She had a few family photos scattered on the many bookshelves and in her bedroom, but the living room was all about the pieces she loved. Colors, textures, art and books, that made her feel happy and comfortable.
She hated the thought of having to be afraid here. That someone could hurt her in the one place where she could truly and finally relax. She didn’t realize how much time had passed in silence until Connor broke it.
“You’re thinking awfully hard over there.” He said softly, a slight smile at odds with the concern in his eyes. His brow was slightly wrinkled and his hands were clasped tightly in front of him.
“Sorry.” She said, shaking her head. “I think I had a bit too much to drink. I’m not being a very good hostess.”
“No worries.” He said. He studied her for a moment and she shifted uncomfortably, taking a sip of her water. “Are you alright?”
“Yeah. Fine.” She replied. “This is all just a bit… “
“Unsettling?”
“I think so.” She admitted, biting her lip. To her surprise, he reached out and took her hand. He stroked his thumb gently across the back of her hand as he spoke.
“I know this is a lot to wrap your head around, and I know it’s scary. Most people can go their whole lives without having to worry about shit like this.”
“I’ve lived in New York long enough, you’d think I’d be used to it by now.” She said, trying to force a lightness she didn’t feel.
“It’s one thing to be afraid on the street, but it’s another thing to be afraid in your own home.”
All she could do was nod. She didn’t trust her voice at the moment and the last thing she wanted to do was dissolve into tears in front of anyone, especially a man she’d known for less than a day.
“I promise, I’m going to do whatever I can to make sure you’re safe.”
His vehemence surprised her and she felt… relieved? Comforted? She cleared her throat.
“Thank you. I appreciate that.” She said, not meeting his eyes.
“Hey.” He said softly, nudging her chin up with a knuckle until she met his eyes. “You’re safe with me. I won’t let anything happen to you.”
She wanted desperately to believe him, but she knew better than to think that anyone could make that promise.
“I know you’ll do your best.” She smiled. She was suddenly very tired. She wanted to strip down and fall into bed and sleep for days, but she knew she wouldn’t. Even on a good night it would take her a long time to fall asleep, and tonight had not been a good one. “I’m sorry to have kept you. I know you probably want to clock out for the night.”
Alexandra stood and took her glass to the kitchen. When she returned, he was standing by the door.
“Thanks for the beer.” He smiled.
“You’re welcome.” She replied. He opened the door and paused for a moment like he was debating what to say.
“Lock up behind me and call me in the morning.” He said finally.
“I will.”
“Sleep well.” He added quietly as he closed the door behind him.
✽✽✽
“Shit.” Connor swore as he slammed his car door and jammed his keys in the ignition. He pulled out and headed for the Queensboro Bridge.
He felt like he’d lost his damn mind. All he could think about was how lost and sad Alexandra had looked while she sat curled up on her couch hugging a pillow protectively against her body. She’d been lost in thought for several long minutes and all the fear and sorrow and despair he’d seen on her face had made him want to scoop her up, wrap her in cotton and hold her until she felt safe and warm.
He’d always had a weakness when it came to women. He’d been called a chauvinist and old fashioned, and she wasn’t the first person to accuse him of having a White Knight complex. Some people assumed he was one of those guys that thought women should be protected while they spent their lives barefoot and pregnant in the kitchen, but that wasn’t it.
He knew how strong and independent women could be and how tough and self-sufficient most of them were. But he also knew all too well how terrible some women were treated and how unjust the world could be for them.
He didn’t want to protect women because he thought they couldn’t protect themselves. He wanted to do it because, goddamn it, they shouldn’t have to. He thought of it more as trying to atone for the sins of his gender, since more often than not, they were the source of a lot of problems women faced.
Simply by accepting a date, most women were potentially leaving themselves vulnerable to someone who was most likely physically larger and stronger than them, and statistically much more likely to cause them harm. It was a miracle the human race hadn’t died out.
He’d protected a lot of people over the years, some men, some women, even some kids. Threats to women and children always hit him harder, but he’d never had such a strong reaction before. He’d easily been able to keep things professional and do his job, knowing that was the best way to keep them safe.
With Alexandra, it went beyond keeping her safe. The desolation on her face told him she was familiar with fear in a way that no one should be. She’d been hurt. Badly. Maybe so badly she hadn’t ever fully recovered. It made him hurt for her. And it made him angry. Irrationally so.
Richard Hughes had given him one name this afternoon, Lucas Whitmore. He wouldn’t give specifics but he’d told Connor that Lucas was most likely the person behind this whole thing. Connor would bet good money that whoever Whitmore was, he was the reason Alexandra had looked so haunted.
He fumed the whole way to Angel’s house and the entire time he worked on her shite car. His mechanical knowledge was limited and after two hours of banging and cursing, he gave up. He called a rental car company and arranged for a vehicle to be dropped off at his sister’s house first thing in the morning. It was nearly midnight and he was damn tired.
He wandered into the house to give Angel the news, only to find her curled up on the couch fast asleep. Rather than wake her, he covered her with a blanket, left a note on the coffee table and let himself out, setting the alarm and locking the door as he went. In the morning he’d call a tow truck and decide what to do with Angel’s ancient Honda.
He’d offered to buy or lease her a new car more than a dozen times. She was stubborn and wanted to stand on her own two feet. He’d tried to point out to her that calling her big brother every other week to come fix her car wasn’t exactly being self-sufficient, but she’d drawn the line there. Big brothers were meant to come and help their single sisters fix things or move furniture or do yard work but she drew the line at buying her car, paying her bills, or giving her money.
He understood why she needed to know that she could take care of herself, which was the only reason he hadn’t forced the issue before now. But the way he was feeling tonight, Connor wanted to say to hell with it and just buy her the damn car.
He could afford it and he was the only family she had now. It was his job to make sure she was safe. It was his job to make sure she didn’t go without. If he wanted to do something for her, he should be able to. It wasn’t like she’d asked him to do it, he was offering.
He warred with himself over it well after he got home and climbed into bed. It wasn’t until the early hours of the morning that he made two decisions and finally drifted off to sleep.
CHAPTER FOUR
Alexandra most definitely had a hangover. She woke up to the sound of her phone ringing at nine a.m. on a Saturday. Only one person had such a knack for calling at the exact wrong time.
“Hello?” Alexandra croaked.
“What the hell, dude?” Amanda shouted.
“Lower your voice, bitch, or I’m hanging up.” Alexandra hissed.
“Oops. Tad hungover, are we?”
“Tad.” Alexandra sighed, blinking at the harsh light filtering in through her windows. “What do you want?”
“I called Dad this morning.”
“Ugh.” Alexandra groaned. Why co
uld no one in her family keep their mouth shut about anything? “And?”
“And... tell me what’s going on! A security escort? Should you really be staying alone in that house if you have a stalker?”
“Sounds like Dad already told you this. What do you want from me?”
“Don’t be a bitch, Lex.” Amanda sighed. “I just wanted to check on you. Make sure you’re okay. Not freaking out or anything.”
“I’m fine, Mandy.” Alexandra sighed. She loved her sister, and she knew that she was concerned for her, but dammit, she was the big sister. It was her job to watch out for Amanda, not the other way around.
“Do you want to come stay with me for a while?” Amanda asked.
“Um, no.” Alexandra laughed. “I couldn’t deal with all of your roommates. You have what, five?”
“Four, thank you very much.” Amanda sniffed. “And they’re all very nice guys.”
“Sure.” They’d had this fight before, and Alexandra wasn’t in the mood for it at the moment. Besides, she’d been there for over a year and everything seemed to be going fine. She hadn’t slept with any of them, and they all seemed to be decent enough the few times she’d met them. Amanda was 27 and old enough to make her own decisions, or so Alexandra reminded herself.
“Well if you need anything, let me know.”
“I wouldn’t say no to a bottle of wine and a chick flick with my baby sister.”
“Shit, wish I could, but I’m working today and Sergio is already on my ass.”
“About what?”
“Hell if I know. He’s always on my ass about something. It’s simply his state of being.”
Alexandra laughed and told Amanda she’d call her later in the week. She wanted desperately to go back to sleep but she was wide awake and her head was pounding. She needed tylenol. And a toothbrush. And coffee, preferably by the gallon.
Her hangover was bad, but she remembered everything that happened the night before. Although there were a couple things she would have been glad to forget. She hadn’t slept well, which wasn’t uncommon for her, and her head was foggy.
Her first item on the agenda for the day was the gym, so she didn’t bother to shower. She threw on a sports bra, t-shirt, yoga pants, socks and sneakers, and grabbed a fleece jacket just in case. She pulled half her hair up and secured it with an elastic. Her hair was too short for a proper ponytail but at least this would keep it out of her face.
She drank a glass of water and ate two pieces of dry toast over the sink before downing two tylenol with yet more water. Her stomach was fine, but her head felt like someone had taken a bat to it.
Unable to delay any longer, she picked up the card Connor had given her the night before and dialed the number. For a moment she contemplated just calling Janie and skipping the gym and her session with Trey. She was beyond embarrassed about… oh, so many things. She wasn’t sure she was up to facing him, especially feeling like death warmed over.
You’ll have to face him eventually. Might as well get it over with.
She hit send and waited for him to pick up. Maybe she’d get lucky and it would go to voicemail. He answered on the third ring.
“This is Connor.”
“Hi, this is Alexandra Hughes. You told me to call you in the morning, so I’m calling.”
“Good. You’re up.”
The doorbell rang and her heart beat a little faster.
Don’t be stupid. Criminals don’t ring doorbells. It’s probably just a delivery.
“Sorry, I didn’t sleep well so I slept in a bit.” She muttered as she made her way to the front hall.
“I didn’t sleep well either.” Connor replied. “Been up since six.”
“Um, can you hang on a minute? There’s someone at the door.”
“Sure.”
Alexandra wasn’t sure why, but she thought he sounded… amused. As her security… person, bodyguard, whatever, shouldn’t he be more concerned, or at least given her instructions?
She peeked through the side window and saw a large man in baggy athletic shorts, sneakers and a hooded sweatshirt standing on her front steps. His hood was up and he was facing out toward the street so she couldn’t see his face. She unlocked the deadbolt but kept the catch on, opening the door the two inches or so it allowed.
“Can I help you?” She asked. He turned around, cell phone held to his ear and smiled at her. She scowled.
“You couldn’t have just told me you were at the door?” She snapped as she ended the call.
“Just making sure you’re taking proper safety measures.” He shrugged. The smirk on his face indicated that winding her up was, at the very least, the icing on the cake.
“Well, did I pass the test?” She asked.
“You did as well as can be expected. These catches won’t do much to deter a determined intruder, but it’s better than nothing. We can go over that later.”
Alexandra rolled her eyes.
“Can I come in?” He prompted
“May I see some identification please?” She replied coolly.
“Ha ha.” He deadpanned.
“I’m sorry, but if we’re testing my security measures, I would like to be thorough. Anyone I’m not entirely familiar with needs to provide some kind of identification and a reason for their visit before I’d consider letting them into my house.”
“And, under normal circumstances, I would applaud your due diligence, but I’ve been out here for three hours and I’m freezing my bleedin’ balls off.”
“Oh.” She said, startled. Sympathy won out over her pique and she undid the catch and opened the door for him.
“Thank you.” He said, stepping in from the October chill.
“Have you really been here that long?” She asked, skeptical. He shrugged.
“I was up at six, made some calls. I didn’t have anything else to do except come here at some point today, so I figured I might as well be waiting when you got up.”
“Well, if you had told me you were outside, you could have come in half an hour ago. I’ve been up at least that long.”
He shrugged again. “I’ll live.”
“Would you like some coffee? There’s some in the kitchen, or we can stop on the way to the gym, I’m supposed to meet Janie-- Shit, I forgot to call her this morning.”
“No need. She’s expecting both of us in half an hour.”
“What? How?”
“She passed me while I was waiting for you last night. I introduced myself and gave her my number. I asked her to call me when she got home so that I knew she was safe. She did, and she told me to tell you she’d see you at the gym at eleven. I asked her if she’d mind my tagging along and she said it was fine.”
Alexandra was furious, and relieved, and grateful, and exasperated, all within the span of three seconds. How dare he introduce himself to her friends as her boyfriend without even consulting with her? But she’d decided it was the best way to handle things anyway and at least now she didn’t have to be the one to make the introductions, meaning she didn’t have to actually lie to them. She could just not correct him. But still, what right did he have to make that decision without talking to her first?
She had to admit that it was sweet he’d wanted to check on Janie and make sure she got home alright, unless of course he was trying to keep Janie around until after the job was done because he wanted to see her again. Or unless he just wanted to keep tabs on her through Janie. No one else knew Alexandra’s schedule like she did. Alexandra didn’t even know her own schedule as well as Janie did. Did he think she was going to take a risk with her safety by trying to sneak away or withhold information? That was just insulting.
Alexandra opened her mouth three or four times trying to fix on a reaction that seemed appropriate, but came up empty.
“You’re doing an excellent impression of a goldfish there, darlin’.” Connor said with a smile. It wasn’t a malicious smile, just genuinely amused.
“Fuck you.” Was all Alexandra manage
d before she spun on her heel and headed for the kitchen.
✽✽✽
Okay, so she was pissed. Very pissed. The fact registered with him, but with the fire lit in her eyes, her spine held straight and the sway of her hips in those yoga pants as she walked away from him she was a beautiful sight. Fiery, passionate.
By the time he followed her into the kitchen, that woman was gone. She poured herself a cup of coffee dumped in a metric ton of sugar, added an equally obscene amount of cream, and then took a step back to lean against the adjacent counter.
Finally she looked up and met his eyes. No fire. All ice.
“Help yourself Mr. MacLachlan.” She said. Wary, he poured himself a mug and sipped it. He took it black and he could tell it was a decent roast. Lighter than he usually drank, but nutty and smooth.
“Thank you.” He nodded. “It’s good.”
“I’m glad you like it. Have a seat.” She gestured to the kitchen island that had three bar stools pulled up on one side and a lower area for food prep on the other side. He sat in the middle, thinking she would have to sit next to him no matter what side she chose. But instead she stood on the opposite side of the island, setting her mug down and folding her arms over her chest. And that’s how she viewed it, they were on opposite sides.
Connor mentally kicked himself for being so eager to wind her up. It was fun and easy, and he enjoyed seeing her all sassy. He enjoyed the back and forth of her giving as good as she got. Their battle of wills at the bar had been the highlight of his week so far. But he didn’t really want her to see him as an enemy. It would make his job a lot harder, and it just didn’t sit well with him.
And you have been so very professional so far.
“Since you’ve pushed us irrevocably down the path of this… deception, I think we need to get a few things straight before it goes any further.” Alexandra said calmly. She had slipped back into that lawyer mask he’d see when they met the day before.
Her Protector Page 5