I can see you, but you can’t see me.
She typed a quick, LOL, and then sat back, forcing a calming breath into her lungs, and reached for her latte. Glancing toward the small parking lot next to the café where she sat and then up and down the busy street, she saw life was as usual around her. She returned her attention to the screen. PeteTakesU wasn’t typing.
Maybe a bit of encouragement was in order. I didn’t get to see you last night. Then thinking quickly, knowing she needed to offer some kind of explanation for Perry, she took a sip of her latte and licked her lips as she grinned. I’m sorry about my friend’s uncle.
I saw you, though. You’re hot as hell. The bait worked. He accepted her explanation.
She watched the bottom of the box where it said: “PeteTakesU is typing a message.” May I ask you a question?
Sure.
Are you a virgin?
Kylie ground her teeth, outrage covering her with a feverish rage. Instead of dwelling on how this bastard preyed on innocent girls, she forced herself to focus on how Dani might talk to him. With her flippant, know-it-all attitude, she wouldn’t take crap off anyone.
Are you?
No. Sex is the best thing in the world. Do you know that?
Kylie envied Dani and her sisters. They were so socially adjusted, with one another to help out. Kylie imagined they fought. For a brief moment she remembered fighting with her own sister. Karen used to yell at Kylie for how she dressed, telling her repeatedly no one would ever ask her out if she refused to brush her hair and take care of herself.
Did her sister know how much worse Kylie looked after Karen died? No one noticed Kylie, and if they did they sure didn’t talk to her. She coasted through high school like a ghost, ignoring everyone around her and doing her best not to do anything to draw attention to herself. It wasn’t until college that she pulled out of that shell, once she left Dallas and decided she would rather live attacking life than running from it.
Pinching her nose, she checked her surroundings once again and watched as a couple of girls gave her the onceover and then sat at a table on the other side of the patio. They immediately started talking with each other and sipping their drinks.
Kylie forced her attention to the screen, wondering if going home wouldn’t be better. The hell with Perry and whether he showed up or not. She needed to be able to concentrate on saying the right thing to PeteTakesU.
Where do you hang out? She decided to change the subject knowing there were times when she would have to chat for hours with a perp before he asked to meet her.
At the mall here in town, he answered quickly, but then sent another message: Want to hang this weekend? Give me your number and I’ll text-message you.
Her heart skipped a beat. But she was ready for this. Already she knew statistics showed that teenagers text-messaged as their main means of communicating. In fact, most texted on a phone more than they talked on it. She quickly typed in her cell phone number, a number that would be traced to K. Dover in Mission Hills, Kansas. Even the best investigative programs wouldn’t narrow her phone down any further than that. It was hard to search for information on someone using programs that her side had devised in the first place.
Kylie leaned back, took a long drink of her still-warm latte, and glanced at the women facing each other at the nearby table. They were deeply engrossed in a conversation about their husbands. It wasn’t the first time Kylie had watched the world around her feeling like the outsider but knowing she was right where she belonged. It was her job to make sure women like those two could sit, relax, and not worry about anything other than catching up on gossip. Kylie was the protector.
Karen never got the chance to grow up and be the gorgeous woman she seemed destined to be. Granted, back then there wasn’t the Internet and her abductor hadn’t seduced her out of her home. Sexual predators used many different means to seek out their prey. Kylie would use whatever means to track them down and stop them.
Her cell phone buzzed and she glanced at her screen, seeing she’d received a text message. Where do you hang out? it said.
Kylie sucked at text messaging. Although she believed the statistics, she didn’t understand for the life of her why people preferred this means of communicating when the buttons and screen were so small. She worked quickly to type: With my girlfriends, usually the bowling alley or mall.
At least talking to him like this, she could head home and not miss out talking to him. Closing down her laptop, she finished her latte and then headed to her car. Kylie didn’t speed but hurried the best she could, praying he wouldn’t text her while she was driving. No way would she text and drive. Not only was it against the law, but she also knew there was no way she could pull it off.
He didn’t send another text message, though. And after talking to Paul, giving him the phone number PeteTakesU sent his text message from, she entered her middle bedroom and stared at the monitors for her security system. She could see outside from two different angles, front and backyard. There were also cameras trained on her living room. Were there more cameras in the house that she didn’t have monitors for? She walked through her home, peering into air-conditioning vents but finding only the cameras that matched what the monitors showed in the bedroom. Her phone rang as she debated ordering out for supper or going to the store.
“If you’re really dying to know,” Paul said when she answered, “there aren’t any cameras in the bedrooms.”
Kylie rolled her eyes. “I was just curious.” She couldn’t hide her grin and was glad she spoke on the phone and was alone in her room so he couldn’t see how terribly she blushed. “Don’t you have a high score to beat somewhere?”
“Sure do. Oh, and that number he texted you from is a track phone. No way of knowing who purchased it or from where. Annoying little contraptions.”
Kylie thanked Paul, not too surprised, and hung up the phone. She was staring out her living room windows when a Jeep pulled up to the curb and parked in front of her home. Confrontation time. Maybe she should beat the crap out of Perry on the street. She was pretty sure the cameras didn’t go that far.
As she glanced down at her phone, a thought hit her. Not waiting to watch Perry get out of his Jeep, she headed back to the middle bedroom. She hurried inside, and her heart started pounding as she walked over to the equipment monitoring the surveillance around her home.
“Okay, let me see,” she said, tapping her finger to her lips and glancing at the control panel. She would catch hell for this, but damn it, she needed to keep her cover and it was no one’s damn business what she did on her own time. “You’re going to have to get your jollies some other way, Paul.”
She flicked the switch, shutting off the cameras. Then placing her cell phone facedown on the desk, she placed her briefcase over it, which would work in stifling any sounds it made. She didn’t want to turn it off and risk missing any text messages that might come through.
Perry knocked solidly on the front door as she left the bedroom, pulled the door closed, and then made sure it was locked. She glanced down at the jeans she wore today and sleeveless vest with its V-neck collar. Tugging on it offered a better view of what cleavage she had to offer.
“Good grief,” she grumbled, suddenly disgusted with herself. Damn good thing she turned off the cameras. Her plan was to kick his ass, not jump his bones.
She cringed, feeling the heat swell deep inside her when she reached for the doorknob just as Perry knocked again.
“I heard you the first time,” she said dryly as she opened the door. Goddamn, Perry looked better than any man she’d ever laid eyes on in her life. His eyes were exceptionally dark. And his almost black hair, windblown and probably longer than protocol stated his hair should be for his line of work, added to his bad-boy looks. Kylie pulled in all levels of training and kept her expression hard, not letting her gaze sway from his face. The last thing she needed to do was dwell on all that packed muscle that filled her doorway.
“Wha
t the hell were you doing at that bowling alley last night?” he barked, entering her house without invitation. “And you heard me yell at you. Don’t tell me you didn’t. I’m dying to hear your explanation for taking off like that.”
She was forced to move out of the way so he wouldn’t bulldoze over her. “Come on in,” she grumbled dryly, keeping her tone flat but unable to prevent her focus from dropping to his hard ass before he turned around. “I guess I missed the meeting where I learned I answered to you.”
Perry spun around, having made it to the middle of her living room, and slowly stalked toward her. “Cut the crap. Right here, right now. Because I swear, if you’re playing me—”
“You swear what?” she snapped, interrupting him. “What I do on my own time is none of your goddamn business. Are we clear on that?”
It wasn’t the first time in her life she had moved in on a man who stood almost a foot taller than her and endured that slight tilt of the eyebrow, the pressing of the lips together. With his fatal expression, she saw all she needed to see. Perry didn’t care about any demands she made on him. He wanted it his way or the highway. She couldn’t have that in her life. No matter the physical attraction or his continual attention, an overbearing man would mess with her head, and her job. Kylie ignored the stabbing pain to her gut and pointed to the door when he didn’t answer her.
“Get out. Now,” she said, keeping her tone cool even though she felt like yelling. It was almost impossible to swallow; her mouth was suddenly too dry. She clenched her hands into fists at her sides to keep herself from shaking and did her best to find a calming breath. As she refused to look away or break eye contact, it was almost too much to bear when the discomfort in her gut swelled around her heart.
Why the fuck did he have to be so damn bossy? He was gorgeous, absolutely fucking sexy as hell, even while staring her down. His broad shoulders and muscular, tall body seemed to grow before her eyes. When a moment ago she couldn’t swallow, suddenly she licked her lips, scared she would drool in spite of anger washing over her and determination warring with lust while she continued glaring at him.
Perry crossed his arms over his chest, and roped tendons flexed that were impossible not to watch. “Not yet, Kylie.”
He was calm, way too calm. She looked into his eyes, blinking when they were green, almost flat. She needed to be very careful. Perry could close down his emotions as well as she could, which meant he would be harder to read.
“If I want to sit on a street corner in a fucking blizzard,” she said, grasping for the bizarre to throw him off his guard, “I’ll damn well do it, and without needing to explain myself to anyone.”
He dropped his arms and walked toward her. She didn’t budge. This was too damn important. But when he moved past her and closed her door, then tripped the lock into place, she took her time letting her focus travel over his hard, flat gut, the way the T-shirt he wore stretched over his perfect body and disappeared into faded blue jeans.
Perry didn’t have too thick of a neck, in spite of how built he was. Focusing on his physical perfection didn’t stop the fact that he was preparing for a battle of wits. It was more than obvious when he turned around; his expression, intense and powerful, made her heart skip a beat.
“You will explain yourself to me,” he said with conviction as he stared hard into her eyes. “Tell me right now why you left your house when you knew I was coming over, drove to a parking lot and parked out of the way in the dark where you weren’t safe, and then got out of your car when that Suburban approached you. And while you’re at it, tell me how this helps you understand how teenagers act. Are you writing a section on how they can be idiots?”
“Go to hell, Perry.”
“You’re going to throw everything away out of stubborn determination to prove to me you’re a tough guy.” Perry moved closer, within inches of her, his body heat making her flesh tingle, her insides swell with a need so violent that even if she attacked, forced him out of her space, the act of touching him would prove more dangerous than trying to physically make him do what she wanted.
“There’s nothing to throw away.” She crossed her arms, refusing to move. It sucked that he stood close enough that she had to tilt her head to see his face. “And I’m not proving anything because I choose to keep my affairs private.”
Perry moved so fast that she squealed when he grabbed her under her arms and lifted her off the floor. All air flew out of her lungs and she grunted loudly when he forced her against the wall. The one picture she’d hung, a print of a mountainous landscape, rattled dangerously next to her head.
“There’s nothing to throw away, huh,” he growled, his tone so deep and gravelly that it damn near made her toes curl. “Are you sure about that?” he demanded, using his body to keep her pinned, and every inch of steel muscle throbbing while his cock swelled and grew as he pressed it against her.
“Perry.” She would have to attack brutally to get him to release her from the trap he’d just sprung.
“Are you panting and your face flushed because I just pissed you off?” he asked, dropping his voice to a dangerous guttural whisper. “Tell me you didn’t leave your house to meet another man when you knew I was coming back over.”
“Put me down.” She willed him to meet her gaze instead of focusing somewhere around her mouth.
“Answer my questions.” His cock pulsed between them while his fingers moved slightly against the sides of her breasts. “Tell me why you went to meet someone in a parking lot where there was no one around to protect you.”
Kylie twisted, feeling the cool, hard wall against her back and all that bulging, hot muscle pressed into her front. She grabbed his shoulders, pushing, and narrowed her gaze. “Don’t push me, Perry.”
“Then answer me.”
If she offered him any answer at all, he would push even harder the next time he wanted information from her. Perry’s aggressive, dominating nature might make her swell with need. But in spite of the throbbing between her legs, or the way her nipples puckered and her breasts swelled and were heavy, creating an ache she would be forced to live with after she taught him a lesson, Kylie had to do just that.
She brought her leg up quickly, feeling corded muscle in his inner thighs brush against her jeans as she neared her target. Fighting dirty didn’t usually appeal to her, but lesson number one, if a man twice her weight and size overpowered her, it wasn’t time for manners or playing fair. At the same time she raised her hands, straightening them, and aimed for his neck.
“I told you,” she hissed, bringing her knee up with aggressive force and ready to rack him. She sliced her hands through the air, knowing she could make him release her but believing in spite of how she might hurt him, he wouldn’t attack. Once he let her go, she’d make him leave.
Not only did she not reach her target, but she cried out when she suddenly flew away from the wall and across her living room. For a moment she thought he had tossed her across the room, and tensed her body, preparing herself to land and gear up for her counterattack. But Perry didn’t let go of her. He held on to her, his fingers pinching her flesh as he gripped her rib cage hard enough that for a moment she wondered if he would hurt her. Already she’d seen signs of a temper, of strong emotions and a dominating, aggressive personality. If he was the kind of man who would hurt a woman, she’d get her ass reamed big-time for shutting off the cameras. And for being ready to defend him when John suggested none of the cops should be trusted.
Perry kept his grip on her when he lowered her to the couch, damn near dropping her. Her breath flew out of her lungs and then he was on top of her.
“Play with fire, sweetheart, and you will get burned,” he growled, pressing her flat on her couch and resting half of his body over her.
Once again she felt the hard length of his cock, but at the same time she realized he could have hurt her and didn’t. If anything, he cradled her fall and, even now, only applied half of his body weight on top of her. His face was
inches from hers, though, and the powerful dark green shade of his eyes captivated her, which dimmed the outrage she should be feeling right now for being manhandled like this.
“You were in that parking lot trying to see if you could pick up someone off the Internet, and I spoiled your game.” He spoke with such conviction as his expression relaxed and his hands moved, caressing her breast and then moving to her neck. “If I’d wanted to hurt you right now, I could have.”
“And if I thought I were in danger prior to letting you in my home, I wouldn’t have let you in.”
“So you know before meeting a complete stranger if he’s dangerous or not?”
She wouldn’t win this argument, predominantly because he was right and she agreed with everything he said wholeheartedly. “You’re too smart for me, Perry. There’s nothing I can do but agree and thank you for the lesson.”
His fingers snaked around her neck and he squeezed, bringing his face closer to hers and then brushing his lips over hers. His breath was hot, the kiss a steamy promise of what he could do for her. Keeping her eyes open, holding up her façade of indifference, proved damn near impossible to do.
“Yes, Kylie, there is something else you can do,” he whispered, and bit her lower lip.
She sucked in a breath hard enough that she hissed. His gaze was confident satisfaction, that of a victor, taking his time pulling in his win and enjoying every moment of dominating and gaining submission.
There was no way she would ask what he wanted her to do.
“Promise me right now you won’t pull a stupid stunt like that again.” Apparently Perry believed he’d learned the truth even though she never confirmed it. His confidence probably got him far in life, and if she wasn’t careful it would get him too far with her.
Creating even a fraction of a romance during an investigation would be a serious mistake. “What?” she said, whispering as he did and making her tone husky and as sultry as she could manage. Which didn’t take much effort with all that solid muscle touching her everywhere. “Let you in the door? Is that the stupid stunt you’re referring to that I shouldn’t do again?”
Strong, Sleek and Sinful Page 16