by Linzi Baxter
She cleaned the debris that remained in the kitchen before she called for pizza. Bella’s stomach grumbled as she made the call. She stared down the hallway at the downstairs bathroom, which was next on the list to demolish. If she started that night, she would put herself further ahead of schedule, but she talked herself out of that idea and took a shower before the pizza boy showed up.
When the doorbell rang, Bella used her new app to see who was at the door. She liked the added security she felt with the cameras. The purchase had been a good choice. It didn’t take long to grab her pizza and head upstairs to her blow-up mattress. The latest episode of First Time Flippers was on. She loved to watch other people work on their houses. The best was when they didn’t use a power tool correctly, and the bubble popped up and told the home viewer that what they’d done was wrong.
It wasn’t long before Bella fell asleep. She was in the middle of a good dream. Ian had just removed his shirt, and the sun reflected off his toned chest. Bella was about to run her hands up and down his chest when a loud crash woke her from her dream.
The noise brought Bella to her feet. She reached for her app to pull up the video. The feed was black. Whoever had broken the glass downstairs had destroyed her new cameras.
Bella’s fingers shook as she called the one person she knew would help her.
“Bella.” Ian’s rich voice came across the line.
“I need your help. Someone is inside my house.”
She could hear fabric rustle in the background. Bella hadn’t stopped to see what time it was before calling Ian.
“Did you call the cops?” he asked.
Bella worked her way around the corner and peered down the stairs. “No. I checked the cameras first, and someone blacked them out. You were the first person I thought to call.”
A sledgehammer lay on the floor across from the master bedroom. She worked her way over to hammer. She felt better with a weapon in her hands.
“Bella, I’m almost to the house. Go into the closet, and don’t come out until you hear my voice. I’m going to call Officer Anders and have him meet me there. Do not leave that room.”
“Hurry,” she whispered.
She could hear faint footsteps downstairs. She knew she should listen to what Ian said, but the person was still inside the house. With the sledgehammer in her hand, she slid her phone into her pocket and worked her way down the stairs.
The last step creaked under her feet. She held her breath and listened for footsteps. When she didn’t hear anything, she slowly worked her way down the hallway till she reached the living room. There, a man was kneeling at the fireplace, jabbing a rod up the chimney.
Bella gripped the sledgehammer with both hands and slowly approached the intruder. She was almost there when the board under her foot squeaked. The man turned. She couldn’t see his face because he wore a black ski mask.
He didn’t run toward the door—he ran at her. She swung the hammer a second too soon and missed her target. He didn’t miss her. The intruder hit her with so much force her head bounced off the floor when she fell backward.
The man jumped on top of her and wrapped his hands around her neck. “Where is the money?” His voice was strained.
Bella couldn’t reply while he had his hands around her throat. She kicked her legs, trying to get the intruder off her, but he was double her size, and his arms bulged with muscles. Bella used her nails to claw and try to peel back his hands, but blackness started to take over. In the distance she thought she heard a car door and hoped it was Ian. It would piss him off if she died.
Everything went black.
Chapter 6
Ian ignored every speed limit as he weaved his truck through traffic. He kept picturing Bella’s lifeless body on the floor, stabbed to death, as it had been in his dreams. He reached for the call button on the steering wheel. He wanted to hear Bella’s voice to know she was okay. She hadn’t picked up since he’d last spoken with her. Fear coursed through Ian’s body. He’d received no intel from Tex yet. Not knowing who was after Bella was his biggest worry.
Ian slammed on the brakes when the light turned red. He impatiently tapped his finger on the armrest. Seconds after the light turned green, he sped through the intersection.
After notifying the cops, he’d called Cole and asked him to meet him at the house. Ian didn’t know how he would handle it if Bella was hurt. They’d texted each night asking questions about the other. With each text, he felt closer to her. The previous night, she’d opened up about not having any family. Her mom had passed when she was eighteen, and Mr. Ainsworth took her under his wing. Mr. Ainsworth’s kids never came around. Over the years, she’d only spoken to his kids over the phone and never met them in person. Mr. Ainsworth didn’t even have a picture of his kids in his office. He had told Bella he considered her more of a daughter than his actual daughter, who only called when she needed something.
When Ian pulled around the corner to Bella’s house, it was dark. The police hadn’t arrived. He parked in the driveway and pulled his Glock from his holster. In the distance, he could hear sirens. Ian didn’t plan to wait for the cops. When he jiggled the knob of the front door, it didn't budge. Using his shoulder, he laid into the door, and it split under the force of his weight.
Ian scanned the room and looked for Bella. A motion to his right caught his eye. A man in a black hoody ran for the back door. When Ian looked down for a second, he saw Bella lying on the floor.
He raised his gun to the man and squeezed the trigger twice, one shot to each leg. The man’s body hit the floor with a thud. Ian ignored the intruder’s cries and rushed to Bella’s side. He put his fingers to her pulse and let out a sigh of relief when he felt her heartbeat.
He lifted Bella into his arms and cradled her. With his left hand, he lifted her shirt to reassure himself she had no stab wounds. When he heard footsteps on the patio, he prayed it was the medic. Officer Anders burst through the front door.
“He’s on the floor in the kitchen,” Ian said. He didn’t want to leave his spot on the floor with Bella cradled in his arms until he saw her crystal-blue eyes looking at him.
Max nodded, and a trail of officers made their way into the kitchen.
“Sir, I need you to put her down so we can work on her.” Two paramedics loomed over him.
Ian gently laid Bella on the floor. Her eyes were still shut. He sat in the folding chair and watched the two paramedics work on her. The woman paramedic said her name was Savanah. He heard the footsteps behind him but didn’t take his eyes off Bella. When a hand squeezed his shoulder, he knew his best friend had arrived. Cole didn’t need to say anything. Knowing he was by his side was enough for Ian.
Savanah said Bella’s vitals were okay. The paramedics had felt a bump on the back of her head, and they talked about the possibility of a concussion. The second paramedic reached into his bag, pulled out a white two-inch packet, and crunched it between his fingers. Ian had seen packets like that before. Smelling salts—he’d carried them in the field. The Navy used them when someone was injured and passed out from the pain. The smelling salts would help wake the injured soldier. The soldiers also used them in pranks because the smell was so bad it could make a person vomit.
Ian held his breath as the paramedics put the packet underneath Bella’s nose. It took a few seconds before she groaned softly and opened her eyes. She used her hands to bat the salt from her nose. When she went to rise, the paramedics told her to stay still.
“Bella, my name is Savanah. I’m an EMT with the fire department. Do you know where you are?”
Bella kept closing her eyes. “Yes, my house.”
Savanah grabbed a small flashlight from her medical bag. “Bella, I’m going to shine a light in your eyes, and I need you to follow it, okay?” Savanah held each eye open and shined the light in it.
Ian needed Bella to be okay.
After shining the light in Bella’s eyes, the paramedics helped her to the folding chair.
“Your throat will hurt for the next twenty-four hours,” Savanah said. “If you continue to have issues swallowing or neck pain, go to the emergency room. You also suffered a severe contusion on the back of your head along with a mild concussion. Do you have someone to stay with you? You’ll need to be woken up every so often through the night.”
Ian didn’t give Bella time to reply. “I’ll watch over her tonight. Do you think I should take her to the emergency room?”
The contusion was huge. Rage coursed through Ian’s body. The intruder deserved more than two bullets to the legs. Ian wanted to slowly dismember his body for what he’d done to Bella. But the paramedics had already carted him out of the house.
“No hospital,” Bella whispered.
“You’re going.”
The paramedics gathered their supplies. “If her symptoms get worse, take her to the hospital.”
Bella rested her hand on Ian’s forearm. “Ian, I’m fine. I’ll call Ava, and she can come stay with me. Thank you for saving me. If you hadn’t made it here in time, I might’ve died.”
Her head buzzed, and her throat felt as though she’d eaten a piece of sandpaper. She had so many questions, and if she went to the hospital, she would have to wait to learn the answers. Most importantly, Bella wanted to know who the intruder was.
“You’ll go to my house for the night so I can check on you every few hours.” When she started to protest, he held up his hand. “Cole will stay here tonight and board up the back door.”
She hadn’t even realized Cole had come. When she looked around the room, she saw him standing next to Officer Anders. Bella stood up, preparing to ask the officer for information about who’d broken into her house, but she’d stood too fast. Dizziness took over, and she stumbled.
Ian was by her side in a second, holding her up. “You need to sit down.”
“I want to know who that was and why he broke into my house.”
Before she knew what happened, Ian swung her up into his arms. She squeaked, “I’m too heavy. Put me down, Ian.”
He ignored her demand and carried her across the living room toward the kitchen. Officer Anders and Cole stopped their conversation and stared at the two of them. She couldn’t help the blush that crossed her face. Cole raised his eyebrow at his friend.
“Ian, you can put me down,” Bella said.
“No.”
Cole and Officer Anders let out a chuckle.
“Do you know who it was or why he broke in?” Bella asked.
Officer Anders pinched his brow. “He was screaming in pain and wouldn’t answer any of my questions. The hospital will call as soon as he is out of surgery. I’m glad you didn’t kill him, Ian. Now we can get answers to why he’s been terrorizing her.”
Bella could have sworn she heard Ian grumble that he wished the fucker was dead and that next time, he’d take a head shot.
“Ian, can you put me down? I need to start cleaning up the mess. Luckily, it only looks like the back door and this blood on the floor.”
“You take care of yourself,” Cole said. “I’ll take care of the door and the blood. You need rest, and I highly doubt Ian will let you out of his arms for the next few days. I’ll also stay here tonight and watch the house. After you meet with the police in the morning, bring me breakfast, and we’ll be even.”
Adrenaline coursed through Bella’s body. She wanted to do something. “I can give my report now.”
Ian didn’t wait for Officer Anders to respond. He turned and headed for his door and yelled over his shoulder that they would go down to the station in the morning.
If Ian thought he could take charge, he had another thing coming. Bella slapped him on the shoulder. “That was rude to walk away from your friends. I want to get the report over now. You don’t need to take care of me. I’ll be fine. I can set the alarm to wake me up every hour. And I feel like I could get a bunch of work done.”
Ian grunted and headed toward his big truck. He opened the door, placed Bella inside, buckled her in, and kissed her on the forehead. Then he shut the door and climbed in on his side. He gripped the steering wheel and stared out the windshield.
“I thought you were dead, Bella.” Ian let out a long sigh. “Can you please come home with me tonight and let me take care of you? If you don’t trust me, I can take you to Ava’s house. But please let someone look after you. You don’t always need to take care of yourself. Lean on me, please.”
It wasn’t that she didn’t trust Ian. She had been on her own for so many years, and after what had happened to her boss, she was scared to lean on someone. But Ian, she knew, wouldn’t do anything to hurt her. She’d learned a lot about him in their nightly chats—such as how he didn’t like peanut butter. That had almost been a deal breaker until he said he liked it in chocolate.
“I’ll go home with you, Ian, but I want to go to the police station first thing in the morning and then head back to the house. I have deadlines I need to make.”
Ian nodded and started the truck. They weren’t even a mile into the drive when the heaviness of her eyes took over, and she fell asleep. She woke when Ian wrapped his arms around her to pull her out of the truck.
He cradled her in his arms as he walked toward the house. It was a cute ranch-style home. The streetlamps gave enough light for her to see the flowers planted in the front yard and a rocking chair on the front porch. She shouldn’t have been surprised by its curb appeal. Bella had stalked the houses Ian had flipped, and the yards were always nice.
Ian opened the front door and walked down a long hall. She only saw the open kitchen for a second. It looked like a chef’s dream with a large island.
Bella was surprised when he set her down on his king-sized bed. “I can sleep in the guest bedroom or the couch,” she said.
“No.”
There was no point in arguing with the stubborn man. Bella worked her shoes off. When he came back toward the bed, he had a T-shirt and boxers for her to wear.
It looked as if Ian wanted to help her change, but she put her foot down. “I can dress myself.”
Ian paused, probably trying to decide whether he should fight her on this or not. He finally nodded and headed toward the door. Bella went into the bathroom. She spotted toothpaste on the counter and used her finger to clean her teeth. She didn’t want to have bad breath when her knight showed back up.
When she got back to the room, Ian was standing next to the bed with a glass of water in his hand.
“Here’s some water and a Tylenol.”
She took the glass from him. The cold water felt good on her sore throat. She crawled into his bed.
Ian leaned down and kissed her on the forehead. “Good night, Bella. I’ll wake you in a couple hours.”
But she didn’t want him to go. “Please stay.”
Ian stripped down to his boxers. It was hard to see his body in the darkness. When he climbed into bed and pulled her body against his, she felt his hard chest against her back. She stilled in his arms when she felt his erection.
“Go to sleep, Bella.” His voice held a hint of laughter.
She fell asleep and dreamed of the sexy man in bed with her.
Chapter 7
Ian poured another cup of coffee. Bella was sound asleep in his bed. Like a crazy person, he’d watched her sleep most of the night. He was worried that he wouldn’t wake up to check her, so he’d stayed up all night with his arms around her and a painful boner.
His phone chimed on the counter. Officer Anders had messaged him to let him know he was at the station. Ian enjoyed another sip of caffeine then padded down the hall toward his room. Bella’s blond hair covered his pillow. He didn’t want to wake her—she looked so peaceful.
Slowly, he ran his hand down the side of her face and watched her crystal-blue eyes open. “Good morning, Bella. How do you feel?”
She stretched her arms above her head, causing the T-shirt to ride up. The creamy-white skin of her stomach showed. Ian wanted to run his tongue
over her body.
“I feel like a Mack truck ran me over. You don’t happen to have coffee, do you?”
Ian leaned down and lightly brushed her lips. He hadn’t planned to do it. Bella stiffened under his lips for a second, but when he went to pull back, she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him in tighter. When he swiped his tongue across her lips, she gave him entrance. He ran his hand up and down the side of her body. If he didn’t pull back soon, he would take her right there, and he wanted to wine and dine her first. Bella also had suffered an injury the day before.
When Ian pulled back, she whined. “You need to get ready,” he said. “Officer Anders is waiting for us.” He leaned down one more time and kissed the top of her nose.
He watched as she headed toward the bathroom and groaned when she put an extra sway in her hips. She let out a giggle, knowing what she did to him.
A cold shower called his name. He used the guest bathroom. Being around Bella for the past twelve hours had his dick permanently hard. Ian leaned against the shower wall as the cold water rained down on him. It did nothing to relieve the pressure. He wrapped his hands around his cock, seeing images of Bella spread out across his bed. Her plump breasts called to him. He gripped himself harder as he imagined her hands running over his body. Ian exploded within a minute. He hadn’t come that fast since he was a teenager.
After quickly drying off, he headed to the kitchen to make Bella breakfast. He had one pancake left to flip when she walked into the kitchen with only a towel wrapped around her body and another towel around her hair. It didn’t matter that he’d jacked off ten minutes earlier—his dick sprang back to life.
He’d put her clothes in the washer the night before. She had nothing to wear. Ian rushed to the laundry room to retrieve her clothes. If she didn’t get dressed soon, she would end up on the counter.
When he came back into the kitchen, Bella had taken the last pancake off the grill. She looked so perfect in his kitchen. He would make it his mission to have her in his house permanently one day.
