Endearing Seduction (The Diamond Club Book 12)

by Elizabeth Lennox

  It was also Oz and Ryker who had installed all of the locks on her apartment door and windows. She knew that they’d done background checks on all of the teachers and staff at the high school where she worked and she knew that they ran background checks on all of the people who lived in the apartment. They were sweet, if a bit overzealous in their efforts to protect her. But she didn’t mind. She loved all of them and loved their wonderful wives. She’d done a lot of babysitting over the years for each of their families, although not so much now that their kids were getting older. Most of the kids didn’t want a babysitter, which was a bit painful, since she missed them so much. It was also a six hour drive to LowPoint, Kentucky from Nashville, which further hindered her ability to see them even casually.

  “So are you going to tell me about the break-in?” he asked.

  Emily stopped and Oz took another step before turning around and looking down at her.

  “What…?” she asked, holding her breath, praying that he was bluffing. He couldn’t know! “What about it?” Emily really didn’t want to be a burden to Oz. Not anymore. He and Charlotte had already done so much for her over the years. Oz had helped her feel safe when she’d needed that sense of security acutely.

  “Emily,” he said. Just the one word.

  Oz didn’t have to say more and she sighed, her shoulders slumping slightly. “It’s being investigated.”

  “Do they have any leads?” he asked.

  “Yes!” a different voice called out.

  Emily and Oz swung around, both of them looking at Detective Kurt Anderson as he walked towards them. Emily ignored the ridiculous flip of her heart when she spotted the big guy coming towards her. She couldn’t see his eyes because they were hidden by his dark glasses, but she knew, sensed somehow, that he was furious. Although she wasn’t exactly sure why.

  In that same moment, she felt a different sort of tension. Looking up, she realized that Oz was now standing differently. Looking at Kurt, she almost smiled. The men were about equal in height and brawn. But even more dangerous, they were equal in male arrogance. Both of them were sizing each other up and Emily had no idea what conclusions they were silently coming to.

  But she sensed danger and quickly stepped between the two men in an attempt to minimize that danger. She knew Oz, sensed his fury. Even worse, she also knew that Oz…knew things. He knew how to kill a person and never be caught. In fact, Emily suspected that he could kill someone and no one would even know that the person had died! Okay, so that might be a stretch. Oz was a completely ethical and honorable man and she had no idea if he truly killed anyone. He just…seemed like he wouldn’t put up with bad guys in the world.

  And yet, looking over at Kurt, she sensed the same kind of danger in him. She still couldn’t see his eyes, but deep down, she knew that he was just as lethal as Oz. Would Kurt kill someone and hide the body?

  Good grief, she mentally chided. Neither man would kill anyone! She knew Oz and he was a good person. She didn’t know Kurt, not really, but she sensed that he was deeply ethical and moral as well.

  Introductions were in order, she thought. “Oz, this is Detective Kurt Anderson. He and his partner are looking into that issue you were just asking me about. I’m sure that he’s made amazing progress and there’s nothing more to worry about.”

  She looked up at Kurt. “Detective Anderson, this is Oz Cole, one of the…”

  “I know Oz Cole,” Kurt interrupted, shifting on his feet. Emily sensed a decrease in the tension, but it wasn’t completely gone. “You’re ex Delta Forces. Team seven, right?”

  There was surprise in Oz’s eyes, but it was quickly hidden. Then his lips curled up slightly. “Kurt Anderson. Team six. Left the team about three years ago.”

  Emily’s eyes darted between the two men. “Um…what’s going on here?”

  There was silence for another long moment before Oz chuckled and extended his hand. “Good to meet you, Anderson.”

  “Same,” Kurt replied, shaking Oz’s hand, then stepping back.

  Oz moved closer, looking into Kurt’s eyes. “Are you the lead on the break-ins in her area?”

  “I’m the lead, but we have a good group of people working the situation.”

  Emily noticed that Oz’s respect for Kurt went up several notches. All because the big detective believed in teamwork? Sheesh! Men were too easy!

  “Good. The problem is escalating.”

  Kurt nodded, adjusting his sunglasses on the bridge of his nose. “I suspect that Emily’s situation is different. It’s personal.”

  Emily blinked. “Huh?” She looked up at Kurt. Personal how? “What do you mean?”

  He sighed and looked directly at her. “That’s why I’m here. I wanted to talk to you about the break-in. After you canceled our dinner date last week,” he paused to let that announcement sink in, “you won’t answer my calls. That’s why I came here in person to talk to you.”

  Emily shifted on her feet, feeling the afternoon heat coming through the soles of her shoes as she turned to fully face him now. “First of all, I wasn’t avoiding you,” she announced, then realized that Kurt didn’t believe her. “Please, would you expound on your previous comment about the break-in being personal?” She felt a rage settle into her stomach as she glared up at the man.

  “Let’s get out of the sun,” he offered. “Are you…” he asked and looked at Oz.

  “No!” they both said at the same time.

  But Oz stepped closer. “She’s a friend of mine.” He pulled out a business card. “I’d appreciate an update.”

  Emily wanted to grab the card out of Kurt’s hand and tear it up. But she didn’t want to disrespect Oz by doing that. Turning to face him, she shook her head. “Oz, you don’t need to worry about me now. I’m okay.”

  He chuckled softly and glanced behind her at the tall man. Had Kurt moved closer? She could feel the heat emanating from him and it was stronger than the sun!

  “Charlotte and I will never stop worrying about you, honey. You’re basically a part of our family. But…” he glanced at Kurt again. “It seems as if you are in good hands.”

  With that, he extended his hand again to Kurt. “She won’t help,” Oz warned mysteriously.

  Emily glanced up at Kurt, wondering what the two men were actually saying to each other. “Why’s that?”

  “Because she hates cops,” he announced happily with a challenging grin. “They didn’t help her out the last time she needed them. I’m leaving it up to you to change her mind.”

  And then Oz turned and walked away. Leaving Emily alone with the very mysterious, very dangerous and scary detective.

  Going on the offensive, because playing defense was reactionary instead of proactive, she spun around and glared up at Kurt. “What was all that about?” she demanded. “And if there’s something going on with my case, I’d prefer that you don’t discuss it with anyone but me.”

  His sunglasses still hid his eyes, but those fascinating lips curled up ever so slightly. Was he amused? By her outrage?

  “Don’t you dare laugh at me!” she snapped, poking him in the chest. “I will not be patronized by you or anyone else. My business is private.”

  Kurt had almost forgotten how gorgeous Emily was. And when she got angry, damn, she was stunning! It sounded so trite, but when she was angry, her cheeks blossomed with color and her dark eyes sparkled with an inner fire. It was sexy as hell and he was struggling to control his body’s reaction. He was just relieved that the other guy was gone.

  Especially since he hadn’t like the way he’d touched Emily when he’d first driven up. Which was shocking in itself since Kurt hadn’t ever been the jealous type before. But the other guy, Oz, had hugged his woman and he didn’t like it. Not one little bit!

  Kurt realized that Emily was still waiting for an explanation. “At first glance, it seemed as if the guy was more than a friend.”

  She blinked, shrugging her slender shoulders slightly. “Who? Oz?”

&nbs
p; “Yes,” he growled, leaning down to look into her eyes more perfectly. “He was hugging you when I pulled into the parking lot.”

  Those brown eyes were no longer angry, although, he suspected that the anger was merely banked and not completely gone. “Why would you care that Oz hugged me?”

  Good question, he thought. Before he delved into the issue too closely, something Kurt wasn’t yet prepared to do, he changed the subject. “I need you to look at some photographs and tell me if you recognize anyone,” he told her, not answering her question because…because…hell, because he didn’t completely understand his reaction either. “How about if I buy you dinner while you look at the pictures?”

  She looked up at him with those pretty brown eyes and her soft, pink lips and he wanted to take her into his arms, tell her that everything was going to be okay. But instinctively, he knew that Emily had been hurt in the past in some way and, touching her would increase her wariness. He had his suspicions on how she’d been hurt, but after their conversation a moment ago, he didn’t want to invade her privacy by looking in the criminal database and finding out for himself. He wanted her to trust him enough to tell him about it. Since her break-in didn’t have anything to do with her history, at least as far as he knew, he wasn’t going to hurt her by looking up her past.

  “Still nervous around me?” he asked, not trying to taunt her this time. But he wasn’t sure how to reassure her.

  Apparently, just pointing out her wariness was enough to do that because her shoulders pulled back and that cute chin lifted. “I’m fine.”

  “My car is over there,” he said, tilting his head in the general direction. “Would you like to ride with me or follow me in your car?”

  “I’ll follow you,” she said quickly.

  He smothered a smile and nodded. “Pino’s? We didn’t have that pizza after you canceled on me the last time.”

  Emily shuffled guiltily on her feet and he wanted to laugh. But he refrained, focusing on her answer instead of diving into the mystery of her cancelation.

  “Yes. Fine. Pino’s is as good a place as any,” she replied and turned, walking stiffly towards her cute car.

  He watched her walk for a few moments, wondering how a woman could be both cute and sexy. Did she even realize how hot she was? Probably not. She looked around, her head shifting from the right and then to the left and his gut tightened. She was surveying her surroundings. And yeah, he knew the gesture because he did it as well. In reality, it was a safe thing to do. There would be a lot less crime and accidents if people were more aware of their surroundings. Of course, that wouldn’t stop all the crimes. Just because one is aware of one’s surroundings, that wouldn’t stop someone from doing bad things.

  But the fact that Emily did that was yet another indication that she’d been hurt in the past. Someone had done something to her that was so heinous, so painful, that she was now protecting herself automatically. He would guess that she had some mace or pepper spray in her purse. Possibly a few other self-defense mechanisms.

  She was pulling out of the parking lot before he realized that he was still standing there watching her. With a laugh, he stepped into his truck and followed her out, driving to Pino’s which was only a few miles down the street. It was a good place to talk at this time of the evening because the high school kids had already hit up the place for their after school binge and departed for whatever it was that teenagers do now, and it was early enough that the parents hadn’t gotten off of work and stopped by to grab some pizza for their kids. It was relatively quiet at the moment. It was also easy to get a table towards the back where they would have a bit more privacy and he led her through the tables to one near the windows.

  Out of habit, he took the side of the table where he could see the front door as well as the exit to the kitchen. But when he looked up at her, Emily’s eyes conveyed that she’d wanted that side of the booth as well.

  “We can share,” he told her and scooted over more.

  Emily huffed again, then shook her head. “No. That’s not necessary,” and she slid onto the seat on the other side of the booth.

  Immediately, a waiter arrived and put glasses of water down in front of them. “Hi there!” he said, his red hair and gamin grin putting him in the range of sixteen or seventeen. “What can I get you?”

  Emily shook her head, “Water is fine,” she told the teen.

  Kurt knew what she was doing and wasn’t going to let her. She’d lost weight just in the few days since the break-in and she wasn’t sleeping, if the dark circles under her eyes was any indication. “I’ll have a large pizza with everything,” he told the teenager. “And a plain ice tea.” He knew to add the “plain” because, living in the south, “sweet” tea was a staple.

  The waiter carefully wrote down the order, his mouth open slightly as he nodded while writing, then looked up with another bright smile. “I’ll get that order right in for you.” He turned to Emily and waved. “Hi, Ms. Bertrand! I’m only a sophomore this year. But I hope that, when I have government next year, I’ll be in your class.”

  And with that, the kid walked away quickly, diving into the kitchen as his pale skin turned a bright red.

  “You’re a celebrity,” Kurt laughed as he took out the pictures from a file folder he’d brought along for this. “I bet a lot of the boys in your class do extremely well.”

  She tilted her head. “Actually, I try very hard to have a gender neutral approach to my teaching.”

  He chuckled again. “I’m sure that you do. That’s probably why the females do well in your class. But I’m guessing that the boys study hard for your tests in order to impress you.”

  He took out the pictures and laid them on the table. “Do you recognize any of these men?” he asked before she questioned his comment. He pushed several pictures towards her. The pictures represented the men that had been convicted and released or suspected of committing a crime over the past several months, and lived within a five mile radius of her apartment complex.

  Emily pulled the pictures closer to her, leaning over and really looking at each of the pictures. Her examination was a dramatic difference from the way others might look at the pictures, which was a passing glance before moving away, not wanting to become involved in any way. Emily was different in so many ways, and…hell, he liked that about her.

  After examining several of the pictures, she sighed. “Is the person you suspect of the break-in included in this group?” she asked, pulling another set of pictures closer.

  “I can’t say,” he replied honestly.

  She looked up at him, her big, brown eyes seeming to look into his soul. “Why can’t you say?”

  He leaned back, his eyes flickering over the restaurant quickly before coming back to rest on her features. “Because if I say one or the other, that influences your response. It’s better, legally, if you give me an honest answer.”

  She looked carefully at the last picture, then shook her head. “No. Unfortunately, I don’t recognize any of these men.”

  “You haven’t seen any of them hanging out at the corner or in the grocery store? Maybe lingering outside of the dry cleaners or delivering something to your apartment complex?”

  “No. Nothing. They are all strangers. And some of them are distinct enough that I would have noticed them.”

  He agreed. “That sort of confirms something I’ve been tossing around in my head.”

  The pizza arrived and the red-headed teenager placed a stand on the end of the table with the pizza on top, giving both of them more table space. “Enjoy!” he said and rushed away.

  Emily chuckled. “Right. Enjoy the pizza, but there might be someone breaking into your apartment right at this moment!”

  He laughed as well. “He’s just a kid. Not a lot has hit him in life yet.”

  She bowed her head. “Yeah. I suppose.”

  He picked up one of the plastic plates and then slid a slice of the cheesy pizza onto the surface, passing it over to
her. “I’m guessing that, whatever happened to you, it was in high school?”

  “You’re persistent,” she muttered, staring down at the pizza. A moment later, she pulled the olives off, then took a bite. “Oh, this is really good!” she sighed and closed her eyes for a moment, savoring the delicious taste of the pizza. “I haven’t had pizza in…a long time!”

  “Isn’t pizza one of the four food groups?” he teased.

  She laughed, shaking her head. “You’re horrible. But I don’t care since you have great taste in pizza.”

  “Tell me about your classes,” he asked, sliding another piece of the cheesy, decadent treat onto her plate as he took another slice as well.

  “I teach history.”

  “What’s your favorite time period in history?” he asked, trying to get her to elaborate more.

  Apparently, history was one of her favorite subjects. Go figure! With even the slightest encouragement, she was off, talking about Greek, Egyptian and Roman history. By the time they polished off the last slice of the pizza, and he’d scooped up all of her olives to his own plate to devour, they were having a lively battle on the most important philosophers over the centuries. She was a fan of the classics and thought that Aristotle was the most influential. Kurt, on the other hand, argued that Confucius was the most important philosopher to western thinking.

  “He believed that morality and integrity should be at the basis of all actions,” he argued.

  “Yes but…” she started to say but he lifted his finger in the air.

  “Yes, but he was also an advocate of prioritizing the family and marriage, children and positive relationships. What more needs to be said? If more people made their personal relationships a priority, then I think that the world would be a better place.”

  Emily stared at him after that and he wasn’t sure if he’d said something wrong…or if he’d convinced her to change her mind slightly.

  “What?” he prompted, wanting her to explain her expression.