She shook her head. He nodded.
She gave him a firm look. She wouldn’t be swayed. He merely raised one eyebrow. It was an annoying habit of his. No doubt it drove his girlfriend insane.
“Don’t you have to get home to your girlfriend?” Something surged inside her, and she realized it was jealousy. Had she ever been jealous before?
“No. I was going to stay in a hotel. No difference if I stay here.”
“But it makes all the difference to me. I—”
“Sorry to interrupt,” Alex said dryly.
He didn’t look very sorry if his smile was any indication.
“I have to get going. Reagan, you are welcome to come and stay with us. If you need anything, call me. I expect to be obeyed in this.” He pointed at her as he said this. Reagan sighed. Why did everyone seem to think they could boss her around? Was it because she was a submissive? But Alex had never been this bossy before, except at Club Decadence, that is.
Tara hugged her. She forced herself not to stiffen up. She still wasn’t used to spontaneous displays of affection.
“Are you okay here with him?” Tara whispered. “I can stay.”
She would be fine. She could handle Tiny. So she nodded at Tara and stepped back.
“You’re not staying,” she told Tiny firmly once they’d left. “This is my apartment. My rules.”
“It’s not safe.”
“It’s been perfectly safe up until now. What makes you think tonight is going to be any different? This asshole has never broken in before while I’ve been home. I’ve changed the locks and the alarm code. Now, just do what you’ve got to do. I have work to do.”
She turned away. There. She’d been firm but polite.
And as far as she was concerned that settled that.
Tiny watched as Reagan turned away, her hips swaying provocatively. Damn, her ass looked fine in those jeans. His hands itched to cup it, squeeze it, give it a good smack. God knew she could use a spanking. He was the security expert. It was his job to see to her safety.
And when it came to her safety she would do what he said.
As far as he was concerned that settled that.
Chapter Four
The woman was a menace. Stubborn as hell. Sneaky. Disobedient. Definitely a brat.
And somehow, she’d managed to get her own way.
He was the Dom. He was supposed to be in control. But she was his client, not his sub. Fuck.
Tiny glanced over at the bedside clock in his hotel room, two-thirty in the morning and he hadn’t slept a wink for worrying about her. He should have camped outside her door. Only she’d threatened to call the cops when he’d told her he planned to do just that.
In the end, he couldn’t stay if she refused to allow him.
After stalling as long as he could, and making it crystal clear she was to call him if anything happened, Tiny had left for his hotel.
At least he’d gotten three cameras set up and working inside the apartment. By the time he’d been done, Reagan had been nearly swaying from exhaustion, and he’d felt guilty for keeping her up when she was clearly exhausted. He’d tried to convince her to go to bed, but she’d just stared at him as though he’d suddenly grown a second head.
He couldn’t blame her. He was a stranger. She didn’t know he’d cut off his right arm before he’d hurt her. So he’d left, even though his gut was burning.
Finally, knowing he wouldn’t get any sleep, Tiny pulled on some gym clothes. If he couldn’t sleep, then he might as well work out. He started doing push-ups.
***
She felt like shit.
Her eyes were grainy and heavy. Her body weighed down by exhaustion. She’d barely slept. Every time she shut her eyes, she’d dream about someone sneaking into her apartment, and she’d wake up with a fright. In the end, she’d just laid in her bed, wide awake, watching time tick over.
Maybe she should have let Tiny stay.
No. She couldn’t have a stranger stay in her apartment. She wouldn’t have been able to sleep knowing he was in the next room.
But then, she hadn’t been able to sleep anyway.
She sent an email to work telling them she’d was taking today off, and one to Tara telling her the same thing. Luckily, her employer was very flexible. Plus, she was owed a lot of downtime.
Grabbing another cup of coffee, she moved into the living room. She stilled as she saw something on the floor by the door. What the hell?
Moving closer, she saw it was a white envelope. A chill formed in her gut. Why would an envelope be pushed under her door? The mail was always placed in the mail boxes in the foyer. There was no name or address on the envelope.
Striding into the kitchen, she grabbed a pair of tongs. Coming back into the living room, she crouched a few feet away from the letter and poked it with the tongs. She half-laughed at herself. What had she expected? For it to explode? That it might leap at her?
Picking it up with the tongs, she moved over to the coffee table and placed it down, staring at it. What if it had anthrax in it? As a precaution, she went back into the kitchen and opened the cupboard under the sink. She grabbed the face mask and rubber gloves she used when she cleaned the oven and put them on.
It wasn’t that easy to open the envelope with the gloves on, but eventually, she got it open and pulled out the piece of paper inside.
As she saw what was on the paper the chill in her stomach grew into a blizzard. She shivered. What the hell? Reagan pulled off the gloves and mask and reread the words.
Roses are red. Violets are blue.
Smile my pretty. I’m watching you.
The knock on her door made her screech. The urge to flee thundered through her. Her heart raced so hard she actually felt ill. She stared at the door warily, watching it as carefully as one might a rattlesnake.
Another knock shook the door. “Reagan? You in there?”
Tiny.
She took a deep breath in then released it slowly. But she couldn’t seem to make herself move toward the door.
“Reagan? You in there? Reagan?”
She cleared her throat. “I’m here.” Damn, that wasn’t any louder than a mouse’s squeak. Where was her backbone? She forced herself to walk toward the door.
“If you’re by the door, stand back,” he called out.
Ignoring his order, she opened the door just as he started to ram his shoulder into it. She had to hand it to him, he was light on his feet for a big guy. Instead of crashing into her, he twisted, grabbed her around the waist and twirled, coming to a sudden stop in the living room.
Instead of immediately letting her go, he leaned into her, his breath coming in harsh pants.
“You were going to break my door down!” she said, outraged.
“You weren’t answering.” He glared down at her. Then his eyes widened slightly. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.”
He quickly let her go, and she swayed slightly. Tiny shut then locked the door before turning back to her. “I don’t like lies.”
“It’s not a lie. I’m perfectly fine.”
He looked at her in disbelief before cupping her face between his hands. A shiver raced up her spine.
“You’re pale. Trembling. You didn’t answer the door.”
“So you decided to break it down? What if I’d been on the toilet?”
“Were you?”
“No,” she muttered.
“Then why didn’t you answer?”
She didn’t say anything for a long moment, and he let out a low growl, moving one hand to the nape of her neck. With his other hand, he raised her chin. “Damn,” he muttered right before he took her mouth with his. She was so startled she froze, but as he ran his tongue over her lips, silently demanding entrance, she found herself relaxing into his embrace.
Swinging her arms around his neck, she reached up on tiptoe and kissed him back. She parted her lips, allowing his tongue to slip into her mouth and tease her. Taste her. He taste
d like bacon and mints.
A surprisingly delicious combination.
All thought fled her mind as arousal filled her, and she whimpered softly, wanting more. Needing more.
Suddenly, he pulled back, letting her go, his expression guarded as he stared down at her. “I apologize.”
He what? He’d just kissed her until she couldn’t think, until she relaxed into his embrace, something that never happened to her, and he was apologizing? Was he for real?
“That was unprofessional.”
Unprofessional. Right. He was only here because Alex hired him. Not that she was going to let Alex foot the bill. Her problem, her bill. She took a few steps back, bringing her emotions swiftly under control.
“Can I get you some coffee?” She needed to do something to bring all these crazy feelings under control. She couldn’t be like this. Couldn’t let herself become overwhelmed by emotions she didn’t know how to process.
“Reagan, I—”
She walked away from him. She knew it was rude, but she didn’t have it in her to be polite right now.
“Reagan, will you look at me?”
Didn’t he realize she wanted to be on her own? To have some peace and quiet to calm herself.
“Reagan. Damn it. Look at me.”
That deep, commanding voice sent a shiver of desire across her skin.
Two large hands landed on her waist, spinning her. Even though she knew who it was, she couldn’t stop the screech that erupted from her. Without thinking, she brought her hand down and bopped him on the nose with her teaspoon. She stared from the teaspoon to Tiny, who watched her incredulously. Jesus. This was not the sort of man you smacked with a teaspoon.
She didn’t know whether to apologize or start running.
Then he stepped back and let out a loud bark of laughter. He rubbed his nose. “First time I’ve been hit with a teaspoon. Next time upgrade to a fork.”
“Sorry.” She dropped the teaspoon, grateful he saw the funny side, even if she wasn’t just yet. “I…you—” Crap, why couldn’t she get out a full sentence?
He’d sobered by now, and she was having trouble deciphering the expression on his face. Was he angry at her? Annoyed? Upset? Urgh, she just couldn’t tell.
“No, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have grabbed you.”
Now she was the one surprised. “Umm, you just gave me a fright. I—I have to make coffee.” She knew she was acting like a complete weirdo. She wouldn’t be surprised if he was gone by the time she turned around. Normal people didn’t hit other people with teaspoons then insist on making coffee.
But then, she didn’t claim to be normal.
“All right, honey. You make coffee.” Now there was an almost tender note to his voice. And why was he calling her honey? She nearly groaned out loud, she was so confused. She’d hoped making coffee would calm her down, but when she turned to hand him his cup, she found her hand was still trembling.
He frowned slightly, and she wondered why.
“Sorry I don’t have any cookies. We ate them all yesterday.”
“That’s okay. I don’t usually eat cookies.”
“Neither do I. I only keep them for company. And I don’t usually have any company except for Tara and Alex. Most people find me weird. And they’re full of fat and sugar and empty calories.”
“People?”
“No cookies.”
He winked at her, and she guessed he’d just been teasing. Surprisingly, she found herself relaxing. “Sorry, I ramble sometimes.”
He didn’t answer. She guessed he wished she’d shut up. They both drank their coffee.
“You ready to tell me yet?” he asked suddenly, making her jump.
“Tell you what?”
“What’s making you so jumpy.”
She bit her lip. “Can’t get anything past you, huh?”
His lips twitched then he dropped his gaze to his coffee. When he raised his face once more, his face was serious. “No. You can’t.”
Sighing, she moved into the living room, gesturing for him to follow.
Tiny grinned now that her back was turned. The morning had been busy, and it wasn’t even nine yet. He still couldn’t believe he’d kissed her. Or how she’d fit so perfectly into his arms. She’d tasted like coffee and cream.
Absolutely delicious.
It had been totally inappropriate. He was working. He wasn’t supposed to kiss the client. Damn, she had the most kissable lips, though. And he wanted more.
But he needed to focus on figuring out what was going on with her. She looked even more tired this morning than she had last night and something was making her very jumpy. And he didn’t think it was being alone with him.
He followed her over to the coffee table, looking down at an envelope, a piece of paper, rubber gloves, masks and tongs with a frown. What on earth? Reagan removed the tongs and pointed at the piece of paper.
“This was sitting on the floor by my door when I got up. In that plain envelope. Someone must have pushed it under my door during the night.
His heart stopped. Then started up, beating rapidly. He stared down at the words.
Roses are red. Violets are blue.
Smile my pretty. I’m watching you.
Fuck. He fisted his hands to try to control his rage. The sound of his teeth grinding together forced him to take a deep breath. He needed to calm down. He was the professional here. But the idea that this asshole had slid this under her door while she’d been alone and sleeping, made him furious.
“You shouldn’t have touched it,” he growled. It could have contained anything. Poison.
“I was careful,” she protested. “I put on gloves and a mask. I thought it might contain anthrax. Instead it’s just really bad poetry.”
“You’re trying to joke about this?”
“Maybe.” She swallowed heavily. “I’m not very good at humor, but I thought I might lighten the mood since you have grown rather, umm, tense.”
Tense? He was enraged. But he needed to control himself, the last thing he wanted to do was frighten her.
“You’ve called the police?”
“No. You arrived just after I opened it. That’s why it took me so long to get to the door. Why do you suppose he cut out letters from a newspaper and pasted them on the paper? Why not just use a computer and print it?”
Tiny didn’t know, but that wasn’t the thing that was worrying him.
This asshole was watching her. Made sense since he always broke in when she was out of the apartment. He was starting to think Gray was right, having some sort of profiler or shrink on the team might be a good idea. Cause he could sure use some insight as to what was going on inside this asshole’s mind.
“So what now?” Reagan asked. “Are you going to put in the rest of the security cameras? Will you get them installed today?”
“I need to call my boss.” He put the paper back on the coffee table and moved into the kitchen. He quickly placed a call through to Gray.
“Tiny, how’s it going?”
“Not good.”
Gray remained silent as he explained the situation. “Roarke didn’t think she’d want a bodyguard. I’ll have to talk to him.”
Didn’t matter much to Tiny what Roarke said. He was staying. But he grunted in agreement.
“I don’t have anyone else free to send there.”
Good. Because he didn’t want anyone else here. Not that they couldn’t do the job as well as he could. But Reagan needed someone calm and patient. Someone she couldn’t intimidate. Plus, now that he’d met her he couldn’t just walk away.
“I’ll stay.”
“You’re supposed to be taking some leave.”
Like he cared. He was worried about this situation. His instincts screamed that this person was only just getting started and a few cameras and a better security system weren’t going to put them off.
“I’ll take my leave and do this job for free.”
He couldn’t work for Black-Gray
while he did this. Because he knew he couldn’t remain detached and professional around Reagan. He was attracted to her. And she wanted him. He’d felt the way she’d clasped him tight, surrendered to his gentle demand, how she’d trembled against him. There was something about the combination of prickliness and vulnerability that tugged at him.
And if they were going to be spending a lot of time together then it was inevitable things were going to get heated. Nope, best he wasn’t working for Black-Gray. Then he wouldn’t have to explain himself to anyone.
“When I said to take some time off, I meant to relax. Not that you should work for free.”
Tiny was silent, and Gray sighed.
“All right, do what you think is best. Not like I could really stop you, anyway, isn’t it?”
Nope. When Tiny made up his mind, very little could sway him.
***
“Uh-uh, no way.” Reagan shook her head. “I thought we settled this last night.”
“That was before this.” Tiny pointed down at the sheet of paper. “I don’t like this.”
“You think I do? But just because you don’t like it doesn’t mean I’m about to let you move into my home. Put in the rest of the cameras and anything else you think I need. I’ll get some pepper spray and a Taser. I’ll be fine.”
He shook his head.
Damn, he could be so frustrating.
“You are not staying with me. I can’t afford you.” There. That ought to put a stop to his plan. No way he’d stay if she wasn’t paying him.
“We’ll work something out.”
What? She studied him, hoping he’d give her some hint of what he was thinking so she’d know how to proceed. But he simply stared back at her calmly. “Fine. I lied. I can pay you. I still don’t want you here. Is it really necessary?”
“Yes. I don’t like this.”
She threw her arms up into the air. That’s the same argument he’d been using for the last half an hour. He seemed to think she should take things as a done deal simply because he didn’t like it.
“You're impossible.”
He raised both eyebrows. “Not the only one.”
“You think I'm being unreasonable?” She gaped at him incredulously.
Make Me, Sir (Doms of Decadence Book 5) Page 4
