by Amy McKinley
“I need to cut it,” he said.
I leaned a hip against the counter so I could see his face better. “Because of your job?” I knew he was a former Navy SEAL, but I didn’t think his current career would have such stipulations.
“No. Well, it’s easier to have it short when going on missions, but that’s not why.”
I waited, toying with the stem of my wineglass. “And… the reason is?”
He smirked. “It’s long from a little bit of laziness and embracing the wannabe life of a surfer.”
He was sexy as hell. “You surf?” I couldn’t stop picturing him riding the waves.
“Some. When there’s downtime.”
Shadows swam in his eyes, his laid-back demeanor slipped, and I wondered what I was missing. “Do you not like your job?”
He stacked another dish in the dishwasher. “I do. I’m lucky. I get to work with my brother and guys who have been more of a family than Chris and I ever had. I wouldn’t change it for anything.”
“Then what is it?” I laid my hand on his bicep. My question was met with silence. His shrug was the only response I got.
He always gave off the impression of not having a care in the world unless he was working on security or making sure I was safe. But I had gotten to know him, and I could see his layers and that they hid the pain. His laid-back persona masked turmoil from his younger years. Even though he’d shared a great deal with me, I felt there was more, and it was something dark.
The car jerked to a halt, and I was out the door and rounding the bumper before Jules said hello. A quick visual scan of our surroundings was all I was able to accomplish before I wrapped my arm around her shoulders. “What are you doing waiting out here? You should be inside with the security guard until I pull up.”
“Nothing will happen to me.” A smile played around her red lips, and mischief flashed in her eyes.
What’s that about? She knew the risks, especially after she was grabbed into an alley and threatened, and then the anthrax scare. I ushered her into the passenger seat then got into the driver’s side and pulled away from her workplace. “Why are you taking off from work early? Everything good?”
Silence stretched between us, and I glanced her way. With her lips pursed, her gaze crawled over me. My body responded. I focused back on the road and not on her roaming eyes. She was being strange. Worry clawed at me over the shift in her demeanor while we waited for the light to change. We’d had a great night talking, and after I’d dropped her at work that morning, I hadn’t expected to be back until after five at the very earliest.
“Yep”—she popped the P—“everything’s fine. I decided to cut out early. It’s a gorgeous day, and staying inside to work on formulas wasn’t how I wanted to spend it.”
I risked another glance at her. The Jules I knew was a borderline workaholic. “Sure you’re feeling okay?”
Her husky laugh filled the car, but instead of its usual heady effect, chills skated along my spine. Something was off. It had to be the challenge of finding her footing without her assistant. Then the scare from the attack and the anthrax.
“Never better.” She shifted closer, and her fingers tiptoed up my forearm until they curled around my bicep. “I can think of something we could do this afternoon.”
I pulled into the driveway of her small house on the beach. After helping her out of the vehicle, I took her keys and unlocked the front door. “Wait here.”
When I was positive she was going to stay by the door, I walked the house to make sure no one was waiting inside. I didn’t think anyone would be, but I wasn’t going to miss doing something so important, especially because I had to run out and leave her there alone. My phone had been going off nonstop, and I had to take care of a few things for Chris, Liam, and Hawk—our team was stretched thin. Most of the guys were out on missions. Connor was with me, but not on-site yet. I would have him take over night duty and remain invisible to Jules, though he was a much-needed part of ensuring her safety.
I rounded the corner and made my way back to the front of the house. God, she was gorgeous. She leaned against the door, and her dark-brown hair was pushed behind one shoulder with a long, thick wave of it covering her left eye. With her chin tipped down, she looked at me beneath sooty lashes. She lifted her hand and shoved the hair from her face, and the tiny charms of her bracelet slipped from the cuff of her sweater and jingled as she moved.
“I have to take care of a job, but I’ll be back soon.”
Her gray-and-black skirt swirled around her ankles as she shifted, baring a small flash of her flat midriff above the waistline. I wanted to tease her skin as I pulled her close. My cell buzzed. What I was about to do went against everything I was comfortable with, but it would only be for an hour, and I had the cameras all set up outside and a hired security detail keeping an eye on the place.
“Since you’re leaving for a while, we should go out to eat tonight. I don’t feel like cooking.” She closed the distance between us so only a whisper of space remained. Her finger trailed down my arm. She rose to her toes and pressed a kiss to my mouth, her tongue darting out along my lower lip before she stepped back. “Hurry back.”
A stirring of desire warred with my need to leave, and I leveled her with a stern expression. “Stay inside.”
A slow smile spread across her lips. “I’ll be waiting for you.”
The errand I had to run for Chris took a full hour. I hated leaving Jules alone for that long, but I had two security guards watching her house—otherwise, I never would have gone. She didn’t know about them and didn’t need to. If anything happened while I was away, I trusted the men I’d left in charge. Besides, Connor had arrived early and was watching the back of her lot. Why he couldn’t talk with the ancestry-company owner about whatever mission Keegan was on was beyond me, but Chris had his reasons.
After ringing the doorbell, I stood back so she could see it was me through the custom crescent-moon window on the front door. It was one of the more unique doors I’d seen, and it fit her personality. Even though Jules was a genetic epidemiologist, she had an ethereal, dreamy side to her.
Maybe we can walk down the beach and grab hot dogs or something. She’d wanted to go out, but I couldn’t stop thinking of the meals she’d cooked for me. That’s what I wanted, some amazing Italian food. My mouth watered. Dating her could become a problem if I didn’t run daily. I could easily gain weight from how much she’d fed me over the past few weeks.
The door opened, and Jules stood there in white capris and a red top. I didn’t know which I liked her in better, the skirt from earlier or the way the pants and shirt hugged her curves.
“Is everything okay?” Her brows furrowed.
“Yep. Sorry that took so long. I hoped I’d be back in a half hour.”
“Oh.” She stepped aside and swung the door wider. The smell of sauce on the stove hit my nose. “It’s fine. I haven’t been here long.”
My fingers closed around her arm, and I turned her back to me. “What? I asked you to stay inside.”
She frowned, confusion swimming in her eyes. “How else was I supposed to get home? I had to go outside in order to leave the building.”
“Well…” My stomach growled. “You decided to cook rather than go out?”
Her head knocked back, and a small laugh escaped her lips. “Why would I want to go out to dinner?”
What the hell is going on? “You said you wanted to go out to eat earlier.”
“Yeah, no…” She shook her head and continued to the kitchen.
“Are you sure you’re okay? You seemed a little off earlier—”
“Oh, yeah. I’m fine, just had a tough time at work today finishing up some projects that Fran and I were involved on.”
I followed. Jules went straight to the stove and stirred the sauce. My stomach growled, and she laughed. “What can I do to help?”
“Nothing. The pasta is already draining in the sink. Go sit down. It’ll be ready in a few
minutes.”
I dropped onto a kitchen chair and leaned back, watching the graceful way Jules moved from the stove to the pantry. She came back with two big bowls. There was an innate kindness to her that radiated through her fluid movements. Her behavior earlier was so odd, but she must have been trying to bury her emotions with physicality. Jules had been aggressive toward me, which I welcomed, but she’d never behaved so brazenly. It was a strange shift in her character, even in her mannerisms. While grief had many stages—and I’d also gone through many when I thought my brother was dead—I wasn’t sure how I felt about the instability I’d witnessed in her moods today.
I stood and went to help, wanting to do what I could to make the day better for her. When I reached for one of the bowls she held, our hands touched. Her gorgeous face tilted to mine, and the smile she wore nearly brought me to my knees. There was a sweetness about her I was drawn to. Within all the ugliness of life, someone like her was a gift meant to be cherished.
Dinner was over before I knew it, and the sinking sun ushered in the night. The guards would have been relieved by new ones. “Is there anything you want to do tonight?”
She set her wineglass down and toyed with the stem before looking at me with hooded eyelids. I worked on the dishes since she’d cooked. “We could pick up where things left off last night.”
I couldn’t help but tease her. “Netflix?”
Heat colored her cheeks.
I chuckled. I didn’t know how much longer I could go without touching her.
“I was hoping that show wasn’t what you were talking about.”
After the last dish had been put away, I linked our fingers and pulled her out of the kitchen and down the hall.
Amusement played around the upturned corners of her mouth even as her eyes dilated. I couldn’t get enough of her. I wanted everything.
“Wait.” She nibbled on her lower lip. “I’ll just be a minute.”
She slipped into the master bathroom, and a second later, I heard the sink running. I prowled the room, making sure the shades didn’t allow anyone to see inside. I passed by her dresser when a flash of silver caught my eye. I bent and retrieved the bracelet I’d seen Jules wear earlier today. A link was broken. It must have snagged on something and fallen when she’d changed out of her skirt.
The door opened, and every nerve in my body sprung taut. The bracelet slid from my hand to land in a forgotten tangle on her dresser. “What’s wrong?”
Her olive-toned skin was pale, and she pressed her lips so tightly together that the rosy color was leached from them. “I…” She swayed on her feet.
I rushed to her side. Grasping her arms, I led her to sit on the bed.
She shook her head. “I don’t know. It was weird.”
I sat next to her and moved my thumbs in soothing circles over her hands. “I won’t think so. Tell me.”
“I—I was washing my face, and when I looked in the mirror, there was this odd duality. I was staring at my reflection, but it wasn’t my reflection. I don’t know how to describe it.”
I pressed a kiss to her forehead. I didn’t know what she meant, but I wanted to double-check the bathroom to be sure. After all, there was a window in there. “Stay here.” I left her sitting on the edge of the bed. I flicked the light on and was met with white shiplap, a claw-foot tub, a clean vanity, and a large shower. Nothing was out of place, and the blinds were drawn over the single pane. I checked the lock to ensure it was secure. It was.
When I came out, she was running her hand over the T-shaped scar on the inside of her arm. “Nothing, right?”
I shook my head then took her in my arms. “Doesn’t mean you were wrong. Maybe you sensed someone outside the window or were startled for a moment. It happens. Try not to worry too much.” It was odd timing but something I’d just realized, so I voiced it. “You don’t have any other mirrors in the house.”
She shook her head. “No. My mom noticed I’d get headaches often and traced the issue to memory fragments I remembered while looking in the mirror. She took them down.”
It made sense. Given how she’d described their relationship, I could imagine her mom doing that to eliminate Jules’s distress.
We stayed upright on the bed for several moments with her head tucked under my chin. I ran my hand through her silky hair, my heart breaking for her. She’d been through so much from the stalker, to someone messing with her at the office, to Fran’s death, and an anthrax scare. It was no wonder that she was on edge.
She shifted and dropped her head to my shoulder, tilting her chin until our gazes collided. Goddamn. Lust slammed into me at the smoldering desire reflected in her parted lips and dilated pupils.
I took her mouth in a hungry kiss. My fingers curled in the thick hair at the back of her head. A soft moan escaped as my tongue tangled with hers. Sparks of electricity shot through my body at the feel of her silky skin and responsive reactions. I deepened the kiss then lay her back on the bed, following her down.
Her hands roved over my back, slipping under my shirt. I lifted up enough to pull it over my head, tossing it aside. I cupped her hip before inching along her side to her stomach. Soft, inviting skin notched my need higher. Each time she wiggled under me, arching her back, my need for her got more and more out of control.
Being with her was all-consuming, causing tunnel vision. I had one goal, and she was it. Nothing else mattered. My mind went fuzzy, and desire took over. I didn’t know what it was about her, but I knew my connection to her was dangerous. My job was to keep her safe, but all I could think about was her and the things I wanted to do to her.
The button on her pants popped open with a flick of my thumb, and I eased the zipper down.
She nudged my hands away, and I shifted to my side, giving her room as she shimmied out of them.
“You’re killing me, Jules.”
She flopped back on the bed, her hair splayed over the pillow, and gave me the sexiest smile before tugging on my arm. I covered her again, pressing kisses along her neck, over her collarbone, and to the gentle swell of her—
Blaring sound screamed through the room in short blasts, interrupting what we were about to do. Shit. I jumped off her, reaching for the gun I’d set on the side table. There was no reason for the fire alarm to go off.
Jules’s eyes were wide as she’d grabbed for her pants. “I turned the stove off. I don’t understand.”
There was no smell of smoke. Even though I wanted her to stay in the bedroom, there were windows someone could break through if they made it past the guards. My phone buzzed in my pocket, and I slipped an earpiece in, connecting it with a tap of a button.
“No movement outside. No visible flames or smoke,” Connor reported.
“Could be a faulty battery,” I answered. The line fell silent. He would have known that I was checking the interior, and I knew they were doing the same outside.
Jules hooked a finger through a belt loop in the back of my jeans. That worked for me. I liked knowing she was close and that no one could get to her without going through me first, which wouldn’t happen.
In a matter of seconds, we were standing in her kitchen, staring at the lone lit candle on the table. What the hell is going on? It was small and wouldn’t have caused the fire alarm to go off. It was beyond strange, and when I turned to her, my gut clenched tight at her fearful expression.
Her lower lip trembled slightly, and she wrung her hands. “I swear I blew that out.”
I eased my arm out from under Jules, who cuddled against my side. I slid from the bed and pulled on my jeans under the light from the silvery moon. I needed to talk with Connor and had sent him a text. I slipped out the sliding door and waited on the patio for him to emerge from the trees on the left.
I was too restless to remain in the same bed with her—I didn’t want to wake her, especially since it’d taken her so long to fall asleep. We’d talked about the candle and how it spoke volumes that something wasn’t right. But I kept won
dering how someone could have gotten inside. And why was the candle significant? I drummed my fingers against my thigh.
Not even a noise sounded before Connor dropped onto the chair next to mine. While our core team hadn’t grown up with Connor, he’d become one of us while we were active duty, and he had our backs with the same unwavering dedication and ferocity that we all shared. I appreciated his palpable predatory presence, but I was exhausted, and it was adding an edginess that I knew would keep me awake for the rest of the night. “You need to tone down the menace.”
His response was a chuckle. We balanced each other in a sort of good-cop-bad-cop vibe, but we were soldiers rather than police. I was grasping for analogies in my exhaustion.
“There were footprints that couldn’t have been from you or Jules found at the edge of her property yesterday. I’ve stationed a guy to cover the area near the beach.”
“Anything you noticed around the time the fire alarm went off?”
“No. Not on our end. You and Jules were the only ones on the property.”
“Something isn’t adding up.”
“You said it was from a candle. That shouldn’t have been enough to set off the alarm unless it was faulty.” A beat of silence hung. “Jules said she blew it out, right? Did you see her do this?”
“That’s what’s eating at me. I didn’t. I’ve seen firsthand how preoccupied she can be.” I pushed my hair off my forehead and held it for a moment, tugging at the roots. “I don’t know. She swore she remembers blowing out the candle and is sure someone got inside.”
“Could be a coincidence.”
“Too many of those.” They were adding up. “My gut says we’re headed for trouble. The Russian doctor knowing about the restricted military vector is a huge red flag. His knowledge must come either from personnel who know about the tool kit or colleagues she works with. We need to take a closer look at the scientists.”