Sleight Mistake (Stone Investigations Book 2)

by Scarlett Finn

The grin in his voice widened her smile and from how he kneaded her glutes, he paid no heed to her words. ‘I need to train you,’ she said into the pillow. ‘So I’m withholding sex and I have to tell you that a really hot guy smiled at me today.’

  ‘Is that right,’ he murmured. His hand left her but before she could mutter her disappointment, his lips touched the back of her knee and he crawled up her, kissing the path his hand had just trekked.

  ‘That doesn’t bother you?’ she asked, turning her head out of the pillow to look over her shoulder as he kissed up her spine.

  ‘Did he approach you?’ he asked between kisses. ‘Or touch you?’

  ‘No,’ she said.

  ‘It doesn’t surprise me that men show interest in you, you’re beautiful. They can look all they want, but you’re mine.’

  Knowing fine well that she had no intention of following through on her assertion, she kept teasing. ‘I’m withholding sex,’ she said, warmed by the possession in his feral tone.

  ‘I heard you,’ he said, sweeping her hair aside to kiss her neck. His weight pushed her down into the mattress. The rasp of his fully clothed body on her naked one made her wriggle and push her rear up into the buckle of his belt, seeking the solid want he impressed into her.

  ‘Ryd,’ she exhaled.

  ‘Mm, Dusty,’ he mumbled against her back. ‘Anything you want, anything at all.’

  ‘Your dick in me,’ she gasped, pushing her body upward to force him up so she could roll onto her back. He came in for a kiss, but she went straight for his belt buckle.

  ‘I thought you were withholding,’ he laughed when she stuck her hand in his briefs to pull out his thick member.

  ‘I did,’ she said. ‘That’s over now. I’ll withhold when you go back through to play poker with the guys.’

  ‘You want to have sex then kick me out of bed?’

  ‘You talk too much,’ she said, pushing him to his back. Climbing over to straddle him, she speared herself on the pleasure he offered to her only.

  ‘I love you,’ he coughed out, curling into the delight her own engorged tissues gave his.

  Driving herself up and down, she bowed her mouth to his but the kiss was short-lived. Taking control, Ryder flipped her onto her back and pinned her hips with his own, still deep inside her.

  ‘What if I’m withholding? Did you ever think of that?’ he asked.

  Running her hands up his body, she got her hands into his hair and took it in her fists, forcing their mouths together again. ‘Stop talking and make love to me Ryder, now.’

  He was better at teasing than she was, but when their need was so urgent, it wasn’t in either of them to deny the other.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Getting out of her funk over the next week, Lacie resolved herself to move on from the second attack and to do that, she had to be able to go outside and conduct business without panicking. Taking Rocco’s words to heart, she made plans to treat her security detail seriously. What this meant was she had to go through the same procedure that all of their clients did.

  After Ryder left their bed in the morning, Lacie slept in. Eventually she woke to get herself ready for the meeting that would help them all plan how best to keep her safe. Sliding her feet into her wide heeled court shoes that went with the grey cotton business dress she had only worn on a couple of occasions, she swept her hair into a tight French roll and smiled at her reflection in the mirror. She looked every inch the consummate professional, which was exactly what she wanted to be seen as. But the S.I.S. men would get a laugh at seeing her so buttoned up.

  Getting herself down the stairs, she drew stares from the newest S.I.S. men in the reception and the blonde receptionist—who Lacie now knew as Chantelle—sat up straight.

  ‘Miss Hart?’ Chantelle asked.

  ‘I have an appointment,’ Lacie said.

  ‘Boardroom one,’ Chantelle stuttered.

  Lacie nodded and made her way around the waterfall glass to the first door on her right. Knocking once, she went inside and paused to let the men look her up and down. They weren’t used to seeing her like this with her neatly styled hair, discreet make-up and the sophisticated business wear.

  ‘Lacie Hart,’ she said while trying not to smile at the agog faces. ‘I have an appointment.’

  Ryder sat at the head of the table with Gabe and Rocco flanking him. Next down was Will and Toby, then Ty and Sonny. She had every member of the elite team.

  ‘You are a sexy thing, Hart,’ Ty muttered.

  ‘That’s not very professional,’ Lacie said, allowing herself a smile. Coming inside, she closed the door, and moved past her amusement. ‘How does this work?’

  Ty spoke again. ‘If you feel like taking your clothes off…’

  Ignoring Ty, Gabe stood up. ‘We were just discussing your predicament,’ he said, moving down the table to pull out a chair for her to sit a few places down from Ty.

  Rounding the table, she sat and Gabe pushed in her chair. Ty winked at her, if he was trying to make her laugh he was on the road to succeeding. Lacie hoped this wasn’t how he was with all the female clients, and somehow she knew he wasn’t. Ryder trusted men who were capable and professional, not those who were unable to stand up to the job. Ty just liked to tease her and rile Ryder in the process.

  ‘Do you have a plan?’ Lacie asked Gabe who appeared to be taking the lead. It was nice that Sonny was at the table, he was moving up in estimations and was no longer just their servant.

  ‘This meeting will help us to determine a path that will be suitable for all of us. We work for you at the end of the day but we won’t allow you to impede us in doing our job, that wouldn’t suit either party.’

  ‘You all know why we’re here,’ Lacie said. ‘We all understand what the threat is. I trust all of you.’

  ‘Rocco’s given you our position,’ Gabe said. ‘Our goal is to keep you safe, regardless of our own personal cost.’

  The implication of this statement made her frown. ‘I don’t want any of you taking risks,’ she said flattening her hands on the table.

  ‘Then you’ve come to the wrong place, Princess,’ Will said, clipping his words. ‘We do our job no matter the cost.’

  All of these men would give their life for hers, she’d heard it before. ‘Maybe this was a mistake,’ Lacie said, considering how she would feel if anything happened to any of them because of her troubles.

  ‘A mistake?’ Gabe asked.

  ‘There are other security companies—‘

  ‘One of our competitors?’ Sonny said, displaying the education he’d gotten from these men. Exhibiting the depth of his awareness earned him his seat at the table.

  ‘I don’t doubt your skills,’ Lacie said. ‘But if anything happened to any of you—‘

  ‘If we do our jobs properly no one will get hurt,’ Gabe said.

  All too aware of how these intimidating men could railroad a person, she asserted her position. ‘I’d rather not take that risk,’ Lacie said.

  ‘Do you think we would trust anyone else with your safety?’ Rocco asked.

  ‘If you got hurt on someone else’s watch, how do you think we would react?’ Will asked.

  As each man spoke, they got her attention. It didn’t take her long to come up with an answer to Will’s question. People would end up getting hurt in that scenario. If these men started a war with another security company, there was no guaranteeing anyone’s safety.

  She also knew that regardless of whether or not she authorised it, these men would investigate and would probably guard her as well, even if it was from a distance.

  ‘We’re considered the best for a reason,’ Toby said. He wasn’t known for saying much but when he did speak he made it count.

  ‘Ok,’ she said, drumming her flat fingers on the table. Arguing was pointless, because even if she told them not to continue working the case, they would. ‘My boyfriend is picking up the tab so I suppose I can afford to waste your time and his money.’
/>   Her intention was to draw a reaction from said boyfriend at the head of the table who had been conspicuously silent, yet he remained so.

  ‘When you’re here in the complex,’ Gabe said. ‘We assume you’ll be safe but will still post one agent on your detail.’

  ‘Even when I’m home upstairs?’

  ‘Yes,’ Gabe said. ‘We can’t be complacent. Only the truly arrogant would assume they were invincible.’

  His words were true, but being constantly under scrutiny didn’t complement her personality. ‘I like to be alone,’ Lacie said. ‘Will someone watch me shower and dress too?’

  ‘I volunteer for that detail,’ Ty said, raising a hand to the rest of the men who sniggered at their flirtatious friend.

  ‘We would offer wide perimeter at home,’ Gabe said. ‘Security is in the process of being stepped up in the building.’

  ‘What about out of the building?’ Lacie asked.

  ‘For external and high risk four agents. In familiar or scouted locations three agents.’

  The thought of being constantly surrounded was unsettling. Yet, as foreign as it was to be watched, having these men around would increase her sense of safety, and Ryder’s sense of it too, and that would be worth the cost of her privacy for the duration of the investigation.

  ‘Are there any provisos that I should be aware of?’ she asked.

  ‘Give us as much information as you can ahead of time,’ Gabe said. ‘We appreciate that there will be spontaneous events but if you know where you’ll be or who with we’d appreciate the heads up.’

  Lacie nodded. ‘I can do that.’

  ‘Keep your panic button on you at all times,’ Gabe said. ‘We’ll provide you with another for company purposes.’

  ‘Ok,’ Lacie said. ‘It all sounds straightforward.’

  ‘We’ll start and end each day with a briefing,’ Gabe said. ‘We’ll also intercept your mail and your email.’

  ‘What has my email got to do with it?’ Lacie asked as she hadn’t been expecting this. It wasn’t like her email was filled with secret messages to unknown lovers or anything. But email was her main form of communication with Monty, her aunt, and her family back home.

  ‘Intercepting visitors is easy enough,’ Rocco said. ‘We’re all here anyway. You don’t have a private phone line so we don’t have calls to intercept and you’re terrible at remembering to carry your cell phone with you. Your mail comes here and we’ve been vetting that since this began.’

  ‘He’s never contacted me by email,’ Lacie said.

  ‘Is it a problem?’ Will asked.

  ‘Yes,’ she said and felt them all draw in closer around the table. ‘There’s no intrigue here. If he gets in touch by email, I’ll let you know.’

  ‘Guaranteed that the first thing I’ll be doing when I get out of this room is getting Toby to hack her email,’ Ty said to the table.

  ‘There’s nothing exciting in there,’ Lacie said. ‘No naked pictures or secret affairs.’

  ‘So what’s the problem?’ Will asked in his signature confrontational way.

  ‘If it’s important—‘

  ‘We’ll negotiate,’ Gabe said. ‘We have to request your instructions.’

  ‘My instructions?’ she asked.

  ‘You’re the client,’ Rocco said. ‘Do you have rules for us?’

  Everyone expected her to say something but her mind went blank. ‘You all show me respect and know to give me space if I’m working or… occupied with my better half. I don’t think I have any rules, as long as you abide by your morals.’ Rocco smiled at her pointed look.

  ‘Do you have plans today?’ Gabe asked her.

  ‘Yes,’ she said. ‘I have an appointment to keep then I’m having lunch with Elijah.’

  ‘Graden?’

  ‘Yes,’ Lacie said, ignoring the wave of surprise that swept the room. ‘Ryder knows all about it before you all gasp in horror, and I’m more than happy for any of you to stay in earshot.’

  ‘You’ve got Will, Ty, Toby, and Sonny today,’ Gabe said. ‘The rest of us will be working out the details, working on identifying the threat.’

  ‘Sonny,’ Lacie said, smiling at the youngest team member. ‘You’ve graduated.’

  ‘I’ll do my best for you,’ Sonny said still as sheepish as ever.

  ‘I know you will,’ Lacie said.

  ‘Dismissed.’

  The word came from the afore mentioned silent figure at the head of the table: Ryder.

  All of the men followed the order and got up to go. Lacie stayed put. The door closed behind the men, leaving her and Ryder alone.

  ‘You’re a good girl,’ he said.

  ‘Thank you,’ she said, stretching her arms across the table. ‘Letting Gabe take first chair?’

  He didn’t give much away in his expression or manner and she wondered at what was on his mind. ‘I’ll take my turn on detail, but I want to investigate a few leads we’ve picked up.’

  ‘Promising?’

  ‘Maybe.’

  ‘You were very quiet,’ she said, giving in to her need for his solidarity.

  Revealing some of himself, he softened his expression. ‘I have to maintain a professional distance. There will be no more mistakes where you’re concerned.’

  ‘A professional distance,’ she said, letting her eyes wander to the side while her smile grew. ‘Does that mean you’ll be sleeping in the spare room?’

  He almost laughed and she was encouraged by the way the corner of his mouth rose. ‘Don’t think so,’ he said. ‘I’m giving you space with Graden. It wouldn’t do for me to be on your detail when you’re lunching with another guy.’

  Losing her will to tease, she felt it was her turn to reassure him. ‘He’s a friend, nothing more.’

  ‘I know that,’ Ryder said and she believed his certainty. ‘If he won’t accept that—‘

  ‘Why shouldn’t he?’ she asked. ‘I don’t think he requested this lunch to make a move on me.’

  His perception of her naivety amused him. ‘That’s exactly why he called this lunch, Dusty. If he pressures you—‘

  ‘I’ll have my guards pin him to the ground while I run,’ she said without believing she would have the need.

  ‘Good girl.’

  Lacie pushed away from the table and got to her feet, she faltered, then found herself smiling. ‘Can I kiss you goodbye?’

  ‘Can I bend you over this table?’ he asked with the same level of professionalism he’d maintained throughout the meeting.

  Closing one eye, she swithered on the point. ‘I don’t think that’s what my boyfriend is paying you for.’

  ‘Call it a freebie.’

  Lacie wandered the length of the table toward him as he rolled his chair back from the table. Upon reaching him, she sank onto his lap and linked her fingers around his neck.

  ‘I wish I had time to let you,’ she said, pressing her lips to his. ‘I have to see a lawyer.’

  ‘That’s your appointment?’ Ryder asked, kissing her shoulder.

  ‘Elijah was right that I need one.’

  ‘This is his lawyer?’ Ryder frowned.

  ‘Sorcha’s,’ Lacie said, shaking her head.

  ‘My lawyer comes here,’ Ryder said, resting his linked fingers on her hip. ‘If you don’t like this guy I can set it up.’

  ‘Thank you, baby,’ she said and this time she didn’t relinquish his mouth.

  Kissing Ryder brought her a sense of complete wellbeing. The jitters left her body in lieu of the heady union of his tongue with hers. His hands moved up her body to cup her breasts, then sliding his palms down her bare arms, he clasped her rear, crushing her hip into the solid want he reserved for her,

  ‘Ryd,’ she whispered, grasping his hair when his lips moved down the column of her throat. She was going to be late for this appointment if his hand found its way under her dress.

  ‘Boss.’

  Lifting her head from his lips, the couple saw Ty hanging into the r
oom with an emerging grin. ‘What are you smirking at?’ Ryder asked.

  ‘Professional distance you said,’ Ty pointed out. ‘You’re a legend.’

  ‘I should get going,’ Lacie said. Patting Ryder’s shoulder, she kissed him goodbye. ‘Are you working tonight?’

  ‘I’m on your detail,’ Ryder said, checking her out.

  She straightened her dress and found herself smiling again. ‘This is going to be fun.’

  Lacie hadn’t liked the lawyer much. Whether it was his personality or profession that put her off, she didn’t know. But her security team had remained alert, discreet, and had maintained distance. Having these men on her periphery gave her solace. She’d worried that the obvious protection would make her feel vulnerable and maybe it would have if she didn’t know these men so well.

  Lacie was comfortable with them, trusted them, respected and valued what they were doing for her. So while she sat at the restaurant table with Elijah sipping her water, she could have forgotten that they were there… if Elijah hadn’t been so edgy about their presence.

  Replacing her water glass on the table, she wiped the condensation from her hand onto the napkin on her lap. ‘If you ignore them, they’ll ignore you,’ Lacie said to Elijah who was preoccupied with something behind her.

  ‘They’re not especially covert,’ Elijah said, glancing one way and then the other.

  ‘I wouldn’t want them to be,’ she said, forking up some of her salad. ‘I don’t want to be attacked and their presence will ensure that.’

  ‘You have complete confidence in them?’

  ‘Yes,’ she said. ‘What did you wish to discuss?’

  Elijah hadn’t eaten much of his food, which put paid to her hope that this meal would be brief. ‘I had hoped we would be alone.’

  ‘We are alone,’ she said. ‘They’re not here to report back.’

  ‘You’re still with Stone?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘I can’t understand what you see in him.’

  At least Elijah’s frustration was distracting him from her security detail. ‘No one’s asking you to date him,’ Lacie said, stabbing more leaves onto her fork.

  ‘Is that what it is? Casual dating?’