by Laura Ann
Harlan nodded. “Her online following is exactly why she ended up here.” He clicked to another screen, showing a list of comments. “Not everyone loves her as much as you do, Val. Everly has a troll that keeps popping up on her videos. These are just a few of the things they’ve said.”
The room was silent as everyone read the rude remarks.
“Boss, I don’t mean to sound harsh, but thousands of these kinds of comments are left everyday. Why does she need security?”
Harlan clicked again. “Because the comments have escalated and are now threatening bodily harm.”
Ridge’s fists were clenched so tightly his fingers were completely white. He had always had a protective streak in him, which is why he and his brothers were destined for the military, but the anger and desire for revenge that surged through him were stronger than he had ever felt before. He wanted to grab Everly and take her away from all this ugliness. No one had the right to threaten another person like that, especially one as sweet as the musician they were targeted at.
“Well, that changes things,” Archer murmured, rubbing his chin. “Do we have any idea what set this guy off?”
Harlan shook his head. “Sawyer and I have gone back to the very first comment. Nothing out of the ordinary had happened on her social media at all. She put a new video up with another of her original songs, and this guy attacked.” Harlan took the threats off the screen. “At first, a few of her fans tried to argue with this guy, but he never fought back. He says his bit, then leaves, waiting for the next post.”
“So, what’s the plan?” Ridge finally piped in. He didn’t care what this creep was doing; he just wanted to make sure Everly was safe.
“I’ve assigned Sawyer to this one,” Harlan explained. “He’s our hand-to-hand expert, so it makes the best sense to have him keep an eye on her. As of right now, we have no evidence that this guy knows where Ms. Madison lives, so we can assume she’s safe at home. Still, we’re going to install a camera system and monitor it from here. Sawyer is going to be on-call in case she decides to leave the house. If she needs to go somewhere, he’ll accompany her.” Harlan sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “If things continue to escalate, Sawyer and her brother, Leon, will move in with her and stay with her twenty-four-seven until we catch this guy and put him behind bars.”
“You don’t want to rotate shifts? Putting Sawyer on her permanently will mean he’s not available for anything else.” Ridge tried hard to make sure his tone was nonchalant, but when his brother’s gaze narrowed, he figured it didn’t work.
“He doesn’t have anything on the schedule right now and like I said, his skill set is what we’re looking for. If we need to, we’ll use the rest of you as necessary. But I think giving Ms. Madison a single person, whom she can learn to trust and be comfortable with, is the best option.”
Ridge nodded, but his fingers continued to tap against his knee in frustration. He wanted the chance to get to know Everly Madison and the opportunity was sitting right in front of him, yet he couldn’t touch it. How unfair is that?
“Any other questions?” Harlan addressed the group as a whole.
“When do you want the system up?” Roman asked. As the most techy among them, he had taken on the responsibility of handling most of the security systems they had installed.
“Today,” Harlan said quickly. “I think we need to get started immediately. If you and Sawyer could head over when this meeting is done, then that would be perfect.”
Roman nodded at Sawyer and made a note in his phone.
“Anything else?” Harlan asked. When no one spoke up, he nodded. “Okay. Thanks for coming. I’ll keep you informed as things progress. Obviously, if you have any ideas or see something out of the ordinary, let myself or Sawyer know.” He closed his computer, bringing the meeting to a close.
Ridge sat still while everyone else stood up and began to filter out of the room. His mind was swirling with thoughts and he wasn’t sure how to handle the mass of emotions bottled up inside. He was excited over meeting a girl he had a crush on, upset that he wasn’t being assigned to help her, angry that someone was trying to hurt her, and embarrassed that he was so far gone on a woman he’d only met once.
“What’s the matter, Ridge?” Harlan interrupted his brother’s musings.
Ridge shrugged. “Nothing, I guess. Just thinking.”
Harlan studied him closely. “If you need to talk, you can.”
Ridge raised an eyebrow. If anyone needed someone to talk to, it was Harlan. It was obvious he was still struggling with what happened during his capture, but he was refusing to address it. “Thanks,” was all Ridge said. He had come to realize that pushing back at Harlan usually just left him with a sour taste in his mouth.
He didn’t know everything Harlan had been through, but Ridge knew it was bad enough to have changed his brother forever. Having never been through such an experience himself, he didn’t feel he had the right to force Harlan into anything he didn’t want to do.
Harlan nodded and picked up his laptop, then headed for the door.
Not knowing what else to do, Ridge stood to follow. Maybe I’ll dig around online and see what’s going on. I don’t have anything better to do right now anyway; might as well try to make myself useful.
CHAPTER 3
Everly opened the garage door and slipped into her car. As the engine roared to life, she felt a twang of guilt at not calling Sawyer like she had promised. It’s just the grocery store. Sheesh.
“He doesn’t even know where I live,” Everly muttered to herself while she backed out and started down the street. “There’s no way I need to be babysat every single moment of the day like a little child.”
Despite her pep talk, her conscience continued to nag her, so Everly turned up the radio and began to hum along, anything to distract herself from breaking her word.
She pulled into the grocery store and parked the car. As she walked inside, she found herself looking around and studying the people around her. What is wrong with you? she scolded. Leon has you seeing the boogie man everywhere!
Growling softly, she hurried into the store and grabbed her cart. Ignoring everything around her, she set about getting her list taken care of and getting home. This is all so ridiculous.
A few minutes later, she turned quickly to grab an item behind her and smacked into a brick wall. “Ow,” she whined, rubbing her nose.
“Everly?”
She paused, rubbing her offended body part, and let her eyes focus on what was in front of her. Crap! The first thing she saw was a tight T-shirt drawn over a huge chest. She followed the body up, up, up until she tilted her head back all the way, then squeezed her eyes tight. “Hi, Sawyer,” she squeaked out. I should have known I would get caught. I couldn’t even steal a cookie as a kid.
“I—” Sawyer started to speak, a scowl on his face, when Everly interrupted him.
“I know, I know!” she said quickly, putting her hands up and stepping back from his overwhelming presence. “I wasn’t supposed to go out on my own. I was supposed to call you, but...” She made a point of looking around, then back at him. “It’s just the grocery store. I’m pretty sure not one of the eighty-year-old ladies walking around are planning to hurt me.”
Sawyer shook his head. “It doesn’t matter who’s in the store,” he said sharply. “All it takes is one fan to recognize and post a picture on social media, and bam! Your stalker knows where you live.”
Everly shrunk back at his tone, unsure why it hurt so much. In fact, she was feeling a little antsy in general. Back at the office building when she had met all the brothers, she had been completely intimidated by them, but had been oddly drawn to Ridge’s flirty personality. Right now, she found herself thoroughly confused. The same butterflies that had taken flight in her tummy when she had met Ridge were now going crazy. I can’t be attracted to two brothers...can I? Or maybe I got them mixed up.
Everly opened her mouth to ask if he was really Sawy
er, but she snapped it shut again at his fierce frown. Umm... pretty sure he would have said something if he wasn’t Sawyer, since I already called him by name. She sighed and hung her head. “Sorry,” she muttered. “I didn’t think of that. I’m not really used to all this” —she waved her hands around— “stuff. It seems weird to have someone threatening me, like it can’t really be true.”
Sawyer’s face softened and he gave her a small smile. “I get it. No one ever thinks this kind of thing will happen to them, but honestly? It occurs more than you think. Our job is to keep you safe, but we can’t do that if you don’t keep us informed.”
Everly blew out a breath and pushed a hand through her long hair. “You’re right. I’m sorry.” She looked up and gave him a sheepish smile. “I’ll do better next time, all right?”
Sawyer nodded. “Good. Now let me help you finish your shopping.”
Everly’s first instinct was to protest, but then she realized this was exactly what they had been discussing. “Okay. Thank you.” Grabbing her cart, which was sitting unattended behind her, Everly began to move again.
“I got it.” Sawyer stepped up and pushed the cart away from her hands so he could take it. Setting his own basket in the front, he turned to look over his shoulder. “What else do you need?”
Everly’s jaw flopped for a moment before she got a hold of herself. “Uh...let me grab my list.” She stepped closer and leaned into the cart, her arm brushing his, causing those butterflies to start dancing the polka once more. What is wrong with me? Sawyer didn’t create any weird sensations while we were at the office. Why now?
Everly quickly got her paper out of her purse and stepped away from the far too attractive giant. “Okay, let’s go to the cereal aisle.” Without another word, she began walking, not waiting to see if her babysitter would follow.
The silence between them was thick and awkward, but Everly had no idea how to break it. She was too busy trying to reconcile the fact that every time he moved, his muscles flexed, and when he got close, she could smell his aftershave, which nearly had her melting into a puddle on the floor. But then maybe he’d catch me in those massive arms...
“So, what do you do when you’re not singing and composing?”
“What?” Everly asked, snapping her head in Sawyer’s direction. A blush crept up her cheeks at being caught daydreaming and she prayed they didn’t teach mindreading in the military.
Sawyer gave a lopsided grin and Everly was sure he would hear her knees knocking together. “What do you do when you’re not doing music? Do you have any other hobbies?”
“Oh.” Everly cleared her throat. “Yeah...sorta...” She frowned. “Maybe.”
Sawyer chuckled and the sound vibrated clear through Everly.
Oh my gosh, this is so ridiculous! Get it together, girl!
“I don’t have any idea what that means,” Sawyer said.
“What what means?”
Sawyer gave her a look, and Everly forced her twitterpated mind to focus.
“The fact that you maybe, but don’t know if you have a hobby.”
“Oh!” She laughed uncomfortably, twisting her hair over her shoulder. “Sorry. I guess my mind was wandering. Hazard of being a creative, I guess.” Clearing her throat again, Everly played with the list in her hand, willing it to come into focus so she could get what she needed and leave the store. And escape from the guy who’s driving me crazy...in a good way.
“So...are you going to answer?”
Everly slapped her forehead. “I’m so sorry. I just can’t seem to concentrate today.” Her cheeks felt like they might melt from embarrassment, but Everly forced herself to look up into Sawyer’s dark eyes. “I sorta...bake.”
His eyebrows shot up. “Bake?”
“Yeah.” Everly shrugged, still twisting her hair. “I’m a secret Food Network fiend and I love to bake when I’m trying to get my mind off music for awhile.” She grabbed a box off the shelf and dropped it in the cart. “What about you, Sawyer? What do you do when you’re not...bodyguarding?”
RIDGE. MY NAME IS RIDGE. He desperately wanted to correct the beautiful woman in front of him, but when she’d interrupted his confession, Ridge had decided it was best to let her think he was Sawyer and scare her into compliance.
“Bodyguarding? Is that even a real word?” Ridge made a face and Everly laughed, sending a warm trickle through his chest.
“Didn’t you know us composers can make up words as we want? We have free license to say whatever we want.”
“Really?” Ridge whistled low. “That’s pretty impressive power right there. It’s like...Dr. Seuss level stuff.”
“It’s true,” she insisted with a grin, dropping another package in the cart as they slowly walked down the aisle. “For example, if I sang a song with the word ‘orange’ in it, I could rhyme it with ‘schmorange’ in the next line and nobody would think a thing about it!”
“And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how you use your power for good.” Ridge nodded, his lips pursed. “Solve the world’s problem of not having a word that rhymes with orange.” His lips twitched. “You better copyright that before somebody else does and takes all the credit.”
Everly’s smile was wide and Ridge wanted to puff up his chest and strut around like a peacock. Geez. This girl gets to me. I’m behaving like some drunk teenage boy.
After dropping one last item in the cart, Everly glanced at her list. “Well, I think that’s it.”
Ridge studied the cart, which was nearly overflowing with food. “Yep. Looks like you have enough to wait out the zombie apocalypse, no problem.”
Everly snorted and bumped his bicep with her shoulder. “You’re ridiculous.”
“Hey! It’s a real thing!” he insisted.
Everly put her hands up in a placating gesture. “No argument here. I’ve read the stories.”
Ridge’s hands jerked against the cart as they headed for the check-out line. “You read zombie fiction?”
“If it has romance in it, then yes.” She shrugged.
“Romance?” Ridge scoffed. “Like the girl fell in love with a zombie? Seriously?”
“No!” Everly laughed and started loading her groceries onto the conveyor belt. “She falls in love with the guy who kills the zombies, not the zombie itself.” She scrunched up her nose. “That would be so gross. Can you imagine kissing someone whose face was falling off?”
Ridge shuddered. “You’re right. That’s pretty revolting.”
“No kidding.”
They were quiet for a few minutes as the groceries were scanned and bagged. Together they walked to her car and Ridge loaded everything in the trunk and slammed it shut. “All right. I’ll follow you home and help you unload, then you’ll be free again.”
“What?” Everly put her hand to her chest. “But what about the apocalypse?”
Ridge eyed her trunk for a moment, then met her eyes again. “I thought we decided you were all set. What exactly do you need me to do?”
Everly’s cheeks flared a brilliant shade of red and Ridge’s eyebrows slowly crept up his forehead. What is she thinking that’s got her all hot?
“Uh, nothing. I guess I don’t need you to do anything.” Everly threw open her door and started to sit down.
“Oh, no.” Ridge put his hand on the door and one on the roof, then leaned down into her space. “You don’t get to just walk away like that. I want to know what put that color in your cheeks.”
Everly swallowed audibly as she stared at him. “You’re not what I thought you would be,” she said softly.
Ridge found his eyes drifting down to her lips. The playful mood that had been buzzing between them was gone, and suddenly the air felt thick and sticky. He was close enough to smell her sweet perfume and see the highlights of gold in her chocolate eyes. His pulse sped up as they stared at each other and he felt his body begin to lean in.
Whoa! Back it up, man! Ridge forced himself to still, then scrambled to remember her question. �
�I’m not...what did you think I would be like?”
Everly looked down at her lap where her fingers were twisting into knots. “At the office, I thought you were cold and standoffish.”
Ridge held very still. “And now?”
Once again those amazing eyes met his. “Now I find you’re warm and personable. Fun, even.” She bit her lip. “At least when you’re not scolding me for not calling when I should have.”
Ridge stood up quickly, reality smacking him in the face. Client. She’s a client and she thinks you’re Sawyer. “Uh, yeah.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “Sorry. I shouldn’t have been so quiet at the office. Sometimes I struggle to meet new people.”
Everly nodded, a slightly disappointed look on her face. “I can understand that.”
Ridge felt like a cad. The easy camaraderie and banter they had shared only moments before were gone. The warm, gooey air had been replaced with an icy breeze. He tapped the top of the car. “Let’s get you home and unpacked.”
Everly nodded as he shut her door and hurried to his own car, throwing his one measly bag in the back. He hurried back and pulled onto the street after Everly. “The guys are going to kill me,” he muttered. He had been sent to the grocery store to refill the snack station, but running into his brother’s client had stopped his little shopping spree. The only thing he had managed to grab was Valentina’s favorite herbal tea. “Whatever,” he assured himself. “This is business. They’ll just have to get over it.”
After they arrived at Everly’s house, Ridge jumped out and immediately started pulling things out of her trunk. “Where do you want these?” he asked, holding up the armful of bags.
Everly raised an eyebrow. “Let me guess. You’re a one-trip kinda guy?”
Ridge couldn’t help but smirk. “Maybe.”
Everly snorted and nodded her head toward the door. “This way. We’ll put them in the kitchen.”
He followed her inside and put all the bags down on the counter. “Mission accomplished,” he gloated.