“Because sometimes people fixate on other people for no obvious reason,” Finn replied. “The bigger thing we have to worry about is keeping Mandy safe. She can’t stay at that apartment any longer.”
“She’s staying at my place,” James replied. “I had her pack stuff this morning. Her bag is out in the truck.”
“She’s moving in?” Grady asked, his tone pleasant but teasing.
James ignored the taunt. “She’s staying here until I can be sure that we’ve got a handle on this,” he countered. “I’m not leaving her at that apartment. It’s a death trap anyway. It’s on the main floor, and anyone who really wants to get in is going to be able to get in.”
“So she’s moving in,” Grady said.
James pretended he hadn’t heard the question.
Grady glanced over at Finn, raising his eyebrows in surprise. “She’s moving in.”
“You’re such a dumbass,” James growled.
IT WAS almost five and Mandy still had one file to clear from her desk. She had no doubt that James would be annoyingly on time, probably even early, so she was trying to finish up before he arrived. Judge MacIntosh had already left, and most of the floor had cleared. She caught sight of the occasional figure moving through the hall from time to time, so she wasn’t nervous.
After the events of the previous evening, she’d expected to be a bundle of nerves for the foreseeable future. Instead, a wave of calmness washed over her. James was on his way and she felt safe. He made her feel safe. Of course, when all of this was over, there was still the possibility that he would walk away – and that thought was enough to elicit physical pain in her chest.
She ignored her worries and focused on the file in front of her. That was a concern for another day. She arranged the pages, stamped an acknowledgement on the final judgment, and slipped everything back into the file before putting it in her outgoing box. She was done.
“Well, it looks like I stopped by at the exact right time.”
Mandy froze when she heard the voice. She reluctantly raised her head and met Chad Cooper’s predatory dark eyes with a fixed stare. “Can I help you?”
“I was just leaving,” Chad said, stepping into the office. For a second, Mandy was worried he would try to the shut the door but, instead, he just moved closer to her desk. “I thought everyone was already gone. Then I saw the light on in here and thought I would stop by.”
“Why?”
“Maybe I just wanted to stop by,” Chad said, resting his arm on her desk, and striking what she was sure in his head reflected his best GQ pose, as he smiled down at her. “I know you’ve had some … difficulties lately. I figured you might need someone to walk you out to your car.”
“I’m fine.”
“Maybe I could even take you to dinner,” Chad suggested. “You know, we could get to know each other better.”
“I know all I need to know.”
Chad’s smile tipped down into a frown. “What is that supposed to mean?”
“It means I have no inclination to get to know you any better,” Mandy shot back. “In fact, I’m fairly certain I know you better than I want to.”
“I think you’re just playing hard to get.”
“Or maybe I’m just not interested.”
“Why wouldn’t you be interested?” Chad pressed. “Does this have something to do with your little boyfriend from the other day? It seems to me you could do a lot better.”
Mandy crossed her arms over her chest, pushing her chair back to increase the space between the two of them. His ego was starting to suck all of the air out of the room. “Chad, I don’t know how many different ways I can say this to you, so I’m just going to say it. I’ve been nice. I’ve been cold. I’ve been pleasant. I’ve been fairly obvious without being rude. Now? Now I’m just going for rude. I wouldn’t go to dinner with you if you were the last guy on Earth.”
Chad took an involuntary step back. “You don’t have to be a bitch about it.”
“Obviously I do,” Mandy replied. “And, while I’m being a bitch, that guy you keep casting aspersions on is ten times the man you will ever be. And, if you ever say something negative about him again, I will claw your eyes out.”
Chad narrowed his eyes. “I don’t think I like your tone.”
The temperature in the room dropped suddenly. Mandy realized she hadn’t seen anyone pass through the open hallway in a long time. She suddenly felt exposed. She refused to back down, though. “I don’t care about what you like,” she said. “Get out of my office.”
“And what if I don’t want to get out?” Chad challenged.
“Then I’ll throw you out.”
Mandy let loose a shaky breath when she saw James. Chad turned around, visibly shrinking when he caught sight of James’ furious face. Chad’s ego wouldn’t allow him to tuck his tail between his legs and just slink away.
“Oh, your boyfriend is here,” he said. “I figured it had to be something like that.”
From all outward appearances, James seemed calm – if slightly miffed. Mandy could feel the anger rolling off of him.
“Well, you figured right,” James said.
“Well then,” Chad clucked. “I guess I’ll leave you two to your night.” He tried to slip around James and exit the office, but James blocked his way.
“While you’re here,” James said. “I think you and I should have a little talk.”
“I’m fairly certain we don’t operate on the same intellectual level,” Chad shot back. “Any conversation we have will go right over your head.”
“Then I’ll do the talking,” James said, his voice cool. “I don’t want you bugging her anymore. I don’t want you looking at her. I don’t want you talking to her. I don’t want you even acknowledging her presence.” James held up his hand when Chad opened his mouth to argue. “I’m not done. If she tells me that you’re bugging her, I will hunt you down and let my uneducated fists do the talking. It’s what I do best. I’m good at it.”
Chad visibly gulped. “I’m not afraid of you.”
“Then you’re dumber than you look,” James said, finally moving out of the doorway so Chad could get by him. “And, just in case you don’t think I’m serious, you should know that I have two brothers who I’ll bring with me if you really piss me off – and they’re meaner than I am.”
Chad disappeared from the office without a backwards glance. When he was gone, James shifted his gaze over to Mandy. “What?”
She wanted to yell at him. She wanted to tell him that bodily threat was never the way to deal with an asshole. Instead, she shot him a wry grin. “Beating someone up is not what you do best.”
James’ eyes went dark at her meaning. He held out his hand to her. “Come on. Let’s put your theory to the test.”
“Are you going to at least buy me dinner first?”
“Of course,” James replied. “I need to keep your energy level up. I’m going to have you saluting me all night.”
Twenty-Three
Finn and Grady were waiting on a residential street in Harrison Township when James parked his Explorer and killed the engine. He’d dropped Mandy off at work a few minutes before, making her promise to wait for him to pick her up again, despite her rampant protests. He could tell she was starting to wear under his constant vigilance, but he didn’t know what else to do.
No one was going to lay a finger on her during his watch.
“You got my text?”
“I ran a background check on Chad Cooper last night,” Finn replied. “As far as I can tell, the guy is just a typical lawyer. He spends hundreds of dollars on suits a month, has an expensive gym membership, and probably has a small penis if his car is any indication.”
James snorted out a laugh. “What does he drive?”
“A Camaro.”
“The eighties called,” Grady said, smirking. “They want their tool mobile back.”
Finn’s face sobered. “What makes you think he could be a suspect?”
/>
“Because I’ve caught him harassing Mandy twice now,” James replied grimly. “The first time was at the art fair. I thought he was just flirting with her and he immediately backed off when he saw me. Last night, though, there was something different. He was kind of aggressive when he thought it was just the two of them. When she shot him down he was … I don’t know … cold.”
“Wait a second; you went to an art fair?” Grady looked horrified.
James clenched his jaw. “She went to an art fair. I was doing surveillance.”
“Right,” Finn said, his sarcasm evident. “You were just watching her while she went to an art fair. That sounds totally reasonable.”
James cracked his neck irritably. “Is there a point to this conversation?”
“No,” Finn shook his head. “I just find it interesting that you went to an art fair.”
“You didn’t buy anything, did you?” Grady asked.
James ducked his head.
“Oh, God, you did,” Grady laughed. “What did you buy? Please tell me it was a little ceramic cat with a heart.”
James squared his shoulders. “If you must know, I bought a set of really expensive stained-glass wind chimes.”
“For your balcony?” Grady asked.
“No.”
“Were they kittens?”
“They were butterflies,” James countered, knowing that wasn’t even remotely better.
“If they aren’t for the balcony, then what did you buy them for?”
“Mandy,” Finn supplied. “He bought them because Mandy liked them.”
“Is that true?” Grady pressed. “You’re such a woman.”
James rolled his eyes. He refused to be sorry about buying the wind chimes. She loved them and he wanted her to have them. He’d buy her a set every day as long as he could keep seeing that smile. He decided to change the subject. “Did you get Cooper’s schedule?”
“Yeah,” Finn said. “He’s in court all morning. He’s got two child molestation cases and one armed robbery case. He won’t be coming home anytime soon.”
“How did you find all that out?”
“His secretary likes me,” Finn said, shrugging.
“Is she hot?” Grady asked.
“I’m taking her out tonight. What do you think?”
“Nice,” Grady said, bumping his fist against Finn’s knuckles. “Try buying her some butterfly wind chimes. Apparently, if you do that, you get nonstop sex.”
James ignored them. “Let’s get this over with.”
The brothers made their way to the house in front of them, a split-level ranch with a perfectly manicured lawn and bright red front door meeting their gazes. Finn served as lookout while Grady picked the lock with an assist from James. When he still hadn’t opened the door after a minute, James fixed him with a hard look. “Let me do it.”
“I can do it.”
James watched Grady struggle for another minute and then pushed him out of the way. The lock tumbled within seconds and James sent Grady a smug look. “And this from the guy who buys butterfly wind chimes.”
“I could’ve gotten it if you gave me another minute.”
“We’re trying to be stealthy, remember?” James prodded.
“Can we finish this conversation inside?” Finn asked.
The brothers wordlessly disappeared inside of Chad’s house, shutting the door behind them – closing out prying eyes – and then taking in their surroundings.
“Well, my first impression is that this guy is a neat freak,” Grady said, moving through the small living room and navigating around the modern furniture populating it. “There’s a place for everything and everything has its place.”
“It’s a little freaky,” Finn agreed, eyeing a marble lion above the fireplace suspiciously.
James walked to the kitchen, opening the refrigerator and scowling when he did. “Light beer.” He opened the freezer next, his scowl only widening. “Frozen cosmopolitan packages.”
“The dude is a freak,” Grady said. “I said it first.”
James ignored him and made his way down the hallway, flicking the light to the bathroom on and glancing around. “He’s got a lot of … weird stuff in here.”
Grady looked in the bathroom and laughed. “He’s into the whole manscaping thing obviously.”
James left the bathroom and moved further down the hall. He motioned for Grady to tackle the bedroom as he strode into Chad’s office. Finn sat down at the desk and booted up Chad’s computer, inserting a flash drive into the port when the screen came to life.
“Just download it and we’ll look at it when we get back to the office,” James ordered.
“Thanks, I couldn’t do my job without you.”
“Sorry,” James mumbled. He crouched down next to the filing cabinet and pulled the top drawer open. He rifled through the files, pausing when something caught his attention. He pulled a magazine out of the drawer, frowning when he realized what he was looking at.
“What is this?” Grady asked, holding up an oddly-shaped contraption as he poked his head through the office doorway.
Finn glanced up and immediately started laughing. “You might want to wash your hands.”
Grady was focused on the item, still unsure what it was. “Just tell me what it is.”
James couldn’t stop himself from laughing, the surreal nature of the situation finally hitting him. “It’s a butt plug.”
Grady frowned. “What does it do?”
“Think about it,” Finn pressed.
Grady’s mouth opened in surprise. “Gross.”
“Put it back where you found it,” James ordered. He turned to Finn ruefully. “I think we’re barking up the wrong tree.”
“What makes you say that?”
James held up the gay porn magazine he’d found inside the filing cabinet.
“If he’s gay, why is he hitting on Mandy?” Finn asked.
“Because he knows she’ll say no,” James replied. “He’s posturing. He’s obviously in the closet. He’s trying to save face.”
James and Finn exchanged a look when they heard water running in the nearby bathroom. “Between watching Clint and his porn and touching Chad’s … um, little friend, I think Grady is about at his limit,” Finn said.
“I don’t blame him.”
MANDY woke with a start. The room was dark, the only light coming from the alarm clock on James’ nightstand. When she’d fallen asleep a few hours ago, James had been cuddled up behind her. His side of the bed was empty now.
Mandy climbed out of the bed, feeling her way about in the dark as she tried to remember the layout of his bedroom. There wasn’t a lot of furniture to bump into, but they’d shed their clothes in haphazard piles on the floor earlier. Mandy didn’t want to trip over an errant shoe or tangle her feet in a pair of pants and slam into a wall. That would just be embarrassing.
She paused long enough to grab his discarded shirt from the floor when she felt it with her toes. She pulled it on, buttoning it over her chest. It was long enough to cover her ass, although she didn’t bother pulling on her underwear. It’s not like she could find them in the dark anyway.
The door to the bedroom was cracked and she could see light floating in from the adjacent room. She found him sitting on the floor in the living room, his laptop open on top of the coffee table, his legs stretched beneath it. The television was on but muted, today’s sports scores scrolling along the bottom feed as he glanced up from time to time.
She took a second to just watch him. He’d pulled on a pair of boxer shorts, but his chest remained bare. His hair was a mess, but under the dim light of the television and laptop screen, she’d never seen anything more breathtaking.
“Are you just going to stand there staring at me?”
Mandy moved the rest of the way into the room. “I didn’t want to bother you.”
“You’re not bothering me,” James replied, glancing up at her. “I was just getting some work done. Did I w
ake you?”
Mandy didn’t know how to answer the question. She had no idea what had woken her, but she had a sneaking suspicion it was his absence in the bed. In a short amount of time, she’d become accustom to his warmth and missed it terribly when it was gone. “No. I just was wondering where you went.”
James motioned for her to come to him. He leaned back, pulling her into his lap, settling her so she could see the screen.
“What are you doing?”
“Just catching up on some invoices,” James replied. “I’m almost done.”
Mandy watched as his fingers flew over the keypad, plugging in numbers and expanding his spreadsheet as he went. It surprised her that he was so computer savvy, although it really shouldn’t have. He was good at everything he tried.
Mandy rested her head back against his shoulder. “What did you do today?”
“We broke into Chad Cooper’s house and searched it,” James replied.
Mandy stiffened in his arms. “Is that a joke?”
“No.”
“You can’t just break into someone’s house,” Mandy protested.
“I’m trusting you not to turn me into the police,” James replied dryly.
Mandy worried her lower lip, hating herself for her next question. “Did you find anything?”
“I found out that you probably don’t have to worry about Chad Cooper,” James said. “He’s all talk, no follow through.”
“What do you mean?”
“He’s gay.”
Mandy searched her memory. “How can you be sure?”
James filled her in on his afternoon. When he was done, Mandy couldn’t contain her laughter. “Poor Grady.”
“He’ll live.”
Mandy sobered. “Why would he ask me out if he was gay?”
“He probably doesn’t want anyone to know he’s gay. You make an easy cover because he knows you’ll say no.”
“Now I kind of feel bad for him,” Mandy admitted. “No one should have to hide who they are.”
James met her gaze, smiling. “You have a really good heart,” he said, brushing his lips against her temple. “I still don’t want you to be nice to him. He’s a dick.”
Mandy giggled. “He’s obviously not a threat to you,” she said. “He wasn’t even before I knew about that … thing.”
Deadly Intentions (Hardy Brothers Security Book 1) Page 17