“Okay,” he said easily, letting it go for now. “But how am I supposed to help you if you won’t tell me what the deal is?”
“I just need the person who’s sending me these emails tracked down and dealt with.” The mask was back in place, nothing but cool professionalism in those blue eyes. “I don’t care how as long as those emails stop.”
“All right then. Finish your breakfast, get dressed, and we’ll drop by your place to get you some clothes.”
“We?” she enquired.
And it hit him again — an honest to God sucker-punch straight to the gut — just how fucking beautiful she was sitting on the barstool in nothing but one of his faded T-shirts. Small and elegantly made, there was nothing about her that wasn’t delicate and precise, from the finely carved bones of her face to her pretty little toes.
And those impossibly cool, impossibly guarded blue eyes.
Yeah, over the past few months he’d developed a bit of obsession with Lily Hammond, and that wasn’t a good thing. Because he wasn’t able to work it out of his system with a few hot nights in bed, not with her. He didn’t do complicated and the beautiful Duchess had complicated written all over her.
What were you thinking with this fake relationship bullshit?
That may not have been such a great idea after all. Too late though, Rush had seen them together which meant it would be all over Austin within the next hour.
“Yeah, we.” Quinn looked back at her, ignoring the way that gut-punch was still resounding through him, making him want to slide one hand up her bare leg, touch her skin, see if it felt as silky at it looked. “I’m not letting you go back to that apartment on your own.”
She all but rolled her eyes. “‘That apartment’ is mine and has been mine for quite some time now. Which is code for ‘I don’t need a bodyguard since I’m perfectly safe in my own home.’”
“If you were perfectly safe in your own home, you wouldn’t have turned up at my door at one in the morning,” Quinn pointed out, with what he thought was perfect sense.
“It wasn’t me I was concerned for.”
“No, I know you weren’t. But I am. And while some prick is sending you threatening emails and being a general tool, you’re not going back to your apartment on your own. At least not without me checking it out first.”
She was silent a long minute, but there was something sharp in her gaze. “Why would you do that?” she asked abruptly. “What’s with the concern for me?”
Jesus. Did she really have to ask?
“Because I don’t like motherfuckers who threaten people I know.” He paused.“Especially not people I consider friends.”
“Friends?” Surprise colored her voice. “Really?”
Yeah, since when have you considered her a friend?
Since she’d turned up on his doorstep asking for his help.
“Sure, why not?” He studied her, trying to see behind the mask she always wore. See what was beneath it. “You have friends, don’t you?”
“Of course, I have friends.”
But he didn’t miss the flicker in her eyes as she said it and something tightened in his chest. Fuck, he didn’t want to start feeling sorry for her or anything else for that matter. The physical desire he felt for her was too much as it was already.
Though really, was it any surprise that maybe Duchess had no friends? She was so very guarded, a castle surrounded by walls and moats and thorny hedges. And dragons. Yeah, he’d bet anything on the fact that she had a dragon or two defending her. Keeping her safe.
“Your team doesn’t count,” he said, not quite sure why he was pushing like this.
She gave an elegant shrug and glanced down at her plate. “That’s beside the point. The fact is that I’m not an idiot. I do have some security measures.”
So, she changed the subject. Interesting.
Why does it matter? Who cares if she has friends or not?
He didn’t know why it mattered. She was his rival, not his friend. Besides, he had a feeling that being friends with Duchess would take a lot more effort than he was willing to give to anyone, let alone one small blonde.
He wanted to fuck her, sure, but that wasn’t the same as being friends.
“If they don’t include a former Navy SEAL doing some reconnaissance on the place before you get into it, then they’re not good enough,” he said, irritated with himself all of a sudden.
Why was he letting her argue with him? She needed protection and he’d provide it because something in him wouldn’t let him refuse. But he wasn’t going to put up with anymore bullshit, that was for sure.
Duchess’s expression remained unimpressed. “Yes, I know. You’re a former SEAL. Congratulations.”
But Quinn’s patience was done. He wasn’t having any more arguments about this. She would accept his protection or…
Or nothing. There was no choice, not now. She’d chosen the night before when she’d turned up on his doorstep, when she’d asked for his help, and he was going to give her that help. And he didn’t give a fuck whether she liked his methods. It wasn’t only her life that was at stake here, but Rose’s, too, and he didn’t screw around with that shit.
Pretty little Duchess was just going to have to suck it up.
He fixed her with one hard look. “Eat up, baby. Time’s a-wasting.”
Lily pulled her car up to the curb outside her apartment building and held onto the steering wheel tightly.
It was either that or she wrung Quinn Redmond’s muscular neck.
He was sitting in the passenger seat beside her, huge and broad and powerful, taking up all the room not to mention all the air, his expression granite, green eyes hard and cold as glass. And she didn’t want him here.
She didn’t want him in the car.
She didn’t want him near her apartment.
She didn’t want him at all.
Well, that’s a lie.
Lily shoved that particular thought away since it wasn’t relevant. At all.
Back at the hotel she’d tried to insist that he didn’t need to come with her, that she’d be fine on her own. But it was like he’d gone deaf, simply ignoring everything she said as he presented her with her freshly washed and dried clothes, her Sig, and her car keys.
Then he’d followed her wordlessly out to where she’d parked her car the night before, and had got in before she could say a word.
At least he’d gotten into the passenger seat, but still.
After what had happened the previous night, not to mention this morning, she needed a break from his relentless, challenging, not to mention dominating, presence. A bit of space to think about what she was going to do next, about the blackmailer and the information they had on her. The information that no one could ever know, otherwise she’d lose everything she’d worked so hard to create.
She took a breath. “Wait here,” she said. “I’m going to—”
But Quinn kept on ignoring her, opening the door before she could finish her sentence, and getting out, slamming it behind him as he moved toward the entrance to the building.
“Shit,” Lily muttered. “Stupid man.”
Arguing with him about how he was under no circumstances to follow her into her apartment had been like arguing with a brick wall. He’d simply stared back silently, making her want to drop half a lifetime of guarded self control and punch him straight in his stupid, gorgeous face.
Not. Good.
She hadn’t known why his mood had suddenly changed back there in Lone Star’s kitchen, but whatever had done it, she didn’t like it. She preferred bantering Quinn to silent, stone-faced Quinn. At least bantering Quinn she could argue with.
Both are hot though, you have to admit.
Against her will, Lily turned and looked out the window of the car, unable to drag her gaze from Quinn’s tall, broad figure striding toward the building’s entrance, moving with all the lethal grace of a big predator, every inch of him exuding the kind of menace that would have mo
st intelligent people backing away as quickly as they could.
Her heartbeat picked up speed, her mouth going dry.
Why did she like that he was dangerous? Why did it make her so damn breathless? It made no sense. Most men couldn’t be trusted as far as she could throw them, which, let’s face it, wasn’t very far.
Perhaps it was all about the adrenaline rush that came with challenging a take-charge guy like him. She’d always gotten off on giving powerful men the middle finger, after all.
Nothing to do with how safe he makes you feel.
Lily growled under her breath and shoved that thought away. She didn’t need that in her head. She didn’t want it. She was doing just fine on her own, thank you very much, and had been for quite some time.
Irritated with herself, she grabbed her own weapon from the glove compartment and stuck it in the little holster at the small of her back. Then she got out of the car and followed Quinn into the building.
He was already at the elevator and she had to run to get to it before the doors closed, especially when he made no move to hold them open for her.
“Thanks,” she said, sarcasm edging her tone as they snapped shut behind her. “You’re such a gentleman.”
He leaned against back wall of the elevator and crossed his arms over his broad chest, green eyes enigmatic. “It would have been better if you’d stayed in the car.”
“Why on earth would I do that?”
“So we don’t have to have some bullshit argument outside your apartment.”
“What ‘bullshit argument’?”
“About me going in first to check it out.”
Lily wanted to deny it, but she couldn’t. Naturally, he wasn’t going to go in first. It was her damn apartment. And maybe she was being foolish about all of this, but ever since last night, where she’d asked for Quinn’s help, she’d felt as if her grip on the situation was slipping and she had to do something to stop it.
She had to assert control somehow, especially with a man like Quinn.
You know why you’re pushing at him, and it’s not just about control.
Lily took a breath as a sudden awareness rushed over her. Of him and how much room he took up in the tiny elevator car. Almost the entire back wall of it. Hard muscle and tightly leashed strength and a kind of electric, simmering physicality that mesmerized her.
His gaze met hers and she felt the impact, a soundless concussion that echoed through the entire length of her body, the air around them turning hot and thick.
She really needed to say something and fast otherwise…
Otherwise what?
Otherwise she had no idea what would happen, though it was likely to be something that shouldn’t.
Lily wrenched her gaze away and turned around to face the doors, her cheeks hot. He didn’t say anything, but he must have taken a step toward her because she could feel the heat of his body against her back, burning like a fire. He wasn’t touching her, but he must be close. Inches possibly. Close enough that maybe if she stepped back, she’d come up against his chest. Would it be as hard as it had looked the night before? Would he feel as hot as he did now?
Are you insane? Thinking these things is not helping.
The elevator chimed at her floor and the doors opened, and Lily just about fell into the corridor in her eagerness to get out of Quinn’s immediate vicinity.
Hell, the man was the human equivalent of a black hole, drawing her relentlessly toward him no matter how much she tried to resist. But she had to resist. She’d gotten rid of all the controlling men in her life and she did not need another one.
She walked quickly down the corridor to her door, grabbing her key from her pocket as she did so, her heart thundering in her ears, the heat of an embarrassing blush still in her cheeks.
This was ridiculous. She was letting him get to her far too much—
Strong hands gripped her before she could complete the thought and she found herself gently, but very firmly turned around and pushed up against the wall next to her door.
“I said,” Quinn murmured, his voice low and hard. “Stay here.”
But Lily barely heard him. The way he was standing right in front of her, towering over her, his fingers gripping her upper arms and holding her still had made her heartbeat go through the roof, a flood of adrenaline pouring through her, desire tightening every muscle.
She was conscious that she was breathing very fast and that the sound of it was audible in the relative quiet of the corridor. His hands on her were warm, his hold gentle despite the annoyance flickering in his green eyes.
Eyes that narrowed, his gaze turning sharp as it searched her face. “I won’t hurt you, Lily,” he said.
The sound of her name sent a shock down her spine, her brain still trying to process what he’d said. And what it meant.
I won’t hurt you.
The adrenaline pumping through her began to fade, a wash of cold traveling in its wake. Shit, what had she given away? What had he seen in her eyes? Certainly he’d noticed her response and had drawn some conclusions from it. Wrong ones as it turned out, but disconcerting all the same.
Reflexively, she raised her hands to shove at him, because the very last thing in the world she wanted was him asking her more questions right now, but he’d already let go, stepping back, the look on his face unreadable. “Key,” he said finally and held out his hand.
She knew she should protest, but all she wanted was him to be not right in front of her, watching her face and seeing her hunger written all over it. Better he think it was fear that he saw. So, she gave him the key without a word and he took it, moving to the door and unlocking it. Then he reached behind him for his gun that he must have shoved into the waistband of his jeans at the small of his back, and opened the door, slipping inside as silently as a stalking cat.
Lily leaned against the wall and took a ragged breath, her heartbeat raging, her legs wobbly. Dammit, what was wrong with her? Quinn had grabbed her unexpectedly, sure, but she was usually way more in control of herself than that.
Yet another reason why she needed to get it handled and handled quickly.
She took another breath, conscious that she could still feel the warmth of his hands on her upper arms, his palms against her skin. Her heart beat faster and a certain ache started up between her thighs…
Lily gritted her teeth and tried to shake the feeling away. She couldn’t keep going over this, not now. She had other, more important things to worry about.
Pulling herself together, then shoving herself away from the wall, she went over to her apartment front door and reached for her Sig.
Just then the door pushed open again and Quinn stood in the doorway. He gave her another unreadable look. “All clear. You can go in now.”
Lily released her hold on her Sig and straightened, making sure her cool, collected armor was back into place. “And was there anything to report?”
“No.” Quinn stood aside to let her step into the short hallway that led to the living area. “Can’t see any signs anyone was in here.”
She slipped past him, making sure not to get too close, feeling herself relax as she stepped into the familiarity of her little apartment.
It wasn’t big and it wasn’t fancy — though she had more room now Rose had moved out — but she’d made it as comfortable for herself as she could. A couch covered with deep blue velvet stood in the middle of the room with two armchairs on either side, one upholstered in deep red, while the other one had a purple Indian throw over it since she hadn’t quite have the money to get it recovered yet. There was a blue and red Persian rug on the floor that she’d found cheap on Craigslist, and a dark oak coffee table that she’d discovered in a second-hand furniture store, and had cut the legs down so it sat low to the ground. Cushions were scattered about, a couple of photographs of her and Rose on the bookshelves full of books that stood against the walls. Here and there were little knickknacks that she’d spent money on — a small photographic p
rint of a crowded, colorful street in India that she’d liked for the color and movement in the image, an elegant, delicate glass vase in pale pink and gold that stood on the windowsill, a carving of a cat in a dark, smooth wood, its back arched as if stretching.
The decor was rich, feminine and cluttered and Lily loved every inch of it. She’d made it a haven for her and Rose, and now Rose had moved out into West’s apartment, it was a haven just for her.
Except, as she stepped into the living area she was very conscious of the man behind her. She could almost feel his laser-sharp focus taking in every inch of the room, looking at all the rich fabrics and delicate accessories and making assessments. Assessments about her.
“You can’t stay here, Duchess,” he said after a moment, his voice flat, like he was issuing an order.
Lily paused, then turned around.
He was standing in the doorway to the hall, not too close, and yet somehow it felt like he was everywhere. And it wasn’t only the sheer size of him in comparison to the small room, it was his presence, too. There was a kind of dark electricity to him, a menace she hadn’t noticed before.
Really? You haven’t?
Okay, maybe she had. It was all part of his danger, and it would explain why she’d been both drawn to him and remained wary of him.
His wasn’t an easy presence, that was for sure.
Or perhaps that was just her.
“Is that a fact?” She gave him a cool look. “And why is that? When I’m not the one being threatened.”
“Because if whoever is threatening Rose knows where she lives, then it’s certain they know where you live, too.” He nodded toward the window. “Plus, that window is too near a fire escape — easy for someone to get in.”
“Who cares if they know where I live? It’s Rose they want to hurt. And isn’t that the whole point of fire escapes? Not so it’s easy to get in but easy to get out?”
He ignored all of it. “The latches are old and the locking mechanism is pathetic — a five year old could open it. Not to mention the fact that there’s only one exit.”
Frustration coiled inside her, and beneath it, the burn of anger.
Black Sheep Bounty Hunter Page 5