by Linzi Baxter
A shadow along the side of the house snapped Ian out of his thoughts. It looked like someone in a black hooded sweatshirt. Isabella’s Mini Cooper sat in the driveway, and he could see her working through the front picture window.
Ian exited his F-150 pickup and decided to see who was walking around the side of the house. Ian’s boots crunched on the pebbled walkway. At the side of the house, a slender person held a spray can and was painting the wall.
“What are you doing?” Ian growled.
The person dropped the can and took off toward the backyard. Ian cursed under his breath and chased after him. When Ian rounded the back of the house, the perp jumped into a red Honda and squealed out of the back neighbor's driveway. Ian squinted to see the license plate. He didn’t have his glasses on, so the numbers were a blur.
“Fuck.” He walked back to the scene of the crime. The person had spray-painted, “Get out Bitch.”
When he stomped back to the front of the house, Isabella peeked her head out the window. Her crystal-blue eyes widened when they landed on him. He couldn’t help but wink. It made her blush.
The white door to the Victorian home swung open, and Isabella stormed out onto the wrap-around porch. She stopped at the top of the stairs and placed her hands on her hips. “What are you doing here, Mr. Parker?”
Damn, she was hot when she was angry.
“I wanted to see inside the house.” That was partially true.
“Why?”
“How about we table that discussion for a second? When I pulled up to the house, I caught someone going around the side. I went to see what was going on, and I caught someone vandalizing your house.”
“Fuck. Again,” Isabella mumbled.
He almost didn’t hear what she’d said, but the word again set off alarm bells. Before he had time to ask, she stormed down the stairs and headed to the side of the house. Ian followed behind her. When her eyes landed on the vandalized wall, he could see a sheen in them before she blinked. She turned and headed back toward the front of the house.
“I’m going to call the cops,” Ian said. They needed to file a report.
“No, it’s probably some kid.” Isabella let out a sigh and filled a pail with water and soap. “I’ll clean it up again. They’ll get sick of doing this soon.”
“What do you mean ‘again’? Someone has spray-painted the house more than once?”
“They spray-painted on the first day and broke a window yesterday. Move, so I can get this cleaned off.” Isabella tried to push her way around him.
“Stop, Isabella.”
“Bella.”
He cocked his head.
Isabella let out a sigh. “I go by Bella. Please don’t call me Isabella.”
“Okay, Bella. We need to call the cops. After they take your report, I’ll help you clean this up.”
For a second, Ian thought she would argue with him again. Instead, she turned on her heel and headed toward the front door. He couldn’t pry his eyes from her hips as they swayed with each step. Her tight black yoga pants accented her curves.
He followed her into the house. It took a second for his eyes to adjust to the dim light inside the Victorian home. While Bella paced back and forth, talking to dispatch, Ian wandered over to the living room. The fireplace was a work of art. He ran his hands over the engraved wood. It was pure craftsmanship. He kneeled to examine the inside. Someone had filled it in. Ian was so engaged in wondering how he could make the fireplace work again that he didn’t hear Bella walk up behind him until she placed a dainty hand on his shoulder.
“It’s a shame someone would seal up a piece of art,” she said.
“I don’t think it would be too hard to revert it.” He pointed to the bricks that lined the back of the chimney. “Once you remove those bricks, you’ll be able to tell why they closed it up. Many people don’t want to deal with the upkeep of chimneys and decide it’s easier to close them.”
When she didn’t answer right away, he looked over his shoulder. She had her lip between her teeth. “I’ll take your advice into account.”
He could tell she had no plan to take his advice. It wasn’t his place to push her. This was her flip, not his.
“Are the cops on the way?”
“Yes. You don’t have to stay.” She reached for her paintbrush. “I don’t think they’ll be here for another hour.”
He took a step forward, waiting until she turned before he spoke. “I already told you I would help you clean the side of the house. Why don’t you show me the rest of the house? Then I can help you paint if you have another roller.”
“You really don’t have to stay.”
Ian didn’t see the point in replying. He headed for the grand staircase. When he gripped the railing, it jiggled. He heard Isabella’s footsteps behind him. On each step up, the stairs creaked under his weight. He made a mental note of all the things that needed repairing.
When he turned right down the hall, Bella said, “Mr. Parker, come this way.” She turned the other direction.
He wouldn’t argue. Ian followed her and watched the sway of her hips. Since he’d seen Isabella in her yoga pants, his dick had been hard.
“This is my favorite room.” Isabella opened the door to the master bedroom.
Any buyer would fall in love with the room. It had the original wood floors and—as with downstairs—a masterpiece of a fireplace, though this one was in working order. Floor-to-ceiling windows lined the side of the room, showing a view of the lake.
He nodded. “You won't have any trouble selling this house. When do you plan to put it on the market?”
Isabella let out a sigh and ran her hand through her hair. “My goal is a three-week flip.” Before he could tell her that was a crazy timeline, she held up her hand. “I know it’s a short timeline. This is my only project going on. If only the vandalizing would stop.”
“Why are you rushing?”
“I don’t have money to throw around,” she snapped.
Ian had suspected she was short on money. At the auctions, when she lost a bid, she would look so defeated. And because of her ties to Mr. Ainsworth, no one would lend her money. Ian also knew her pride was too high, and she would turn down any money he offered. He had some spare time to help her, and he could keep his eye on her. He needed to work to protect her house from being vandalized.
He ignored her snap. “Let’s head downstairs, and I’ll help you paint.”
For ten minutes, they worked without speaking. It was easy to work next to her.
Isabella broke the silence. “So… why are you here?”
“I wanted to see the inside house.” And you, he thought.
“I’m surprised you didn’t bid me up more on this house. You seem to have bought every house on the auction block in the past three months.”
Ian had no plan to tell her the real reason he’d bought so many houses. Isabella didn’t need to know he suffered from PTSD, and working on the flips to the point at which his body would tire out was the only way he could sleep at night.
Eight years earlier, SEAL Team Five had been on a mission to North Korea to bring back information on a missing SEAL team the CIA had uncovered. The information was false, according to a CIA mole in North Korea. When his team arrived to save the missing SEAL team, the North Koreans ambushed them. They tortured his team for five days. It had felt like a year. He and Cole were the only two to survive the torture. Later, information came out that the CIA mole had flipped sides and had been helping North Korea.
The ring of the doorbell saved Ian from answering Isabella’s question.
Chapter 3
Bella didn’t understand why talking about Ian’s bidding habits brought a storm of emotions across his face. When the doorbell rang, she still wanted to know why the topic upset him. She couldn't imagine why he wouldn't be happy about all the good deals he’d gotten over the past few months.
She reached for the door. On the other side stood a police officer around six-tw
o—a couple inches shorter than Ian. The man had short dark brown hair. She couldn’t see his eyes behind the dark glasses.
“Are you Ms. Harper?” the officer asked.
She opened the door wider for the officer to come in. “Yes, and your name is…?”
Before he could reply, Ian said, “Hey, Max.”
The two men reached out their hands to do a manly handshake-hug. Bella’s ovaries were in overdrive, but she needed to get the vandalism noted and get back to work even though she had two hot men in her house.
The three gathered around the kitchen counter. “Now, Ms. Harper, my name is Officer Max Anders. Can you please tell me what happened?
“Please call me Bella.” She let out a sigh. “When I showed up after the auction, someone had spray-painted ‘Leave, bitch’ across the garage. I figured they were targeting the previous owners. Yesterday, when I arrived, someone had busted a window in the back of the house.” She had covered the broken window with plywood. In two days, a window installer was scheduled to fix it. “Then today, someone painted on the side of the house again. Officer, I’m sorry to bother you. I think they don’t know the house has a new owner.”
Ian and the officer gave each other a look she didn’t understand. “How long has the house been empty?” Anders asked.
She had no clue.
Ian said, “The previous family moved out two years ago. Their oldest daughter went missing. The family couldn’t live in the house anymore because it reminded them of their daughter. They bought the house during the housing boom. It’s been empty for two years. I don’t think they’re targeting the previous owners.”
How the hell did that man know so much about the house? She’d never looked into why the house was empty, only how much she could get for it. Damn. The man was sexy and smart. The more he was around, the more she wanted to spend time with him.
“How do you know so much about the previous owners?” she asked.
Ian shrugged. “I research all houses I might buy.”
“So this means the person is after you,” Officer Anders said. “Is there anyone you’ve upset or someone who might be mad at you?”
Her enemy list was a mile long. Thanks to her ex-boss, everyone in the San Antonio real estate business was her enemy. People she’d never even talked to hated her. Why wouldn’t people believe she had nothing to do with what her boss had done?
“I might have a few people in the real estate business who don’t like me,” she said.
The officer took notes. It was nice to know he took the situation seriously. She hadn’t reported the issue earlier because she hadn’t wanted to waste their time.
He looked up from his notepad. “Could you give me a list of people you think would come after you?”
“How about everyone in real estate?”
When Officer Anders looked confused, Ian explained, “Isabella was Mr. Ainsworth’s number two.”
He let out a whistle. “Ms. Harper, you need to add cameras, and you need to make sure you aren’t here alone.”
“Thank you for the recommendations,” Bella said. How would she pay for cameras and a bodyguard? She had one mission: to flip the house and make a profit so she could fund her next flip. One option would be to spend her time at the house instead of going home each night. That way, she would also get more work done on the house.
Officer Anders put his notepad in his pocket and asked to see the vandalism. The paint on the side of the house had dried. She wouldn’t be able to scrub it off. Fuck. She would have to repaint the side of the house. Officer Anders bent down and took pictures of the spray can then pulled out an evidence bag from his back pocket and put the can in it. He sealed the top of the bag with red tape.
Over the next few minutes, he took pictures of the house and documented the route the perp had taken. Bella already knew there wasn’t enough evidence to find whoever had done this, but with a police report filed, if the person came back, the police could charge them for the previous incidents.
Officer Anders left in his patrol car. Bella didn’t want the neighbors to complain about the graffiti on the side of the house, so she grabbed a roller and the paint. She expected Ian to leave with Officer Anders. Instead, he grabbed another roller and helped her paint the side of the house. They worked in silence, but her body hummed with how close he was to her. Every so often, her elbow would brush against him.
After cleaning up the rollers, Ian walked her to the front door. For the first time, he seemed nervous. “Isabe—”
“Please call me Bella.”
“Bella, will you have dinner with me Friday night?”
The question shocked her. Ian was handsome and successful. What would he want with her? It had been years since she’d been on a date. When she was working for Mr. Ainsworth, she focused on her career. For the past six months, she’d tried to resurrect her career. But she would be dumb not to say yes to the sexy, hot man who stood at her doorstep.
“Yes,” she squeaked out.
He pulled his phone from his pocket. “Can I have your number? I’ll text you closer to Friday so we can make plans.”
She rambled off her digits, and she could hear her phone ring from inside the house. Excitement coursed through her veins. Too bad Friday was four days away.
He leaned in and wrapped his arms around her. She leaned into him and enjoyed the feel of his hard muscles. Ian smelled of sawdust and outdoors. The hug ended too soon.
“Go inside, and lock the door. If you see anything else, call me right away. Don’t forget what Officer Anders said: get cameras, and make sure your contractor is here with you at all times.”
Bella didn’t plan to tell him she didn’t have a contractor. She would do the work herself. She didn’t plan on getting cameras either.
She nodded and walked inside. Once the deadbolt clicked, she heard his steps leave the front porch. She didn’t even have time to process the morning when her cell phone rang from the other room.
She picked up the phone and saw that the caller was Ava. “You won’t believe who just left my house,” Bella told her.
Ava didn’t miss a beat. “I bet it was a hunky ex-SEAL you drool over all the time.”
“How did you know?”
It was a stupid question. Bella didn’t have many friends, and the only person who would surprise her was Ian.
“That’s the only person who rattles your solid exterior,” Ava said. “But he puts you on edge in a good way. Did he ask you out?”
Bella was still in shock from being asked out. “Yes. I can’t believe he asked me out. He showed up to see the house and then scared away the person who vandalized it.” She heard Ava inhale on the other end of the phone. “After the officer left the house, Ian helped me clean up and asked me out Friday night.”
“Hold on. Someone vandalized your new house?”
“It’s fine. Ian made me call the cops, and we put a police report in. Officer Anders was really nice and documented everything.”
“Officer Max Anders?” Ava asked.
“Yeah, why?”
“If you’d come over to the house last night like I asked, you would have met him. He is one of Ethan’s close friends. I know he did a good job. What I don’t understand is why you didn’t tell me yesterday when I was helping you. Is that why the back window is boarded up? I figured that had been done when the house sat empty.”
Ava had shown up Sunday morning and helped her paint. Bella hadn’t told her friend about the issues with vandalism because she didn’t want to worry her. Before Ava left at noon, she invited Bella to come over for a barbeque. Bella had planned to go, but her body had ached from the four straight days of hard labor, so she’d gone to bed instead.
“I thought it was someone going after the previous owners, so I didn’t want to bother the police, but whoever it is knows it’s me.”
“You need to be safe,” Ava said.
She needed to keep the house safe from whoever this person was. “I’m staying a
t the house,” Bella said.
“I’m not sure that’s a good idea.”
“Ian left me his number. I’ll call him if I need help.”
“I still think you need to be more careful.”
Bella loved how her friend worried about her. But she would do this flip on her own. She reached for the roller. “Enough about me. How are you?”
“I originally called to make you feel guilty for not showing up yesterday and ask if you wanted to come out with everyone Friday. Since you clearly have plans for Friday, you have a pass, but you need to call me on Sunday and give me all the details.”
“It’s just dinner,” Bella warned. “I know you want me to be happy like you, but don’t get your hopes up. He’s out of my league.”
“You are beautiful. No one is out of your league.”
There was no point in arguing with her. “Okay,” Bella said. “I promise to call you on Sunday and let you know how it goes.”
“I’m holding you to that. Are you sure you’re safe in that house by yourself?”
“It’s simple vandalism. It’s not like an ax murderer showed up to the house or someone sliced my tires. It’s windows and some paint. I’m fine.”
“Okay. Don’t forget to call.”
“Talk to you Sunday,” Bella said. “Bye.”
Bella painted the living room after she got off the phone with Ava. She hadn’t realized how late it was until she heard her phone beep. It was close to ten o’clock, but what sent her heart rate up was the text from Ian: Good night, Bella. Call if you need anything.
Her fingers trembled as she texted back: Good night.
She tossed and turned all night with images of Ian. When he’d given her a hug goodbye, her body had buzzed. She could imagine what it would be like to have her legs wrapped around his body.
Chapter 4
