The Dangerous Thief (Stolen Hearts Book 3)

by Mallory Crowe

  She started onto the next rack and the man followed her. “I’m Brock Vera. You might’ve noticed that we’re not a huge town here, and I’ve never seen you before. I think I would’ve remembered someone so pretty.”

  Willa put on an exceptionally forced smile, willing him to notice her discomfort. “I’m just passing through. It was nice meeting you, Brock.” There. She’d been polite. Now if he still didn’t leave her alone, she was going to—

  “There’s some beautiful scenery. If you want, I can take you out and show you—”

  “Look, Brock. I’m happy that you’re so friendly and your confidence is great, but I’m not interested in—”

  A steel band of an arm went around her waist and pulled her in close. “Brock.” James Weston used just the one clipped word to communicate a hell of a lot of intimidation.

  The cowboy probably wasn’t intimidated by much, but he took a large step back as he realized that Willa wasn’t alone. “Weston,” he said nervously. “I didn’t realize you—”

  “You know now.”

  Willa raised a brow as she glanced between the two men and enjoyed the show of masculinity.

  “It was great meeting you.” Brock scurried off to harass some other visitor.

  Willa shook her head in disgust. “I gave him every signal I wasn’t interested and he couldn’t care less, but somehow the fact that some other guy has claim on me is enough to be respected. Douchebag.”

  James Weston leaned in close. “And this is why you’re not my cousin.”

  His breath brushed her ear and the sensitive nape of her neck. Chills skittered down her spine. All of a sudden, she was transported back in time to those few seconds earlier that day when James had been staring at her. When he’d wanted her. And in that moment, with his arms around her and his face so close, she felt it back. She turned her face ever so slightly but he was still so near and right next to her. Damn, this was inconvenient, but the caveman was so.... Damn. Who knew she would be attracted to a caveman?

  She wanted to believe that her momentary lapse wasn’t noticeable, but he gave her hip a quick squeeze before he stepped away and removed his hand from her. He had to know. He wouldn’t have squeezed if he didn’t, right? She bit at her bottom lip and quickly went through the store with James at her side as she got the rest of the toiletries and clothes she’d need.

  Assuming she did laundry every three days or so, she should be good for a while.

  No one else came to talk to them, but Willa was aware of the glances thrown at them from the few shoppers in the store. She was right. Everyone was curious about the new woman in town.

  She also grabbed a few books to read so she wouldn’t go insane. She was half tempted to ask James to grab a television, but she didn’t want to encroach on his bank account any more than she already was.

  It was rather painful to have him buy her supplies when she had a massive trust fund just sitting unused at the moment.

  Once she was back in the truck with James, things were different. It was as though once that switch was flipped in her head, she couldn’t turn the damn thing off. Because it wasn’t just an annoying caveman robot next to her. He seemed to take up all the space in the already large cab of the truck.

  If her leg went over just a few more inches, she’d be touching his. He could move that big hand over and set it on her knee if he wanted. She wouldn’t mind seeing what those big hands would do to her body.

  She forced her eyes on the road, which really didn’t help because she could see the outline of his muscular frame in the reflection in the glass. At least now she could look at him more subtly.

  Fine. She thought James was attractive. He was. He was a masculine man, probably in his thirties, and he looked as if he could bench-press twice her bodyweight. If she was going to be spending so much time with him, she’d have to get used to the fact that they were going to be in close proximity and she might enjoy looking at his body. So what?

  Once again she remembered the heat in his eyes as he looked at her. Damn it. She could get over her feelings toward him, or at least toward his body. But if he was thinking the same things.... Well, self-control had never been her strong suit.

  The rest of the ride back to his place was a series of her trying and failing to convince herself that her newfound appreciation for James wasn’t a big deal. About a mile from his house, his cell phone rang. Except it wasn’t a normal ring, but the song “My Girl.”

  He cursed as he answered. “Did you change my ringtone, Toni?”

  Toni.... Melody’s sister. One of the few tidbits she’d caught while she’d been with Melody. Willa leaned in closer, trying to hear as much as she could, but it was useless. She couldn’t pick up more than a few words.

  James was no help either. “Are you sure?” He maneuvered the phone to the side of his face farther from Willa. She gave him an annoyed look but he didn’t acknowledge her. “I’ll keep an eye out. Thanks for the heads-up.”

  He hung up and Willa didn’t give him half a second before she asked, “What happened?”

  “Probably nothing.”

  “That’s not an answer.”

  “Toni has been monitoring a few people close to your father and who might’ve worked for Sterling. She said that two guys just booked tickets to Phoenix and arrived this morning.”

  “This morning? So they are here already.”

  “Phoenix is a big city.”

  Willa frowned. It wasn’t as if he needed to lie to her to make her feel safer. “Do you really believe that?”

  “I think we can wait and see what happens.”

  “We can wait and see what happens while surrounded by guns, right? I mean, that’s why you’re here. To keep me safe with your badassery.”

  His grip on the steering wheel tightened and he glanced over at her. “Don’t worry, Willa. I got you.”

  She blinked. It was the first time he’d said her name and it sounded strange coming off his tongue. Unnatural. She thought back to all the reasons they would probably never meet under anything resembling a normal situation. This whole thing was unnatural.

  And that was what she was going to remind herself every time she found herself eying James’s body.

  James did a quick run-through of the house and perimeter of the property but didn’t see any uninvited guests. Toni only saw two tickets of people she was monitoring, but that didn’t mean there weren’t more. There was a chance that the guys were here for some other reason, but considering that Willa had come here yesterday and now Sterling’s guys were here, he had his doubts that it was all a coincidence.

  He double-checked that all the motion sensors were working and made sure the cameras had functional solar panels and were free of sand on the lenses. He was only one guy, so the best way to keep Willa safe would be to stick close to her.

  When he got back to the house, Willa was looking out the window, following his approach with her eyes. He didn’t want to look as concerned as he felt, but the scowl was kind of his natural state of being.

  Once he was inside, he motioned with his head for Willa to follow him. “You shouldn’t stand by the windows.” He moved down the main hallway.

  “I know. I was waiting for you to come back.”

  “From now on, don’t wait for me.” He reached his room and pushed the door open, but when he went inside, he noticed that her footsteps stopped. “Come on,” he said as he continued farther back.

  Things had gotten... complicated. He knew he had no one to blame but himself too. That goddamn dance. He was better than that. He was a professional. But for just a few seconds, he had seen her dancing and he had forgotten almost everything. All he could do was stand there and watch her moving those curves and force himself not to let his base instincts take over. Even though he’d managed to keep himself in check, it was becoming more and more evident that she had noticed his struggle.

  Willa had kept quiet about it and she hadn’t seemed extra standoffish around him, so he was hop
ing they could keep moving on, but apparently it wasn’t exactly over yet. He opened the closet and still didn’t look back at her as he said, “This is the most secure location in the house.” He pushed the hanging clothes out of the way to reveal the rack of semiautomatic weapons and handguns. One of the multiple stores of weapons in the house.

  He waited until he heard Willa’s soft steps step into the room before he turned around. “I brought some of your books in and the television is here. There’s no cable, but there’s a DVD player.”

  She pursed her lips and eyed the moderately sized TV he had set up on the wall. “Action movies?”

  “Some action comedies.”

  She nodded but it was hard to tell whether she was okay with that or not. “So what? We’re going to hang out together and watch movies?”

  “You’re going to hang out and watch movies. I’m going to monitor the property and keep in touch with Toni to see if there are any new developments.”

  “Wait, you’re leaving? I know that in town there weren’t any threats, but things have changed. Now that we know there could really be a problem, you’re running out on me?”

  He walked over to the windows and pulled up the blinds to reveal the shuttered exterior. “No one is getting in through these windows.” Then he walked over to the door and pushed it shut, revealing that the inside was coated in steel. “And no one is going to shoot through this. You’re at the safest spot in the house.”

  He started to leave, but he could feel the unease radiating off Willa. For someone as reserved with her emotions as her, he knew that wasn’t good. He turned back to see whether there was anything specific that was bothering her.

  She opened her mouth and closed it. After taking a breath, she started again. “How can I get a hold of you? If anything happens?”

  “I know everything that happens here. Trust me. If anything happens, I’ll already be on my way.”

  She sucked in her bottom lip and even though he was supposed to be in protection mode, he found himself staring at the motion. He tore his gaze away and left the room. He ran his hands through his hair as he moved farther away. Fuck, he needed to get it together.

  It had been too long since he’d been with a woman, an unfortunate symptom of living out here.

  And the women he was normally with were nothing like Willa. Hell, he didn’t think he’d ever met anyone like Willa before. He liked women who could be his equal, in and out of the bedroom.

  Willa really didn’t seem to be equal to him in any way. She was too everything. Too rich. Too social. Too sheltered. Maybe it was because she was so young. Maybe it was because of who she was. And he kept on waiting for her to fall into the stereotypes that should fit her, but Willa was just... Willa. He didn’t know how to define her and it was damned annoying. He liked things that fit into their neat little boxes, where they belonged.

  Because in his line of work, variables were deadly.

  He made it to the computer room. The computer chair wasn’t comfortable, but it would have to do, because he wasn’t leaving here until he was damned sure they weren’t about to come under attack.

  And if him being here happened to keep him away from Willa, that was just a side benefit.

  Willa lay back on the bed and closed her eyes. Which immediately popped open when she realized that James was all around her. She shot up to escape the smell of him, but it had already made its way into her brain.

  Damn it, that shouldn’t make her want to lay back down. It should skeeve her out that she was lying in someone else’s bed. It should be gross that she could smell him at all. But this wasn’t a gross smell. It smelled like soap and James. Why would she know what James smells like? Damned if she knew. It must’ve worked its way into her subconscious sometime during the trip across the country.

  And now she was supposed to sleep in that? Maybe she could make a bed on the floor.... She shook her head at the strange thought. Come on. She was an adult. She’d slept in strange beds before. Thanks to her party days, she’d take any soft location available some nights.

  But this was different for some reason. Stupid crush. God, when was the last time she’d developed a crush on someone?

  Maybe it was a survival mechanism. She was so stressed and terrified half the time, her developing a fixation on James was her mind’s way of distracting her from the crap that was her real life at the moment.

  Yeah, that made sense. She lay back down, secure in the knowledge that this was just some temporary insanity. Once she got the mess with her father sorted out, she could move onto some healthier coping mechanisms. Maybe she could kick up her workout routine and run a marathon.

  Or get a puppy! She’d always wanted a dog, but because of her crazy schedule, she’d never wanted to submit a dog to spending all day in a crate or daycare.

  But as much as she wanted that freedom right now, Willa didn’t want to think about going back to Chicago and resuming her old life. Because her old life was how she met Jules.

  If she wasn’t such an irresponsible waste, Jules never would’ve been able to slip under her radar. She knew Willa was easy to take advantage of. Looking back, it was so obvious that Jules had inserted herself into Willa’s life.

  When Jules first “met” Willa, she’d run into the drink Willa was carrying and ruined her brand-new couture dress. Jules had been so apologetic, and from the second she’d bought Willa a new round of top-shelf drinks, Willa had been more than willing to talk with the other woman.

  And after a few dinners and shopping trips, Willa had honestly thought she had a new best friend. When they shared secrets, it hadn’t seemed contrived or fake. It was real.

  So even if everything Jules told her was a lie, Willa couldn’t act like her murder was justified. When Willa found out her ex-boyfriend was a cheating scumbag, she told every socialite she knew that he had a micropenis. That had seemed justified punishment for lying.

  The line her father had crossed... no one deserved that. And Jules... she didn’t seem afraid. She didn’t cry or beg for her life. She’d been strong. Strong in a way that Willa didn’t even know existed.

  And now she was gone and Willa would never know the real Jules.

  Music started, signaling the end credits of the movie that had been playing, but Willa hadn’t been able to pay attention. Ugh. What strange hell she’d found herself in. Couldn’t sleep. Couldn’t watch TV. Pining after literally the worst guy on the earth for her to be pining after.

  She really wanted to leave for a walk or something, anything to get her blood flowing, but knew that at least for the night they needed to be extra vigilant. Part of her wasn’t worried. When James promised to watch over her, it was hard not to feel safe. She had a feeling he didn’t make a lot of promises he couldn’t keep.

  She lay back on the bed and allowed herself to take in one deep breath, savoring the soft comforter beneath her and the scent of James around her. And with that sense of security filling her, she finally fell asleep.

  When Willa’s eyes popped open, the entire world was shaking. She blinked in confusion as she shot up and stumbled away from the bed. She was still trying to differentiate reality from sleep when James pulled the door open. A second later, he had crossed over to her and ran his hands down her arms in a super quick motion that was over almost as soon as she realized it was happening.

  “Are you okay?”

  She nodded as she looked around, trying to figure out what was going on. “What happened?”

  “There was an explosion at the property line.”

  “They’re trying to blow us up?” she shouted. Maybe she was still asleep. This didn’t seem right.

  “No. But they knew about the motion sensors. The shockwave from the blast they set off threw all the sensors off and about half the cameras are useless.”

  Her eyes widened. “So now we’re sitting ducks?”

  “No. You still have me and we have lots and lots of guns, okay?”

  She nodded, but that didn’
t make her feel any better. A few minutes ago, she hadn’t been fully convinced there was any need to worry at all. Now there was for sure some maniac out there, setting off explosions.

  “I want you to stay here. I’m going to make sure no one gets in.”

  She reached out and grabbed his arm, her hand not even close to closing around his bicep. Well, that was slightly comforting. “Stay here.”

  “Defensive is good, but offensive is my strength. I want to get this sorted before anyone can even get eyes on you.”

  That sounded good and all, but the very idea of him leaving her alone again sent a chill up her spine. But she forced herself to release her grip on him. “Just come back, okay?”

  James was quiet as he looked down at her. She felt as if there was something he wanted to say to her, but no words came out. And there was a hell of a lot more she wanted to say to him, but it was nothing new. She wanted him to promise he wouldn’t leave her. To promise that he wouldn’t get hurt and that everything would work out. She wanted him to give her things she knew he couldn’t, so she didn’t bother to ask.

  After a few long seconds ticking by, James clenched his jaw and left her alone again.

  James rolled his shoulders and twisted his neck as he tried to shake off the strange feelings rushing through him. Damn, he hadn’t wanted to leave her. Every piece of his training told him that keeping both of them barricaded in that room was a bad idea, but with every step he took farther from Willa, he had to fight the urge to run back and push her behind him.

  He would get back to her soon enough. All he had to do was take out some trash and they could go back to their strange equilibrium. He had his hip holster on, with a sidearm and two full extra magazines. He also had two pocketknives in the oversized pockets of his cargo pants. Before he walked outside, he grabbed a shotgun and put on a pair of night vision goggles. If the guys coming after them were professionals, they were going to have similar supplies. Even though the headgear was some of the best stuff on the market, it was bulky and was damned inconvenient to fight in.