by Em Petrova
“Who’s going to pay for that broken door?”
He smiled. “I would have ripped this place apart to get to you. Never doubt that.”
She shivered.
Brushing a soft kiss over her shoulder, he said, “Does your brain ever quit analyzing everything?”
“It did a few minutes ago.”
He lazily swirled his tongue over the shell of her ear. “Took ya long enough.”
She lifted her head. “To do what?”
“Admit your feelings.”
“I had you worried, didn’t I?” A teasing note hit her voice.
“Nah. I knew I’d get you eventually.”
She stilled. “What happens now?”
Ross knew how to fix problems on the ranch. He could repair a tractor and pull a calf. With WEST Protection, he built his company from thin air, shot the company’s reputation sky-high, trained men and learned from the best Navy SEALs.
But when it came to Pippa’s question, he was at a loss. She didn’t have a damn clue how they’d continue working toward a true relationship when they lived in different states. It might as well be different planets.
When he didn’t respond immediately, Pippa pulled away. “That’s what I’m afraid of too.” She scooted to the edge of the bed, leaving his arms empty and his stomach hollowing out.
He started to reach for her, but his phone vibrated with a call. His jeans, still around his knees, made getting to the phone difficult. “Yeah?” he half-barked at Boone.
“There’s a woman in the hotel lobby asking for Pippa’s room.”
He tipped off the bed to his feet and yanked up his pants in the same move. “What’s her name?”
“Meredith.”
“Shit. I’ll let her know.”
Pippa was already pulling her clothes on when he ended the call and faced her. “What was that about?” she asked.
“Your friend’s in the lobby.”
Her brows shot up into the tousled hair tumbling over her forehead. “What friend? Meredith?”
He nodded.
“Oh my God. She didn’t tell me she was coming to Seattle! I bet she showed up to support me because she thinks I’ve been sick!” She jerked her top over her head and then tore it off again. “I need a shower, but thanks to you, I can’t get into the bathroom without severing an artery.”
He rounded the bed and took hold of her shoulders. She met his stare. “I can’t let you go down there alone.”
She rolled her eyes. “Duh.”
“You’re in danger.”
“I remember.”
His phone rang a second time. He listened to Boone for a minute and then ended the call. “Boone says your friend went with some others into the bar. We’ll meet up with them there—after we shower.”
She gaped at him. “You’ve kept me prisoner in this room for hours, with someone standing guard outside my door. Now I can just waltz into a bar filled with people?”
“I’ll be there, along with every man in WEST Protection, Roman and a handful of former military they rounded up in the Seattle area. Taking you into the bar is still risky, but it can also draw out the person behind your attacks.”
“Putting innocent people in jeopardy. I’m not sure I want to do this.”
“Trust me, honey. We can do this.”
She cocked her hip outward, enticing him with the lines of her naked body. “How do you plan on getting into the bathroom to shower?”
He still had on his boots.
“Like this.” He swept her into his arms and carried her across the room, stepping over the broken glass and into the bathroom suite.
“I can’t believe you didn’t even take off your boots for sex.”
He grinned down at her, still cradled in his arms. “I’m your bodyguard—I’ve gotta be prepared at all times.”
Her eyes glowed as she curled her hand around his nape and drew him in. “You’re my cowboy too.”
His heart gave a jog at her words and overflowed with emotions for her. He was in big trouble with this woman.
And his family’d never let him live it down.
* * * * *
Thank God for Ross’s sister. If Pippa was going to die today, she’d look great doing it.
She’d never worn deep red in her life. She didn’t like sticking out, so she veered toward neutrals for her wardrobe. But she couldn’t deny she felt like a model in the sheath dress that hugged her curves and made her legs look even longer. Ross took one look at her and the hunger in his eyes suggested he changed his mind about going to the bar.
When they stepped out of the hotel room, he kept a protective hand on her spine. Boone gave her a long, slow perusal, from her simple black heels to her hair, which she’d brushed until shiny waves fell down her spine.
“Nice to see you, Pippa.”
She smiled at him. “You too.”
His stare went on. Ross cleared his throat, shifting Boone’s attention from her. Whatever he saw on his brother’s face made Boone grin, waving a hand toward the short corridor leading to the elevators.
“We’ve secured the elevator for you. It won’t stop at other floors, so nobody else can get in.” Boone fell into step behind her and Ross as they started down the corridor.
She felt like the filling of a hot cowboy bodyguard sandwich. Both men rocked jeans and boots like nobody else could. Ross had on a white button-down dress shirt, which she’d watched him iron himself on the setup he found in the hotel closet, and she still felt the effects of watching a gorgeous, half-naked, muscled man ironing his own shirt.
Boone wore chambray with pearl buttons that she’d forever associate with Wynton men. And both of their white Stetsons topped off their appearance.
They stepped into the elevator, and Boone hit the button for the ground floor and bar. She backed up against the wall, bubbles of fear hitting her stomach for the first time since she heard they were going public.
What if someone attacked her? She didn’t want bystanders being shot. Meredith. Other friends and colleagues. The Wyntons. Ross.
He caught her gaze and held it. She grew aware of Boone watching them.
“Never thought I’d play the role of elevator man,” Boone said to break the strain rising between them all.
She turned to him. “What did you think you’d be when you grew up, Boone?”
“An astronaut.”
For some reason, that struck them all as funny, and when they walked out of the elevator, they were all laughing.
Ross sobered first, and his arm vibrated with tension as he guided her a few steps to the bar. Through the smoky glass windows, she saw people seated around tables, talking and laughing. Others stood in clusters. She couldn’t make out any faces until they stepped through the door.
Immediately, she picked out several other white hats and knew Ross’s team had a stronghold on the place. She relaxed a fraction, following Ross. Halfway to the bar, she spotted Meredith’s blonde hair and broke free of Ross.
He caught her wrist and swung her to him.
“I’m going to talk to my friend.”
“Not without me.”
“Fine. I’ll introduce you.” She hurried forward.
Meredith turned and stopped mid-conversation with a man Pippa knew, from other industry events, worked for a pharmaceutical company. Meredith’s eyes widened as her gaze fell on Pippa.
At Pippa’s back, she felt Ross’s familiar body heat vanish. Glancing over her shoulder, she saw him slow his steps. Then in one long stride, he was with her again, leading her up to Meredith.
“Oh my God! Pippa! I hardly recognize you out of your lab coat and ponytail. You look stunning—and healthy! That flu medicine must have really done the trick!” Meredith embraced her.
Being much taller than Meredith always made for an awkward hug, but she wouldn’t miss the chance to connect for the world. She squeezed Meredith.
“Thank you for checking in on me. And for the email. It really brightened my da
y and helped me feel better.”
Meredith smiled but got distracted by Ross standing behind Pippa. Who wouldn’t? The man’s presence was as imposing as a monument.
Twisting to include Ross, she caught his guarded expression…but something more. His brows were pinched and he didn’t seem eager to interact with her friend. What did Pippa expect? He was just being overly protective and suspicious.
“Meredith, this is Ross.” She was looking at Meredith when she introduced them, so her friend’s gaze skittering away from the big man definitely drew Pippa’s notice.
Feeling odder by the second, she watched Ross when she said, “This is my friend Meredith.”
“Nice to meet you.” He spoke with no feeling or warmth at all. He didn’t offer a hand to shake.
Meredith drew up her shoulders and thrust them straighter, head held high. “Nice to meet you too.”
Was it Pippa’s imagination that her friend’s voice sounded just as dull and lifeless as Ross’s? Maybe they were both being protective of her. Meredith never did tend to like Pippa’s boyfriends and didn’t hold back about letting her know either.
“Ross is an old family friend. We ran into each other and I invited him to join us for a drink. I hope you don’t mind, Meredith.”
“Of course not. And look at that—my glass is empty. Follow me to the bar, Pippa, and I’ll buy you a glass of wine.”
“I’m right behind you.” She started after Meredith. Someone touched her arm, and she looked up to see Ryan Letters with another lab assistant.
“Pippa. Wow. You look…” Ryan lifted a hand to scratch at his hair. “Amazing.”
She wished everyone wasn’t so shocked that she could clean up and look nice. Was she really that much of an ugly duckling?
Also, she couldn’t think of anything worse than Ross meeting Ryan Letters. She waved toward Meredith, who’d already reached the bar. “I’m just going to…catch up.”
He started to nod, when Ross thrust a hand at him. “Ryan Letters. My name’s Wynton.”
She expected and I’m your worst nightmare to follow, but Ross only glared down at Ryan until he shrank away without ever shaking Ross’s hand.
She grabbed Ross’s forearm and towed him away, but not before she saw Josiah move in from some corner of the room to keep an eye on Ryan.
“Tell me you didn’t come down here to terrorize all my coworkers,” she muttered at Ross from the corner of her mouth.
“Of course I did. What did you expect? One of them has it out for you, Pippa.”
As they reached the bar, Meredith shot Ross a side-eyed glance. “Your friend can’t get his own drink?”
“No, he can’t.” Ross’s voice gritted out with enough force to cause several people on the stools around them to halt their conversations. He jerked his jaw toward the bartender. “Jameson for me and a white wine for the lady.”
She arched a brow at him highhandedly ordering her a drink without knowing her preference, but she wasn’t about to argue with the stubborn man here. No matter that she actually did prefer white wine to red. Her mother always drank it too, and he might have ordered it because he remembered.
Smiling in thanks at the bartender, she turned to Meredith. “It’s sooo good to see you. What a long few days I had out of the lab. Anything new?”
Ross hovered over her and would make anyone nervous. No wonder Meredith wiggled on the barstool. Then she nearly tipped over her own drink. A bit sloshed onto the paper napkin it rested on.
Pippa brought the wine to her lips. From the corner of her eye, she saw Ross knock down his whiskey in one swallow. He stood behind her like the bodyguard he was, but she wasn’t a Kardashian and his presence was drawing more attention to her. She knew these people—worked with many of them—and they would be asking why he was glued to her.
“Let’s find a table. It will be more comfortable.” She slipped from the barstool, drink in hand, and twitched her head for Meredith to follow.
As they moved through the bar, she became aware of Ross motioning to one of his men. When his cousins dropped into seats around a table near the one Pippa chose, she wasn’t surprised. Neither wore the statement white cowboy hats, so at least nobody would connect them with Ross. But she still felt more than odd about all this protection.
It also made her edgier about being in the open. After all, she’d suffered an attack in the women’s restroom, in a parking lot outside a rest stop and on the highway to Seattle. She didn’t relish the thought of another threat to her life.
Ross and Meredith settled across the table from each other. Pippa caught a glower from Ross and directed a kick at his leg under the table. Stop it, she tried to convey with her eyes.
And Meredith had somehow finished her drink between the bar and table. She waved for the waitress to bring her another. Her behavior was so…odd.
Pippa was a scientist—making observations came as second nature to her only to breathing, and Ross and Meredith were both tense. While Pippa wasn’t a great reader of humans, she did see Meredith jiggling as though she bounced her foot beneath the table. And Ross folded his arms over his broad chest.
Her friend received her fresh drink and instead of sipping it, she gulped. Feeling more off-kilter now, Pippa attempted to make conversation. She wished Ross would go away for a few minutes and let her speak to her friend alone. It was obvious he made Meredith nervous.
“How was your trip here?” she asked Meredith.
“Fine. Uneventful. You?”
Ross narrowed his eyes on the woman.
Why did Pippa feel she was trapped between two dogs about to go a round over a prized bone? She kicked Ross again. He didn’t even move his foot, as though a fly struck his shin rather than the sharp toe of her high heel.
“My trip was good,” she said, only half lying.
Meredith turned to her, looking a little frazzled. “How is the wine? I think I’ll try some.” She waved to the waitress.
Concern burned through Pippa. After a decade of friendship, she’d seen Meredith three sheets to the wind, but it had been a long time. She never drank more than two and was good about cutting herself off. Perhaps she was letting loose because they were out of the lab for the weekend?
“Are you ready for your speech, Pippa?” she asked.
“I think so.” She sipped her wine more slowly.
“Everyone is waiting to hear what you have to say. They’ll be hanging on your every word.” Her words slurred a bit. Pippa threw Ross a glance, only to find he appeared more nervous. He plucked at his shirt buttons and swung his gaze around the room.
More and more out of her comfort zone as the minutes ticked by, Pippa watched her friend down the entire glass of wine. Then she leaned over the table, her cleavage on display. Ross’s gaze dropped to her breasts and shot away.
Pippa gaped at her friend—and her lover. Were they attracted to each other? Was that the issue?
When Meredith threw Ross a coy smile, Ross hooked a finger into his shirt collar as if finding it too tight.
Oh my God. They ARE attracted to each other.
“Have you been to Kalamazoo lately, Ross?” Meredith’s question made Pippa jerk in her seat and simultaneous choke on her wine. She exploded into a coughing fit while her heart nearly stopped at the realization taking over her brain.
They weren’t only attracted to each other—they knew each other. Taking in their body clues and the hints dropped by her tipsy friend and Ross evading Pippa’s gaze, she could only hypothesize that Meredith and Ross had slept together.
Ross patted her on the back to help ease her choking fit, but she jerked to her feet and took off walking fast across the bar. She had to escape. Why hadn’t Ross said anything to her? He’d hidden it from her, and stupid Pippa had fallen straight into his arms after her friend had.
A big male body stepped in front of her, barring her way. She tried to skirt around him, but Boone took her by the arm and led her out of the bar. They made it halfway to the el
evator before Ross took Boone’s place, practically shoving his brother away from her.
“I don’t want you right now, Ross.” Her icy tone made his green eyes simmer.
“Too. Bad,” he said through a clenched jaw.
“Guys? You good?” Boone, caught in the middle, didn’t seem to know what to do with himself.
Ross nodded. Pippa shook her head. But then Ross dragged her into the elevator and the doors slammed shut. Enclosed in the small space with the man she’d just declared her love to—who’d also slept with her best friend at some point in Kalamazoo—made Pippa itch to claw the doors open and escape.
Wrapping her arms around her middle, she turned her back on Ross.
“Pippa.”
“Save it, Ross. You can’t sweet-talk your way out of this.”
“What are you talking about?”
She whirled on him as the elevator shot upward to her floor. All she wanted was to lock the hotel room door and crawl under the covers. Pain rocketed around her chest and left her on the verge of tears.
“You lied to me all this time. You slept with Meredith and you didn’t tell me.” She looked at his face, expecting denial. Hoping for it. But his jaw only tightened, and he said nothing.
Bowing her head, she ignored him all the way to her floor. When he tried to take her by the elbow and lead her to her room, she jerked from his touch. Noah stood at the door as guard. One glare from Ross sent him stepping aside to allow them to pass. Ross produced a room key card and opened the door.
When Pippa stepped through, she tried to shut him out, but he shouldered his way inside and kicked the door shut behind him.
She had to get away from him, and since the bathroom wasn’t an option with its door still smashed out, she had the choice of facing him down and learning the cold, hard facts about the man she loved withholding information from her, or head to the balcony.
She rushed across the room and unlocked the balcony door with a rough twist of her fingers. Then she stepped out into the cold Seattle air.
* * * * *
Jesus Christ on a biscuit. What were the odds that he had a one-night stand after meeting a woman in a tech convention in Kalamazoo, and that woman was Pippa’s friend?