Innocent Target

by Katie Reus

  Still blushing, she grabbed her purse from a small foyer table as she set the coffee bag down. “Will you shut the door first? I need to set my alarm and can’t do it if it’s open.”

  At least she had a system in place. Nodding, he stepped inside with her, subtly inhaling her sweet vanilla and roses scent and trying not to stare too hard at her.

  Once they were in his rental truck, he turned the music on low. “I have reservations at Bella Bella’s but if you wanted, I could also cook for you at my rental place.” Yeah, it was presumptuous but he wanted to get her in a location where she wasn’t out in the open. “Please don’t feel pressured to say yes. I just have a great view of the harbor.” And more importantly, it would be difficult to attack her at his place.

  No one would know where she was. Which was the whole point of tonight. Keep her safe. Hidden. Then… God, he needed to tell her someone wanted to hurt her.

  “Ah…okay. Yeah, that sounds nice.” Her voice was a little breathless and that damn blush was affecting him way more than he wanted to admit.

  He was surprised she’d actually said yes. From her file, he knew she didn’t date much, or at all it seemed. And he was annoyed she’d given him her address. Because she shouldn’t be giving out her address to anyone, much less some guy she’d just met. But he couldn’t very well chastise her for it without blowing his intent or sounding like a jackass.

  “What’s the address? I’m going to text a friend and let her know where I’ll be.” Then she snapped a picture of him—covertly, but not so much that he didn’t realize what she’d done. Okay, so she was being cautious.

  Damn. Maybe he’d been wrong. Good for her. He quickly rattled it off, glad she was taking safety precautions. Not that she needed to worry about him. He was dangerous, but not to her. Never to her. But no way in hell could she know that. Not when they’d just met. It eased some of the tension inside him. Damn it, he just needed to tell her what was going on, except…how did he tell her that someone had put out a contract on her head and wanted her kidnapped, without sounding crazy? Or admitting what he did for a living.

  “So how did your job hunting thing go today?” she asked, crossing her legs slightly as she turned to face him more.

  He lifted a shoulder. “Eh, interviews about finance and real estate. There’s no way to make any of it sound exciting.”

  She laughed, the sound intoxicating. “Do you at least like what you do?”

  Oh, that was a complicated answer. And even though he was lying about what he did for a living, he hadn’t lied about his name. He hated the thought of lying to her in general. Which was new to him. And he wasn’t sure how he felt about it. “Some days I do.” Like today, because it had brought him to her.

  “I understand that.”

  “So are you interning anywhere?”

  “Not yet, but I hope to find something by this summer. Before I moved here I worked at a small veterinary clinic in an admin role for almost three years. But I got to sit in on a lot of things and it really enforced that I was making the right career decision.”

  “So why animals?” That was the kind of thing he couldn’t read in a file. Some things he wanted her to tell him anyway. Because he wanted to know everything about this woman with the sweet smile and adorable dimple.

  She snorted softly. “Will you judge me if I say because they’re better than people most days?”

  He barked out a surprised laugh at her honesty. “I understand.” More than she could realize. Before his current profession, he’d worked for the FBI and he’d seen the worst in people in ways he didn’t even want to think about. Especially from those who were supposed to be the good guys. “I’m surprised you don’t have any pets. Unless you have one I didn’t see?”

  “Ah…I had a dog. Sassy. She died right before I moved here.” There was a note of sadness in her voice.

  “I’m sorry.”

  Hadley nodded once, her dark hair shifting slightly against her shoulders. “She was a rescue and her life hadn’t been easy from what we could tell. When she was found she had a chain hanging from around her neck, poor thing. Honestly I’m surprised she lasted as long as she did, but at least I know her last few years were good. I got to bring her in to the clinic most days and she loved the attention.” There was so much love and affection in her voice.

  He’d never had a pet, not even as a kid. His mother had barely been able to take care of him, let alone an animal. “What kind of dog was she?” he asked as he turned into the gated community of the place he’d rented. The security here wouldn’t stop a pro but it was one extra layer. And he didn’t think they’d been followed. The men who’d been hired to take her were all loners so at least that eliminated the possibility of anyone working as a team.

  “A shepherd-lab mix.”

  He nodded once as he pulled through the gates, keeping an eye on the rearview mirror. Nope. No one was behind him. And he hadn’t noticed an obvious tail. When his phone buzzed he ignored it, even though he knew it had to be Isaac Murphy, the guy he had running info on Hadley’s would-be kidnappers. He wasn’t used to working like this, working to save someone in this way. Normally he simply took out assholes. And Isaac was a skilled hacker who helped him locate people.

  “So…were you ever in the military?” Hadley asked as he pulled into the designated parking spot for the rental place.

  Surprised by the question, he turned to face her. “Yes. Why?”

  “You’re just hyperaware in a way my ha…my brother is. And he was in the Marines.”

  He wondered if she’d been about to say half-brother. “I was too. Eight years.”

  “Oh wow. How…” Even in the dimness of the truck, there was enough outside illumination from the moon and other lights at the complex that he could tell she was blushing again.

  The woman was clearly trying to kill him and he couldn’t help but wonder how flushed she’d get during sex. Would it just be her cheeks or would that extend… Nope. Couldn’t go there now. Not if he wanted his dick to stay under control. “Were you going to ask how old I am?” he asked.

  She let out an embarrassed laugh. “You don’t have to answer.”

  “Nah. I don’t care. I’m thirty-two.” After the Marines he’d done a fast-track in college, pushing himself to graduate early. Then he’d been hired by the FBI, had thought it was his dream job. Yeah, he learned the hard way that it wasn’t. Not even close.

  “You look younger.”

  He didn’t have a baby face exactly, but without his beard he definitely looked to be in his mid-twenties. He used that to his advantage when necessary. “Yeah…so, you hungry?”

  Smiling softly, she nodded.

  And he knew that he was definitely screwed where she was concerned. He barely knew her but felt consumed with the need to protect her. He spent his time killing guys who deserved it, and she was this innocent, defenseless woman who tugged at all of his protective instincts. It was unnerving, but he wasn’t going to walk away. He couldn’t.

  * * *

  As she sat at the center island drinking a glass of wine, Hadley wondered if it had been a mistake to accept Axel’s invitation to his place when she didn’t know him, but when he hadn’t balked at her giving his address to a friend, most of her tension had dissipated. She’d gotten pretty good at seeing through bullshit and charmers—charmers seemed to be the worst. Hiding their garbage under a pretty face and attitude. And while Axel seemed to have an edge to him, she wasn’t scared of him.

  The distinction was clear in her gut in a way she couldn’t articulate. And she’d been trusting her instinct for a long time. Ever since one of her mother’s boyfriends had tried to get too friendly with her. Even being here with him now muted what had happened to her last night. Not so much that she could completely forget it, but she felt more balanced.

  “So tell me more about your family,” Axel said, glancing over from the stove.

  Hadley wasn’t sure how to respond. Earlier she’d almost called B
rooks her half-brother, which was her tendency. But Brooks had made it clear that he thought of her as his sister, that there was no half about it in his mind. Something that absolutely warmed her heart. “That might be too heavy for first date stuff.”

  Taking another sip, she watched him cook at the stove. He had on gray pants and a dark sweater that did absolutely nothing to hide all the muscles underneath. Axel might be in finance but clearly he had a gym membership. And he could cook? The guy seemed too perfect. The simple veggie and skillet meal he was preparing smelled delicious.

  “If you want to get technical we could consider it a second date.” He grinned at her, a slow curving up of his delicious lips, and she felt it all the way to her core.

  “I don’t think me spilling coffee on you is considered a date.” Not that she would know, since she hadn’t been on one in forever.

  “I’m going to count it,” he said.

  She laughed lightly. “Well I grew up with my mom on the West Coast. Only recently I met my father and brother. I knew they existed for a while…” She decided to hold some stuff back because this really did feel too deep for a getting-to-know-you-type of conversation. “I was really nervous to meet them both but they’ve been nothing but welcoming.” That being an understatement. Her dad wanted to buy her a house and car, and just…no. It was too much and she wasn’t comfortable with it. Not yet and maybe never. Though she knew it bothered her dad, and even Brooks was gently pressuring her to at least take a car. Gah. It was weird to have people who wanted to help her so generously when no one else ever had. And there didn’t seem to be any strings attached either. Still, it was too much.

  “That’s incredible to meet your family after so long.”

  “Yeah, I know. I really wish they’d been in my life sooner.” Because her relationship with her mother had been complicated and pretty toxic. And it wasn’t as if she’d been able to escape that toxicity, at least not until she’d been old enough to move out. Even then she’d still been too afraid to reach out to her dad. Because she hadn’t wanted to hurt her mom even though her mom hadn’t cared about hurting her. But she wasn’t going to think about that now and ruin this date.

  “Where’s your mom now?”

  “She died a few years ago.” And that was all she was going to say about that.

  “I’m sorry. I…never knew my dad at all.”

  “What about your mom?”

  He lifted a shoulder. “We weren’t close.” His body language changed ever so slightly, his posture became a bit more rigid, and she figured there was more to it than he wanted to tell her. Which was fine with her. There were some things she didn’t like to talk about either and her familial relationships was one. “Let’s talk about something different, then,” she said, keeping her tone light.

  “Okay, how is it that you’re single?” he asked, pinning her with those incredible eyes as he leaned against the counter. Even when he picked up his water, he was focused on her.

  She felt her cheeks flush hot. She cursed herself for her blatant reaction to him. It was insane. She’d never reacted to anyone like this before but around him her entire body simply went haywire. “I’ll answer, but you get the same question from me. Honestly, I was so busy in college and then moving here, I haven’t had time.” Though if she’d wanted to make time, she would have. No one had interested her enough.

  “I can understand that.”

  “Turnabout is fair play. I’m assuming you’re single?” Something she probably should have asked him before agreeing to come here. He was in town on business after all.

  He snorted and nodded. “Yes. Very single. I travel a lot and it makes relationships difficult.”

  Knowing that he wasn’t permanently here and that he was being so honest with her, or at least she thought he was, made her open to being a little freer with him. She’d never had a one-night stand before, and while she wasn’t sure that she even wanted one, she was definitely thinking about it. But only with him. It felt kind of wrong and she wasn’t sure why. Because everything about him felt really right in a bone-deep sort of way. There was something so sexy and, okay, a little fierce about him that turned her on.

  Plus he had a seriously nice ass. Her mouth practically watered as she watched him at the stove and she felt like a pervert but didn’t actually care. Because the man was fine.

  After what had happened to her last night, maybe she would throw caution to the wind and have some fun. A lot of it.

  Chapter 5

  —If everyone knew what I was thinking, I’d get punched in the face a lot.—

  Skye stood with her hands on her hips as she watched Gage work his magic on his laptop. “So?”

  “Don’t rush me,” he growled.

  Skye hated being between jobs. It made her antsy and ready to run another ten miles. Considering she’d already run fifteen this morning, she feared that might be overkill. But the whole situation with Hadley really bothered her. Not enough to contact Brooks…yet. Because he was with his fiancée out of town on some sort of work thing for her. Some kind of wedding convention, Skye wasn’t really sure. And though she loved Darcy, she wasn’t really interested in anything to do with weddings.

  “Come on.” Colt took her hand in his and pulled her out of the room into the hallway. At the moment, it was just the three of them at Redemption Harbor Consulting in their converted warehouse. Leighton was away on a small one-man job, Savage and Olivia were on their honeymoon, and Nova was gone for the day.

  Skye wanted to snarl at her husband but didn’t because he’d done nothing wrong. She was just being edgy and annoyed and he didn’t deserve her acting like a crazy person.

  He gave her a wicked grin that made her toes curl in her boots. “If you’re feeling edgy I can think of a way we can burn off some energy.”

  “Dude, I can still hear you guys!” Gage called out from his office.

  Colt tugged her down the hallway. They’d actually only gotten busy once here, in her office. It had been after a particularly rough job, and they’d had the place to themselves and she’d wanted to burn off energy. Okay, who was she kidding—she’d wanted to screw her husband’s brains out. Some days it was hard to believe she was actually married, much less alive. And she was so grateful to have him in her life. “This thing with her is just really bothering me,” Skye said even as Colt pulled her into the break room instead of her office as she’d expected.

  He pointed to the table. “Sit. And I know. I think the real reason you’re bothered is because it’s Hadley that it happened to.”

  “True enough.” There was no reason to deny it. Hadley was the half-sister that Brooks recently found out he had, and she was absolutely adorable. And Skye worried about the girl’s survival skills. Once when she’d asked Hadley how many exits were in the restaurant they’d been having dinner in, Hadley had given her a blank stare. Yes, they seriously needed to work on her observation and survival skills. “She’s like a little puppy.” Folding her arms across her chest, she frowned.

  “That’s a bit of an exaggeration.” Colt pulled leftover pizza from the fridge and put it in the microwave. Yeah, he really did know her—and food was the way to her heart. “She put herself through college and was brave enough to reach out to her sibling and father, having no idea how they’d react to the news of her existence. She’s not like us, but she’s not a puppy.”

  “Well she’s not answering her phone either. I called her and texted her earlier to check in and she said she was going on a date. A date!” After she’d been attacked in what Skye didn’t think was a simple mugging gone wrong. All the details were too strange and she did not like strange.

  Her husband leaned against the counter and folded his massive arms over his chest. “And that’s a problem why?”

  “If she’s dating, we need to check out any potential men.”

  “You sound worse than Brooks.”

  “I wonder if he knows about her date.” Skye pulled her phone out of her pocket but Co
lt—sneaky man—snatched it from her hand with panther-like reflexes.

  “No,” he simply said.

  “I wasn’t going to call him.”

  “Yes, but you were going to text him and probably his father.”

  She shrugged, not denying it. They both needed to know what had happened and lock Hadley down. At least until they could figure out what was going on.

  Colt glanced down at his own phone as the microwave dinged. “Gage has something.”

  After grabbing her plate, Colt shoved both his phone and hers into his pocket and they headed back down the hallway.

  “Really? You couldn’t grab me anything?” Gage asked as they stepped inside, his gaze landing on Skye’s plate.

  “Fine, have mine.” Skye set it on the desk next to him but he just eyed it with disdain and turned back to the computer.

  “Pineapple does not belong on pizza,” he muttered, pulling up a couple different screens. “What I’ve found isn’t great. The power outage was localized to a very small portion of the college for a very short amount of time—right when Hadley was being attacked.”

  Tension rippled down Skye’s spine. Nope. Not good at all.

  “And the security feeds were erased as well, though if we break into the offsite company we could get them—if they haven’t been corrupted.”

  “So we’ve got nothing basically.” Other than something that smelled like shit.

  “I didn’t say that…” Gage pulled up another screen that showed a car pulling out of an entrance on the other side of the college. Four-door, generic-looking sedan, tinted windows and… It shifted to another screen and the front image of the driver was clear enough.

  Not great. Man wearing a ball cap with a full-on beard was driving. Hands were gloved, which wasn’t that strange even with it being March. Winter was still clinging on because Mother Nature was in a bitchy mood this year. “And, I got this too,” he continued. Another screen showed the back of the car but the license plate was impossible to read because of mud smeared all over it.