Page 11 of Juan

“I need to shower,” she said. Her eyes darted away, avoiding him.

He couldn’t have that. “Want help?” he offered again as he gently untangled his fingers. Her gaze flew to his. He waggled his eyebrows. She blinked, then laughed. As he’d hoped.

“Maybe some other time,” she said with a smile. Although judging by the look of confusion on her face, the words surprised her. They surprised him, too, but what else caught him off guard was the way his body reacted to the possibility. Desire, swift and hot, seared a path through him.

He stepped back. “I’ll leave you to it, then.” He made it to the door when she called his name. He turned.

“Do we…can we…” A bloom of pink spread over her cheeks.

“Yes,” he said, answering her unasked question. “Whenever and wherever you want, Amber. I am happily, and completely, at your beck and call for however long you want me to be.”

Her eyes searched his, then she nodded. “Thank you.”

He smiled. “Not to sound cliché, but believe me, the pleasure is all mine.”

Again, as he hoped, he drew a smile from her. With a nod of his own, he turned and left. And as he closed the door behind him, a little stutter in his chest made him wonder if maybe he’d inadvertently opened another.

Chapter six

Four days after her first night with Spencer, as Juan had asked her to call him, Amber stood by the driver’s side door of her car, fingering the fourth note she’d received. The bag of lingerie she’d just purchased in anticipation of her time with him hanging all but forgotten from her wrist.

Don’t you want to see her?

She reread the note for the second time. It included the same phone number as the others. She’d found the third, more ominous than any of the others, two days earlier after leaving lunch with Daphne. She’s in danger. He knows we have her.

After the second note, she’d promised herself she’d tell the Falcons if she received a third. She had no excuse for not saying anything two days ago, other than her time with Spencer was turning her into a giddy teenager with questionable priorities.

She still had no idea what any of them meant, though, and couldn’t fathom who “she” was, or even who “he” was. But she felt the anxiety etched in every word. Whoever kept sliding the tiny scraps of paper under her windshield wipers was sounding more and more desperate.

About what, though?

Or maybe it wasn’t desperation, maybe it was a trap. Maybe the notes were meant to lure her somewhere. Or to someone.

On the other hand, could they be a plea for help?

She gritted her teeth in frustration and glanced around Main Street. It bustled with too many people for her to notice any one person in particular. Fingering the note, she started shoving it into her pocket but paused when a man exiting the Blacksmith restaurant caught her attention.

“Leo!” she called, before giving it any thought. Not typical of her at all and an indication of how the quirky little notes unnerved her.

He swiveled his head, looking for the source of the voice. She lifted her hand and waved. Catching sight of her, he waved back and started her way.

“Amber, it’s good to see you,” Leo Gallardo said, stopping in front of her. The tech genius was dating Charley’s twin sister, Joey. Everyone expected the two to tie the knot soon, making Leo Mantis’s brother-in-law. Family by Falcons standards. More importantly, for her purposes, he worked for HICC, a private security company, on their cyber team. A man with unique skills.

“Can I ask a favor?” she asked.

He frowned, but more as if he didn’t like that she felt the need to get permission before asking. “Of course.”

“If I give you a phone number, can you trace it for me?” She didn’t know why she hadn’t thought of him, and his skills, before. Of everyone in the Falcons’ sphere, he was the most capable of tracking something down. And if he managed to dig up any information about the notes and their sender, then she could decide what, if anything, to do next. After telling Spencer and the Falcons, of course.

“Easy,” he replied. “If it’s a burner, I may not be able to tell you more than that, but if not, I can track the owner and usually the location.”

She exhaled in relief. “Thank you,” she said, pulling out her phone. “I’ll text it to you now.” She’d seen the number enough times to have it memorized.

“I need to drop by Joey and Charley’s shop, but I’ll look into it as soon as I get back to the office,” he said, pulling out his phone and tapping the screen. “Got it,” he said. “Anything else?”

She shook her head. “I appreciate it.”

He nodded. “I’ll let you know as soon as I have something.”