Erick

by Dale Mayer

  “As if they were up to something?”

  “Easy to assume that, yes. But we don’t know for sure, so who’s to say what they were actually doing there. Can you describe the two men you saw today?”

  She nodded. “But I can do one better.” She pulled out her phone.

  Without letting her go, Erick twisted slightly. “You took pictures of them?”

  “I’m not very good with my cell phone, like you guys are,” she said, “but I did grab several.” She went through her gallery, found the image she was looking for and held it up.

  He took the phone out of her hand. “Well, well, well.”

  “What?”

  “Bingo. Tall, long neck, big ears.”

  “And how do you know him?”

  “He’s one of the two men at the village the week before our vehicle blew up.”

  “Is that possible?” she asked, studying the image. “That was a long time ago. Do you really think he was one of those who planted the land mine?”

  “It’s possible but no way to know for sure.” He studied the photo. “Nice.” And very helpful. Erick hugged her arm almost like a pat of approval.

  “I’m not sure there’s anything nice about it,” she exclaimed softly. “Just think about what you said. Two men who were willing to plant an antitank land mine to blow up military personnel vehicles accosted me in a coffee shop. Where is anything in that good?”

  What she didn’t realize was he had led her around the lobby, almost parading her in front of everyone, and then directed her back toward the elevators.

  She glanced around. “You know? If we were on a date, and you were really proud of having me on your arm, I could almost understand what you just did, but …”

  “Same idea. Letting everybody know you’re mine, and they’ll have to go through me to get to you.”

  He hadn’t exactly meant to state that quite so possessively, but it was the truth. And he wasn’t about to let that go. These assholes had overstepped their limits already. It was one thing to go after Laszlo. But it was also a mistake on their part because both Honey and Laszlo had gotten a picture of their faces. He didn’t know if they had an ID yet because he hadn’t taken the time to go up to the room.

  As soon as he’d arrived at the hotel, he realized the workshop would close any moment. And that meant he needed to grab her and stay at her side until she was ready to leave. But now that he realized who they were dealing with, he wanted those men, and he wanted them now. And, if that meant staying an extra day in order to track them down, then he was fine with that because, when he got those three men in his hands, he would make sure they wouldn’t come after her again.

  He opened the elevator and nudged her inside. As she went in, she said in a troubled voice, “So are these the men Laszlo fought?”

  “You said that these men showed obvious bruising of their faces.”

  “Yeah, they looked like they had been beaten up. So does that mean the third man didn’t get up?”

  “That would be my take on it. In the interim, you will be with somebody at all times.”

  She rolled her eyes. “Is that not a little overboard?”

  But inside he could tell she was smiling. He leaned over and dropped a kiss on her cheek. “Don’t worry. I won’t leave you to fend for yourself.”

  She glared at him over the kiss.

  And just because he felt like being perverse, he bent and dropped a kiss on her lips. Just then the elevator doors opened, and Cade and Talon waited for them.

  Cade laughed. “Glad to see you two making up.”

  “Like hell,” she snapped. She stepped out of the elevator, glaring at Cade.

  Erick couldn’t help but grin. He led the way to Laszlo’s room, pushing open the door, and nudged her inside ahead of him. He wondered about the common sense of moving down to his own room. But they could make that decision now that they were all inside.

  She walked in, took one look at Laszlo and frowned. “Did you rest at all?” she scolded. She brushed back Laszlo’s hair, checking her stitches. “At least you didn’t take those out.”

  He gave her an affronted look. “I’d hardly do that.”

  The other men gathered around and studied his injuries.

  “It’s pretty minor,” Cade offered.

  Laszlo glared at him. “I told her that too.”

  “I wouldn’t listen,” Honey snapped. “His body has enough to deal with right now and doesn’t need to fill in that gap with extra skin. Stitches will make it a faster and easier job.”

  “Let’s get away from Laszlo’s injuries and back on target here,” Erick said, watching the group. Something about adding a woman to the mix switched things up. He hadn’t planned on it. “Honey, I don’t want you leaving the hotel for any reason tonight.”

  He watched as she placed her fists on her hips and glared at him.

  He grinned. “No, I’m not trying to be difficult. But, if those two men caught you inside the hotel, what do you think they will do if they found you outside the hotel?”

  Instantly her aggressiveness dropped away. She sagged onto the second bed and stared up at him. “Well, I guess room service it is?”

  He laughed. “We can definitely do something about food. But to keep you quiet and low profile is the priority at the moment.”

  She nodded and looked at the bed. “Laszlo, do you mind?”

  He shrugged. “Find a spot and make use of it.”

  She kicked off her shoes, scrambled to the head of the bed and curled up, leaning against the wall. “Okay, so what’s the plan?”

  Erick stared at her. Not too many women who found themselves in the middle of a group like he had gathered here would be as comfortable as she was. He knew several exactly like her in their own circles. But, when he looked out at the great big world, their numbers were pretty small.

  He walked closer. “We’ll send men out, two at a time, to see if anyone’s hanging around. We want to keep an eye on the lobby and outside the front door of the hotel.”

  She shook her head. “Why would you want somebody else to end up looking like Laszlo?”

  The men snorted. “Just because Laszlo got caught doesn’t mean we will,” Talon said, insulted.

  She straightened. “Don’t you insult Laszlo like that.”

  Laszlo straightened and grinned at the men. “Yeah, don’t insult me like that.”

  Talon rolled his eyes. “I wasn’t insulting him. But just because he had three men attack him doesn’t mean they’ll have enough men to keep coming around and attacking the rest of us.”

  “What are we down to, just a pair? Because those are the ones who attacked me at the coffee shop.” She stopped. “Well, okay, so they didn’t attack me. But they were trying to stop me from leaving the coffee shop.” She collapsed against the wall with her arms crossed over her chest and pretended to close her eyes, as if she was out of the conversation.

  But Erick knew she was listening. “Somewhere along the line we’ll get food. But we don’t want you sleeping alone tonight.”

  She opened her eyes. “And which one of you has been designated as my gigolo for the night?”

  There was just enough humor to counteract the caustic tone of her voice. Everyone laughed.

  Laszlo said, “Doesn’t matter who has been designated, only one is getting that job, and we know that’s Erick. If any of the rest of us would volunteer, we’d get chopped into little pieces.”

  Erick sighed. “Hardly.”

  “Good then. I’ll sleep with her,” Talon offered.

  Erick just glared at him.

  Talon shrugged. “See? You don’t even have to say it. You were ready to cut me into little pieces without provocation.”

  Honey sighed. “It doesn’t matter who it is. I appreciate the fact you guys are looking after me.”

  “Good. So don’t be difficult. Let us look after you, and we’ll get you to the airport on time to go home.”

  “Oh, all right. I could phone
the airline and see if I could catch a flight out early tonight,” she suggested.

  “I already did that,” Laszlo said. “No space on any flights leaving tonight.”

  “Of course not,” she grumbled. “That would be way too easy, wouldn’t it? It’s got to be what, four-thirty, maybe even five by now? Are we going for dinner soon?”

  That brought up a more detailed discussion about food. “Do you think we should pick up food and bring it back or order room service, or is it safe to go out?” Cade asked.

  “Definitely safest to stay in. That doesn’t mean somebody can’t do a pickup. But I don’t know any of the nearby restaurants. So room service or the hotel restaurant are the best bets.”

  “We would be safe enough in the restaurant downstairs. Even if they could see us, it’ll be a public place.”

  “They appear to be stealthy in their attacks. They don’t want to draw any attention to themselves. It’s a short hop from the restaurant to the lobby elevators and stairs.”

  Honey bounded to her feet. “Good. I’m starved.” And she walked to the door.

  Erick stepped in front of her. “That doesn’t mean we’ve made a decision yet,” he snapped.

  She drew herself up to her full height, which was still a head shorter than him, and glared at him. “You can make a decision about what you’re doing. But you just decided the restaurant was safe. So that’s what I’m doing. I’m heading down there. You can either come with me or not.” She tried to step around him.

  He moved ever-so-slightly, blocking her direction. “You know I can go over the bed and around,” she complained. “So why are you being difficult?”

  “Because you’re not walking out that door alone.”

  She gave him a sweet smile. “So are you dressed for dinner, honey?”

  He leaned forward and whispered, “Isn’t that my line?”

  Chapter 8

  Honey flushed, realizing that, by using the endearment honey—of course also being her name—he’d just twisted the words around on her. She stepped closer and shoved her jaw forward. “Whoever the line belongs to, can we go for dinner please?”

  He wrapped his arms around her waist and tucked her up close. Surprised, her arms automatically went around him in a hug. She wasn’t sure exactly what she was doing, but instinctively it felt right. Just stepping closer to him, being against him, it was easy to forget their initial meeting. Even their second meeting. All the texts and conversations since seemed to have led to this moment. It still wasn’t quite right though. She leaned back and asked, “Hungry?”

  He stared down at her, and she saw a hunger completely unrelated to food.

  Feeling the color wash up her neck, she tried to step away, but his arms tightened. She knew the rest of the men watched them. She glared at him. “Not that kind of hunger,” she said in a hoarse whisper.

  He leaned down and kissed her gently on the lips. “Later.” Then he unhooked his arms to wrap one around her shoulders, tugging her close again. He glanced at the others. “How about we all go for dinner together?”

  The men stood, even Laszlo. Honey realized he didn’t look half so bad now. At least no worse than the two men she’d met in the coffee shop, and they hadn’t raised anyone’s eyebrows.

  When Erick opened the door, she tried to be the first to step out. But, of course, he wouldn’t let her. He stepped out first, checked the hallway, nodded and held out a hand. She took it. Together the group walked toward the elevator.

  “Last night it seemed like there were no lights on in this place.” She recounted the story and how it had terrified her.

  “Did you check in with management about it?”

  “The bellboy said he would. And, since it hasn’t happened again, I guess they got it fixed. At the time, I can tell you it freaked me out.”

  “With good reason. The power going out on your floor is never a good sign.”

  Still holding Erick’s hand, finding a level of comfort with it, she’d expected they would step out of the elevator and walk toward the lobby together. The reception area was on the left, open in front of them. Down the right side were the large comfortable seating areas where she’d spent some time earlier. But now it seemed like a lifetime ago. She glanced around the room, but nobody looked their way. So many people moved back and forth through the lobby that her group didn’t raise any eyebrows.

  Erick led her casually toward the restaurant. As they stepped inside, she thought she heard a noise. She tensed and twisted, but Erick put his arm firmly around her shoulders. “Relax. It was just luggage dropping.”

  She decided to trust him and smiled at the hostess who asked how many in their party. When Erick answered four, she stiffened again.

  And then remembered what he had said about somebody always keeping watch. “I thought it was supposed to be two at a time,” she whispered.

  “It is. One in, one out. And, at this point, the one inside will be at the table with us.”

  She sighed. “I don’t think this is very supersecret spy stuff.”

  He chuckled. “It’s not supposed to be, sweetie. It’s supposed to be natural.”

  The hostess led them to a table by the window. But Erick shook his head and motioned to a table in the middle of the room. Honey wanted to protest, but he squeezed her hand to keep her quiet.

  When they were seated at the new table, she asked, “Why?”

  “Windows make you a target.”

  She stared at him for a long moment, feeling the color drain away from her face. She reached a trembling hand to her cheek. “Wow, that brought me back to reality fast.”

  He studied her intently. “It’s my job to keep you safe. I plan on doing just that.”

  She took a deep breath, gave him a tremulous smile and whispered, “Thank you.”

  He grabbed her fingers, laced them with his and whispered right back, “You’re welcome.”

  She turned and smiled at Laszlo and Cade. Obviously Talon was the one elected to go outside. “I don’t know about you guys, but I’m hungry.”

  “We had lunch together today,” Laszlo said.

  She nodded. She wasn’t sure if Laszlo was trying to goad Erick or if Laszlo was reminding her of her last meal. “But I let you have most of mine.”

  He looked at her in outrage. “You did not.”

  “Sure, I did.”

  “You said you weren’t hungry.”

  “You just looked hungrier,” she said with a big grin. “That’s okay. I’ll make up for it now. I’ll eat half your dinner.”

  Instinctively Laszlo grabbed his chair and shuffled it ever-so-slightly away from her.

  And she laughed. It was the first laugh she’d actually had since the men had arrived. Free and outwardly flowing, full of joy. Because, even though the circumstances were much less than ideal, something was so very wonderful about having dinner with these guys. It had been a long time since she had allowed herself to enjoy the company of men on a social level. It was unique, different, and she was really enjoying herself. She picked up the menu, looked at it and asked, “So what are we having?”

  And that started a major discussion about the pros and cons of the menu items. Finally she decided to stick with her initial plan. “I want a big medium-rare steak, a baked potato and a Caesar salad.” And she placed her menu on the table and waited for the others.

  The men just stared at her. They all closed their menus and placed them on top of hers.

  When the waitress came by, after seeing their actions, she asked, “What can I get for you?”

  Erick laughed and said, “Four orders of steak, baked potatoes and Caesar salads please.”

  It was interesting for Erick to watch Honey fit in with the guys. Not just fit in but be one of them. Their acceptance had happened very quickly. He wasn’t quite sure how that had happened, neither was he sure how she’d gone from being the woman who had run into his prized car to being somebody he now protected. And by choice. She might have been this attractive
when they’d first met over crunched hoods, but he didn’t think so.

  Back then he hadn’t been in the same shape. He was a whole lot better now. She’d said something about she shouldn’t have been driving at the time. He wasn’t exactly sure what that meant. He was a little ashamed to think he’d been so focused on his own pain and problems that he hadn’t really considered that maybe she was having troubles herself.

  Now here she was at dinner with them, joking and laughing over her steak-and-potatoes decision-making. The men were willing victims to her suggestion. And even now she joked back and forth with Laszlo.

  He felt a tug of jealousy, wondering how that closeness had happened. He understood they’d spent more time together. He studied them closely, looking to see if any sense of intimacy had developed. But he didn’t see it. Relieved, he settled back, leaning toward her a little more. He didn’t quite understand this compulsion, but something about her reached out to him and wouldn’t let him go.

  Just then the waitress returned and leaned across to Honey’s side, placing a glass of red wine in front of her. Several other guys had ordered a beer, but Erick wouldn’t. Since all the surgeries and drugs, his body had developed an intolerance for some types of beer. He wouldn’t risk it tonight. He needed a clear head. Honey, on the other hand, could use her wine to relax. He relaxed and listened to the others’ jokes. It was all good as long as nothing was going on right now. The sense of calm and momentary peace was healthy for them all. His gaze never stopped looking around the restaurant. His cell phone was quiet, which was in itself unusual. But still it was something to enjoy.

  Honey turned to look at him. “Do you ever rest?”

  Surprised, he raised an eyebrow at the question.

  “Don’t you ever let your guard down?”

  He shook his head. “Not in a scenario like this. There’s definitely a time to let your guard down, but it’s not when we’re in another country with someone after us.”

  She nodded. “I guess I was wondering if you thought we were still in danger.”

  “I wouldn’t have a man on watch and wouldn’t be here making sure you’re safe if I didn’t think so.”