by Lexi Blake
He hadn’t even been stuffed in the back of that tiny car the way Hutch had. Kyle had been in the front. Hutch had spent the whole ride with his knees almost to his chin.
And he’d been shoved in with Noelle, so close that he could smell her. She smelled incredible. He wasn’t the guy who went around sniffing a chick’s hair. That guy was a weirdo. That guy was a perv.
But then he’d never smelled Noelle’s combo of laundry detergent and lemon muffins.
When she’d snuggled against him as he’d talked to her boss, he’d found a strange comfort from that smell.
Fuck, but he wanted to eat her alive. She’d tried to keep herself from bouncing into him, but the close quarters had meant they kept brushing against each other.
And then she’d talked about weird sex and how she wanted to stay away from it.
Yeah, he’d backed away. But not for long. Noelle was a treat he wasn’t sure he could afford.
“Isn’t your brother a professor or something?” MaeBe started for the lobby. They had a keycard to get into the building, and a key for Noelle’s apartment.
“Yeah, he’s got a doctorate, but not Noelle’s kind,” Kyle explained. “David’s an associate professor of history. He can barely afford his shitty townhouse. It’s in a crappy neighborhood, and I’m pretty sure it’s going to collapse soon. I love my brother, but I do not get his obsession with dusty old books. Of course I don’t get Noelle’s with all the science stuff.”
“That’s because you’re a Neanderthal and you’re only interested in beer and football,” MaeBe said with a prim wrinkle of her nose.
She walked ahead.
Hutch leaned in and whispered Kyle’s way. “A Neanderthal is…”
Kyle gave him a Neanderthal-like frown that let Hutch know he was probably close to being clubbed. “I know what a Neanderthal is. And I like more things than beer and football.”
Yeah, he liked MaeBe, and that wasn’t going to happen for him. He felt for the guy. MaeBe was a cutie, but Hutch had always viewed her as a little sister. “She likes board games. Obviously she likes computers, but your way in is board games. She hosts a game night. Get invited and you can get to know her.”
“Games? Like Monopoly?”
Hutch groaned. “Nope. It’s way more complex and much cooler. You know our receptionist isn’t dating anyone. Maybe you should ask her out.”
Yasmin was lovely and funny and not anywhere close to as quirky as MaeBe. She was seemingly the better fit for a guy like Kyle.
Kyle settled his duffel over his shoulder. “I’m not interested in dating. I just got home. I need time to settle in. I’m living in my brother’s office.”
“Doesn’t your mom have a big old house here in town?” They weren’t all that far from Top, Sean Taggart’s original restaurant. If he was right, they could walk there for dinner. He wondered if Noelle had been.
“My mom also has a whole new family,” Kyle said with a sigh. “I love my mom. I love Carys and Luke. Hell, I love Sean. But I can’t handle the happy family thing right now. You know what I can do? I can sleep on a cot in my brother’s musty office, work, and go to the gym. David’s researching some book. He barely notices I’m there. My brother lives like a monk. It’s kind of peaceful.”
This was part of his job. No one had gotten close to Kyle. He’d been a closed book for the month he’d been with the company. He didn’t come to guys nights or hang out after work at the bar across the street. He didn’t go to Top when they had special nights.
David Hawthorne wasn’t the only one living like a monk.
Hutch was tired of living like a monk. He hadn’t dated since he’d broken things off with Katy. He’d gotten involved in work, and hookups in coat closets didn’t hold the same appeal they once had.
He looked ahead and MaeBe was standing in the lobby talking to the security guard. It was good to know they had one.
“Is she flirting with that guy?” Kyle was back to frowning.
So Kyle was the jealous type. “Somehow I doubt it.”
There was something about the man MaeBe was talking to that sent alarm bells through Hutch.
MaeBe smiled Hutch’s way. “Hey, guys. This is one of the building’s security guards. He said he didn’t realize anyone was coming to stay with Noelle today. Mr. Taylor, this is Noelle LaVigne’s boyfriend and his brother. She should have sent the building a notification.”
“I was unaware she had someone moving in with her,” the guard said. He was an oddly familiar-looking man. He looked to be in his early thirties, likely close to Hutch in age. He was roughly six foot two and looked like he spent a lot of time in a gym. “We have protocols in this building. I can’t let you up without written consent.”
“Have you checked in the last hour?” Hutch thought fast. “We were supposed to get here this evening when Noelle would have been home to let us in. I couldn’t wait. I took an earlier flight.”
Kyle seemed to pick up on his play. “He is one over-eager dude, if you know what I mean. When he found out we could get here a couple of hours early he hounded me. I barely packed. He’s lucky my girlfriend could pick us up or we would still be sitting at Love Field.”
“We called Noelle on our way over,” MaeBe said, huddling close to Kyle. “She gave Hutch a key this weekend. Do you think she forgot? I can call her again.”
“I’ll go check.” The guard stared at them all as though memorizing their faces. “I just came on shift and haven’t checked the mail. You’ll have to fill out some forms if you’re staying more than a week or two. Please wait here until I can clear you.”
Hutch watched as he strode away. “Why does he look familiar?”
MaeBe moved away from Kyle, leaning toward Hutch. “Because he’s DPD. I’m almost sure of it. I think his name is Chris Taylor. I saw him speak at one of the conferences we went to. He seemed like kind of a big deal. Why would he be working here?”
“Lots of cops moonlight,” Kyle said. “And they typically do it in the security field.”
He knew lots of beat cops who did, but detectives? “Are you sure?”
MaeBe shrugged. “I think so. I didn’t actually meet him, but I enjoyed his lecture on what it means to work major crimes.”
“I’ll have Tag see what he can find out.” The idea that there was a cop working at Noelle’s building made him uneasy.
Before he could say anything else, the big guy was walking toward them again.
“She has sent the proper paperwork,” Taylor said, a bit friendlier now. “Sorry. Ms. LaVigne is a nice lady, and we’ve had some trouble lately. I had to make sure you were legit.”
“Yeah, I heard there was a break-in.” Hutch took the opening. “Is that something I should worry about? Do I need to get Noelle a better security system?”
Taylor waved that off. “No. Not at all. It was a complete fluke. The whole building is smart. Truly state of the art and integrated. Everything from the security system to the entertainment systems and lighting to the fridge is smart.”
“Then what happened?”
“I have my own theory, but it’s up for debate,” Taylor allowed. “Our security is pretty tight. There’s always at least one guard on duty. Residents have a keycard to get into the building. As you learned, if a guest comes in without a resident, they have to check in and are logged into the security roll. We have cameras in every hallway. The parking garage is secure, too.”
“Then how did someone get in?” MaeBe asked.
Taylor shrugged. “Possibly came in with a resident. Maybe even with the resident herself. She has a lot of people over, and at odd times. She claims she locked the door and when she came back it was unlocked and her laptop was taken. That was the only thing they took. The place wasn’t trashed or anything. Now the odd thing is we’ve got nothing on camera. I think she might be committing insurance fraud. I think she either lost it and doesn’t want to admit it or she wants her renter’s insurance to pay for a new computer. It wouldn’t be the fi
rst time.”
Or there were blind spots in the system, and someone knew where they were. He was still curious.
He heard the sound of elevator doors opening behind him. It was time to get upstairs and start figuring out how to shut down all that smart tech because that smart tech could be used to watch them.
“I appreciate the information. I feel better about having Noelle here,” Hutch said. “And if you’ll get me the paperwork, I’ll fill it all out. I’m moving in with Noelle permanently. My brother is only staying with us until he can convince his girlfriend here to let him move in.”
Hey, Kyle had done that to himself by introducing MaeBe to Jessica Layne.
Kyle stopped staring at him, but MaeBe immediately moved to Kyle’s side, threading her arm through his and cuddling up.
“I’m a little wary. He’s like the best, but are we there yet? I don’t know. I think we need a couple of weeks.” Perhaps MaeBe was way more ready to be a field agent than he gave her credit for. “He could be a crazy dude.”
“I am not a crazy dude.” But Kyle pulled her close.
The woman who’d walked out of the elevator stopped. She was probably thirty and strode forward with confidence, her reusable shopping bags in hand. “I’m sorry. Did you say you were Noelle’s boyfriend? Because the last I checked she didn’t have one.”
Ah, the one friend she’d made here. This was the only person in Noelle’s life he was worried about. On the car ride over, he’d questioned her thoroughly on everyone she was close to in the building. She’d only really spent time with one woman—her next-door neighbor, who’d moved in after she had. After Noelle had taken a serious job tackling an important scientific issue in a lab that could potentially solve it.
Cara Dover was a pretty woman in a yellow sundress, a pair of sandals on her feet. According to Noelle, she worked as a freelance journalist. That word freelance always made him suspicious.
It was a good cover for a spy. It was one he’d used before when he’d been with the CIA.
It was the cover he’d used to make his way from Africa to Europe on the most dangerous mission of his career. God, today he’d thought too much about Hope McDonald and the torture he’d endured to bring her down.
He gave her his best smile. “You must be Cara. Noelle told me all about you. She said you were her closest friend here.”
He was pushing a narrative he hoped she picked up. He knew exactly what he looked like. Blandly handsome. All-American good looks. Muscled but not threatening. He used his relative pleasantness to his advantage as often as he could.
The same way Noelle did. Even if she didn’t realize that was what she did. She coped. She found value in what most people would consider weakness.
Cara stopped, considering him. “Yes, I am, and I’m confused. I saw her when she came back from visiting her dad. She didn’t mention you at all.”
Yes, he’d thought this could be a problem. “I didn’t fly back with her. We made the decision for me to move in over the weekend, and I had some loose ends to tie up.”
She still looked suspicious. “I would think she would say something if she was moving her boyfriend in.”
“I’ve known her since we were young.” He was riffing now, but it felt oddly personal. It felt like he was talking about the woman he’d always wanted. That best friend he’d searched for, the one who’d stood beside him so he’d known he wasn’t alone. “My brother and I moved to the town her dad lived in. She was in New Orleans with her mom, but we lived close to her dad and spent a couple of summers together before she ended up moving in with her dad.”
He’d learned a lot about her in a short amount of time.
“You’re from Papillon?” Cara asked, her eyes narrow on him.
He gave her his most charming smile. “I was her high school boyfriend. She kind of left me behind because she’s the smartest thing in the world. She went to UT and I had to go to community college before I made it to a four-year school.”
“You did a great job, brother.” Kyle stepped up beside him. “We always knew you two would find your way back to each other.”
Cara stared for a moment. “I didn’t know she had a boyfriend at home.”
He shrugged. “We haven’t been close in a couple of years, but she came home before she took this job and we’ve been talking ever since. She came home this week and sparks flew again. I’ve got a job interview up here. Noelle and I are going to try to make a go of it.”
Cara’s head shook. “She’s never mentioned you.”
He held a hand out. “I’m Hutch. This is my brother, Kyle, and his girlfriend, Mae.”
“I’m going to find a job here, too,” Kyle explained. “We recently had our third hurricane of the season, and I’m freaking tired of cleaning up downed trees. It takes a lot out of a man, you know.”
Kyle was good at playing the brainless hottie.
MaeBe sidled up to Kyle. “I bet you look good cleaning things up. Do you take your shirt off?” She turned to Cara. “We met on the Internet. He’s got great abs.”
She ran her hand from Kyle’s shoulder to right above his waist.
“Ms. LaVigne emailed earlier and put these people on her list,” Chris explained. “I was about to show them up.”
“Well, it’s an interesting turn of events. I wouldn’t have thought Noelle was capable of keeping a secret like that.” Cara’s hand tightened around the bags she was carrying. “It was nice to meet you. I guess I’ll see you around.”
She walked off, her free hand reaching for her cell phone.
He would really like to know who she’d called. He would get MaeBe on her as soon as possible because something about the way she’d reacted had him thinking.
Chris had his hands in the pockets of his jacket. “Ms. Dover is usually more friendly than that. I think you’ll find the whole building is pretty nice. And despite the one problem we’ve had, it’s extremely safe.” Chris strode to the elevator. “I’ll take you up to her place and make sure you get in all right. You’ll need your own keycard to move through the building. We have several shared spaces.”
Chris started talking about the gym and swimming pool as they all entered the elevator. The doors closed, and Hutch was forced to contemplate the fact someone who worked for the police, someone who knew a lot about security, was working in the building where Noelle lived.
If someone planted DPD here, Noelle LaVigne could be in big trouble, and this op had just turned more dangerous.
Chapter Four
Noelle tried to focus on the screen in front of her but the events of the day weighed heavily.
She usually worked late because all that was waiting for her was a frozen dinner and the next episode of whatever show she was streaming.
Except tonight there would be two guys waiting for her. Did she have three frozen dinners? She hadn’t bought groceries lately. She had some protein shakes. That might work for Kyle, but she got the feeling Hutch wasn’t a protein shake guy.
He’d kissed her. God, he’d kissed her and she’d melted. It wasn’t like she’d never had sex. She’d had a couple of college boyfriends. But she’d never melted for a guy.
For a guy who was also a Dom.
She wanted to call her Aunt Lisa and ask if this whole body going gooey thing had happened to her. Maybe it was just that he’d been so commanding. Except he hadn’t. Not in the beginning. He’d even asked for her permission to kiss her.
She should tell him it was okay and he had blanket permission. For the cover, of course. The man shouldn’t have to ask every time he thought they should be affectionate to keep their cover up.
The idea of Hutch kissing her often held way too much appeal.
She was horny. That was all. She was a healthy, horny young woman.
A cup filled with Frappuccino was set in front of her and then Pete Moore was settling himself into the chair beside her. Pete was the lead engineer she was working with, an affable man in his late thirties with a husband
, two kiddos, and the most adorable Maltipoo. “Hey, I heard you came up with the big boss after lunch. Are you okay? Did you actually go to lunch with her? I didn’t think she ate anything but the beating hearts of her enemies.”
She’d met Pete when she’d hired on and had started working on another doc’s project. He’d helped her write up the proposal that had gotten her this lab. Pete had been fought over by all the lab leads. When she’d won her lab, she’d offered him the job as her head engineer. What she hadn’t known until later was that several others—including Madison—had offered him a job, too. There had been a lot of bitterness tossed her way.
Actually, after seeing all the camaraderie at McKay-Taggart, she was starting to wonder if her office wasn’t a toxic cesspool.
“No, it was nothing more than coincidence. We happened to be walking in at the same time.” It had been an awkward trip up to her floor. She’d actually slowed her stride to give Jessica Layne every opportunity to race ahead of her, but she’d been standing in front of the elevator when Noelle had made it there.
She’d asked a lot of questions about Hutch and Kyle.
“I thought she closed down the elevator when she was in it,” Pete said.
She’d heard that rumor, too. “She invited me in. It was weird.”
“Yeah, I’ve heard a lot of weird things today. Tommy from the battery lab said you were making out with some hottie in the parking lot.” Pete took a sip of his drink. “He didn’t actually call him a hottie. He said it was some dude. I went and looked at the security cams. He’s a hottie. Like both of them. Where the hell did you pick up two Greek gods?”
“I told you about my high school boyfriend, right?” She knew she hadn’t. She rarely talked about her hometown except to say she missed it sometimes.
McKay-Taggart had reminded her of the sheriff’s office back in Papillon. She’d answered phones there as a part-time job for years. It had been fun because of how laid back it was. Her stepmom would sometimes show up for lunch and they would sit on the grass under the big oak tree and talk while they ate po’ boys and drank sweet tea. Her dad would bring the family dog up and Peanut would walk around looking for a pet. Everyone acted like family.
