The distraction gave Levi the perfect opportunity to disarm him. Racing forward, he leveled his gun at Clarence’s chest and growled, “Drop your weapon.”
Clarence’s gaze lifted, but he continued to hold onto his weapon. Anger mixed with fear ran through his eyes, then a calculating smirk moved over his face. “It’s just you and me, hotshot. Gotta tell you, I don’t mind those odds.”
Levi had been aware of the sounds of approaching vehicles, and a slow grin spread across his face, now seeing confusion replace the smirk on Clarence’s face. “I think my odds just got better.” Suddenly, a rush of armed men came in, encircling the two. Glancing to the side, Levi spied Tate. “Good to see you, man.”
Tate grinned in return. “You have a good trip?”
“There were a few hiccups.” He nodded toward Clarence who now had his gun stripped from him by Walker, one of the other Keepers.
“You certainly know how to make an entrance.”
The deep voice coming from behind had him swing around. Looking toward Mace, his new boss, he said, “Normally, I like things uncomplicated.” Lifting his gaze up toward the loft, he spied Claire’s face peeking down over bales of hay. Her eyes were wide but her smile beamed. As he continued to stare upward, he said, “But now, I think complications and back roads just lead to adventures.”
Chapter 11
Levi accepted another beer from Horace, the older man and former SEAL that Mace hired to help with maintenance around the LSI property. Horace’s wife, Marge, a former CIA Special Operator, also helped run the place. She had organized the spread now laid out in front of them, tables groaning with food.
He looked around and was just as stunned as the first time he’d viewed this place. The lighthouse loomed over them, stately and magnificent. The waves crashed on the rocks below where the caves housed much of the heart of LSI.
Shouts and cheers snagged his attention, seeing Josh, Walker, Rank, and Drew locked in a death battle of cornhole.
Hearing laughter, he shifted his gaze toward Claire, surrounded by the other women. Her head was thrown back, a hearty laugh resounding. Her glossy hair hung in waves and her cheeks were now brightened with a natural blush. God, she’s beautiful. As soon as they arrived at the compound, she was enveloped by the women all checking on her.
Now, in the middle of someone’s retelling of their rescue story, she glanced toward him, her smile now beaming just for him. The sunlight danced across her face and she ducked her chin, tucking a wayward strand of hair behind her ear before turning her attention back to the women.
“How’re you doing?”
He looked up as several of the Keepers sat in the lawn chairs circling the firepit. Mace, Clay, Josh, Bray, Blake, and Tate settled with their beers as well.
“It was a crazy-ass trip to get here, but…” he glanced back at Claire and finished, “I’m good.”
“Hell, y’all are nuts,” Clay said, shaking his head. “No way I’m gonna meet a woman who’s in the middle of a mess. Me? I want simple, easy, and no drama.”
Laughing with the others, Levi said, “I wanted uncomplicated and look what happened to me!”
The welcome party broke up soon after, and he walked with Claire down the lane toward the cabin nestled in the woods near the cliffs. Her eyes were wide as she took in the area.
“This is beautiful, isn’t it?” she said, linking fingers with him.
“I thought that the first time I saw it when I came to interview. And I was just thinking that again a little while ago.” They reached the door of the cabin and entered an open room, with living room furniture on one side and an open kitchen and dining area on the other. The furniture appeared old but clean and comfortable. An overstuffed, dark green sofa and two chairs, along with a coffee table and a few lamps, all facing the stone fireplace, filled the living room. A small, flat-screen TV placed on a wooden table sat in the corner.
The L-shaped kitchen opened to the space without a counter to divide it. The table was covered with a checkered tablecloth and surrounded by four chairs, their padded cushions matching.
Levi led her toward the back where there was a half bathroom that was wide enough to include a stackable washer and dryer. A large storage closet was across from that room and she spied the back door leading to the yard toward the woods near the cliffs. Opening another door, they discovered a bedroom furnished with a double bed, dresser, and a small closet. Another door led to the attached full bathroom. Walking to the window, she looked out, seeing a view of the rocky shore and water beyond.
“So, what happens next?” she asked, her voice soft as she continued to stare out the window.
“LSI has sent all the records to a contact I have at the Chicago FBI office. They’ve already been reviewed, and they’re going after Mark Martins. The money that had been transferred into your account is now out and in an account that’s safe from your boss and officially with the Bureau. My FBI contact will fly out at the end of the week to interview you. Depending on how things go with the case, you might not even have to testify.”
Eyes wide, she sucked in a quick breath. “Oh, that would be wonderful!”
“So, you can stay here as you figure out what you want to do.”
Her gaze jerked about the room before moving back to his face. She pulled in her lips but remained quiet, her thoughts hidden.
Uncertainty moved over him, and he added, “Upstairs are two more small bedrooms and a bathroom. I was going to offer you this one downstairs, and I’ll stay up there.”
Her chin lifted as her head jerked back, a crease marring her brow. “Upstairs? I thought… well… um… okay. Yeah… no… I’ll take the upstairs bedroom.”
He stepped close and reached out his hand to cup her jaw, his thumb sweeping over her cheek. He hated to see the hurt pass through her eyes but didn’t want to make any assumptions. “I don’t want to fuck this up, Claire. You know I want you. Things have been crazy ever since we met, and I want you to have the time and the space to make decisions that are right for you.”
Her gaze never left his as she turned and stepped closer so that their fronts were barely touching. She closed her eyes and leaned slightly into his palm, her breath coming in little puffs. Opening her eyes, she said, “I feel the same about you. I want to be with you, but I don’t want to crowd you. This is your space. Your new job. Your new life. I’m just grateful that you’ve given me a place to stay.”
He lifted his other hand and glided his fingers through her hair, cupping the back of her head. Bending low until their noses almost touched, he breathed her in. As strange as their meeting had been, he could not deny that Claire was the most interesting woman he’d ever met. He had never believed in fate but now wondered if their paths had crossed for reasons far beyond his chance to be a knight in shining armor. “What would you say if I told you I was falling for you? Impetuous? Unrealistic?”
Her lips curved slowly, and she lifted her hands to his waist, her fingertips digging in slightly. “I think I began to fall for you the moment you walked toward me on the side of the road.”
A chuckle erupted deep in his chest. “When you looked up at me standing next to your car, I was struck. Didn’t have a clue what I was struck with, but I knew something was happening.” He lifted his gaze and looked around the bedroom before closing the space between them. “What I didn’t know was right then, at that moment, was the beginning of you and me.”
Her smile widened, and she said, “So, Levi Amory. Are you asking me to share this room with you?”
He wrapped his arms tighter around her. “Hell yeah, Claire. Share this room, share my life. Let’s see where this back road takes us.”
Her head fell back so she could hold his gaze. He lifted one hand and skimmed his fingertips over the soft skin of her neck and shoulder, bending to place a light kiss on the pulse point. “You’re more beautiful to me right now than anyone I’ve ever seen.”
The smile she gifted him with beamed straight through hi
m. With her still in his arms, their lips met and tongues tangled. Her legs wrapped around his waist and he felt her heat pressing against his swollen cock. Walking the few steps to the other side of the room, he stopped at the bed and gently set her on the edge.
Quickly divesting their clothes, she leaned back and propped her torso up on her elbows. Crawling onto the bed over her body, his heavy weight blanketed her, his torso held up with his forearms planted on either side of her. Their bodies aligned perfectly as his eager cock nudged against her sex and he kissed her sweet lips, his tongue gliding past hers. Lifting away again, he held her gaze. “Whatever this is, Claire, it’s not just sex. It’s the start of our new adventure. It’s the start of us.”
One Month Later
Levi glanced over toward Claire in the driver’s seat of her new, small SUV. He insisted she purchase something that would be able to handle the Maine winters, and now that she drove to work, she loved it.
She managed to drive, tap her fingers on the steering wheel to the beat of the jazz music on the sound system, and talk all at the same time.
“I really like the Dean of Business,” she said. “He thinks my personal perspective will offer some insight to the class.” After her interview with the FBI concerning her findings at Martins & Lee Investment Company, she was able to plan her own future and found another investor position at a female-owned company in a nearby town. She also taught a class in Business Ethics at the local community college one night a week.
Levi had started with LSI, finding the camaraderie to be exactly what he was looking for as well as the stimulation of their missions.
The only thing they had not settled on was a place to live. They had looked for the past two weeks but none of the houses felt right. Now, Claire was driving them to one she discovered online that had just been listed.
As he stared at her profile, he could see her anxiety. “Babe, you said you came earlier today to check this house out with the real estate agent. So, why so nervous?”
She jerked her head to the side, her lips pressed together. “Because I really want it to be right for you.”
“Don’t you mean for us?”
“Yes, of course, but honestly, Levi… anywhere with you would be perfect for me. But, when I saw this one, I couldn’t wait to show it to you. I want it to be just what you’d like to live in.”
He tilted his head at her cryptic words and was about to ask more when they turned by a field that was surrounded with woods.
“There’s a small bay behind the property that leads to a larger bay and then the ocean. We’re actually only about two miles from Tate and Nora’s property.”
He looked through the windshield as the large, wooden house came into view and his breath left his lungs in a rush. A large barn complete with gambrel rafters on the two-story section rose before him. Where the hayloft would have been, a large picture window looked over the meadow leading to the woods. A single-story section was connected and included a red front door.
“I didn’t want to bring you if it sucked or was a dump,” she quickly said, turning to face him after parking outside. “But I went in and, oh, Levi, it’s a perfect barn for you.”
As soon as he alighted from the SUV, she was right there, linking fingers with him. Words left him, but Claire was so excited, it was easy to remain quiet as she opened the door and led them inside.
“The real estate agent is around but said that she wanted us to have a chance to look it over without her interference.”
“Claire, I don’t know what to say,” he managed to choke out as she dragged him inside the open foyer that led to the large family room on the right. The single-story side had the family room with a stone fireplace, an office, a guest bathroom, and doors leading to a wide deck on the back. The bottom floor of the main barn held the kitchen, dining room, and mudroom with washer and dryer, leading to the double garage. Up the curved wooden stairs were two smaller bedrooms with a full bathroom and the massive master suite, complete with master bathroom and the wide hayloft windows on one wall.
Standing at the window looking over the property, he turned to her, spying the anxious expression on her face. Reaching out, he smoothed the worry line in her brow. “Baby, I don’t know what to say. It’s amazing. It’s more than amazing.”
She stepped closer, her front pressed against his, arms around each other’s waists, holding each other. Her head tilted back, exposing her soft neck, but it was her dark eyes that held him captive.
“You rescued me and I wanted to give you your heart’s desire, Levi.”
He bent and kissed her lightly. “Babe, you are my heart’s desire.”
She smiled, and just like the first time he saw her on the side of the road, it hit him straight through the heart.
“So, what do you think of living in a barn?”
Picking her up, he twirled her around and laughed. “I think living in a barn with you is the perfect continuation of our back road adventure!”
Also by Maryann Jordan
For Clay’s story, please click here.
To enjoy the other books in the Lighthouse Security Investigation series, please click here.
To learn more about me and all my series, visit my website.
The Guardian by Cristin Harber
The Aces Series, Book 4
New York Times Bestselling Author
THE GUARDIAN - An Aces Series Novella
Falling in love would end Jason Green’s clandestine career. That was okay; he’d planned to quit anyway. There was no better time than after proposing to Roxana Carter.
But Jason hadn’t expected his employer to refuse his resignation unless he left in a body bag.
Roxana loved many things about her man. The stability he offered after years of family tragedies was at the top of her list. Then again, his killer bedroom moves were also a strong contender for the number one spot. Ranking their relationship qualities was the most challenging part of her life until the arrival of a mysterious gun-wielding couple.
Their message offered a shattering revelation. Roxana’s steadfast man isn’t who he seems.
To one of my favorite cities,
I miss you.
“So far you’ve survived 100 percent of your worst days. You’re doing great.”
– Unknown
Chapter 1
The cold prickle of an unknown threat hung as heavy as the August heat. Jason Green surveyed the narrow backyard that anchored his girlfriend’s home. Nothing stood out of place, and he knew of no outstanding dangers. Though in his line of work, threats rarely gave warning.
He placed the second foil-wrapped russet potato on the grill and shut the lid, keeping his guard up and his profile down, his searching gaze masked by dark sunglasses.
“Smells amazing.” Roxana repositioned the outdoor pillow and stretched her long legs as she lay, reading a crafting magazine on the over-sized patio lounger.
“Oh yeah?” He let his gaze linger as she pointed her toes then relaxed them, recrossing her feet at the ankles. “I haven’t thrown the steaks on yet.”
“Whoops.” Roxana feigned surprise, pointedly peering over the crafting magazine. “I must’ve meant the view was amazing.”
He laughed. The woman swore she wasn’t on a mission to stroke his ego, but damn if Roxana didn’t make him feel larger than life. Her mischievous look was almost as good as her surprise when he’d explained that he’d change their Sunday tradition of grilled chicken and beers.
If she had suspicions as to why Jason opted for rum and steak over their usual, she kept them to herself—though when the hell had his woman left him wondering about her thoughts and suspicions? He’d never met a worrywart with a rebellious streak before she walked into his life, and now he was doing everything he could to keep her there forever.
He drank from the mojito he’d made with the mint she’d picked, then wiped his hand on the navy-blue dish towel. He threw it over the plastic-covered marinating vegetables and calcula
ted that the potatoes needed a good forty minutes before their salted skins would crisp around their fluffy insides.
“My view is better.” Jason stalked across the flagstone patio and stopped next to her bare feet; toes painted a vibrant, juicy peach red. He took a seat on the corner of the over-sized lounger and let the distraction of her smooth legs erase his concern about threats lurking in the wind.
“What’s on the grill?”
“Potatoes.” Jason grasped her foot between her hands, one hand cupping her arch and the other holding her still. Roxana hated to be tickled. Finding it painful, she’d kick involuntarily if an errant stroke teased her skin. She’d warned him against touching her feet, and he’d warned her that someday he would. Someday had come, and together, they’d discovered the erotic upside to her hypersensitive nerve endings. “They take a while to cook.” Tall, silhouetted trees surrounded the backyard and cast lazy shadows over the patio. Jason waited for the quivering buck in her leg to calm. “Know what that means?”
Her magazine fell onto the flagstone patio. “We have time to kill?”
Jason answered with his hands, grasping the sides of her foot behind her toes. Gently, he squeezed and rolled until her head dropped back against the navy-blue pillow.
“Damn, you’re good to me,” she whispered.
On her next sigh, he palmed the ball of her foot and braced his fingers against the underside of her toes, lazily stretching and flexing until Roxana’s eyelashes fluttered. He enjoyed the way tension and relaxation warred through her long limbs, and when he was confident she was ready for more, Jason flattened his thumb at the top of her arch.
Danger and Desire: A Romantic Suspense Anthology Page 35
