by A. K. Evans
Levi didn’t hesitate and ordered, “Get her squared away with everything she needs. She’s Elle’s friend and will soon be your girl. I don’t want any money for anything; just get her covered. Make sure you update Lorenzo and Dom before you leave. I might bring another guy in on this case. It’s growing too quickly.”
“Agreed. Thanks, Levi.”
I stood to leave, but he spoke again. “Just so you know, I’ve got to tell Zane. After you did everything you could to torment him when he got together with Emme, it’s only fair he has the opportunity to do it to you in return.”
“You can tell him what you want. There’s nothing going on.”
“Yeah, yeah. I’m sure there will be soon enough.”
I shook my head and walked out. After getting the case files from my office I went to Dom’s and found he and Lorenzo were both just about to leave.
“Headed out?” I asked.
“Yeah,” Dom answered. “We’re going to follow up on some of these cases and see if anything was missed that can help us.”
“There’s another one,” I blurted, stopping them in their tracks.
“What?” Lorenzo asked.
“Reported early this morning. All of the details are in this file,” I offered, handing the file over to him. “I’d check it out before you head out. It’s the newest one, so we might have better luck. I’m out today, but let me know if you find anything worthwhile.”
“Where are you going to be? This is your only case right now,” Dom pointed out the obvious.
Here we go. I knew I wasn’t going to hear the end of it.
“I’ve got to install security and surveillance at an office and apartment,” I shared, thinking they might not question it.
I should have known better.
“Something tells me the security isn’t for just anyone, is it?” Dom goaded me.
Dom and Lorenzo were both smirking at me, so I did the only thing I could. I narrowed my eyes and kept my mouth shut.
“Yep,” Lorenzo started. “It’s the girl…his burn victim.”
“She’s not my anything yet. Her new office has no security and she’s blocks away from where the newest woman went missing. She’s the same age as these women. I’m not taking any chances.”
Dom walked over, held his hand out for the file, and replied, “Go take care of your girl. We’ll handle this.”
“Thanks,” I began. “By the way, Levi might be adding someone else to the mix. Too many women are disappearing too quickly.”
They nodded their understanding and walked back to the chairs to review the file. “Later, Cruz.”
I made my way back to the supply room where we stored all of our surveillance and security equipment. I got what I knew I needed for Lexi’s office and grabbed a few extra items for her apartment. I didn’t know for sure what I’d need there, but with any luck I’d be able to get something set up with the extras I was bringing.
Once I loaded everything up in my truck, I took off toward her office.
On the drive over, I had to be honest with myself. There was no doubt that a physical attraction existed between Lexi and me since the first time we met. To this day, I knew that attraction was still present on both ends. What I didn’t know was if that was all that there was for Lexi.
I knew I was intrigued by her in the few instances I had been around her, but then we met and had breakfast on Saturday morning. That did it for me. Talking to her, seeing her uninhibited for the first time since meeting her, and hearing her laugh for those few hours was all I needed. I knew there was something special about her and it was something I wanted in my life.
On every occasion I had been around her before we had our breakfast date, she’d always been so reserved. It was obvious she was being cautious, but it wasn’t ever unfriendly or off-putting. Perhaps it was because of what I do for a living, but seeing that in her made me realize there was something more to her that she didn’t let others see.
That is, she never showed it to me until Saturday morning when I sat at Colvert’s waiting for her to arrive. The moment she called and told me that she needed to cancel, my stomach sank. When she stood in front of me seconds later proud of herself for making me believe she wasn’t coming, I knew I hadn’t been wrong about her. She laughed through a good portion of our date, and from the moment we parted ways that morning I knew I wanted to be with her again. I craved her playfulness. Part of me wondered if I wanted more of her and her lighthearted nature around me simply because I had enough stuff in my life with work that was serious. Either way, it didn’t matter what it was; all I knew for sure was that I wanted more of her. I fought the urge to want to call her every day because I didn’t want to seem overeager. Thankfully, my case did a good job of occupying my mind and made it a little easier to resist the temptation to pick up the phone.
Seeing her again earlier today and almost instantly being reminded of that lively spirit did me in. Of course, I wasn’t exactly thrilled that she nearly gave me a heart attack telling me she thought there was a meth lab next door to her office, but I was willing to deal with it if it meant hearing her laugh like she did.
I wasn’t proud of myself for taking Lexi’s carefree attitude away from her when I told her about the case I was working on, but I thought it was important she knew what was happening. Hearing that she was already being cautious by scheduling her meetings in public places made me feel a little better, but I didn’t like that she didn’t feel safe enough to do it in the space she was paying for.
What didn’t sit well with me at all was the absolute shock and horror I saw in her face when I shared that there was likely a sex-trafficking ring happening right under our noses. I expected she would be upset, but her reaction was so much more than I would have ever imagined. I did my best to comfort her and, luckily, she agreed to let me put the security measures in place for her.
I arrived back at Lexi’s office, gathered up the equipment, and walked to the entrance. I tapped on the door before opening it and walking in.
There she was, sitting at the desk in her office. The nice thing about the space was that she had her own separate area, but with the door to it open she could see out into the common room.
“You’re back,” she exclaimed as she looked up and saw me.
“I told you I would be,” I responded.
There was a look of genuine happiness in her face. I couldn’t deny that it made me feel good to see it.
As I walked into her private office, I confirmed, “Are you alright with me just doing what I think needs to be done or do you want me to go over all of it with you first?”
“I’ll be honest,” she replied. “It’s not my forte, so you’ll get just about the same result telling me about it as you would if you spoke to me in a foreign language. I trust your judgement, Cruz.”
“Ok, I’m going to get to work then.”
For the next couple hours, I worked on getting everything set up in Lexi’s office. I got the security system with motion sensors covering the entire space as well as monitors on all of the doors and windows. I even added options so that she could have the place armed when she was inside working. The motion sensors would be disabled, but the exterior monitors would still be operational. I added cameras everywhere, excluding the bathroom, and called the Cunningham Security office to confirm that the feed was live and functioning.
When I finished, I walked back in to Lexi’s office, where she was furiously typing away on her keyboard. She was so focused she didn’t see me standing there, so I took full advantage and just watched her. Lexi was so beautiful, it would have been easy to watch her all day.
After giving myself some time to take her in, I cleared my throat. Lexi looked up at me and asked, “Are you finished already?”
“I’m not sure how long you expected it to take, but it’s been a few hours already,” I explained.
Lexi’s eyes drifted to her computer and back to me before she responded, “Wow, I guess you’re right. I
was so caught up in my work, it didn’t feel like that much time had passed.”
“Are you able to take a break so I can show you how it all works?”
“Yes,” she said as she stood. “I’m already so far ahead of where I expected to be today, so I’m good to leave after you show it to me.”
I spent the next fifteen minutes explaining the entire system to Lexi. I gave her the security code, showed her where the cameras were, and demonstrated how to arm the office when she was inside and when she locked up in the evenings. I also made sure she knew how to turn the cameras off if she wanted or needed the privacy, but confirmed she could turn them on so they’d send the feed to the office. Finally, I ensured she was aware of the fact there were two important buttons on the keypad: one that would send an alert to the police station and another that would send an alert to our office.
“Do you need to go over it again or do you think you’ve got it?” I asked.
Lexi thought a minute before she declared, “I think I’ve got it.”
“Ok. If you come in tomorrow and forget, just call me and I’ll walk you through it without a problem.”
“Thank you, Cruz. I really appreciate you doing this for me,” she said.
“Don’t mention it, Lexi. I wasn’t kidding when I said it’ll help me focus on the case a bit better if I know that you are safe no matter if you’re working or if you’re at home. Speaking of which, I’m ready to go whenever you are.”
Lexi hesitated a moment, but after a few seconds passed, she finally spoke.
“Yes, I’m ready. Let me just grab my things.”
I waited while Lexi packed up her stuff and walked to the front door with her key in her hand. She set the alarm on the office without any issues, locked the door, and walked out to her car.
Twenty minutes later, I was pulling into the lot at Lexi’s apartment complex. I had to admit I felt a bit of relief at the fact that she didn’t live in a bad area nor was her place too close to where any of the missing women were last seen.
Carrying the extra security equipment I brought from the office, I followed Lexi to the front door and into her apartment.
“If you want to set your stuff down, I can show you around,” she offered.
I put everything down just inside the front door and urged, “Lead the way.”
Lexi didn’t move.
At least, she didn’t move her feet. She did lift her arms out to the side as she shrugged her shoulders and stated, “This is my living room.”
I didn’t look around the room because I was too captivated by her. She was adorable without even trying and I didn’t want to miss a moment of it.
She turned around to walk out of the living room. My eyes dropped to her ass that was covered by her black, form-fitting jeans. Lexi had a great ass.
Before she caught me staring, I started to walk and followed her out of the living room into her kitchen. It wasn’t huge, but it had all the amenities you’d need. Just off her kitchen wasn’t what I’d call a formal dining room; however, she made it her own and it would serve its purpose.
From there, Lexi took me down a short, narrow hall. She opened the door and pushed through.
When she spoke again, her voice was husky. It was the sexiest thing I’d ever heard. “This is my bedroom.”
Once again, my eyes never left her face. What was different about this was that she was no longer the goofy Lexi she was out in her living room. The Lexi standing in front of me was sultry and seductive with just the sound of her voice and the look in her eyes.
I took two steps toward her and closed the distance between us. Then, I watched as her lips slowly parted.
“I like it,” I admitted, though I wasn’t necessarily referring to her bedroom.
She closed her mouth and swallowed. It was easy to feel the nervous energy coming from her.
I lifted my crooked finger to her chin and brought my thumb up to swipe across her bottom lip. Her body tensed.
“Lexi,” I whispered.
“Hm,” she responded.
“I know you said you just wanted to get to know one another, but I feel like there’s more here. The look in your eye tells me that you might feel the same.”
“I do,” she revealed, her voice trembling.
Relief coursed through me. “Can I please kiss you?”
Her eyes rounded. Then, she answered, “Yes.”
I lowered my mouth and gently brushed my lips back and forth across hers, while my hand that had been at her chin moved to the side of her neck.
Just as I was about to kiss her, my phone rang and killed the moment.
Damn.
Lexi tensed up and took a step back.
I begrudgingly pulled my phone from my pocket and saw my brother’s name on the display.
“Zane,” I said into the phone as a way of greeting him.
“What’s this I hear about you and Lexi?” he replied.
My eyes were focused on her. She looked a mix of frustrated, nervous, and something else I couldn’t quite figure out.
“Now’s not a good time,” I warned. I was not having this conversation with him.
“Fuck, bro. Are you with her?”
Lexi managed to get herself together and mouthed that she was going to be out in the kitchen.
I nodded.
Once she stepped outside the room, I shared, “Yes, I am. And let me just say that you’ve got impeccable timing.”
My brother laughed.
“Consider it payback for all the times you tormented me when it came to Emme.”
I grunted in response. I had to be honest with myself. It was likely I deserved what I was about to get from both Zane and Levi. I never held back with my opinion when it came to their relationships and I certainly pushed their buttons, especially Zane’s. I needed to prepare myself for the fact that he was probably going to give it back to me just as hard.
“Alright,” he started. “I’ll let you go for now then. Just a quick question, though. Does Luke know you’ve got a thing for his sister?”
“There’s nothing going on. We’re just friends,” I insisted, even though I didn’t necessarily believe what had just come out of my mouth.
“Famous last words,” he shot back. “I recall the day I told you, Levi, Mom, and Dad that Emme was just a friend. Maybe nothing happened between us at that point, but that didn’t mean I hadn’t already decided that I was going to find a way to change that.”
“I’ve got to go,” I replied, a bit frustrated.
He laughed and ended, “Have fun. Later, Cruz.”
I disconnected the call and stood there staring out the window, thinking about what had happened just before my phone rang. I’d been dying to kiss Lexi and was mere seconds away from it happening. Maybe luck wasn’t on my side anymore. Or perhaps I’d really done some awful things to my brothers that it was only fair I dealt with the same in return. Either way, I was now beyond frustrated and even feeling a bit remorseful for what I’d put them through.
Shaking my head, I turned and walked out of Lexi’s bedroom back toward the kitchen.
When I stepped inside the kitchen, I found Lexi’s back to me as she stood at her counter chopping something. I took a moment to check her out again because she was so incredibly sexy. It was a bad idea since it only served to make me more turned on.
I took a deep breath and tried to regain my control. After a futile attempt to tamp down some of my sexual frustration, I spoke. “Sorry about that,” I apologized.
Lexi spun around with a butcher’s knife in her hand pointed right at me.
I held my hands up and took two steps back even though I was already across the room from her.
She let out a breath and set the knife down on the counter. “I’m sorry, you scared me. I didn’t hear you come back down the hall.”
I gave her a minute to calm herself down. She finally did and went on, “I don’t know how long you’ll need to install what you brought, but I figured since i
t’s getting late I could make dinner for the both of us. Do you like fajitas?”
“Works for me,” I started, trying not to let my excitement show. The truth was, I wouldn’t have cared if she was going to serve liver and onions; I would eat whatever she made just so I’d be able to spend more time with her. “I brought enough with me to get you set up with at least a basic security system tonight. I can get started on that now and then I’ll want to come back as soon as you are free so that I can install a few extras I’d like you to have here.”
“Sure. I know you’ve got a lot going on with your case, so I can try to work with your schedule. That said, my plan was to spend the entire day tomorrow working on the campaign for WAAR. I can do that from here if tomorrow works well for you.”
“I can make that work. I’ll try to be here first thing in the morning so I don’t interrupt your day.”
She nodded her agreement.
At that, she went about making dinner while I got to work on her security system. Roughly an hour later, Lexi found me in the middle of the installation and told me dinner was ready. I followed her back to the dining area, where she had set the table for two. Aside from the plates and utensils she set out for us, there was also a serving platter filled with chicken, peppers, and onions. She had guacamole, sour cream, salsa, and cheese set out in smaller dishes with a pile of warmed tortillas between our two plates.
“Looks amazing,” I praised her.
And it did.
“Thanks. I’m sorry I don’t have much to offer you in the way of drinks. I’ve got water or wine.”
I chuckled. “Water is fine.”
After grabbing drinks, Lexi and I sat to eat. As we each took a tortilla and began assembling our fajitas, Lexi wasted no time in diving into conversation.
“How’s the installation coming along? Is there a lot of work left?”
“I’ve got about an hour left,” I explained. “I’m not keeping you from anything, am I?”
She shook her head. “No, not at all. I didn’t have anything planned for tonight other than doing some work. I’m a bit under the gun to get things squared away with the crisis center since there’s just over a week left before it officially opens. Considering I was a bit busy before I took on this project, I’ve been putting in some long days. At least now I’ve got the office squared away. It’s just one more thing to check off my ever-growing to-do list.”
