by Chant, Zoe
“Why not a hotel? Security, again?”
Because I want to welcome you into my home, Hal thought. Because it’ll make me feel safe knowing that you’re in my lair, where I can protect you.
Fishing for a reason that would make sense to her, he said, “Yeah, security. And...” His gaze fell on the empty coffee cup. “It’s got a cappuccino machine.”
For the first time, Ellie smiled. It was like the first bright burst of sunlight on a cloudy day. Sure, it was at the promise of coffee rather than at him, but he’d take it. “Cappuccino, huh? Lead on.”
Chapter Three
Ellie
Ellie was so exhausted that she dozed off in the passenger seat of Hal’s car. She woke up while he was still driving, and looked in confusion at the rain-streaked windshield and the city streets. Why was she in a car? Where was she? And who was that man in the driver’s seat beside her?
Then memory returned in a rush. Fluffy baby Ricky. The murder. Her entire life turned upside down. Hal Brennan, the hot bodyguard.
She stole a glance at Hal. He drove steadily, not seeming to notice that she was awake. His ruggedly handsome face was intent on the streets, his hazel eyes seeming to take in everything. She was sure that he was scanning for danger, alert but cool.
She relaxed in her seat. Hal seemed like the kind of guy who could handle anything— the opposite of the creepy mall cop she’d imagined. It wasn’t just that he was something like six foot five of solid muscle. She’d met lots of big guys who were useless in a crisis. It was his attitude. He radiated competence and courage.
He also radiated heat. Literally. They sat close enough that she could feel his body heat against her side, comforting... and arousing.
Ellie stifled a sigh, telling herself, You are not going to sleep with the hot bodyguard.
He was a professional, and she was his job. There was nothing more between them than that, and no matter how close he stuck to her side until she could testify, there never would be. She could look, but not touch.
With that in mind, she took a good long look. Her first impression of Hal had been a sleepy, startled blur of tall and burly and whoa, gorgeous eyes. But now that she was slightly more rested, she had time to savor the details.
He was big all over, built like a football player or weightlifter, but perfectly proportioned. He had none of the overly chiseled, vein-bulging grotesqueness of a ‘roid rage bodybuilder; his impressive musculature looked like he’d gotten it the hard way, from regular exercise and a physical job. She especially like the swelling muscles of his shoulders and forearms, covered in smooth tanned skin.
His features were masculine, good-looking and a little rough-edged. Strong jaw. Broad nose. He would have looked hard and intimidating, except for the cute cleft in his chin and the soft depths of his eyes. His eyes... she could look at his eyes for hours. They were hazel, halfway between green and brown, framed by long eyelashes. In the bright lights of the police station, they had looked green as summer leaves; walking to the car under dim parking lot lights, they had seemed mahogany brown.
Hal glanced at her, catching her looking. A hot blush rose up beneath her skin, making her face burn from ear to ear.
“We’re almost there,” he said.
“No one followed the car?” She was half-joking, torn between fear and feeling like she was in some action movie she could turn off if she got bored with it.
Hal replied as seriously as if that had been a completely reasonable question. “No. Believe me, I’d notice.”
I bet you would, she thought.
He pulled up before an underground parking lot, punched in a code to open the gate, drove in, and parked. Ellie was so tired that she had barely registered that they had arrived before Hal had walked around, opened her door, and offered her his hand.
She knew he was only doing it because she was visibly exhausted, but it felt like the sort of sweetly old-fashioned gesture an especially gentlemanly man might make on a first date. No one had opened a car door for her in years.
Ellie gratefully took his hand, trying to hide her smile. Maybe she’d pretend she was on a date with Hal. It felt better than facing the reality that he was only there because the most powerful criminal in the city wanted her dead.
Hal’s hand closed over hers. It was huge and warm, completely enveloping hers. He easily lifted her to her feet. She swayed. Her feet had fallen asleep, and her legs felt like jelly. He caught her around the waist, supporting her.
“Sorry,” Ellie muttered, embarrassed. She tried to stand straight, but she couldn’t bring herself to pull away from him. His solid strength was so comforting.
“You’ve got nothing to apologize for,” Hal said. “You worked all night, you witnessed a murder, you got shot at, you had to run for your life, and then you spent the next eight hours being interrogated in a police station. Anyone would be a little shaky after that.”
“You wouldn’t.”
“Sure I would,” Hal replied as he led her to an elevator. “When I got through SERE training, I was so exhausted, I slept for three days straight. That’s Survival, Evasion—”
“Resistance and Escape,” Ellie finished, then grinned at his startled look. “My brother Ethan is a Recon Marine. But he wouldn’t tell me anything about SERE training, except that they teach you to resist torture and live off the land. He said he ate a bug at one point, but I’m not sure if that was part of the wilderness survival or part of the torture.”
Hal laughed. “Wilderness survival. Probably. Where’s your brother now?”
“I don’t know. Somewhere classified. I guess it’s just as well. It would drive him crazy knowing that I’m in danger and he can’t protect me. Hopefully it’ll all be over by the time we can get in touch.”
They got into the elevator. Instead of buttons, it had a code pad. Hal punched in another code, and the doors slid shut.
“You weren’t kidding when you said your building was secure,” Ellie remarked.
“Yeah. It’s completely safe. You can stay as long as you like, you know. You could stay till the trial’s over.”
It was a ridiculously generous offer. “I can’t just invade your home for who knows how long— months, maybe!”
“Sure you can.” Hal’s intense gaze dropped, and he actually shuffled his feet. For the first time since she had met him, he seemed awkward and uncertain of himself. “I mean— it would be more convenient for me, if you lived with me instead of me living with you. Since we’re going to be joined at the hip anyway.”
The elevator stopped. Ellie started to step forward as the door slid open, but Hal put out a hand to stop her, scanning the corridor until, she supposed, he was satisfied that there were no lurking hit men.
“Okay, clear.” He led her to his door.
As he punched in yet another code to open his apartment, the reality of the situation sank in for Ellie. He was going to be living at her house! For months, probably. His guys were probably inspecting her home right now. She wished she’d made the bed and washed the dirty dishes from last night’s dinner. Her face heated again as she realized that she couldn’t go in alone and clean it up before Hal saw it.
Not to mention that she didn’t have a spare room. Where would Hal sleep? Her sofa was more like a loveseat. He was way too tall to stretch out on it. But they could hardly share the bed.
A wash of heat surged through her at the thought of them doing exactly that. She could just imagine cuddling up next to Hal’s naked body. It would be even better than cuddling up against him clothed, like she was practically doing right now.
Hal opened the door for her and led her inside. “Home sweet home.”
She looked around the apartment. After all the security and coded touchpads, she’d expected something sterile and sleek, filled with high-tech gadgets and hard, uncomfortable furniture, with the homiest touch consisting of a rack of guns. Instead, it really did radiate home sweet home.
The brown leather sofa and armchairs wer
e worn and softened by use, and the moss-colored carpet was soft and thick beneath her feet. The brown-and-green color scheme made the apartment seem like it was part of a forest. A cozy forest. Bookcases filled with beat-up paperbacks lined the walls, along with pictures of people and huge trees. There was no television.
Hal apparently hadn’t been expecting visitors either. The counters of the open kitchen were cluttered, there were books piled on the sofa, and a pair of boots lay in the middle of the floor. But the lack of spick-and-span neatness only made his apartment seem lived-in and welcoming. If it had been perfectly tidy, Ellie would have been afraid to sit down in case she wrinkled the sofa.
“Sorry about the mess.” Hal hastily kicked the boots under the sofa.
“Don’t worry about it,” Ellie replied. “Now I’m less embarrassed about you seeing the mess at my place.”
“I’m sure it’s not that bad. Anyway, I don’t have a leg to stand on.” He made a grab for the books on the sofa, but Ellie got to them first. She was curious about what he liked to read.
The first one was about what she’d have expected, a Dick Francis thriller called Odds Against. It didn’t surprise her a bit that Hal would like reading about tough guys fighting against the odds.
The second one, Code Name Verity, was also unsurprising at first glance: a historical adventure about a British spy captured by Nazis. Then Ellie read more of the back cover. She could hear the surprise in her own voice as she read aloud, “‘An exciting and moving tale of female power and female friendship?’”
Hal’s eyebrows lifted. “What, you think I wouldn’t read a great adventure story just because it’s about women?”
“Lots of men wouldn’t,” Ellie pointed out.
The same men who don’t give me or Catalina half the respect they’d give a male paramedic, she thought. The same men who would never date a woman with a dangerous job.
“I’m not lots of men,” replied Hal.
His tone conveyed more meaning than his simple words, as if he’d read her mind: I’m not one of those assholes.
Is he... flirting? Ellie wondered. Then, with some disappointment, she concluded, Can’t be. He must just mean he’s not a sexist pig.
Which is also good, she hastily told herself. It would be awful having to be with him constantly if he didn’t respect me and I didn’t like him.
To distract herself from the sad reality that Hal would never flirt with her, she looked through the other books he’d left scattered on the sofa. Homicide Special, nonfiction about Los Angeles homicide detectives. Three Parts Dead, a fantasy novel about a sorcerer hired to resurrect a dead God. Cash: The Autobiography, by Johnny Cash.
“Is this what you do instead of watching TV?” Ellie passed the stack to him. “Or is it in the bedroom?”
Hal put the books back on the shelves. “No. I grew up in the country. My family was kind of... back to nature. We didn’t have a TV, so I never really got in the habit. What about you? Are you a book person or a TV person?”
“I’m about 50-50.” Examining his bookcases, she added, “We like some of the same books, though. I’m really into mysteries and thrillers. Especially romantic suspense. Gunfights and kissing, my favorite things.”
“Mine too,” remarked Hal.
Flirting? Ellie thought again. I... think so?
But lots of people were just flirtatious in general. It didn’t mean they were flirting specifically with the person they were with, or that they had any intention of doing anything about it.
Trying to figure it out made her tired. She couldn’t suppress a jaw-cracking yawn.
“You must be exhausted,” Hal said. “And I know the food at the police station sucks. What did they give you, burned coffee and a processed cheese sandwich?”
“Processed cheese, wilted lettuce, and mystery meat. And a bag of chips.”
“They’ve gotten better, then. They didn’t used to provide chips.”
Ellie laughed. Despite the weirdness of her bodyguard taking her to his own house, which couldn’t possibly be standard procedure, she felt more relaxed now that she was there. “I really like your place. It’s so cozy.”
Hal stopped arranging the books and turned toward her. “I’m glad. I want you to feel at home here. Now, would you rather go straight to bed, or would you rather have something to eat first?”
“It’s a tough decision, but if I don’t eat first, I’ll wake up starving in the middle of the night.”
“Then have a seat. I’ll make you something.” He indicated the sofa, then headed into the open kitchen.
She couldn’t help noticing how well he filled out his pants as he walked away from her. Since he had his back to her, she took the opportunity to enjoy the sight of his ass and legs, not to mention his broad shoulders and huge biceps.
Look, but don’t touch, she reminded herself.
If there was one thing that could make her life even more horrendous than it already was, it would be having sex with her bodyguard, followed by the inevitable messy break-up, followed by being joined at the hip to her new ex-boyfriend for God knows how long. Just the thought of that made her tired. More tired.
She sank down on the sofa. It was as soft as it looked, inviting her to lean back her head and nap. She had to force herself to keep her eyes open. At least she had something entertaining as a distraction.
“Is there anything you don’t like?” Hal called. “Mushrooms? Bacon?”
“I love mushrooms and bacon,” she called back.
Watching Hal cook, she realized that his kitchen was messy because he actually used it. He chopped vegetables with terrifying speed and a very large knife, grabbed spice jars from a rack without consulting a cookbook, and flipped the contents of a frying pan without spilling a single bit of whatever it was he was cooking. Ellie’s stomach rumbled embarrassingly as the smells of frying eggs, potatoes, and bacon filled the room.
She was impressed that he could cook, and more impressed that he was willing to cook for a client. That couldn’t possibly be part of the job description. Well, she’d enjoy it as a “Welcome to Witnessing” gift. Her own cooking was limited to taking off the plastic wrapper before she stuck something frozen in the microwave.
She must have dozed off for a moment, because the next thing she knew, Hal was setting a tray table in front of her.
“Oh—” Ellie looked at the feast laid out in front of her. He’d made her an omelet, country-style potatoes, bacon, and a glass of orange juice. “This is exactly what I’d have ordered if I’d gone to a restaurant. How did you know?”
He settled down beside her with his own tray table full of breakfast-for-lunch, the same as hers with the addition of a mug of coffee. “It’s what I’d have wanted if I’d gone through what you did. Comfort food.”
Ellie dug in. As soon as she tasted the food, she was as impressed with his cooking skills as she was with his thoughtfulness. The potatoes were crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside, the bacon was at the exact sweet spot between crispy and chewy, the omelet was stuffed with melted cheese and mushrooms, and the orange juice was fresh squeezed.
“Where’d you learn to cook like this?” she asked.
“Like I said, I grew up in the country. My whole family cooks. We hunt, too.” He hesitated briefly before he went on, “We’d shoot a deer and break it down, and make our own venison chops and steaks and sausage.”
“Sounds fun,” Ellie replied. “My brother Ethan likes to hunt.”
“Do you ever go with him?”
She should have been prepared for the question— after all, she was the one who’d mentioned Ethan— but a wave of sadness caught her off-guard.
He must have caught her expression, because he said, “Did I say something wrong?”
“No.” She could have brushed off the question or changed the subject, but something about Hal, his sweetness or his solid strength, made her want to tell him. They’d only ever have a professional relationship, but even so, she wanted h
im to get to know her better.
“Ethan and I are twins,” Ellie said. “We’re fraternal, of course, but we looked a lot alike when we were little. And our personalities are similar, too. You don’t know me well enough to know what that means, but—”
“I think I do,” Hal said. “Let’s see. You’re both brave. Risk-takers. Daredevils. You both want to do what’s right. And you’ll both make sacrifices to do it.”
She stared at him. “What are you, some kind of bodyguard mind-reader?”
He shrugged. “He’s a Recon Marine who ate a bug in SERE training. You’re a paramedic who’s going to be the first person ever with the nerve to testify against the man who scares the entire city shitless. It’s obvious.”
Maybe it was, but Ellie wasn’t used to having men call her brave. And she was even less used to hearing them call her a risk-taker as if it was a good thing.
Awkwardly, she went on, “Well, Ethan and I were really close when we were young. Then our parents got divorced when we were ten. It was awful. They both accused each other of cheating, and they got in a custody battle. The judge awarded me to Mom and Ethan to Dad. They were both so pissed off that they moved to opposite ends of the country. Ethan and I got to see each other maybe once a year. We promised to move to the same city once we were old enough to make our own decisions. And we did. But he joined the Marines, so we still only see each other about once a year.”
Ellie blinked back tears, then snatched up a napkin and scrubbed at her eyes. She hated crying, and she especially hated crying in front of other people. It made her feel weak. “Sorry. I don’t usually get all emotional like this. It’s because I’m so tired.”
Hal put his hand on her shoulder. “Don’t worry about. It’s been a rough day.”
His touch brought her comfort. Maybe even enough to be worth having him see her cry. But she at least didn’t want to keep crying. Hastily, she said, “What’s your family like?”
“Oh, they’re great,” Hal said cheerfully. “Very outdoorsy. Dad’s a carpenter, and Mom makes fancy jellies and jerky and so forth. They live in this little town north of here, with a bunch of my other relatives, and they all like to get together and go hunting and hiking and fishing and picnicking and—”