by Katie Reus
She sat on the solid-looking wood coffee table in front of him and held out her hand. “So tell me about yourself, Blue,” she said as she gently turned his hand over, inspecting the slight abrasions on his knuckles. “Are you in town for work or pleasure?”
“Both.” One word was all he could manage with her touching him. He couldn’t remember the last time a woman had touched him so gently.
At that, she looked up, eyebrows raised as she set his hand on his leg. “Want to expand a little?”
He cleared his throat. After leaving the military he’d gone straight to work for Red Stone Security and wasn’t used to talking to anyone other than the men and women he worked with. Mainly about work stuff. The people they guarded didn’t converse with them much and vice versa. Which was the way it had to be. He couldn’t be doing his job if he was interacting with the clients. He was there to protect them, not be their friends. “I was here for work, then my boss told me to take a few days’ downtime, so I am.”
“What do you do for a living?” She opened the small kit and pulled out a foam disinfectant, leaning in close again.
Her scent taunted him, making his brain short-circuit like a teenager who’d never talked to a girl before. Except he’d never been an awkward kid. Back then girls had fallen into his lap. Just like in college. Things had been different after, but he didn’t want to think about any of that now. He needed to answer her. When she took his hand in hers again, he fought to speak, much less think. It was damn hard when all he wanted was to feel her soft hands stroking every inch of him. “Personal security.”
Her eyebrows pulled slightly together as she squeezed the disinfectant on his knuckles. “Like a bodyguard?”
“Yeah, for the most part.”
She paused but didn’t comment. “Does this sting?” Concern filled her voice as she met his gaze again.
He fought a smile and shook his head. “It tickles.”
She immediately relaxed and pulled out a tube of antibiotic cream.
“That’s not—”
“Let me do this please.” Her voice and hands shook slightly as she twisted the top off. “You literally fought off three men to save my life and I know this doesn’t make up for it but I need to do something.”
That was when he realized she was still upset. Not that he blamed her. Reaching out, he stilled her fingers with his own, forcing her to look at him. “How are you doing? It’s still not too late to call the police.”
“I know, I just…it’s not the best thing for me. I’m not going to do nothing though, so don’t worry about that. And I’m not sure how I’m doing. Freaked out pretty much sums it up.” She shook her head before returning to her task.
When she smoothed the ointment on his knuckles he was struck by how gentle she was. She had little calluses on the pads of her fingers, likely from painting or sculpting. Nothing like the big ones he had. It jarred him how much he enjoyed the feel of her touching him, especially when he imagined what it would feel like to have her wrapping those fingers around a much lower part of his anatomy. Shit, he couldn’t think of that. He was already half-hard just sitting there.
“Were you in the military?” Her sudden question threw him, but he nodded.
“Yeah. Marine Corps. Ten years. How’d you know?” Unlike a lot of Marines, he didn’t have any tattoos.
“Just a guess. The way you took those men down made me think you had to have some kind of training and the military makes the most sense.” She twisted the cap back on. “I can put a light bandage on but I don’t think you need one.”
He shook his head. “I’m good, but thanks.” Staring into her eyes, he tried to think of something, anything, intelligent to say. He didn’t want to leave just yet, but knew if he couldn’t fucking talk like a normal human being there’d be no more reason to stay and she’d want him to leave. Rightly so.
“Are you hungry or thirsty?” She nervously smoothed her hands down her dress.
Unable to stop himself, he dragged his gaze down the length of her smooth, kissable neck all the way to the swell of—He shook himself and instead of looking into her eyes again, turned to the covered French doors. “Thirsty.” An entire word, good for him. He wanted to kick his own ass.
“I think I’ve got wine and water. No beer though,” she said as she stood, taking that sweet tropical scent with her.
It was a combination of vanilla, coconut and something that was all Mina. Mina. He wondered how her name would sound on his tongue. “Wine’s good.”
“Do you have any plans tonight or do you want to hang out?” There was an odd note in her voice that he couldn’t read.
Standing, he followed her into the kitchen, watching as she pulled out a bottle of unopened white wine from the stainless steel refrigerator. “Are you nervous to be alone?”
Biting her bottom lip, she nodded. “I’ve called my…someone about this, but for now, yeah I’m scared. But I know I have no right to ask you to stay with me. It’s not like I need a babysitter or anything. I’ve got a security system. Forget it, I’m being stupid. You don’t have to feel obligated—”
“I don’t.” And he didn’t want her to be alone. Even if she wouldn’t call the police he wanted to do a little digging into this on his own. He simply couldn’t walk away when he knew someone was in danger, let alone this sweet, gentle woman. The fact that she was impossibly sexy didn’t play into his decision to stay at all. Right.
Her shoulders relaxed and a half-smile pulled at her full lips. “If you’re sure you don’t mind, I know something fun we can do.”
At those words, all sorts of images flooded his mind, most of which involved them naked. Since he wasn’t sure what she meant he struggled to contain the physical reaction she evoked.
Chapter 4
At the sudden flare of heat in his dark eyes Mina’s grip tightened around the wine bottle. Everything about Blue was so primal, so…freaking huge. He seemed to take up her entire kitchen. “Get your mind out of the gutter, I’m talking about innocent fun,” she said teasingly, even if the magnetic pull she felt for him was undeniable.
He blinked, suddenly looking unsure and she felt bad for teasing him. “I wasn’t…”
“I’m messing with you. Not about the innocent part, because whatever you’re thinking isn’t what I’m suggesting. I’m almost positive.” She stared at him, daring him to contradict her.
To her utter surprise, a light dusting of color brushed over his tanned cheeks. He cleared his throat. “Yeah, probably.”
Though she really wanted to ask what was going on in that head of his, she didn’t—because she kind of already knew. She was too raw and even though something deep down told her that if she had sex with Blue right now it would be intense, she wanted to get to know him first. The whole situation was a little strange. It still blew her mind that he’d helped out a stranger so selflessly and she didn’t think she could handle anything other than talking anyway. Even if she was fantasizing about feeling his muscular body wrapped around hers, holding her close…no, no, no.
Feeling neurotic for her conflicting thoughts she grabbed two glasses and handed them to him. A shiver rolled through her as their fingers brushed and she refused to meet his gaze. Instead she pulled a wine bottle opener out of a drawer. “This way,” she said, motioning toward the hallway. “There’s a balcony through here.” She opened the door to what was meant to be the master bedroom, but she’d turned into her art studio instead.
“Wow,” he breathed as they stepped inside.
Glancing over her shoulder she saw him staring at her most recent piece. Even though she didn’t favor expressionism as a rule, this one was. It was slightly blurred and very minimalist, but there was no doubt what the figures on the black and white painting were doing. A woman was flat on her stomach, her arms stretched out over her head and a man was behind her, in between her legs, his hands on either side of her head as he pumped into her. Apparently all her sexual frustration was making its way onto the ca
nvas lately because this was the fifth one she’d done with this faceless couple. In each work they were in different sexual poses in the throes of passion. She inwardly cringed. He probably thought she’d wanted to show this to him.
“I forgot that was uncovered,” she muttered. Then before she could stop herself she asked, “What do you think?” Immediately she wanted to take the question back. She almost never asked people that because the truth was, she didn’t care what most people thought. She loved what she did and the way art made a person feel was subjective. She didn’t want him to feel obligated to say he liked it.
He didn’t answer right away, but when he looked at her his expression was thoughtful. “I don’t know much about art, but I like it. It’s sexual without being in your face about it. You’re very talented.”
The ring of truth in his words was like a warm caress over her. She felt silly for blushing, but heat rushed to her cheeks nonetheless. “Thank you.” After pushing back the sheer curtains covering the sliding glass doors, she motioned outside to the covered patio. “When I bought this place, I had this patio enclosed with reflective glass.” The summers could be brutally sweltering and she already had enough natural light with the other two windows in the room so she’d wanted to make this her little haven.
“It’s right on the main strip.” He sounded impressed as he stepped out next to her.
“Yeah.” The building was an odd L-shape and most of it was on a quiet side street, but the back of some of the bedrooms faced Duval, giving her a perfect view of the bustling activity of the place. And a lot of inspiration for paintings. “I like to people watch, but maybe it’s not as much fun as whatever you were thinking about in the kitchen.”
He surprised her again by laughing, the sound deep and uninhibited—and it went straight to her core. God, when he laughed like that his whole face turned from serious stone to soft and not exactly boyish, but…relaxed. It definitely looked good on him. “I’m game to people watch,” he murmured, capturing her with that dark gaze again.
Heat pulsed between her legs and it took all her willpower to step back from him and not indulge in what she wanted.
* * *
Lewis stood on the curb across the street from Mina Hollingsworth’s place, looking at his cell phone instead of directly up at her condo. The crew he’d been working with to kidnap her had fucked up big time. Though to be fair, no one had expected that mammoth guy to come out of nowhere like a fucking super hero.
And now it looked as if the guy was still at her place. It was close to midnight and from what Lewis could see, the guy hadn’t left. After their attempted kidnapping, the man they’d had sitting on her place had informed the crew that Mina had returned with the big guy shortly after their attack. Which made him wonder if she’d called the police at all. Her condo was too secured to attempt a breach and even though she didn’t have many neighbors, they all had impressive security systems and many of them were retirees, home more often than not. So even if by some miracle they breached without setting off Mina’s alarm, they wouldn’t make it far without someone seeing or hearing them. Plus there were too many CCTVs in this area. It was why they’d decided to take her when she’d made a shortcut down that fucking alley. Everything had been perfect.
Until that big bastard showed up.
Putting his phone to his ear, he swayed slightly, faking that he was drunk as a couple holding hands walked past him on the sidewalk.
His contact picked up on the second ring. “Yeah?”
“She’s home and still with that guy.”
“He’s at her place this late?” His voice was incredulous, but there was also a thread of unmistakable annoyance.
Lewis rolled his eyes. That’s what he’d said. “Yeah.”
“And none of you saw him around her these past few weeks?”
Lewis gritted his teeth. The woman didn’t have a clockwork-like schedule so it had been more difficult to track her, but they’d done it well. He didn’t like explaining himself but knew if he wanted to get paid he’d have to feign civility. “Nope. Had a few lunches with girlfriends but she spends most of her time painting or with Jerome Charron.”
“Did you get a picture of the guy who saved her?”
“No. Happened way too fast. He was armed, though he didn’t get a chance to draw his weapon.” Lewis had no doubt the man would have though, if things had escalated any more. But his crew didn’t use loaded guns with kidnapping jobs. Bean bag rounds, sure. But not anything with actual bullets. Too much room for error in his experience. Damaged or dead cargo was useless. And since he was the one running this team, he made the final decision about how the op went down.
“You should have killed him,” the man snapped.
Lewis’s lips pulled into a thin line. “And have a dead body left behind as evidence? Too messy. Look, she didn’t call the cops. Or I don’t think she did. This job is still a go. We just have to sit on her a little longer, look for a new angle.” They hadn’t been monitoring her calls because that was too time-consuming and too risky. Besides, there hadn’t seemed to be a need when the man who’d hired them had given them a detailed file on her.
“You’ve got two days. Complete the job or you don’t get the rest of your money.” He disconnected before Lewis could respond.
Resisting the urge to glance up at the dimly lit balcony on Mina’s floor, he shoved his phone in his pocket and began stumbling down the sidewalk until he was out of the line of sight before resuming his normal stride.
Taking the woman would be difficult because of her random schedule and because she was normally surrounded by people. Not only that, but this new man posed a threat. He was an unknown, a new piece to this puzzle and Lewis didn’t like it because it was clear the guy had training. He’d moved in like a fucking killer and Lewis had seen the man’s gun even if he hadn’t used it. It was the only reason the crew had sped away. After missing a direct chest shot with the first bean bag shot, Lewis had known they wouldn’t get a second chance without getting fired on. Part of him wondered if they should call it a day and walk from this job, but he’d come up against worse odds than one man before.
And the money he and his crew could get from taking the rich artist was too sweet a deal to pass up. They’d just have to get creative with how they took her.
Chapter 5
“I can’t believe you actually played pro football. That’s insane. I mean, I don’t watch sports games, but it’s still impressive.” Stretched out on the cushioned lounge chair next to him, Mina was turned toward him, her long dress twined around her calves, wine glass in hand and a soft smile on her face.
Blue laughed again, something he’d been doing a lot of the past couple hours. Being around Mina was easy. He found himself opening up to her in a way he hadn’t been comfortable doing in a long time. Sure he could blame it on the wine but he’d only had a couple glasses. “It’s just sports, you don’t have to say games. And it was only a year.”
Her full lips pulled upward. “See? Shows you how much I know. What I do know, however, is that professional athletes tend to do pretty well for themselves. And you just left it all to join the Marines. I think it’s incredibly honorable. And I don’t mean this question offensively, but why would you leave like that?”
He took another sip of his wine before setting it on the small multi-colored wood table between them. Mina told him she’d refurbished and repainted it herself from some abandoned crates. “The short answer is 9/11 happened. I couldn’t just live my life after that like nothing had happened.” And his brother had died at the Pentagon that day. It didn’t matter that more than a decade had passed, even thinking about it made his throat tighten in pain.
Her eyes widened slightly as she pushed up from her stretched out position. “That’s…I don’t even know what to say to that.” She was silent for a long moment, watching him with those big eyes as if she could see right through him. “Was there more to it than that?”
He started to say
no. It was more or less his default answer when anyone asked him anything personal. He glanced at his glass of wine trying to find the words. The pale liquid twinkled under the soft patio lights.
“Forget I asked. I didn’t mean to pry.” There was a panicked, apologetic note to her voice.
Fuck it. Even if he never saw Mina again after this night—though that thought was beyond depressing—he wanted to tell her this. Wanted her to know something real about him. “My older brother was at the Pentagon that day.” Damn it. His throat closed up again, but he forced himself to continue. “So many people talk about where they were that day and I…” He rubbed a hand over his face, feeling shame for the shallow life he’d lived before. “I woke up with two women whose names and faces I can’t remember. When I saw the news I was frantic to find out anything. Then when I did find out, I didn’t want to know. Didn’t want to believe that my brother was dead. After that…” He shrugged even though he felt anything but casual.
“After that you followed in his footsteps?” She was way too perceptive.
“Yeah. Went to OCS—Officer Candidate School—and was in for ten years.” He’d been a poster boy for a while because of his brother’s record and his own pro-athlete status, something that had been good and bad. Officers often had to prove themselves with their men because the enlisted men and women under their command had usually seen a hell of a lot more combat than them. It had been no different for Blue. He’d had to prove himself at first—rightly so—and all that acclaim from having played pro ball had just been a fucking albatross around his neck for the first year.
“That’s incredible.” Her voice was soft as she watched him.
Damn, he could drown in her dark green eyes. But he didn’t want to talk about himself anymore. The topic was too fucking heavy for the night. And he wanted to know more about what kind of danger she was in. “Turnabout’s fair play. I told you something I never tell people. Now you tell me why those men were after you. Because I know you know.”
