuse me?” I stammered.
“Well, you assume right away that I’m hitting on you just because I started a friendly conversation. Maybe I’m just a nice guy,” he pointed out. “Maybe I’m just curious as to why you’re all worked up over here in the corner all alone.”
I forced all the emotions out of my body and willed myself to calm the hell down. Clearly, the one way to get rid of this creep was to play along with whatever sick game he was playing. Or start screaming bloody murder.
“I’m not all worked up.” I forced a laugh. “Why would you think such a thing?”
He glanced up and down my body skeptically. “You aren’t exactly good about hiding your emotions… or your computer. I’m guessing you’re waiting on some kind of e-mail. So, who is it? Ex boyfriend that you’re trying to get back?” He nodded knowingly without waiting for a response from me.
I tried to give him a dirty look but looking directly into his eyes without feeling light headed proved to be difficult for me. “Who the hell are you?” It’s what came out of my mouth instead. I hadn’t meant to give him the satisfaction of knowing that I cared but I couldn’t hold it in any longer, it was the question I’d been asking myself since he first appeared.
“Oh.” His blue eyes sparkled under the bright lights in the café’. “How incredibly rude of me. I’m Braden.” He held his hand out across the table to me. “And you are?”
I glanced at his hand. “Addison.”
He pulled back when he realized I wasn’t going to
make contact but the self-assured look never left his face. “Addison, that’s…”
Beautiful? Wonderful? Sexy?
“Different,” he finished.
Wow.
“Anyway,” he said before I had to chance to call him out on how rude he was. “Who’s the guy that’s gotten you all worked up this afternoon?”
“I wish I could tell you,” I mumbled.
“What?” He practically yelled.
“I don’t know,” I snapped at him.
“How can you not know?”
“It’s none of your business!”
“True but you kind of made it my business by bringing it into a public place.”
“Look, sorry if my outward show of emotions offended you. I’ll try to keep it down or whatever.” I turned my attention back toward my computer and pretended to be caught up in something on the screen. I’m way too aware of how close he still is, though.
“Has anyone ever told you you’re sexy when you’re determined?”
I practically choked. No, no one had ever told me that because no one had ever called me sexy period. I tried to form an answer with my lips but no words would come out. What was it about this guy? I was either completely and totally mute or saying the rudest shit ever to him.
His phone went off, saving me from my awkward response. He looked at the screen and frowned for a split second before a look of pure hunger came over his face. He shoved his phone back in his pocket and then stood up, letting his chair slide against the floor harshly.
For a second I thought he was just going to leave but then he ended up standing behind me. I felt the goose bumps dart up and down my body even before he leaned down and touched his head to the nape of my neck. I knew I should move away, it was crazy. I hardly knew this guy and there he was sniffing my hair in the middle of a coffee shop.
I should be terrified after what happened last night. Freaked out about anyone invading my personal space the way he was but something about it was different, something about it felt exciting. I wasn’t scared of him the way I would have been if it was any other man. Scared? No. Curious? Yes.
His hand traveled down to the table and his breath slowed down. “For the record I came over here to dazzle you into giving me your number.” He used his other hand to trace up and down my arm slowly, sending shock waves through every part of my body. “But since I’m in a rush now I’ll just have to settle for giving you my card and trust that you’ll call me.”
I glanced down at the table to where a white business card had appeared out of nowhere. His hands were still tracing parts of my body slowly; awakening things that I hadn’t known existed.
I knew I should say something, anything, but I didn’t. I couldn’t. I feared that if I spoke I might faint. And then he leaned in further and brushed his perfect lips across my cheek before he turned around and walked away, leaving me frazzled and confused in the middle of the coffee shop.
I hadn’t had a man look at me in years and then in the last 24 hours I got two sexy strangers just dying to save me and give me the kind of attention I had been craving my entire life.
Unbelievable.
Chapter Seven
BRADEN
I shoved the glove inside of my pocket and jumped in my car, flooring it to the other side of town. The asshole from last night had been spotted entering an apartment building on 9th and 12th. I didn’t plan on letting him get away with two crimes in less than 24 hours.
I took a sharp turn and hit a few buttons on my GPS, it was linked to the traffic cams in the area, blacking out the ones I needed to go off the grid so I wouldn’t be spotted at just the right times. Thank god for my genius little sister, not that I hadn’t put myself through the ringer and learned all this shit as soon as possible.
That had always been the one rule universal.
If you wanted to succeed in anything you had to study it.
You had to know every little aspect of it, obsess over it.
Just like my business.
Besides, I had never been good at giving up much control.
I tried to concentrate and willed my little friend to calm the fuck down downstairs. I didn’t know why that little exchange back there had turned me on so damn much but it had.
It’s not like I had any trouble getting woman, they flocked to me in fleets. Still, they always seemed to want more than I was willing to give them. I was always perfectly honest about what it was from the first night but it still ended up blowing up in my face most of the time.
They never seemed to get why I couldn’t commit.
Well, I couldn’t. And that wasn’t going to change. Ever. Caring about anyone, especially women, wasn’t something I was interested in. As long as I was who I am and as long as I was on the mission I was on, I wasn’t letting anyone into my world in more than a casual way.
And even after… love just wasn’t in the cards for a guy like me.
Maybe I should have felt bad about leading Addison on back there but I couldn’t. If I got butt hurt every time I had to hurt someone’s feeling in the pursuit of the right thing I’d never get anything done.
She’d be fine.
They always were.
I pulled my car into the back of an alley and jumped out, hitting the button that placed tints over my license plates. You never knew when a random set of eyes might pop out of nowhere and see you. Everyone was looking for five minutes of fame.
Everyone wanted to be a hero, except me.
I could have cared less about being a hero.
I just wanted justice.
Once outside, I popped the trunk and pulled up the false trunk then took out my emergency black bag and pulled my mask over my face. It would be tricky sneaking inside without being seen by anyone else, especially in the middle of the day. But I didn’t have a choice.
I wasn’t letting this piece of crap slip away from me again.
I slammed the trunk shut and clicked my earpiece on.
“There’s two men standing out front, try the side door.” Hayden’s voice comes in loud and clear right away. “Thanks for ruining my lunch hour by the way.”
I pressed the button on the side of my mask. “I thought you wanted to lose ten points by the New Year anyways.” I sucked my breath in and kicked in the side door, sending the lock on the other side to go flying onto the floor. I made a mental note to drop some cash to the super later in the week.
“I’m going to smack you when I see you.” Hayden barked in my ear.
I smirked. The two-way talkies were fairly new but they worked well thus far. It had been a hell of a lot easier having Hayden and Trent’s eyes on traffic and security cameras when I was in the field.
I leaped up the stairs just before a man walked outside of his apartment and started wondering around the hallway of the first floor. Probably wondering what the loud noise was. That meant I had to act fast.
I took the next two floors without incident and stopped at the top of the fourth, peeking around the wall and dodging past closed doors until I reached one slightly ajar at the end of the hall. I knew where the coward was headed. I had pulled the building records on the drive over here. There was only one elderly woman in the building and she was seen walking inside minutes before him with a huge bag of groceries.
Asshole probably followed her home from the damn supermarket.
He was too much of a pansy to go after anyone but helpless old ladies.
I was going to make the scum pay like the dirt bag he was.
I tilted the door open a few feet and shuffled silently. My sneak technique was flawless by now; I prided myself on never letting these pieces of garbage know that I was coming. It was how they got by, surprising innocent people and taking parts of them they would never get back.
Now it was their turn to be surprised.
I could hear the woman crying and pleading from the second I shut the door behind me. Even before I took a step, I could hear her whines. She was trying to keep her voice on th
e low side, trying to reason with him and find a piece of sympathy or humanity inside of him.
She was wasting her time.
This guy only spoke two languages. Fear and pain.
The tug of adrenalin and the thrill of the capture was always the same. It started for me the second I could smell the sweat coming from the perp, the second I could sense that I would feel his skin in my hands soon. The need to wrap my hands around his throat and make him pay was so strong that the thought of not having it was enough to push me over the edge.
The day my father had died I’d been so weak, so helpless.
I wasn’t anymore.
I wouldn’t ever be again.
“Shut up.” His voice was stern and low, lacking any kind of sympathy or compassion. “Is this all you have on you? 46 dollars? What the hell is the matter with you?” He sounded pissed now, like she was wasting his time. “Give me that ring.”
I could hear the old woman gasp as I took a few more silent steps forward. “No, please, not my wedding ring. That’s all I have left from my husband.” She was in tears now. “I have better things, please.”
I peered around the corner at the scene unfolding. The woman was down on her knees, tears streaming down her face as she peered up at the man standing over her. He was three times her size and dressed all in black. I lucked out with his back facing toward me.
“I said give me that fucking ring.” He reached his hand out and knocked her across the top of her head with his fist. Blood started streaming down the side of her face instantly.
A pounding began in the side of my neck and traveled down my entire body but I controlled myself, willed myself to not make a move until the moment was absolutely perfect. I waited a few more seconds and then inched forward slowly.
The older woman’s eyes went wide when she saw me. She probably assumed I was with the douchebag. I shook my head and raised my finger to the lips of my mask, trying to communicate with her to not lead on that I was there.
But like so many times before the combination is too much and her fear overwhelmed her body, causing her to let out a high pitched scream. The guy looked startled for a second and then swung around, following her gaze.