“I’m sorry,” she said to Aiden. “I just…I need to know what I’m dealing with.”
“You didn’t say anything I haven’t said to him myself. The amazing part is that you read his story without knowing it. But one thing I can promise you is that Troy is damn good at his job. He’ll protect you with his life.” His voice softened. “As will I.”
She believed him. She trusted him. She barely knew him but she wanted to. “Tell me what you need me to do.”
CHAPTER SIX
An hour after waking up in Aiden’s safe house, Kelly had, at his direction, gotten into a cab and had it drop her at her car at the bar. Now, after a short drive just west of downtown to her quaint little Tarrytown house, she could barely keep her hand from shaking as she unlocked her front door. She wondered at the sanity of her agreement with this plan to act like she believed Detective Wright was undercover as he’d claimed. Going back to her normal life and waiting for him, or some of his followers to attack her. Aiden and his brother would be there when it happened and they were sure it would. The plan had seemed easy enough, until she actually put it into action. Now, not so much.
She stepped inside the foyer of her house and flipped on the light, not sure what she wanted more—to dart inside before someone grabbed her, or run back to her car. She inhaled and reminded herself she trusted Aiden, she believed he could keep her safe. And she clearly, believed she was in danger, and in need of his protection, or she wouldn’t be this freaked out.
The wind gusted, a storm passing by, and it unnerved her. Kelly darted inside and shoved the door shut, leaning against the wooden surface. She then gasped when she realized that Aiden had been behind the door, perched in the corner.
“Damn it,” she said, turning to face him, ready to hit him. “Don’t do that. You scared the crap out of me.”
He pulled her against him, until her thighs were aligned with his now jean clad legs, his leather discarded back at the other house. “Easy sweetheart,” he murmured, his strong arms surrounding her. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”
“You had to have known sneaking up on me would scare me.”
“I was trying to let you know the house is secure. And since I’m here and Troy is covering the exterior, that isn’t going to change.”
“A text message telling me you were here before jumping out of the darkness at me, would have been pretty effective.”
“I didn’t jump out at you.”
“No,” she said. “You hid and I jumped.”
“I’m sorry,” he said softly, his hand stroking down her hair, the apology rolling off his tongue with the ease of a man without ego. “I really didn’t mean to scare you.”
She melted with both the touch and the words, never before having quite the reaction to a man that she was to this one. Inside the warmth though was a memory far less appealing, a memory of Detective Wright pressing her against the wall—of the piercing pain in her neck, she didn’t understand. Had he bitten her?
“I’m sorry too,” she said, shaking off the odd thought. “It’s not every day a girl becomes the focus of a killer. I’m not my usual calm self. I’m pretty on edge.”
“With good reason,” he assured her. “And stay that way. On edge means you’re alert, and alert will help you stay alive.”
“Help me stay alive,” she repeated. “You really aren’t batting a good score here.” He opened his mouth to apologize again, she was sure, and she flattened her palm on his hard—make that really hard—chest. “It’s okay. Just tell me what comes next? What do I need to do?”
“Assume you’re being watched, and do what you would normally do. I’ve checked for monitoring equipment and your place is clean but that doesn’t mean your routines haven’t been studied, especially with Wright’s obvious interest in you. I’ll be here, but I’ll stay away from the windows, and Troy isn’t going anywhere either.”
Her fingers curled around his light blue t-shirt. She didn’t want to let him get away. A sexy bodyguard was really darn appealing right now. “What about when Troy sleeps?”
“Neither of us need much sleep. You’ve been by the door too long. You need to get moving—turn some lights on and off, and get some normal activity going on.”
“Okay.” But she didn’t move. “You think Detective Wright will come for me tonight, don’t you?” He’d said he didn’t think so earlier, but his actions said differently. “You think he wants to kill me because I know too much about him.”
“I think exactly what I’ve already told you. I think he’ll be trying to find out if I was there to help you, or hunt him. And he’ll worry we’re doing just what we are—using you to get to him, which is against everything I believe in doing and if there was another answer, I’d take it. But no matter what I think he’ll do, I’m going to treat every second like the moment before he comes for you.”
She stared at his chest, recognizing the certainty in his statement. The moment before he comes for you. As in when he comes for her, not if he did.
His finger slid under her chin, lifting her gaze to his. “I won’t let anything happen to you. I meant it when I said I’d die to save your life.”
“Don’t,” she said. “Don’t die to save me and don’t get hurt. I don’t want that. I couldn’t live with that. No one needs to get hurt for me.”
His eyes poured into her, black as a starless night, as intense as a stormy night. “You leave this to me and the only people who’ll be getting hurt will be the bad guys.” He turned her towards the living room, his mouth lowering near her ear, breath warm on her neck. “I’ll be here if you need me.”
She inhaled and resisted the urge to sink back against him. She could do this. She wanted to save lives, and that was a risk worth a little discomfort, and in the end, if everything worked out, that was all this was.
Kelly forced her feet to move down the hardwood hall, past the cozy living room to her left where she often read books, often favoring true crime stories in hopes of stimulating ideas to solve cases at work. She thought that maybe it was time for a romance without the mystery, maybe a small-town family one at that, with the promise of a happy ending.
She turned down the hallway to her left and entered one of the two bedrooms, to the master, but not before she flipped on the lights and checked it out. One look at her unmade queen-sized bed and she grimaced. So much for thinking no one would see it but her. She should make it really quick. Maybe he wouldn’t notice. It was illogical, she realized, but something to worry about other than being killed.
“It’s safe,” Aiden said from behind her. “You’re safe, Kelly.”
She swallowed hard and turned to find Aiden leaning on the doorframe. He was spectacular—so tall, so big and broad, and that hair. Suddenly, she was all too aware of being alone with the hottest man she’d ever met—just her, him, and her unmade bed.