by Zara Cox
The Jeffrey pines lining the track and surrounding the property were ideal for mounting security cameras and other intruder-warning triggers.
I pulled up in front of the cabin in Knots Peak, killed the engine and glanced over at Lily. She was staring at the log building that would be her home until I came through with my assurance to catch her stalker.
My gaze slid past her to the three-leveled property. The one-bedroom dilapidated structure I bought five years ago had been expanded into a no-cost-spared piece of real estate worth ten times its original price.
It was one of three safe houses I owned around the country. The other four were overseas but this was my favorite. On the rare occasion I took downtime from fixing other people’s problems, the cabin was my first choice.
There would be no downtime, though. I’d dropped my guard, messed around with a client and the bastard had gotten close.
Fury and guilt bubbled inside as I threw open the door. “Let’s get you inside.”
I grabbed her bag and walked her to the front door. A palm print and alphanumeric code released the lock.
Rugs spread out in the wide hallway and over polished wooden floors throughout the cabin muffled our footsteps. Exposed oak beams propped up high ceilings in the living room, and light filtered in from a wide window facing the lake.
I stashed her bag in the bedroom before returning to the living room. Still clutching her satchel, she stood at the window, lost in the view.
“The window is one-way glass so no one can see inside. Even at night you’ll be able to see the lake. That should help a little.” Shit, I sounded like a damn realtor.
She turned, wary eyes catching mine. “Help with what?”
I shrugged. “Not everyone likes being stuck in the middle of nowhere. The lake will give you something to look at.”
“I’m okay with it,” she replied, although her sleek white throat moved in a nervous swallow. I dragged my gaze away from the smooth landscape of her skin. Giving in to those insane yearnings was what had landed us here.
“Good. Security-wise, the outer doors are made of solid oak. It would take a very large ax or a sizeable explosive device to breach it. The woods for half a mile radius are part of the property. There are a few booby traps to prevent intruders.”
She frowned. “What kinds of traps?”
“Very effective ones,” I gritted out, partly to reassure her, partly to reassure myself.
She flinched; then her lips pursed.
I dragged my hands down my face and walked over to her. Every cell in my body was dying to touch her. But I’d already let too much personal get in the way.
It was time to revert to Caleb Steele, Stone-Cold Fixer.
Jaw set, I moved toward the French doors. “I need to go through the cabin’s security with you. Familiarize yourself with the property.”
“Why are you being so cold?”
Her soft, bewildered words were like a punch to the gut. I steeled myself against it before turning to face her.
“You wanted to know what happened to my shoulder? I got involved with a client. Kirsten was an actress, one of my first clients. She’d made a couple of wrong choices in the past. The studio she was working with was threatening to fire her over some revealing pictures. She begged me to help. She was beautiful and I was young, foolish and...into her.” Lily’s gaze dropped and a look I couldn’t fathom crossed her face. “When she needed a car, I gave her mine. When she needed a place to stay, I asked her to move in with me.” My bitter laughter seared my throat. “Hell, I believed we were in a relationship. Right up until I found her banging the director. Even then I thought she was the victim. I punched his lights out and caused general mayhem that ensured my fledgling career tanked before it’d taken off properly. And Kirsten’s response? She went off her head because I’d just ruined her chances for another movie and decided she didn’t want me in her life after all so she tried to fucking shoot me.”
Lily blanched. “Oh, my God!”
I shrugged despite the fury of bitterness and anger dueling inside me. “Luckily, she was a very lousy shot. Anyway, if it hadn’t been for Ross’s father, I’d still be fixing problems for gangsters back in Trenton Gardens. He gave me a piece of advice, one I’d already figured out the hard way—never get involved with a client.”
A horrified little sound escaped her throat, scraping on my nerve endings. “S-so you think this is my fault?” she whispered.
I opened my mouth to say hell, no, but then stopped. She was partly to blame. She’d gotten under my skin with her soft sympathy and her flashes of innocence and her incredible inner strength in the face of adversity and her gloriously tight body. Even now, she continued to drive me insane with her jaw-dropping beauty.
“I think my point has been proven conclusively that shit happens when you break the rules,” I said. “Besides, you were on a mission of your own, weren’t you?”
She gasped and her eyes darkened in pain. I turned away. My point was made. And I still had a stalker to catch.
“Security tour. Now.” I crossed to the French doors on the other side of the living room and stepped out onto the porch, not looking back to see if she was following.
The sky was a clear blue, and the cool air was drifting in from the lake. It was all so fucking idyllic.
When I heard her behind me, I went down wooden stairs leading to a sloping garden. A staggered limestone feature tumbled water into the rock pond one level lower and stopped next to a covered hot tub. I bypassed it, trying not to think of Lily immersed in the swirling bubbles, completely naked, with the setting sun gleaming on her glorious skin.
A few hours ago I would’ve said, forget the fucking tour, let’s go to bed. But my sex-addled brain had put her in danger.
We skirted the garden and the high stone walls to stop at the side gate. “This leads down to the lake. And a boat for a quick getaway if you need to. The code is 40998061.”
Fear sparked through the shadowed swirls in her eyes. I forced myself not to react to it.
After a few beats she placed her thumb against the panel, and the gate sprang open. The scent of pine and earth grew as we stepped onto the uneven path and walked in silence to the jetty. “Have you driven a boat before?”
“No.”
“The keys are hidden beneath the sixth slab...right here.” I tried to ignore the feel of her silky skin as I caught her arm and pointed to the wooden plank. “It’s screwed in but loose enough to pry apart in a hurry if you need to.”
The boat was a few years old but was kept in good condition and fully fueled at all times.
She hopped down before I could help her, and then took a step away from me. I gritted my teeth against the grating discomfort in my chest and pointed to the ignition. “Twist to the left and hold. Engine should kick in. Then push the lever. Ignore everything else.”
“It looks pretty straightforward.”
“It might not be if you’re panicking,” I bit out.
Her cheeks lost color, but she nodded. “Understood.”
We returned to the house and I took her round the lower level to another door. “Same code as the gate but backward.”
“16089904,” she repeated instantly.
Hell, even scrambling to maintain distance, I couldn’t help but admire her incredible brain.
The large room that doubled up as a games room and gym took up most of the square footage of the cabin. It was also self-contained enough to use as a sleeping place for the odd bodyguard or two when needed.
I bypassed the doors connecting the short hallway to the stairs leading up and headed to the far wall. When she joined me, I pushed on the fourth wooden panel. A five-foot partition sprang open to reveal a small spiral staircase. “This takes you straight up into the kitchen. After you.”
She sprinted up lithely on the balls of her
feet. I took the stairs much slower, unable to take my eyes off the ass that’d cradled my cock in the shower this morning.
Her steps slowed as she neared the top.
“Is there a problem?” The question emerged with a tight croak.
I stopped two steps below her, keeping us at eye level. Close enough for me to lean forward and taste the sinfully gorgeous mouth currently pinched with tension. I locked my knees hard and reminded myself that my wayward cock had brought us to this.
“You didn’t bring in your bag from the car. And you’ve just given me a very detailed tour. Why?”
Chains shackled my chest. “Because I’m returning to Palo Alto.”
“You’re leaving.” The statement was final and chilled.
Unaccustomed dread slowly filled my chest.
I’d pushed her into accepting that what happened with us was a mistake, and yet seeing that acceptance in her eyes had lodged a cold, hard ball in my gut.
I braced a hand against the banister as another truth bit me hard. I’d told her to trust me. And had done zero to back it up.
My failures, rehashed just a few short hours ago, slashed me in half.
Bitter laughter seared my throat as patterns were laid bare.
My success rate with jobs that didn’t require emotional expenditure was near perfect. Those I allowed myself to care about were doomed to failure. My mother. Then Kirsten. Now Lily.
And yes...I cared about Lily. Hell, I was damned sure caring was too mild a word for it.
I gathered every last scrap of emotion, knotted it into a cold ball, and buried it deep. Then I forced a nod, despite my veins beginning to fill with icy water. “I can’t find your stalker stuck here with you. I need to get back, rattle a few cages.”
Her eyes, no longer that gorgeous shade of green I loved, shadowed even further. Then she gathered that admirable strength and nodded. “I see. You better get to it then.”
Something that tasted uncannily like anguish billowed up from my feet to lodge in my throat. No amount of bracing myself could prevent it saturating every corner of my being as I watched her walk to the sofa and snatch up her satchel.
“Lily.” I said her name for the simple, selfish reason that I couldn’t bear the distance between us.
She glanced impatiently at me. “What?”
I pointed to the fridge. “You didn’t have any breakfast. You need to eat something.”
Her gaze swung blankly to the fridge. Then she frowned. “I’m not hungry.”
“Well, eat anyway. You’ll need—”
“I’m not a child. I’m capable of feeding myself when I need to, thanks.”
I opened my mouth. My phone beeped. I read the message and my heart sank.
Me, the man of action who abhorred drawn-out goodbyes, was reeling that his time was up with Lily Gracen. “Your security team is here.”
She nodded stiffly as I introduced her to her three minders. Two disappeared to take up positions around the perimeter. The one tasked to stay inside with her at all times retreated to a respectful distance.
“Was there anything else?” she asked coldly.
There were a thousand things. But everything started and ended with the fact that I’d failed her. So not a single word emerged.
Slowly her eyes grew colder, her face a mask of disappointment as she strutted to the door and pointedly threw it open.
“Goodbye, Caleb.” The echoing finality behind her words stayed with me long after my plane soared into the sky, racing me away from her.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Lily
HE WAS GONE.
Forty-eight hours later I still couldn’t believe how quickly everything had turned to ash. When Maggie called last night to ask if I needed anything, I had to bite my tongue hard to stop myself from asking about Caleb.
What good would it have done? He blamed me for pushing him into territory he’d never wanted to revisit. And he was right. I’d taken advantage of our insane chemistry just so I could prove I was in control. And I was the one bleeding with no end of the ravaging pain in sight.
The truth wasn’t hard to accept. The pain that came with it was.
I’d allowed myself to hope. To care.
If only I hadn’t let the moments of gentleness and protectiveness weave into my heart. If only he hadn’t opened up at the drive-in...
If only the phenomenal sex hadn’t left me raw and reeling and craving the impossible.
From the start he’d made it clear sex was off the table as long as I was his client. And I’d seen that as a challenge.
Misery clawed through me. My heart shuddered and I blinked to stop the fierce prickling that preceded tears.
God, was it even possible to fall in love in seven short days?
My inability to catch my breath, the endless turmoil in my mind and the anguish coursing through my body, screamed yes. Butting heads with him at the start had been my mating dance. Giving him my body had gone hand in hand with giving him my heart. A heart left battered even before it’d had a chance to soar.
If I had to pinpoint when it was well and truly doomed, it was the moment he confirmed why he became a fixer.
I couldn’t even hate him for that. He’d never hidden himself from me.
Maybe it was better this way. Having happiness snatched from me before I truly tasted it would be a blessing somewhere down the road.
I stared at the horizon, watching the fingers of dawn trail the inky blue sky. Down by the water I spotted Kurt, the minder who’d pulled lake duty. I didn’t sleep a wink last night. Surprise. But I managed to snatch moments of lucidity, long enough to confirm that it was Sanjeet’s code that sabotaged the beta test.
Further anguish weighted my heart, but I was thankful I didn’t have to deal with him just yet. I would repair the code on my own and test it vigorously before the next meeting.
Because now more than ever, I needed total control of my life. I had a feeling I’d need it because this ravaging pain wasn’t done with me by a long stretch.
Caleb
I jerked awake from a sleep filled with alternating images of losing my mother, then Lily. As I watched, screaming, their images blended, then drifted farther and farther out of reach.
I dragged myself upright to a sweat-soaked T-shirt and guilt-laden relief that immediately morphed into pain.
It’d been like this for the last four interminable days.
In the cold light of day, I could distract myself with something else, although success in that area was dwindling. But in my dreams I was helpless against the savage craving; helpless to fight the powerful emotions that poured out of my soul, wrenched me from sleep only to mock me with the emptiness of my reality.
I stared out the window of the cabin’s guest room, the peace I usually found here shattered.
Why the hell did I put her in my bedroom?
So you can torture yourself with visions of her when she’s gone, why else?
Perversely, the thought that I’d have something to hang on to soothed me a little.
Jesus.
I rose, changed my T-shirt, added sweatpants and grabbed my phone. As I approached the door, my heart began to race.
I told myself the smell of coffee didn’t mean a thing. Lack of sleep and the couple of drinks I had on the plane equaled a foggy brain. I could’ve set the coffee machine myself when I rolled in at...whatever o’clock.
I entered the living room, saw her, and thoughts of time dissolved.
She sat cross-legged on the sofa nearest the window, beneath the worshipful rays of the morning sun.
The leather and lace comprising her usual work attire had been swapped for a less dramatic getup of black T-shirt and jersey shorts. But a choker still circled her neck, cuffs binding her wrists.
She hadn’t seen me yet.
I needed an uninterrupted minute to imprint her on my memory. Some of the things I said couldn’t be taken back.
Hell, my behavior had been beyond shitty. So yeah, the chances of her being gone by nightfall were extremely high.
But God, I needed another minute, because I’d missed her beautiful face...her body...so damn much.
She was spectacular, if elusive, in my dreams but the reality was infinitely better. I approached, the contrasting black-and-white vision of her a magnet I couldn’t resist.
She was completely absorbed in her work, her fingers dancing in a hypnotic blur over the keyboard. Earbuds firmly in place cut her off from me.
But then, greedily, I wanted those beautiful green eyes that had invaded my dreams every night since I left on me.
As if she heard my thoughts, her fingers froze.
Her head snapped up, her eyes widened, then dimmed. Her resting expression was a punch in the gut. I tried to absorb it as I strolled closer.
“Hey.” She eyed me warily as she plucked her earbuds out. “I didn’t...when did you get back?”
“Very late. Or very early.”
Her eyes grew more guarded. “Is...everything all right?”
I hesitated.
The moment I answered, it was over. There would be nothing keeping her here. A shamefully large part of me wanted to stall, like I’d wanted to freeze time in the shower, and at the drive-in. Hell, every moment with Lily deserved to be preserved in amber.
But the universe selfishly ticked forward. Gritting my teeth, I indicated the sofa. “May I sit?”
She stared blankly at me, then down at the space before shrugging. “It’s your house, Caleb.” Her voice was a chilled rasp.
I ignored the ache sucking oxygen out of my lungs and sat down. When she tensed and tucked her legs firmer beneath her, I bunched my fist on my thigh.
Wow, you blew it good this time, Steele.
“Caleb?” Her fingers were curled tensely around the lid of her laptop.