by Desiree Holt
For a moment pain slashed across her face. Then, as with the other expressions he’d seen, it disappeared, replaced by a carefully arranged mask.
“I’m sure you realize it’s not my face they’re looking at.” She took another sip of her coffee before she focused her gaze straight at him. “Look. I’m sorry I bothered you. This was a bad mistake on my part. I just got a little freaked when I went outside and saw…what I saw. Yes, I can fix it with my credit card. Even get the dealer to send someone out with the tires and change them.” She twisted her lips. “Like you said, I’m Tyler Gillette. I can just wave my plastic.”
“I didn’t mean—”
“No, no, no, it’s all right.” She looked down at her feet. “You’re right. It’s probably just some neighborhood kid. I panicked. Again, I’m very sorry I disturbed your evening.”
Well now, didn’t he just feel like shit? He could see she was desperately trying not to fall apart over this. Just having her tires slashed wouldn’t be something she’d feel compelled to call him about. No, this was no neighborhood prank, no matter what she said. There was something going on here he didn’t know about and had no idea how to get her to tell him.
Maybe if you’d quit being such a judgmental shithead it would help.
The image flashed into his brain of her standing in the open doorway hugging herself, as if she might fall apart. Now he noticed that her hands were trembling, even though she gripped her coffee mug tightly. Okay, this was more than just someone slashing her tires. He should have figured that out right away. She wouldn’t allow herself to bother him if it was just this one incident.
Yes, dickwad. You’re the smart security agent who’s supposed to be able to read a situation. Maybe he needed virtual reading glasses.
“Have there been other incidents in the neighborhood?” he asked, trying to keep his tone even and calm.
She shrugged, but it didn’t quite come off as nonchalant, if that was what she’d intended. “I don’t exactly socialize with my neighbors, so I wouldn’t know. You think that’s what this is? Kids up to trouble around here?”
No, he didn’t. And looking at her face intently he saw the tiny lick of fear in her eyes. He set his mug on the table beside his chair, uncrossed his legs, and leaned forward, elbows on knees.
“What’s really going on here, Tyler? What else is happening that I don’t know about?”
She wet her lower lip, a gentle swipe of a soft pink tongue that sent unwanted messages to his hormones. Somehow all those years of discipline were slowly eroding.
“What makes you think there’s anything else?”
“Because you’d never have called your father’s head of security,” he answered, “if you thought this was just a kid’s prank.”
He watched her nibble on her lower lip, her forehead creased in thought. He’d been such an ass she probably regretted calling him at all. But if something bad was happening to her, he at least owed it to Gillette to find out what it was.
“Tyler?” he prodded when she still didn’t say anything. “I’m asking you again, what’s really going on here?”
She wet her lips again. Immediately he had a vision of that same tongue licking his cock. He had to deliberately suppress the surge of hunger that raced through him. Jesus, Rafe. Get your shit together. But the damn sizzle between them seemed to be growing hotter and brighter. And though she hadn’t given any indication except that incendiary kiss, his gut told him she had the same reaction. Double damn.
“Um, well…” She clutched that coffee mug as if it were a lifeline.
Okay, there was definitely something going on here, besides unbridled lust on his part. Deliberately he yanked his eyes away from her nipples, now as big as gumdrops pressing against the flimsy fabric of her T-shirt. If he could just get his mouth around them—
Shit. Damn. Fuck. And any other curse words he could think of.
“Yes?” he urged again.
“I’ve, uh, had some hang-up calls.”
“Hang-up calls?” Not good. Not good at all. “When and how many?”
She took a healthy swallow of her coffee, avoiding direct eye contact. “A bunch over the past couple of weeks.”
He frowned. “What do you consider a bunch?”
She nibbled her lower lip, her forehead creased in a slight frown. “Um, it’s not all that bad. I don’t think.”
“Well?” he prompted. “I didn’t think the question was so hard.”
Suddenly the words just tumbled out. “It started with just a couple of calls each day, then escalated to about four.”
“A day?”
Was she fucking kidding? Did she even realize she had a stalker? Anger surged through him with a violent force. It took a supreme effort of will to maintain his calm. “That many in just two weeks? Jesus, Tyler. Why didn’t you change your phone number?”
“I did. Three times. Got the new one just today. And I only gave it to the people I really trust. I’m being very cautious about who gets it.”
“Did that work?” He wanted to know. He didn’t like the sound of this.
She brushed a few loose strands of hair from her forehead. “Sort of. I mean, no calls, but, uh…”
“But uh what?” he prodded.
“Tonight he sent me a text.”
Rafe wanted to bite nails. It was like trying to pull a barnacle from a ship. “Did you ever get a text before?”
She shook her head.
“But you got one tonight. At your brand-new number.”
She nodded silently.
Rafe swallowed his irritation. This was like digging for worms. “How about you get the phone and show it to me.”
She rose and headed toward the kitchen, Rafe right behind her. She picked up the phone from the counter and turned to hand it to him. He didn’t move, so her face landed smack against his hard chest. That elusive scent of wildflowers invaded his nostrils again, sending its tendrils straight to his cock.
“Oh!” She peered up at him, startled.
Think icicles. Ice cubes. Waist-deep in snow.
When she looked up at him with those clear gray eyes and those pouty lips it was all he could do to keep from taking her mouth with a voracious, claiming kiss. Was it because of the situation or did she feel the same things he did? Nope, better not to ask.
With a deliberate exertion of will, he stepped back and took the phone from her hand.
“Pull up the text,” she told him, her voice unsteady.
Grateful for the distraction, he hit the Messages app and the most recent one came up on the screen. That certainly killed any hint of lust. Rafe read it twice, forcibly tamping down the anger that surged inside him.
“This is the first one you’ve gotten? The first text?”
She nodded and stepped deliberately away from him. She dumped her cold coffee in the sink, then refilled the mug from the coffee machine. She probably wouldn’t drink this one, either, he figured, although the heat would do her system good.
“Okay, this puts a whole new face on things.”
“What do you mean?”
“First, he got your new number less than twenty-four hours after it was assigned to you, so he’s got a way to do this. Secondly, he’s escalating. You can hang up on his calls, but you have to read the text before you delete it. Tyler, this is damn serious.”
She sighed. “If I’m in for a lecture, let me get you some fresh coffee first.”
Outwardly, she was doing her best to be calm, but his trained senses didn’t miss the tremor in her voice or the panic in her eyes.
“First thing,” he said when they were seated again in the living room, “is I need to take this phone with me.”
“But what if he calls and I don’t answer?” Fear radiated from her. “If that was him slashing my tires, he might do something worse.”
“I’ll have one of the guys from the agency sit on your house tonight.” When she started to prote
st, he held up his hand. “That’s a given. Either that or you check into a hotel until I get your phone back to you. And by the way, even that wouldn’t protect you if he wanted to find you badly enough.”
That last bit of color leeched from her face. “So I’m not safe any place.”
“You’ll be safe tonight with a guard watching you. Hold on.”
He pulled out his cell and called the agency. It took less than two minutes to set up what he wanted. He was grateful that he was in a situation there that people didn’t question him when he needed something. Disconnecting, he turned back to Tyler. “Tomorrow we’ll look at other options.”
“What options? What do you have in mind?”
Rafe made his voice as patient as possible, but he needed to get his message across. “We’re dealing with someone who has access to sophisticated equipment or who can easily bribe people.” It also meant this was no run-of-the-mill, junk-bar stalker. This put things in a different light. “I won’t keep the phone long. If he’s sending texts, I’m betting he doesn’t expect you to answer him. From the tone of this, he’s into shaking you up. Making you uncertain and afraid. On edge.”
“He’s certainly succeeding.” She rubbed her arms as if chilled.
He gave her a crooked grin. “Tyler, I didn’t think you were afraid of anything.”
For a moment, that expression of elusive vulnerability washed over her face. Then it was gone just as quickly.
“Is that how you see me?” She stared hard at him. “As fearless?”
“Maybe more as a go-to-hell, I’m-not-afraid-of-anything attitude,” he told her. “I got the feeling you just kicked life in the teeth.”
“And not in a good way,” she added. “Right?”
This wasn’t good. She had a real problem, and he didn’t need to make it worse with his sarcasm. She needed help and it was up to him to see that she got it.
“I’m sorry.” He rubbed his face. “You’ve got a problem here, and we can’t ignore it. A serious problem. I understand now why you called me tonight. That was smart.”
Her posture relaxed just a fraction. “Thank you.”
“And I’m glad you did, believe it or not. This is nothing to fool around with.” He stuck the phone in his pocket. “I’ll get your cell back to you tomorrow, but in the morning, I want to run it over to the agency office first thing. See if we can get a trace on the number from the text. Find out whose it is.”
“You can do that?” She gave him a questioning look. “At that office?”
He nodded. “We have the equipment plus we can check with your provider. They store all the information on your calls, incoming and outgoing. And you definitely need to tell your father. I’m serious.”
The more he realized how much of what people saw was an act, the more concerned he became for her. This was no hard-ass chick who could handle anything. The more time he spent with her, the more he realized this was a vulnerable woman who was now in real danger. He had to figure out how to make her be sensible about it.
“No.” She slammed her coffee mug down on the table hard enough that some of the liquid sloshed over the rim. “I’m not telling my father anything. You can forget that.”
“He needs to know,” Rafe insisted. “Whatever the problems are between you two, he won’t want you to be unprotected when there’s danger.”
“Not. Telling. My. Father.” She enunciated each word carefully and distinctly.
God, the woman was impossible.
“You need protection,” he went on. “I’m damn sure if I tell you to be careful you’ll laugh in my face. Right?”
He watched her try to settle herself with a sip of her coffee. Even under the circumstances, every movement she made was so graceful. This was driving him nuts. She was driving him nuts. He needed to get as much information as he could, make sure she understood that the kind of calls she’d been receiving and things like slashed tires could turn very ugly, and hand her over to someone at Lone Star Security.
She glared at him. Apparently, her anger was stronger than her fear, especially when it came to her father. The last thing he wanted was to get in the middle of a family squabble. He’d never understood that relationship, anyway. But all his instincts told him she was in real danger. First the calls, then the tires and the text? This guy was escalating.
“Did you hear what I said?” he asked.
“I thought maybe you could just figure out a way to find out who it is, go see him, and throw a scare into him.” She lifted one graceful shoulder and let it drop. “You know.”
“Just like that.” He sighed. “It’s not that simple, Tyler.”
She frowned. “Why not? You can just pay him a visit, make a few threats, and get him to stop doing this stuff.”
He raked his fingers through his hair. “Because unless I have the kind of proof that will put him in jail, he’ll just smile, kick me out of his place, and step up his game. I don’t think he’s going to scare quite as easy as you think.”
“Step up his game?” she repeated. “But—”
“Whoever this is, he has a plan.” Rafe dialed down his impatience and tried to make his voice as calm as possible. “The kind of person that does this isn’t just in it to annoy you. He has a specific end game in mind. That can be anything from ruining your life to driving you into his arms to…”
“To what?” Her voice rose a little. “To what, Rafe? What does he want? Because I just thought it was some guy jerking off while he drove me nuts.”
Rafe nodded. “And he could be doing that. Nothing more. But we can’t ignore everything else. This could be some guy you’ve really pissed off, and he wants to have his revenge. Which is why I want to get Lone Star Security to assign someone to you until we track down who this is.”
“No.” She shook her head and waved her hand so violently it knocked her coffee mug off the little table where it was sitting. “No bodyguard or whatever. At least not where it’s connected to my—my father. I don’t want him in my business.”
“Tyler.” He put as much patience into his voice as he could. “You called your father’s head of security. Didn’t you think he’d be bound to find out?”
She shrugged. “I hoped you could keep it just between us.”
He studied her while she mopped up the spill and cleaned it so it wouldn’t stain. When she was finished, she just stood in the living room, looking down at her feet. Then she lifted her gaze to Rafe. In those few minutes, he saw a transformation in her, and not one that pleased him. The aura of fear was nearly gone, replaced by anger and something he was at a loss to define.
“I guess I made a mistake calling you,” she told him in a low voice. “No need to do anything that would involve my father. Really. I think I made too much of this. I freaked and I’m sorry. I apologize for ruining your evening. Again. I won’t bother you anymore.”
Oh, no, she wasn’t doing this to him. She might not have all her war paint on, and the skintight clothes, but the minute her father came into the picture the go-to-hell Tyler was back. Damn. Well, too bad. She’d dragged him into this. Now he wasn’t letting her push him out until things were settled. In plain English, he told her as much.
She just shook her head. “Like I said, I never should have made the call. I didn’t stop and think, idiot that I am. Of course you’d have to let my father know. I won’t bother you again.”
He raked his fingers through his hair in frustration. “Tyler, I can’t just—”
“Just what? Walk away? Why not? I’m nothing to you, Rafe. And even less to the vaunted Kurt Gillette. I’ll find someone to help me that isn’t connected to him or you or the team.”
He didn’t believe a word she said, but this wasn’t the time to argue with her.
“If that’s how you want it.”
“So good. Then we’re done here. You can just leave.” She pointed to her front door. “Now. Again, sorry for bothering you.”
R
afe was amazed. Traces of fear and rage still swirled in her eyes, but now something else was mixed with it. Some indefinable emotion lurking behind the mask that Tyler Gillette showed to the world. He damn sure wished he knew what it was or how to find out.
“It wasn’t a bother.”
“Well, I’m sorry to disturb your evening anyway.” She marched to the front door and held it open for him. “I won’t bother you again.”
Great. Could he have handled this any worse? He rose slowly from the chair he was sitting in, trying to figure out how to convince she needed some protection here. Unfortunately, he didn’t think that was possible. He’d have to figure something else out, but obviously not tonight. He’d managed to fuck that up royally.
Still, didn’t the damn woman know she wasn’t safe?
“I’m going to get someone here, whether you want him or not,” he insisted. “Let me do that, will you? Your safety is important, Tyler.”
“Listen to me. No. Guard. None. Period. Not from you.”
He could force it but she’d just keep arguing. His best strategy was to call in a favor from a friend and have him find a place to surveil her without her knowing.
“Fine. Lock everything and set your alarm after I leave.”
“I’ll be okay,” she told him in a stiff voice. “Good night, Mr. Ortiz. Enjoy the rest of your evening.”
He wanted to tell her this wasn’t over, but he doubted she’d even hear him. He’d just go around her and couldn’t that turn out to be a big fucking mess. He paused at the open door.
“We’re not done here, Tyler. You’re at risk, and you need to be protected.”
“Not by you or anyone connected to the Hawks,” she insisted again. “Stay out of my business, Rafe. I mean it.”
“We’ll see.” Out on her porch he turned back to her. “Be sure to set the alarm.”
“I’m not stupid. Stubborn, but not stupid. Good night.”
The door closed with a slam. Rafe was not looking forward to the next day.