Close Contact

by Lori Foster

  Nodding, Maxi said, “That would be so much better, thank you.”

  Miles stared at Sahara. “You’re just full of surprises.”

  “You’ll learn everything as we go along.” She strode around her desk to her seat, saying, “I assume you’re happy to take the case?”

  “Happy?” He snorted. “No.”

  She arched her brows. “But you’ll do it?”

  Pretending to think about it, he gave Maxi a long look. “That depends.”

  Exasperated, Maxi stood.

  Since he didn’t move, she ended up very close to him, his face aligned with her hips.

  As he slowly stood, too, he said, “You’ve probably figured out that we have a history together?”

  “Yes,” Sahara said, her tone dry. “I did pick up on that.”

  “An intimate history,” he unnecessarily stated.

  Maxi stiffened. “This has nothing to do with that.”

  “No?” Miles wouldn’t let her rile him. After two months of missing her, he’d finally resigned himself to never seeing her again. Yet here she was, not only seeking him out, but in trouble.

  Sahara rolled her eyes. “I understand this situation is unique, so please, Miles, there’s no need to explain further.”

  “Well, let me explain,” Maxi said. “I came here to hire him, not just to get him back in my bed.”

  Not just to get him in bed? Bemused, Miles stared down at her. She said that as if she hoped to accomplish both. “Since you’re the one who kicked me out of it, I didn’t think you had.”

  Her back went so straight she looked ready to crack. With a rush of heat flushing her face, she plunked the coffee cup down on the desk. “I didn’t kick you out,” she stated, her hands fisted. “We were casual at best—”

  “By your insistence.” To Sahara, who had paused with a finger over the intercom button to listen to their byplay, he said, “I didn’t know she had a doctor for a brother, or lived in a farmhouse, or that she had property. Hell, I barely knew her name.”

  Maxi gasped.

  He continued anyway. “No personal questions were allowed.”

  “I never heard you complain!”

  He’d complained plenty...in his own head. From the beginning, Maxi had struck a chord. The sex was unparalleled, yet after having her only three times, she’d cut ties.

  He’d wanted more.

  Apparently she hadn’t.

  On only one night had he managed to break down a few of her walls...and that was the last he’d heard from her. He’d awakened the next morning to an empty bed.

  “If I’d wanted to see her again,” Miles said, keeping Maxi’s gaze trapped in his, “I had no way of getting hold of her. That was her plan, of course.”

  Sahara smiled. “She’s here now. I imagine you’ll get to know her quite well during this assignment.” She pressed the button and said to Enoch, “Get hold of Dr. Brummel and tell her we need an appointment immediately. Let me know as soon as you have a time arranged.” With that done, she took her seat, steepled her fingers and looked at each of them. “As Miles put it, he already knows you intimately, and because this will be a job that requires him to stick close to you, that’s bound to be a benefit. Who’d want a complete stranger underfoot?”

  Maxi looked away without replying.

  “While it’s true I like to offer sexier agents, actual intimacy with the client is generally taboo—”

  Miles snorted. “The horse is out of the barn on that one.”

  “—but I’m feeling so much animosity that I’m not sure if it’d even be an issue.”

  Still Maxi stayed silent, not issuing a single objection. So did she want him back in her bed?

  Did he want to be there?

  Damn straight. Knowing that this time it’d be on his terms only made the idea hotter.

  Unaware of his mental ramblings, Sahara asked, “Is there going to be a problem with the two of you getting along?”

  Now that he had the bare bones of a plan, Miles said with confidence, “Not for me,” as if he could be totally impartial.

  Ha! He could deny it all he liked, but in his gut, he knew he’d already staked a claim to Maxi. Even though it appeared she’d gotten into trouble with another man, he still wanted her.

  The chemistry was as strong as ever. He knew it. He felt it.

  Given that she’d noted small changes in his physique, he suspected she felt it, too.

  He hadn’t been good enough to continue seeing, but now she wanted him working for her, and possibly more. He was definitely the safer bet for her, since he’d never coerced a woman in his life, and he sure as hell wouldn’t drug anyone.

  Not liking the idea of her with another man, he cut off that thought.

  “I realize this is a horrible imposition,” Maxi said, staring up at him. “The thing is, I came to you specifically because I know you and I trust you—”

  “There’s more about me that you don’t know,” he corrected. “But you’re right to trust me.”

  She looked ready to argue that point, but instead she rested against him, her forehead on his sternum, her small body leaning into his.

  CHAPTER TWO

  SURPRISED BY THE sudden affection—or was it simple need for comfort?—Miles put his arms around her. She felt soft and warm, and damn, he couldn’t help but react. The stirring came from deep inside him, along with a need to coddle her. “Hey, you okay, babe?”

  Nodding, she whispered, “Honest to God, Miles, I don’t have the energy to fight.” She moved even closer. “Someone did something to me. I don’t know who it was, or why, and it’s so blasted scary. All I know for sure is that it wasn’t you, because you would never hurt me.”

  She’d rejected him, so why did her trust make him feel so damn good? “No, I wouldn’t.” He was glad she understood that, but he was also pissed at himself for upsetting her more after what she’d been through.

  Even if she lied about seeing another guy or being at a bar, he couldn’t bear seeing her like this.

  They’d hash out everything, but not until she was in fighting form. “I’m sorry.”

  She tipped her face up to his. “That’s what I was going to say.”

  He pulled a leaf from her hair. “I’ve never seen you messy before.” It made her somehow seem more vulnerable.

  “Well, get used to it. I mean, I’m not usually this messy. But with the farmhouse now, and all those cats, it’s tough to stay stylish.”

  “Farmhouse?” he asked. And cats?

  “I inherited it from my grandmother.”

  He wanted to know everything about her, and now he had his chance. It was a shitty situation, but it was all he had, so he’d work with it. “It’s a nice place?”

  “Shoot no. It’s a pit.”

  So she hadn’t wanted him to see it...yet some other guy knew where to find her? Leaning closer to her ear, he said, “You should have come to me privately. Body Armor isn’t cheap.”

  “I know. I can afford it.”

  “Yes, she can,” Sahara said, proving she hadn’t missed a thing. “I already discussed all that with her while we were waiting for you to arrive.”

  With his arms still around Maxi, his hands moving up and down her narrow back, Miles glanced at Sahara. “All what?”

  “Ms. Nevar not only inherited from her grandmother, but her mother, also.”

  In one morning, Sahara had learned more about Maxi than he had after sleeping with her on three separate occasions. “Does that mean your mother passed away, too?”

  “Yes.”

  To lose two people so close together was truly tragic. “When did they die?”

  “Not long before I met you.” She snuggled in again.

  Damn, that felt rig
ht, always had, and for now at least, he had the excuse he needed to hold her. Sure, he was still pissed. She’d gotten him interested and then disappeared on him, and apparently had still been playing the field. Since he had, too, he’d feel like a hypocrite. Only, he hadn’t been the one to call it quits with her.

  Given that she’d suffered the loss of two family members before hooking up with him, Miles wondered if he’d only been a distraction for her. A way to cope with her grief. That would explain why she’d been so withdrawn, why she’d given herself physically while holding back emotionally.

  It didn’t explain why she’d jumped from his bed to the bed of some nameless asshole who’d doped her.

  Sahara asked, “Were your mother and grandmother together when they...?”

  Maxi shook her head. “Mom died under anesthesia during a procedure a few weeks before my grandma.”

  “And your grandmother?” Miles asked.

  “She fell down her steps and suffered a severe head injury. No one found her until it was too late.”

  “Damn.” He stroked up and down her back, noticing that he could span her shoulder blades with one hand. The scents of earth, warm skin, shampoo and woman filled his head. “I’m sorry.”

  She tilted back to look up at him again, her chocolate eyes bruised and worried. “There are reasons I didn’t tell you any of this.”

  Right, because she hadn’t planned to stick around. Now that she needed him, would she finally open up? It wasn’t the time to press her. “We can talk about all that after we’ve gotten you settled.”

  “But that’s just it. I’m not going to be settled for a while.” Stepping away from him, steadier now, she straightened the throw over her shoulders. “I don’t know what’s going on at the farmhouse, but I don’t think it’s going to be resolved in a day, or even a week. I’ve already had the county police out there for other incidents, and they’ve found nothing. I can’t keep pestering them when I have no proof of anything.”

  Maybe the new house had spooked her. Unfamiliar places could do that. You heard and saw things that you didn’t recognize. So far her issues didn’t require a bodyguard, but he’d be happy to personally ensure her safety. “You didn’t need to go through the agency. I could just take a look around—”

  Maxi put her shoulders back again. “I want to hire you to stay with me so that someone else is there when things happen. And something will happen. It always does. But I can’t ask you to do that unless I’m paying.”

  Because she didn’t want to get personally involved? Too bad. It was his turn to set the tone of their relationship. “What kind of things?”

  “I don’t even know where to start.”

  “Do you want to sit back down?” By the second, she looked stronger, but it still worried him. If what she said was true, every minute they waited to see the doctor could be critical.

  “Not a bad idea,” Sahara said. “It shouldn’t be long before Dr. Brummel can see you, but you should rest until then.”

  Maxi shook her head as she paced. “I need to keep moving.”

  Staying out of her way, Miles leaned against Sahara’s desk and folded his arms. “Okay, then let’s start with what happened last night. You said other things had happened, but waking up outside, the loss of memory, that was a first?” God, he hoped so. If she’d gone through that before and hadn’t come to him—

  “That’s the only time it happened or I’d have been here sooner.” She hugged her arms around herself. “I was dealing okay with everything else. Sort of, anyway. But last night... I don’t ever want to go through that again.”

  “You won’t.” He’d see to it.

  Sahara got up to refill Maxi’s coffee. “What kind of other things?”

  She gratefully accepted the coffee. “I know some of it will sound odd, like I’m imagining things. I swear I’m not. There’ve been sounds that startled me in the middle of the night and left me spooked. Weird noises, not like the house settling. I know that happens. This was more like...someone was actually in the house, walking around. Only, when I check, I can never find anything, and the doors and windows are always still locked.”

  He could think of a dozen ways to explain that. “Could be a raccoon in the attic.”

  Maxi shook her head. “No, I have my fair share of issues with critters, believe me. But I’m pretty sure raccoons can’t drive.”

  Sahara and Miles looked at each other.

  Maxi started pacing again. “I woke up one morning and my car was parked in a different spot from where I’d left it. I know because I always park it in the same place.”

  Houses made noises. He could discount that, especially since even she said she hadn’t found anything. But this? “Someone moved your car?”

  “It didn’t move itself.”

  “Could you have left it in gear or something?” Sahara asked. “Was it on a hill?”

  “It was moved from the driveway facing the house to the side yard turned away from the pond. Not on a hill.”

  “And you’re sure you didn’t—”

  “What?” she challenged, glaring at Miles. “Stagger in drunk and park in a stupid place that didn’t make any sense and then—of course, because I was so drunk—not remember it?”

  He’d have to see the area before he could come up with an explanation for that one. “I wasn’t accusing you of anything.”

  “I think you were.” She glared a second more, then turned away. “Ever since then I’ve kept it locked.”

  “You probably should have been doing that anyway.”

  Another red-eyed glare. “Sometimes things in the barn are rearranged from how I put them. Equipment and stuff.” She paused by the window to look out. “One morning when I got up, I found the water turned on full blast in the kitchen sink. It had overflowed all over the floor.”

  “That’s what you were cleaning?”

  “No, that was a week ago. Last night I was doing a bigger job, scrubbing everything, including the oven. But I’m having a hard time getting ahead when a bunch of random, weird things keep happening.”

  Sahara sat back in her chair. “Well, if I believed in the paranormal, I’d say you have a ghost.”

  Maxi rubbed one eye tiredly. “I don’t believe in ghosts, so I need to find out what’s really going on. I didn’t know where to go. There’s no one else I trust. I didn’t want to bother you, Miles, but waking up on the ground, with everything so pitch-black I could barely figure out where I was, well, I don’t mind telling you, it scared me half to death.” She shuddered. “I haven’t been back to the house yet, but I do need to go there because the cats will be waiting to be fed.”

  Miles slowly nodded. She’d said a lot, but he asked only one question. “Cats?”

  * * *

  AFTER ASKING ENOCH to take Maxi to the waiting area right outside her office, Sahara requested a private word with Miles.

  “Business talk,” she told Maxi. “I’ll only keep him a moment.”

  Miles waited, arms crossed, as Sahara closed the door, then sat her shapely tush on the edge of her desk, braced her hands flat behind her and crossed her long legs at the ankles.

  After a lengthy, assessing look, she asked, “What do you think?”

  He didn’t bother pretending to misunderstand. “That she’s leaving out major chunks of the story.”

  Sahara nodded. “Not a lot of that makes sense, does it?”

  “Almost none of it,” Miles agreed. “I think she was drugged, but the scenario she laid out is tough to swallow.”

  “You don’t buy that a stranger came to the house, drugged her for reasons unbeknownst to her, carried her outside, laid her gently in the yard, then left without taking advantage of her vulnerable state?”

  He snorted. “Do you?”

  She gave it some thoug
ht before answering. “I don’t know. It’s almost too bizarre not to be true. She’s definitely scared. That’s genuine.”

  Yeah, and he hated it. “I’ll figure out what’s going on. She’ll have to fess up, though.” Once she did, he’d take charge.

  Of everything.

  “You want her to ‘fess up’ about other men, I presume? She said she hasn’t been involved with anyone since you.”

  Miles wasn’t buying it. “Why would a total stranger want to bother her?”

  “Now, there’s the big question—motive.” After a thoughtful moment, Sahara said, “It’s hard to believe she kicked you out of bed.”

  Shit. Stiffening, Miles grumbled, “I probably shouldn’t have said that.”

  “I mean,” she continued, “look at you. You’re such a specimen.”

  One thing he’d learned while working at Body Armor: Sahara Silver had a twisted sense of humor, and she didn’t mind bludgeoning others with it, even her employees. “You’re being ridiculous.”

  “Not a single blush, huh?” She feigned disappointment. “I suppose you have to realize the impact you have.”

  Impact? He must not have had much, given that Maxi had walked away. “Knock it off already. This is serious.”

  “Very serious, if what she’s said is true. What I find interesting is that you appear to be jealous of this other man that she may or may not have been involved with, and that shocks me. After all, she came to you.”

  “To hire me.” Not just because she wanted him back in her bed.

  Not because he’d had a damned impact.

  “You don’t like those dynamics, with her being your employer of sorts? Well, consider this scenario. What if some psycho saw her at...say the grocery store? Or the gas station? She’s an attractive woman. Even in her ensemble today, I could see that.”

  “She’s beautiful.” And sexy as sin, and hot, and—

  “And what if our psycho followed her home and realized she lived all alone, with no close neighbors?”

  His heart started beating harder. “You think that’s a possibility?”