by Leslie Chase
"Morning, Emily," he said, an obviously fake cheer in his voice. "Had a guest over? We agreed, no visitors, remember?"
Emily blushed, feeling flustered at the disappointed look in his eyes. He'd made no secret of being interested in her, and now she didn't know what to say. That didn't stop Lucas speaking, though.
"I'm not a guest, I'm working for Miss Shaw," he said. The tone of his voice was a clear warning. "Who are you?"
"Oh, didn't Emily tell you about me?" Tom's tone was light, breezy, ignoring the threatening tone Lucas used as he extended his hand. "I guess I'm her landlord, though I'm a little more than that to her."
He turned to wink at Emily, and then winced as Lucas took his hand and gripped it firmly. Emily thought she could hear bones grinding, and had to keep herself from smiling.
"That was years ago, Tom," she said, looking away. "I just didn't have anywhere else to turn, and you said if I ever needed you."
"You can always rely on me," Tom said, voice a little strained as he pulled his hand from Lucas' grip and shook it. "I was doing this place up for my grandmother anyway, and she isn't moving in yet. Of course, you're welcome to stay at my place instead. That would be much more comfortable, wouldn't it?"
"I don't think that would be a good idea." Tom had made that offer with varying degrees of subtlety every time they'd talked, and it had gone from being annoying to downright unpleasant. But being on the run hadn't left her many options, and she couldn't think of anywhere else she'd be able to stay without leaving a paper trail.
Tom didn't seem happy with that answer. He never did. "It would make things a lot easier for us both –"
Before he could finish that thought, Lucas stepped between them. "The lady said no."
"This isn't your business," Tom said. Emily swallowed, feeling the tension in the room grow. The last thing she wanted was a fight between the two men. Not that there was any doubt about who would win: Lucas was twice the size of Tom, and all of that was muscle. But if Tom wanted her out of the apartment, she'd be stuck. She couldn't risk going home, that was out of the question.
"Lucas, please don't," she said, stepping around to the side so that she could see both of them. "Tom, thank you for the offer, but no thanks. I appreciate the help, but…"
Tom had always been too familiar with her, which was one of the reasons they hadn't spoken in years. He asked her out at every opportunity, no matter how many times she said no, no matter how inappropriate the moment – and she'd never been interested in taking him up on the offer. But he had always said that if she needed help, he'd be there for her, no strings attached.
Having taken him up on that offer, she found herself getting tangled in those supposedly non-existent strings. It wasn't comfortable.
Tom looked from her to Lucas and back again. "Oh, I see how it is. You wanted somewhere to shack up with this guy, and you thought you could trick me into giving you a little love nest?"
"No, Tom," Emily said, trying and failing to control her exasperation. She didn’t need to bother since he didn't pause to listen to her.
"You think you can take advantage of me, like you used to? Well, not anymore. You can't lead me on like that, you –"
She never found out what he was about to call her. Lucas grabbed the other man by his shirt and shoved, sending him stumbling backwards into the wall. Before he could recover his balance, Lucas pinned him to the wall, face dark with anger.
"Don't talk to her like that," he said, voice deep and rough and furious. "In fact, don't talk to her at all. You made an arrangement with her, you live up to it, and you won't bother her again."
Emily was torn. On the one hand, she was terrified – what if Tom went to the police, what if she got kicked out of this place? She was trying to live under the radar of the people hunting her. But it was satisfying to see Lucas not letting Tom get away with his shit. No one had ever stood up to him for her before, and she caught herself enjoying Tom's discomfort as he squirmed, trapped against the wall.
Watching him, she realized that Lucas looked damned hot when he was protecting her. That intense anger, pointed at someone who was making her uncomfortable, was a powerful thing.
"This isn't your business," Tom tried again, but his voice lacked any conviction.
"When someone hires me to look after them, I look after them," Lucas said. "That makes this my business. I won't let you intimidate her or make her feel unsafe. So, from now on you don't come in here without permission. You don't bother her. And you don't threaten her. Am I understood?"
Tom started to object, but something in Lucas' gaze made him look away and nod, hurriedly. "Whatever you say, man, whatever you say."
Without another word, Lucas straightened, letting Tom off the wall. He shot a look at Emily, looking as though he was about to say something and then thinking better of it. Turning his back silently, he left the apartment.
Once the door had swung shut behind him, Lucas sat back at the table and looked up at her. Something about him seemed happy, satisfied perhaps, in a way that Emily couldn't pin down.
Her fears came flooding back as she heard Tom's footsteps leaving. "Oh God, what if he gets the police?"
"He won't," Lucas said with absolute certainty. "He's not going to be any problem, not while I'm around. Too scared. And you haven't done anything wrong, so what could he call them for?"
Emily drew a breath to argue, but let it out without speaking. She hoped he was right, and thought he probably was. Tom had certainly looked frightened enough when he left. Shaking her head, she sat down nervously.
Lucas sighed heavily, looking exasperated. "You don't have to let people walk over you like that, you know. He's the one harassing you; he should be the one worried about what happens if the cops get involved!"
"But I can't call the cops!"
"So you've said. And that's your decision," Lucas said, visibly restraining his irritation. "That doesn't mean that he gets to take advantage of you, and if he tries anything, I will deal with him. That's part of the service you're paying me for."
Lucas made an effort not to look annoyed, and knew from Emily's face that he was failing. This isn't the kind of problem that I should be dealing with!
Tom might be a creep, but Lucas didn't think he was a shifter – he couldn't always tell, but usually one shifter would recognize another. And if he was just a normal human creep, then it wasn't really something for the Guardian Bears.
Still, he did have an urge to break the man's face, shifter or no. Behaving like that towards Emily wasn't something Lucas would put up with, and he didn't think that Tom realized how close he'd come to actual physical harm. Why am I letting it get to me like that? Lucas didn't know, but it also didn't matter. If Tom threatened Emily again, he knew that he'd make the other man regret it, and that was that.
"You're paying me to protect you," he told Emily, carefully relaxing his hands. "So that's what you'll get. At least until you sort out your other options."
She looked at him, conflicted and wide-eyed. He watched her compose herself, putting together the words she needed. The fear in her eyes dimmed slightly, but her voice was still quiet and trembling. "Tom – he isn't the problem, you know."
"I know. If it was just him, believe me, you wouldn't have a problem anymore." He heard the anger in his voice again, saw her look away, a little shiver running through her. He might not have spotted it on anyone else, but he was paying attention to Emily in a way he wasn't used to. The smallest details of her reactions stood out to him.
He wasn't sure what to make of it, though. Lucas wasn't used to dealing with someone who had so much fear running through them. Is she afraid of me, or of Tom? Or someone else? Damn it, why would she be afraid of me?
Lucas knew that he could be intimidating, and he was used to scaring his clients a little. But Emily was truly frightened of him, and that hurt. Especially since he knew he wouldn't ever hurt her. Why couldn't she see that?
"Look, Tom isn't the important issue
right now," he said, trying to focus on moving forward. "You hired me to protect you, and you need to figure out what you want beyond that. I'll back you up, but without knowing what your problem is, I can't help you decide what to do."
Emily nodded, took a deep breath, and looked back towards him. The fear hadn't left her, but she had it under control again.
"You're right," she said. "I'm sorry. I just don't know what I need to do, where to start."
He waited, giving her time to think. No point in pushing her, not when she was already stressed to her limits. Emily took another deep breath, closing her eyes, and he could see her counting to three under her breath. When she opened her eyes again, she looked up at the clock on the wall and shook her head.
"I can't cope with this now," she said. "I've got to get to work. We can talk about it when I get back."
Lucas recognized a ploy to put off the conversation when he heard one, but at least that was a step forwards. Emily was thinking about the future, even if it was only today's future. Reining in his frustration, he nodded and stood up.
"Fine. But you aren't going alone," he said firmly. "I'm not leaving your side unless I have to, today."
5
This is a mistake, Emily thought as she nodded agreement. But she felt safer, even so. Lucas' calm confidence that he could take care of her was infectious, even if she didn't really believe it. Maybe the illusion of safety is better than nothing at all?
Anyway, she didn't have time to argue. She was late for work as it was, and she couldn't afford that, not now. Chewing on her lip, she nodded.
"If you insist, then fair enough," she told him, only realizing how ungrateful that sounded when the words were out of her mouth. Well, it was true: he was insisting. "Look, I've got to get going, if I leave now I might make it in before the boss notices I'm late."
Lucas nodded, grabbing his leather jacket from where he'd hung it over a chair.
"Can't have that," he said firmly. "Where are you parked?"
Emily didn't answer for a moment, too embarrassed as she put on her own jacket and picked up her bag. It was a bit of a sore spot for her, and another thing she didn't want to go into. There wasn't really any choice, though, not with Lucas following behind her like the world's largest and angriest guard dog.
"I… I don't have a car right now," she admitted as they stepped out onto the quiet morning street. "I mean I do, but it's not here, I can't use it. Work's only a twenty-minute walk away, though. It's fine."
"That is not fine," Lucas told her. Emily shivered at the note of anger which had crept back into his voice. "Come on, I'll drive you. Safer, and you won't be late."
Flustered, she didn't say anything, just turned and locked the door behind them. Lucas led the way to a van parked across the road, and Emily found herself hurrying along behind him. He moved with a deceptive speed and grace for such a big man. Inside the cramped apartment she hadn't noticed it, but now that he had the space, he could stretch out his limbs as he walked. It was like watching a prowling predator. His head turned, letting him survey his surroundings, and she was certain that nothing escaped his attention.
The van looked old and a little battered, the kind that would be inconspicuous in most places. Just the right kind of thing to blend in wherever he had to work, she assumed – and it certainly wouldn't get a second look here. Lucas opened the passenger door for her, turning to put his back to the car, and looked around carefully as she climbed in.
Apparently satisfied that there wasn't any threat on the street, he made his way around the van and pulled himself in. His presence filled the cab as soon as he took the driver's seat, and Emily found herself pushing into the door, trying to give the huge man space. It was a big cab, but even so, he looked cramped in it.
"Isn't this kind of uncomfortable?" she couldn't help asking. He turned and looked down at her, his lips pulling into something very nearly like a smile.
"Well, I could hardly ride a motorbike to work, can I?" he said. Yes, there was definitely some humor in his voice, some private joke she didn't get. "Where would I put my tools? Or my clients?"
"I guess that makes sense," she agreed dubiously. Lucas' smile widened, and she managed to smile in return. Despite being trapped in the corner of the cab by him, she felt safer than she had walking to work on her own the last few days. Maybe there is something to this plan after all.
The drive was short and uneventful, though Lucas felt on edge the whole way. It was one thing to agree to guard someone without knowing what the threat was, but it was another to actually do it. He had no idea what the danger might be, or where it would come from, so he had to be alert for anything.
Not much different from the Army, then, he told himself, trying to focus. The squad of bears had spent a lot of time away from base, in hostile territory. Being in danger from every side – a danger that could strike at any second, or could hold off for days – was nothing unusual for him. Though at least there, he'd had the rest of the squad to guard his back. Now he was on his own, with a civilian to protect.
And he was finding it hard to focus on his work while she was so close beside him. In the confined space of the van, she was close enough to reach out to, and his bear was rumbling awake inside him, sniffing the air. His senses were alert, but it was all too easy to fill them with her, rather than with the job.
Damn, she smells nice, he couldn't help thinking. His bear rumbled agreement inside him, and he had to growl at himself to bring his full attention back to the road around them. His fingers tightened on the wheel, and he was glad when he pulled into the parking lot at their destination. He needed a bit of space to breathe.
Looking up at where they were, he frowned. "This is where you work?"
In front of them was a rundown-looking diner. Not the kind of place he'd imagined Emily at – he realized he'd been assuming she worked in an office or something. This certainly didn't look like it would pay enough for someone to afford private security, even short term.
A glance at her told him that Emily wasn't exactly happy about it, but she nodded.
"I had to work somewhere, didn't I?" she replied, and there was a hint of that fire again. Lucas felt a flicker of a smile touch his lips – there was a determination in her, under that frightened exterior. He liked it better than the meek, almost defeated woman he saw on the surface.
That's probably not fair, he reminded himself. If she's on the run from something, she's got the strength to keep going this far.
"So what are you going to do, while I'm working?" she asked, getting out of the van as she spoke.
"I need to know the area," he told her. "I'll check out your work first, make sure you'll be safe there, then I'll check the block. If I know where there might be trouble, I'll be able to keep you safe from it."
She didn't look too happy about him hanging around all day, but he didn't care. Having personal security made most people uncomfortable for the first day or so – the only way to get her through that was to just carry on until she was used to his presence. The alternative was to hang back far enough that she wouldn't really be safe, and he wasn't going to do that.
"Okay, fine. But Harry won't let you look around the back. He gets really protective of that, so unless you're going to pretend you're an inspector or something, you can forget it."
Lucas bit back an annoyed reply and just frowned. That was going to make things a lot more difficult. Unfortunately, he didn't have a legal reason to insist on getting a good look at the kitchens. And without a decent excuse, he'd just be making it difficult for himself and Emily both. It really wouldn't be convenient if he had the cops called on him. He'd have to talk to this Harry and hope he'd be more reasonable than Emily was making him out to be.
There was one thing he could do in the meantime.
"If I'm not going to be able to keep an eye on you all the time, I need you to take this," he said, digging into his jacket pocket for a small black key-fob. "It's a locator alarm – just hit this butt
on, and it'll send me your location. It's a good idea for you to carry it anyway, but if you're going to be out of my sight a lot, it's vital."
Emily looked the device dubiously. She looked torn, and Lucas suppressed a flash of irritation at her.
You need security, he wanted to tell her, and you've got me. What's the point if you won't carry a way to call me? But before he could say anything, she shrugged and stuffed it in her pocket.
"All right, fine," she said, forcing a smile which didn't reach her eyes. "For whatever good it'll do."
The place was already open – Emily wasn't on the first shift of the day, it seemed. Emily vanished into the back, and as soon as she was out of sight Lucas felt uneasy. Trying to ignore that, he slid into a booth which let him watch both the entrance and the kitchen door, ordering a coffee from a waitress and pulling out his phone. There wasn't much that he needed to check, but flicking through it was a good excuse while he got the feel of the place. In his experience, no one paid much attention to a guy looking at his phone, even a big guy.
It didn't take him long to get the measure of the place. The prices were cheap, the coffee okay, the tables scratched and the chair covers torn. Cheap and run down, but busy enough to keep ticking if he was any judge.
When she emerged and got to work, Emily didn't really seem to fit in. She was quick to top up coffees, took orders with a smile, but she never looked comfortable in her role. And she was slow enough to make it clear she hadn't been doing this long, though she was clearly trying her best.
From the glances she shot him, his presence was making her uncomfortable too. Might as well do some scouting of the area, he thought once he was confident that diner itself was a safe environment. Give her a break from me while she works.
Draining his cup, he settled up and went outside, taking a careful look around the lot and the cars parked. No one else was watching the building or Emily, at least not that he could see. Satisfied, he started a slow and careful circuit of the building, pulling out his phone while he walked.