“I mean it. I’ll worry, so make sure you call me.”
“I know,” she murmured, grateful for her older sibling’s caring. Since losing both parents, they were all the family each had left and were extremely close, even with him living in Manhattan.
“I’ll let Shane know you’re on your way. Now go concentrate and watch for a tail.”
“Believe me, I am.” Not that she knew how to easily lose one if she discovered someone was following her. “Love you,” she whispered.
“Back at you.” He disconnected the call.
Talia glanced around her on the highway and realized there was nobody behind her. She pulled into the right lane, slowed a bit, opened the window, and with an apology to her life’s information on that cell phone, tossed the piece of metal onto the side of the road.
A little while later, she’d left the car in a dark corner of long-term parking, walked quickly to the nearest taxi stand in the airport, and given the driver Shane Landon’s address.
She ought to be nervous about seeing him again, but she couldn’t concentrate on anything but the stranger who’d wanted to trap her in her lab—and wondered what he’d have done with her if he had.
She shivered in the back of the cab, touching the locket on her neck for comfort.
“Want me to turn on the radio?” the driver offered.
“No. Thank you.” She just wanted to get to her destination so she could have the time to think and sort out the situation in her mind.
Finally, he pulled in front of a gorgeous home that was obviously new construction. She paid the driver the money she’d pulled out of her wallet—all the cash she’d had on her, and she was grateful she hadn’t had to ask the man to wait so she could get money from Shane.
She stepped out of the cab, shut the door, and the taxi sped off, leaving her feeling open and exposed. She rushed to the front door, looking over her shoulder constantly, and rang the bell, followed by some banging with her hand.
A car door slammed in the distance, and she jumped a good ten feet, immediately banging her knuckles on the door again.
Obviously, Shane wasn’t home, but just as clearly, she couldn’t stand out here, causing a scene. Nor did she want to be out in the open. She didn’t think anyone had followed her from the lab. They’d have shown themselves by now if they had, right? But still, she didn’t want to take any chances.
She’d seen a gate around the side of the house when the cab had pulled up, so maybe she could hide in his backyard until he returned. She glanced around. Still no sign of cars or neighbors.
She followed the walkway toward the driveway, then headed to the gate around back. Tall wooden fencing blocked anyone from seeing in—or out—which afforded her the protection she needed, as long as the lock was open.
She reached for the latch…and bingo. She expelled a long sigh of relief as she pushed the heavy slats open and stepped inside, shutting the gate and clicking it closed behind her.
Alone in the big backyard, with a large in-ground pool in front of her, she felt her shoulders sag at the respite from the panic that had been accompanying her for the last hour. She wasn’t out of danger, but at least she was marginally safe.
She exhaled hard and started for the patio chairs, planning to sit and catch her breath, when a deep thrum of music coming from the other side of the lawn caught her attention. The tunes played from speakers attached to the house.
She followed the sound to an outdoor shower stall. The swinging door was open wide, and Shane Landon stood inside, water sluicing down his tanned, muscular, completely naked body. His face was turned up toward the shower head, eyes closed, as he soaped up that glorious skin with his hands.
For a brief moment, the fear she’d been running from evaporated, and all she could concentrate on was him. His dark hair, wet from the shower, his biceps bulging as he rinsed off, the tattoos on his chest, and as her gaze traveled lower to his impressive package, her own body came to life. Her nipples puckered into tight points, arousal pulsing through her veins. She stared unabashedly until—
“What the fuck?” He slammed the shower off and stormed toward her, dripping wet, no towel in sight.
Obviously her brother hadn’t been able to reach him. He’d been indisposed… And the events of the morning came flooding back. Chris’s frightened call, finding her lab empty, her work gone, hiding from a man who’d wanted to trap her. It was like a thriller movie, but she was the one on the run, and this was her life.
The adrenaline that had guided her this far left her in a rush. “Shane,” she said, her voice shaking.
“Talia?” He stared at her in disbelief.
“I need you.” She took one step and her knees buckled.
He stepped forward and caught her before she hit the ground, his big, hard, naked body protecting hers with strength and heat.
Chapter Two
Shane grabbed Talia before her knees gave out and picked her up, carrying her to the reclining chairs where she could sit…and he could wrap himself in a towel. His dick was already reacting to having her in his arms, a warm, soft woman who smelled damned good.
She wasn’t passed out cold, she’d just collapsed due to falling adrenaline, something he’d seen many times before on the force and in his work with security firms.
But why the fuck was she here now?
He set her on the reclining chair, and she pushed herself up against the back, breathing in and out slowly.
The familiar ring of his phone caught his attention. He glanced at the table where his cell sat… and saw her brother was calling.
Shane picked up quickly. “Hey, man.”
“Where the hell have you been? I have an emergency.”
“I was in the shower. But if you’re calling about Talia,” he said, glancing over to catch her staring at him, wide-eyed behind her black-framed glasses, “package arrived safely.” He couldn’t stop himself from winking at her.
And her cheeks flushed a pretty pink.
“She was supposed to let me know she was safe,” Tate grumbled. “She’s in trouble. She called from her lab and said someone was after her.”
Shane narrowed his gaze, not liking the sound of that at all. “I’ll get to the bottom of it,” he promised, knowing his friend was in China and would be worried sick about his sister.
“Keep in touch,” Tate demanded.
“Will do.” Shane disconnected the call and looked at Talia.
A woman he hadn’t seen since high school because, although he was good friends with her brother, he and Talia ran in different circles.
They always had.
A year younger, the little brainiac who’d tutored him in chemistry his senior year had saved his ass and enabled him to graduate. Too bad he’d been stupid enough to kiss her as a thank you, then shove his tongue down her throat and his hand up her shirt like she was a horny cheerleader and he was the football captain copping a feel. Which he had been.
But she wasn’t that kind of girl. She’d deserved better. No wonder she’d pushed him away and slammed the door in his face, avoiding him afterward. Then life had taken them their separate ways.
But now she needed him and he found irony in that.
He had wrapped the towel around his waist and tucked the corner in to keep it in place. Folding his arms across his chest, he pinned her with his most serious gaze. “Tate says you’re in trouble. And I can’t help you unless I know the extent of it. So let’s hear it,” he said, getting down to what he did best.
Business.
Because if he kept staring at her porcelain skin, big brown doe eyes, and silky, chocolate-colored hair falling haphazardly and adorably out of a bun on the back of her head, his cock wouldn’t go down and this situation would remain embarrassing. Apparently she still made him lose control just as she’d done years ago.
She pulled her jean-clad knees up to her chin, doing her best to keep her gaze on his chest and above, but she kept glancing down at the towel. And his d
ick liked the attention and stood in awareness.
Shit.
“Situation?” he barked at her, in a tone his ex-wife would have shrunk back from. No matter that he’d never take his frustration out on her. She wasn’t the strong, silent type a cop had needed for a wife.
Talia didn’t flinch. “I’m working on a treatment for a congenital heart defect. I found the answers, and today when I showed up at my lab, everything was gone. Wiped clean. And a big, burly guy was talking into his cell phone about trapping me in the lab and asking for backup before I left the building.”
Shane’s senses went on alert. Big pharma meant big money. Those people didn’t play around. “If whoever is after you now has all your work and research, why do they need you?” he asked.
She bit down on her full bottom lip. “It’s a long story.”
He couldn’t tear his stare from that puffy pink flesh. He wanted to draw it into his mouth for a taste. He frowned at the direction of his thoughts.
If he was going to help her, he needed to focus. “Were you followed here?” he asked.
“I don’t think so.” She shook her head, fingering a locket around her neck nervously.
“Not good enough. Come on. I’ll get you something cold to drink and I’ll get dressed.” He extended a hand, and she grasped it so he could pull her to her feet.
He hadn’t anticipated the jolt of awareness on contact, and he cleared his throat. “From there we’ll go to my office and work out a game plan.”
He started for the kitchen, knowing he had to call his boss and get some people in on the weekend to help out. Ian Taggart, head of McKay-Taggart Security Services, was a solid guy…who wouldn’t appreciate being called away from his wife and kids on a weekend off. That said, as soon as he heard the story and Talia’s connection to a man who was the closest thing Shane had to a brother, he’d drop everything and offer up MT services to help.
After he busted Shane’s balls—because one look at Shane and Talia and the bastard would figure out there’d been something between them. Years ago or not, Ian would give him shit. Taggart was that good at reading people. Shane wondered if he had time to stop and pick up a lemon-filled dessert from Ian’s brother Sean at his restaurant, Top. Anything lemon would take the edge off Ian’s bite.
He glanced over his shoulder at Talia. No, no time to stop. Getting her safely to MT, where they could assess and work out a plan of action, was his main priority at the moment.
“Before we go to your office, I have to stop at my apartment,” she said from behind him.
Shane opted to get them inside and lock the door behind them before he turned and scowled at her request. “Isn’t that the first place someone would go? If they’re looking for you?”
She nodded. “But you know that long story I mentioned? It involves the research results and the way to reconstruct the treatment. And it’s in pieces. Whoever stole my lab equipment only got the last part that my assistant and I just finished. The second part is hidden in a safe at my house.”
He was afraid to ask where the first part was. Shane scrubbed a hand down his face. “Then I’ll take you to McKay-Taggart, where you’ll be safe, and I’ll go pick up the work product.”
“You can’t do that!”
He shook his head, not planning on giving in on this. Her safety came first. “Now isn’t the time to get stubborn. I protect you. That’s my job.”
“It’s not being stubborn! My safe opens with my fingerprint.” She met his gaze defiantly, hands on her sweet hips. “You need me with you. Or at least you need my finger and I’m pretty attached to it. In more ways than one.”
He grinned, caught off guard that she could joke when she was also so afraid. He had to respect that about her. He didn’t like it but she had a point.
“Fine. We go to your house first but you do everything—and I mean everything—I say. Agreed?”
“Agreed. Now can you do me a favor?” she asked.
He nodded. “Want that cold drink?”
She shook her head. “I want you to put some clothes on.” Her cheeks burned as she spoke the words. But her point was clear.
She was as affected by him as he was by her. And they hadn’t even had a chance to get reacquainted yet.
* * * *
Shane Landon had a great ass. With Talia’s smarts and all the sudden insanity in her life, that was the main topic going through her mind. But as he walked away from her, towel low on his hips, his sexy ass was the best thing she could think about.
It was better than recalling how she’d collapsed against his naked body. Not that she didn’t appreciate the feeling, and he’d smelled incredibly good, but it was another humiliating experience to add to the other mortifying incident with Shane. And while he was upstairs getting dressed, she had nothing but time to recall the first moment in excruciating detail.
She’d spent spring of her junior, his senior year in high school tutoring the hot jock in chemistry so he could graduate on time. The guy she had an insane crush on, and also her brother’s best friend, was always surrounded by the prettiest, most popular girls in school. There was no way he’d be interested in a science geek like her. Even if he did tease her during their sessions, when his blue eyes would light up with laughter at her usually too complicated explanations before she dumbed things down for him, his words, not hers. She’d never thought he was dumb.
He would call her his little brainiac, or smarty-pants, and though if anyone else had said it, she’d think they were making fun of her, he always did it with a warm twinkle in his gaze and a little lift of his lips that she liked to think was just for her. Hey, a girl could dream, and she knew that’s all she’d ever do about Shane Landon. Especially since she was always uncomfortable and inevitably did something awkward around him.
Yes, there was something about Shane that brought out the awkward girl inside her, and clearly that hadn’t changed.
“I’m ready,” he said, striding back into the kitchen, where he’d left her, this time fully dressed. He wore a dark pair of jeans and a light black jacket, which no doubt covered his weapon.
“Great.” She swallowed hard, as things had just gotten real. Nothing said reality like a man with a gun. He shut off the music outside and the lights indoors.
She followed him to the garage, where he set the alarm to the house and held open the car door for her to climb inside his navy and khaki-colored Jeep Wrangler.
“What’s your address?” he asked, and she rattled off the condo information.
He took off in his hot car. Her nerves had returned. If she wasn’t so afraid, she’d enjoy the ride, but she couldn’t stop wondering just what she was up against and why.
When she finally paid attention to her surroundings, she realized he was driving them in circles and taking off-the-beaten-path roads.
“Why—”
“Just in case you had a tail,” he said, reading her mind before she could ask the question in full. “Now here’s how it’s going to go. We get to your place, I go first. You stay behind me. You pack up some clothes and necessities first. Five minutes and we’re out of there. Put everything in a brown paper bag or bland shopping bag and we’ll check it over at the office. Then we go to the safe at your apartment. We’ll grab your work and get the hell out,” he said, all sexy efficiency, his aviators covering his eyes as he glanced her way.
“Yes, boss.” She saluted him because she was actually calmed by his list of commands.
He frowned at her, and she shook her head, knowing he’d thought she was being glib. “I’m serious. I’m not looking to get myself killed. I’ll listen.”
His shoulders eased down at her admission. “Where’s the safe?” he asked her.
She couldn’t help the self-satisfied smile that took hold. “Beneath the shower. It’s waterproof.” She was rather proud of her hiding place.
“Nice,” he acknowledged and she grinned.
“Where are we going that I need clothes?” she asked.
“We’ll figure that out at McKay-Taggart, but obviously you can’t stay here,” he said as he pulled into the parking lot of her co-op. “Ready?” he asked.
She blew out a shallow breath. “As I’ll ever be. Let’s do it.”
He came around to her side and she followed him out of the car and into her apartment building.
Chapter Three
Talia’s apartment had been tossed. Someone was clearly looking for her treatment formula and her information on recreating it. Paintings had been pulled off the walls and even the mattress in her bedroom had been removed from the bed as part of the search.
Shane had to admit he was impressed with her hiding place. He didn’t call her his little brainiac for no reason. Now they had the satchel with her disks, flash drive, papers, and notebook, along with one shopping bag of personal necessities.
He wanted as few things that could potentially have been bugged with a tracker as possible. The people after her were clearly determined, and he had no way of knowing whether they’d planned this in advance, in anticipation of her completion of her work.
They could grab anything else she needed once he determined where they were going. A safe house was one possibility, but he needed more details from her first.
He’d called Ian from the road, and when they arrived at the high-rise building that housed McKay-Taggart, they met up with his boss in a conference room on the same floor as the main offices.
Ian wasn’t alone. Nor was he with any of the MT crew.
“You brought the girls?” Shane asked, shocked Ian’s twins were sitting at the table, coloring, but he had a hunch the quiet wouldn’t last long. They were Taggarts, after all. Chaos would inevitably follow.
“Oh my God, they’re adorable!” Talia exclaimed, her eyes lighting up at the sight of the children. “How old are they?”
“Five.” Ian turned, and Shane realized he had his infant son strapped to a carrier attached to his chest. And there were throw-up stains on his shoulder.
“Problem?” Ian asked, cocking one eyebrow, daring him to comment. “Because if there is, you should have had your emergency during business hours.”
His to Protect: A Bodyguard Bad Boys/Masters and Mercenaries Novella (Lexi Blake Crossover Collection Book 5) Page 2