Razor's Edge

by Shannon K. Butcher

  Razor frowned, which only made him notice her mouth that much more. It was a nice mouth—soft, with just the barest sheen of lip gloss. In a mad corner of his mind, he wondered if it was flavored.

  Tanner shoved his hand into his pocket and made sure he’d wiped away all hints of that lip gloss from his finger before he did something stupid and tasted it.

  They were working together, and that meant he needed to keep things professional between them. He knew better than to mess up his chances at the Edge by getting involved with a coworker—even one wearing flavored lip gloss.

  “Is it really that simple for you?” she asked. “Bella has the money, so she gets the last word?”

  “Bella hired me. Not you.”

  “So if I were to offer you more money to walk away, you would?”

  Anger rose, flashing just below the surface. “My loyalty can’t be bought.”

  “Seems to me as if it already has been.”

  The elevator doors opened and Razor strode forward, her heels clicking on the polished marble floor.

  “I’m here to see Kurt,” she announced as she passed the receptionist.

  The young woman shot to her feet, scurrying to stop Razor from passing. “Do you have an appointment?”

  Razor kept going without an answer, and as soon as the receptionist realized she could not be stopped, she scurried back around her desk and picked up the phone.

  Tanner wasn’t sure if she was calling this Kurt guy or security, but he wasn’t about to stop and listen long enough to figure it out. Wherever Razor was going, so was he.

  She opened a door on her left, walking in as if she owned the place. The man behind the desk quickly shut his laptop and stared up with a guilty look on his face.

  Kurt’s skin said he was nearing forty, but he had the body of a much younger man. Several pictures sat atop his desk for visitors to see, showing him rock climbing and skydiving. There was another of him shirtless, wearing boxing gloves and dripping with sweat.

  His hair had begun to gray, and he’d tanned his skin until it was a deep, crinkly brown. Even though the man was dressed in a suit and tie, Tanner could tell he was an athlete.

  “This has to stop, Kurt,” said Razor.

  “What the hell are you doing in my office?”

  “You sent another man to follow me again, didn’t you?”

  Kurt glanced back at Tanner, who planned on keeping his mouth shut unless things got out of hand.

  “No. I’ve never seen this man before in my life,” said Kurt.

  “Not him. The skinny guy with the bad haircut.”

  “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

  Razor pulled out her phone and brought up a photo. She set it down on Kurt’s desk. “Proof. Which I plan on showing the police if you don’t stop sending your buddies around to follow me.”

  Kurt looked at the photo. “I don’t know this guy. Looks like a drug addict to me.”

  “This isn’t funny anymore. We’re over. Deal with it.”

  “I have. As a matter of fact, I’m seeing someone else now. Not that you care.”

  Razor lifted one eyebrow in suspicion. “Really? What’s her name?”

  “Like I’m going to tell you. You’ll probably go find her and act all crazy like you are with me, claiming she’s trying to read your mind or something. You need help. This whole paranoid thing isn’t at all becoming, so put on a tin foil hat and leave me the fuck alone.”

  Razor frowned and tilted her head. “You’re not lying, are you?”

  “No. I’m not. I got over you weeks ago. If someone is really following you—which I doubt—I have nothing to do with it.”

  Tanner felt a brush of air as the office door opened. He spun around and came face-to-face with a large, stone-faced security guard.

  “Is there a problem here?” asked the guard.

  Tanner moved so that he was between Razor and the guard.

  “I think that’s up to Ms. Haught,” said Kurt. “What about it? Do you need an escort out?”

  He hadn’t called her Razor the way everyone else did. Was it because they’d been close, or because only the people she worked with used the nickname? Roxanne fit her better. It was softer and prettier. He couldn’t fathom how she’d gotten the nickname.

  Razor shook her head and straightened her shoulders. “No. I’m leaving. I’m sorry I bothered you.”

  Kurt handed over her cell phone, and the guard stepped aside for them to leave first. Of course, he rode down in the elevator with them and watched until they exited the building.

  “I don’t suppose you’re going to tell me what that was all about, are you?” asked Tanner.

  Razor shook her head in confusion, making the pale highlights in her hair catch the sun. “Apparently, there’s nothing to tell. I was imagining things.”

  “And the photo?” he asked. “Did you imagine that, too?”

  “I must have been wrong about the man in the picture following me. Or if he was, I guess it had nothing to do with Kurt. He probably just wanted to ask me out or something.”

  “Can I see it?”

  She shrugged, drawing his attention to her bare shoulders peeking out from her sleeveless blouse. “I guess so.”

  Tanner took the phone from her and looked at the image. It showed a tall, thin man dressed in layers of dirty and rumpled clothing. His hair was wild, and there were dark circles beneath his eyes. “Kurt is right. He looks like a druggie. Does he associate with people like that?”

  “He likes to drink, but I never saw any proof of drugs being used by him or his friends.”

  “Why did you think he sent this man to follow you, then?”

  “Because he’s the only one I knew who would do something like that. When I broke things off, he wasn’t happy. He had his friends follow me. I thought he was trying to get back at me for breaking up with him by scaring me.”

  “Were you scared?”

  “I wasn’t,” she said, making it sound as if she’d changed her mind.

  “But you are now?”

  She used the remote access fob to unlock her car doors and turned to face him, stopping in the middle of the searing pavement. She held up her hand to block out the sun and stared up at him. The wide gold bracelet on her left wrist gleamed in the sunlight. “I’m sure that whoever this guy was, I lost him yesterday. Worst-case scenario, he was checking me out as a target to mug me for drug money.”

  That wasn’t the worst-case scenario, but then Tanner wasn’t exactly going to fill in any blanks she might have in that area. He didn’t want to scare her more, so he kept his mouth shut.

  “He’s long gone now. All I have to do is get through the next few days without a visit, and Bella will have me back working again, where I belong. Until then, I’m going to make use of my time off to get some things done that I’ve been putting off.”

  “What about my training?” asked Tanner. “You’re supposed to be showing me the ropes.”

  She eyed him up and down. “We both know that was just an excuse Bella needed to assign me a babysitter. She wouldn’t have hired you if you didn’t already know what you were doing. Besides, any gaps in your training will have to be filled in while you’re on a job. Sitting around and discussing things over coffee isn’t going to help when you’re in the field.”

  “Maybe, but I still plan to do what I’m told. Since that includes your participation, I’m going to have to insist that you play along as well.”

  “Insist?” she asked, inching closer.

  He could smell her skin, warm from the sun. He pulled in a deep breath before he caught himself. Even shaded, her golden eyes caught and held the light, making them sparkle. But it was her mouth that kept pulling his attention. It had been way too long since he’d kissed a woman, and her full lips kept reminding him of exactly what he’d been missing.

  Sweat broke out along his hairline, but it did little to cool his blood. “I’m afraid so.”

  “Here’s wha
t’s going to happen,” she informed him, her tone firm. “I’m going to go home. So are you. We’ll meet tomorrow morning and discuss enough business to make Bella happy, and then we’re done. You’ll go join the brute squad, and I’ll be back to my own, more delicate missions.”

  Delicate definitely suited her. Not that he guessed for a second that what she did wasn’t dangerous. He knew it was. The bruise on her arm proved that.

  “That’s not what Bella wanted, and you know it.”

  “What I do on my time off is my business. Bella doesn’t get to dictate that. Neither do you. I’ll see you at the office at eight tomorrow morning. Don’t be late.”

  With that, she turned and got in her car.

  Tanner sighed and hurried to his car to follow her. Bella had warned him that Razor wasn’t going to be easy to work with. She’d told him it was his job to make it work, and he planned to do just that.

  Roxanne’s new home currently looked more like a warehouse than the cottage she’d fallen in love with. Moving boxes were still piled up everywhere, turning her living room into a maze. She’d been here two months now and still hadn’t had time to unpack. Of course, she wasn’t home much to notice the mess, but for the next few days, it was going to be staring at her, annoying the hell out of her.

  Unless she used the time to unpack. That was what a rational person would do.

  Maybe it was best to call a charity and have them come and haul it all away. She didn’t need any of it. All the stuff she needed was already unpacked. These boxes were simply full of memories—most of which she really didn’t care to relive.

  The only thing that kept her from getting rid of everything was that some of these things reminded her of Jake and the time they’d spent together as kids. He and his mom, who was the head housekeeper for Roxanne’s parents, were the brightest spots in an otherwise lonely childhood. She couldn’t toss those memories away with the rest. Nor could she throw away his belongings that had been left behind in his room at her parents’ mansion. Most of his things had been moved to a rented storage facility, but there was no way she’d found them all. Jake was off defending the country, and she wouldn’t repay him by throwing away the things that might mean something to him.

  It was time to bite the bullet, sort out the good from the bad, and face the disappointments of her past. Chances were that her dismal memories weren’t going to make her feel any worse than failing Mr. Chord had.

  Roxanne let out a long sigh and ripped the tape off the first box.

  A heavy knock sounded against her front door, and she knew without looking who it was. Tanner. He’d tailed her from Kurt’s office, and it had taken her a good twenty minutes to lose him. Or so she’d thought.

  She flung the door open, keeping her arm across the entrance to let Tanner know he was not welcome.

  Sunshine backlit him, highlighting the breadth of his shoulders. His posture was straight and confident, telling her without words that he fully expected to get his way.

  She was going to enjoy watching the mighty fall. “I thought I’d lost you.”

  “You did. Nice move, too, by the way. Do you have the train schedules memorized or something?”

  Irritation grated along her spine. “How did you find me?”

  “Bella. She wasn’t pleased that you were disobeying orders.”

  “Bella’s my boss, not my commanding officer.”

  Tanner shrugged, making his muscles bulge. The fact that her gaze darted straight to that delicious masculine display served only to irritate her further.

  “I was clear that I’d meet you tomorrow,” she reminded him.

  “You were. You just forgot the part where that’s not what our boss requested, so I thought I’d come by and keep both of us from getting fired.”

  “I’m not worried about that.”

  “Maybe that’s because you have more money than God. Some of us, however, have to work for a living.”

  Her irritation grew until it verged on anger. She hated it when people threw her money at her as if she were somehow dirty because of it. She hadn’t asked to be born into a wealthy family. She hadn’t asked for the loneliness she suffered, or the ridiculous expectations placed on her. She hadn’t even kept most of the money after her parents died. She’d given millions away to various charitable organizations. Who the hell was he to judge her?

  “Go away,” she told him, not even trying to put a polite spin on it.

  She started to shut the door, but he slammed his palm against it, locking his arm to hold it open. Muscles shifted under the skin of his forearm, but his posture remained relaxed. She wasn’t even sure how he’d moved so fast, considering he hadn’t been poised to strike.

  Roxanne gave the door an experimental push, hoping he’d relent, but the wood didn’t even shift.

  Tanner moved forward, filling her doorway. “Please, Razor. If you work with me, I swear I’ll make it worth your effort.”

  “Why?” she asked, her curiosity burning away some of her anger.

  His jaw tightened in frustration, but he admitted, “I need this job.”

  “Why?”

  “Does it matter?”

  “It does to me. Bella said you were in the military—some badass special operations guy.”

  His shoulders deflated on a sigh, and guilt pinched his features. “My family needed me, so I left the service.”

  “That’s it? They needed you, and you gave up your career?”

  He frowned at her, making lines of confusion radiate out from his blue eyes. “What do you mean, is that it? I said my family needed me. You would have done the same thing.”

  No, she wouldn’t have. In fact, she was convinced that most people wouldn’t have. That he didn’t seem to realize how selfless that made him gave her pause. She almost felt bad for trying to ditch him against Bella’s wishes. “Why did they need you?”

  His gaze shifted away, and his throat worked as if she’d made him uncomfortable. “My dad and brother died in a car accident. My sister-in-law was left with two kids and no job. No life insurance. There were lots of medical bills. I did what I could to help, but the military didn’t pay that well, and it wasn’t enough. My other brother—Reid—works for Bella, and he told me he’d help me get a job at the Edge if I got out. So I did.”

  Roxanne was left reeling at the news. She knew some families were really close and had the kind of bonds she could only imagine, but what Tanner had done was beyond generous. Then again, Reid was a good guy, too. It seemed the O’Connell brothers were deeply devoted to their family.

  Tanner’s mouth flattened in resignation, and until now, she hadn’t noticed just how nice a mouth he had. “With the economy sucking like it does, I can’t risk screwing up my chance. Bella’s testing me. I’m asking you to help me make the cut. Please.”

  What could she say to that? If she was selfish and petty enough to send him away now, she might as well turn in her decent-human-being card and become the evil oil baroness so many people already assumed she was.

  Roxanne braced herself for what she was about to do, then let go of the door and took a step back. “Come on in. We have work to do.”

  He unleashed a grin that should have been classified as a secret weapon. His blue eyes sparkled, and his whole face lit up. That bright gaze fixed on her, sliding down to her mouth and back again. “Thanks, Razor. You won’t regret this.”

  Based on the way her pulse had kicked up a bit just looking at him, she was fairly certain she already did.

  Chapter Three

  Roxanne’s house was not what Tanner expected. It was small and simple, almost cottagelike in its appearance. It was set back from the street, secluded by trees, and while there seemed to be several acres of land, the house itself was fairly modest.

  The smell of new carpet and fresh paint gave away the fact that the home had either been recently built or remodeled. Boxes were stacked everywhere, creating a wall of cardboard around the living room. A TV hung over the fireplace,
and empty bookshelves lined the walls on either side. The whole place was done in bright white and pale yellow, making it seem like it had been dipped in sunlight.

  Tanner sat on her couch, sipping sweet tea, listening intently as she took him through several of her recent missions, explaining some of the details that outlined standard operating procedures at the Edge.

  “You’ll have to file a report after each mission. It’s all done online, and I’m sure Mira—our resident computer goddess—will get you set up with a password if she hasn’t already. Bella hands out the assignments, and unless you’ve already been assigned to one of the units, she’ll probably see where your proficiencies lie by testing you out on some different types of jobs.”

  “I know vaguely what Reid does—as much as he can share without breaking confidentiality agreements—but what about you?”

  “I’m part of the stealth protection unit. A lot of the women work there. We get hired by people who don’t necessarily want others to know they’re being guarded.”

  “Why wouldn’t they want someone to know?”

  “Appearances, for one. Some men think it’s a blow to their manhood if they need a bodyguard. It’s easier on their egos if they pretend to have a girlfriend instead. Those assignments are usually temporary and go away once an immediate threat is identified and eliminated.”

  “Eliminated? You kill people?”

  She flinched. It was brief, but he saw a flash of revulsion shiver through her body before it passed. “We’re not vigilantes, despite what people think. I’m usually assigned to corporate espionage cases. Someone thinks they have a leak, and it’s my job to go in, find it, and plug it.”

  She’d evaded his question, but he couldn’t help but smile at the image she painted. “You’re like a spy.”

  “I suppose a little bit. It’s not nearly as glamorous as it sounds. Most of the time I catch people at the photocopier or by searching e-mail records.”

  “So, you get an assignment and have to write a follow-up report. What about all the stuff in the middle?”