Gabriel (Guardian Defenders Book 1)

by Kris Michaels

  Well, time for a course change. Anna turned and put her hands on her hips. “Which way to the kitchen? I’m starving.”

  “Oh, through here.” Deacon motioned to her left and started walking.

  Anna followed him through the beautiful space. “You have the entire floor?”

  Deacon nodded as he led her through a opulent formal dining room. “I built the building, and I knew when I did, I’d be spending a lot of time here. Oh, speaking of which. There are eight small apartments on the sixteenth floor. A couple are occupied by the security team, but you’re welcome to stay in one so you don’t have to go to the hotel every night.”

  “Now that would be totally awesome. I can get my stuff tonight. It would make me closer in case Jackie needs me, or if you need to leave for any reason, I’ll be right downstairs.”

  “I’m not leaving.” Deacon stopped at the door and looked at her.

  “Right, because you never travel for business or go to other parts of the city for meetings?” Anna crossed her arms and gave him her best, ‘I don’t believe your stupid shit’ look.

  “Well, of course, I do, but I’m not doing that while Jackie is still recovering. I'm sending Nathan to all of those meetings.” Deacon turned back to the door.

  Anna put her hand on his forearm, stopping him. “I’ll accept that for the next week or so, but after that, you are going to need to start acting normally. She’ll need that. She’ll need to have a sense that her world hasn’t changed and with all the security and precautions going on, she’ll need to know that you trust the people who are watching her.”

  Deacon narrowed his eyes at her. “How could you possibly know that?”

  She sighed and crossed her arms, widening her stance. “Because that’s what I’d need to know. If I was her, I’d be terrified. Terrified of losing the normalcy I’d built over the last six years. I’d be terrified you would start resenting me because of all the twists and turns you now have to go through to accommodate me. I’d need my man to be strong enough I could depend on him and understanding enough to know I’m going to freak out—that I’m going to lose it—and that I’m not insane but trying to find myself.”

  She shook her head. “In order to do that, Jackie needs you to believe in your security. She needs you to return to work, part days if you absolutely can’t do any longer. She needs the man she fell in love with. Do you remember him? She does. She loves him. Stop second-guessing yourself, Deacon. Stop pussyfooting around the fact she was attacked. Let her see you, the real you, not the calm façade you've been showing her. She wasn’t the only one damaged by this attack. Don’t let her suffer alone. Be honest. Be there with her, and be real.”

  Anna had heard the psychiatrist she worked with in Denver on her nursing rotations when she was still in school say that. Be honest, be there, and be real. It was those simple words that changed her life. They made an impact and were branded into her mental fabric. She endeavored to be honest, real, and present, no matter the situation. Those three things made a difference.

  “I’ll take that under advisement,” Deacon said stiffly.

  “It’s just like the shower, my friend. You didn’t want to admit it, but you stunk.” Anna pushed past Deacon and leaned into the swinging door she hoped separated the kitchen from the dining room.

  Anna jolted to a stop just inside the door. “Oh. It’s… you.”

  She felt Deacon behind her, and she damn near tripped on the tile floor to make her feet take her inside the kitchen, but the man leaning against the massive island in the middle of the kitchen had frozen her feet as if she was standing in Crazy Glue. Six-feet-six-inches of Adonis laden super glue. God, time had been good to the man. His dark hair was shorter. Those big gray eyes were still as arresting as they’d been the day she’d met him. Gray eyes with a dark, almost black ring around the irises. He still took her breath away. Gabriel.

  Oh, sweet heavens. She’d kept his card in her wallet until it had turned into a ragged tatter of paper. He had called her once when he was in Denver, but she’d been gone. She’d called him once when she’d been in D.C., but he’d been gone… and then… life… but she’d never forgotten him.

  “Miss. Harriger. I was told there was a mix up on the security desk this morning. I will make sure that doesn’t happen again.” He turned to Deacon. “Nathan was just here looking for you. He said it wasn’t urgent, but he needed to discuss the Crawford take over if you had a moment.”

  “Do you two know each other?” Deacon looked between her and Gabriel.

  “We met in Denver, six years ago.”

  “Damn, yeah, okay. I’m going to head into my study. Jackie should be okay, right?” Deacon held the swinging door open with one massive arm and stared down at her.

  “Yes, absolutely. I’m going to grab a sandwich and then go back to the room. You take care of what you need to do. I’ll come to get you when she wakes up.”

  Deacon nodded. He started to turn away but hesitated. “Thank you. Both of you.” He dropped his arm, and the door swung shut behind him.

  “Imagine my surprise to find Jackie’s former ward nurse is now her personal nurse.”

  Her attention returned to Gabriel. Not that that was a hardship. Because… whoa cupcake, he was sexy in a secret agent kinda way. Okay, that was bull puckey. He was sexy in every kind of way.

  Gabriel cocked his head at her. “Run out of words?”

  She shook her head and headed to the refrigerator. “Nope. Just trying to figure out which ones to use.”

  “What did you decide?” His voice held amusement. “I like the new hairstyle, by the way.”

  She almost tripped over her own feet. Glancing back at him, she reached up and touched the hair at her neck. Her face heated. Lord above, she was blushing. She spun toward the industrial-sized fridge and pulled open the door. “Thanks.”

  “I don’t want this to be awkward. We left on good terms.” He spread out his hands. “I called several times.”

  Anna chuckled. “Yeah, I know. Our timing sucked.” She’d dreamed of fairy tale endings for over a year. Stupid, but it was what it was. Realizing her one-night stand with her Prince Charming might be all she would ever get was a bruise that left her sore for a long time.

  “It did. So how has life treated you, Anna?”

  She drew a deep breath and shook her head. “How long do you have? Nah, on second thought, let’s just say fine and push on. I’m making something to eat. Want a sandwich?”

  “I shouldn’t. I need to get back downstairs. Work.”

  “Damn, I don’t even rate twenty minutes?” Anna cocked her hip and planted her hand on it.

  “You rate my infinite attention. My concern is making sure our security is working. I’m not trying to blow you off.”

  She lifted an eyebrow. Right, if he wasn’t trying to blow her off, he could spend a couple minutes catching up. Why that was so important was a question she’d ask herself later. Maybe. She waved at the refrigerator door she was holding open. “So, a sandwich?”

  He flicked his wrist up and glanced at the massive silver watch he was wearing. “I… sure, why not.”

  She examined the contents of the refrigerator and smiled at him over her shoulder. “Well, just between you and me, Jackie’s boyfriend is rich. Like way rich, so having a sandwich on his dime definitely isn’t going to break him. Besides, work-a-day people like us need food, too.” She glanced back into the fridge and whistled. “Damn, remind me to cook dinner for the entire building, because dang, how much food do two people need?” She opened the door and waved at the contents. Three shelves were crammed to overflowing with every imaginable vegetable and fruit. Bags of oranges, apples, plums, strawberries and kiwi fruit were interspersed with heads of lettuce, bundles of spinach and a bale of rainbow swiss chard. It was a multitude of color blossoming from the icy confines of the fridge. Hell, there was even a whole pineapple!

  “You cook?”

  Anna pulled open the deli drawer and grabbed a
package of sandwich meat. “Do I cook? Hell, yeah, I cook. I make the best chicken and dumplings this side of the Rockies. Wait… what side of the Rockies are we on?”

  “East.”

  She grabbed a packet of cheese and a head of lettuce. “Good, then yes, I make the best chicken and dumplings on this side of the Rockies.”

  “Who is on the western side that can out cook you?”

  “My aunt, Helga. The woman is evil. She adds something to the dumplings. I don’t know what it is, and she won’t tell me, but she swore she’d leave me the recipe when she dies. Just between you and me, I don’t think she’s ever going to die. She’s seventy-three going on thirty-nine and has more energy than you and me combined. She’ll outlive me by decades.” Anna pulled the mayo and tomato out, stacking the last of her haul under her chin. Spinning around, she hurried to the island where she almost dropped the mayo jar.

  “You could have made two trips.” Gabriel caught a wayward tomato as it rolled toward him.

  She may have looked at his ring finger, and she may have smiled a little inside when there was still no band or tan lines. May have? Okay, she fucking lit up like a high school football stadium on a Friday night.

  She shrugged and replied. “Where is the challenge in that?” With hands on her hips, she surveyed the expansive kitchen. “Where would you be if you were a knife and a plate?”

  Gabriel laughed, putting the tomato down on the island. “If I were silverware, I’d be in a drawer. You check them. I’ll find the plates.”

  “Totally awesome.” Anna headed to the drawers but not before she watched the Greek god in a black suit head toward the cabinets. She drew a deep breath and snapped her head to the right. What was she doing? Oh, right, knife.

  With a jolt, she lurched forward and started opening drawers. “So, what have you been up to for the last six years?” And, yes, she was nervously rambling. Totally. And that was totally a valley girl accent in her head. Yep, you’re losing it. The next thing you know you’ll be spouting off words like… well like, like, rad, gnarly and gag me with a spoon.

  “…out of D.C.”

  She straightened and twisted quickly. “Wait, what did you say?”

  Gabriel turned from the cupboard. His arms flexed in his suit jacket, bulging at the biceps. There was a real possibility she heard the threads of that poor cloth scream for relief. “I said the business I work for moved from Virginia, and I now work out of D.C.”

  She blinked at him. “Like, you work in the nation’s capital? Do you work for the same company, and how did you get from there to here?” Damn it, she said “like”. Totally said it. Shit!

  “I still work for Guardian, and I had an alert set up on Jackie’s name. When the New Orleans Police Department put her name in the system, I was notified. I flew here the next morning and basically strong-armed my way into providing security for Miss Brenner. That son of a bitch slipped through my fingers once. It will not happen again.”

  Anna shivered when he said the last words. The confidence in his voice struck a chord deep within her. There wasn’t any doubt in his mind he would catch the man who’d attacked her friend. Anna opened another drawer and bingo! She grabbed a knife and spun around.

  “Got it!” She waved the knife in the air. “Mayo or mustard, chicken or ham, lettuce, and tomato or are you just a meat and cheese kinda guy?”

  “Ham, cheese, lettuce, tomato, mayo on white.”

  Anna’s eyes popped to the island. “Bread. Crap we need bread.” She spun, running her eyes over the cabinets.

  He laughed and nodded over her shoulder. “My guess would be the pantry.”

  Pantry? She spun and looked at the wall he indicated. “You mean that door?”

  He dipped his head.

  Well shit, let’s go find out what is in the pantry. “Wow, would you take a look at this.” She stood in awe of the shelves that lined the room. She glanced over her shoulder. “This is like a mini-grocery store. I’ve been inside markets that aren’t this big!”

  She jumped and squeaked when his deep chuckle came from directly behind her. Grabbing her scrub top, she let out a small huff of laughter. “Shit you do not make noise when you move, do you?”

  “Sorry?”

  He smiled down at her, and hot, yummy, warm, sensations flitted through her body like an electrical current. He was so close she could see flakes of darker gray in those beautiful light gray eyes. Those eyes had haunted her dreams for the last six years. Granted, the thoughts of him had become less and less, but she did still think of him.

  She reached out without looking and grabbed a loaf of bread before she sidled past him, scraping her shoulder blades on the doorjamb to avoid pressing up against him. Oh, dear heavens, the man still smelled ah-mazing. That cologne is not Old Spice. Something deep and enticing, but rich in a way the mass market cologne could never be.

  She made it to the island without hyperventilating and put the loaf on the counter. She tried to steady her breathing as she unwound the twist tie. Reaching into the plastic sleeve, she realized she hadn’t asked how many sandwiches he wanted. She turned to ask. “How many– Shit!” Gabriel stood not six inches from her.

  She pushed against the island and held a hand in front of her as if the action would still her hammering heart. “Okay, like you really need a bell or something. People do that for their cats. You know, so they know where they are. You need a bell.” She chuckled nervously and spun back to the island.

  She rolled her eyes and bit her lip. Shut up! Dear God, he was right behind her, and she was babbling about cats. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. Okay, just act normal. You can do this. It was just sex. Six-years-ago-sex. Totally, fucking, amazing six-years-ago-sex. She glanced over her shoulder at him and lifted the knife indicating the loaf of sliced bread. “Ah, one or two sandwiches?”

  He took the knife from her shaking hand. “I’ll make them. You go find some chips in the mini-grocery store.”

  “Chips? Yeah, okay. Chips.” The stack of sliced white bread plopped down beside the bag, and she ducked past him, damn near levitating across the expansive room. Dear heavens, she needed to get a grip. She was a professional. He was a professional. For goodness sake, it wasn’t like he was interested in her any longer. They’d had sex. Once. They’d slept together and woke up with limbs entangled. Gabriel had noticed the time and had to literally bolt out of the hotel room to make his flight. She lingered in the bed and took a long shower before she gathered her scattered clothes and headed home. She drew a deep breath and stared at the shelving.

  “Six years looks good on you.”

  What did he mean by that? Like, that was a compliment, right? Shit, stop acting like a child. Stop talking like a valley girl and get a grip, right now.

  Anna grabbed a bag of nacho flavored Doritos, her favorite, and headed back into the kitchen. “I could say the same, Tiger.” Tiger? Where the hell did that come from?

  His eyes lifted to meet hers, and a smile played at his lips. “Tiger?”

  She waved him off and opened the chips, popping one in her mouth to keep the damn thing busy. She chewed slowly and noticed he wasn’t making their sandwiches. Nope, instead, he watched her. The loud crunch of the chip in her mouth echoed in the vastness of the kitchen. She swallowed. Hard. The chip scratched down her throat, making her eyes water.

  “Tiger?” He repeated the question.

  Mortification, thy name is Anna. She smiled and mumbled, “You know, the silent and deadly cat thing.”

  “Huh.” He lowered his head and started composing their lunch again. “How long will you be here?”

  She paused with her hand in the chip bag. “I don’t know. Physically, Jackie will be okay within a couple weeks. However, I think I’ll be here until they don’t need me any longer, which I suspect is going to take longer than a couple of weeks. She’s mentally fragile right now and so is he, although he’d never admit it.”

  “I heard what you said to him before you came in.”

&
nbsp; “Eavesdropping?”

  “No, I was checking the duress button.”

  “The what now?”

  He waved toward the counter he’d been leaning against when they’d come into the kitchen. “The duress button. Didn’t security show you the system?”

  “Ah, that would be a big no.” She popped a chip in her mouth. He frowned at her, and his eyes narrowed. Rut-roh Scoobie that is not a happy look.

  “When you were given your ID, did you not get a tour of the apartment?”

  “Ah, no–”

  “Damn it.” He spit the word out and spun around.

  “Hey, Tiger, hold the phone. The guy was called away, so I just came upstairs. I was really late anyway, and I figured by that time they had everything but my underwear preferences, you know? The first guy was a total tool, well not the first guy, he was clueless. The second guy was a hose-nozzle, though.”

  “Hose-nozzle?”

  “Absolutely. The guy threatened to call the New Orleans police on me if I tried to get in the building again. What a jerk.”

  Gabriel placed his hands on the counter. His brow furrowed, and he cocked his head in question. “He what?”

  “I know. I was like, totally mad.” Like, totally. The valley girl in her brain echoed and then laughed at her. The bitch. “I used the payphone across the street to call my brother.”

  “Nathan.”

  “Yep.”

  “He’s the reason Jackie is in New Orleans?”

  “Yep. But the morning didn’t totally suck. After I made that call, I ran into this guy, and he gave me his card. We may go have coffee.”

  “Coffee?”

  “Yeah. Gary the CPA.”

  “Gary?”

  “Yep. He’s a CPA.”

  “You just met him?”

  “Right. He was nice.”

  “No.”

  “What? Yes, he was.”

  Gabriel blinked and then shook his head. “No, you will not be having coffee with Gary the CPA unless we clear him first.” He pushed a plate toward her with a sandwich on it.