Page 12

I let out a relieved breath. “Yes. I agree to take you on as a new client. I promise to keep our interactions professional.” Okay, I’m lying through my pearly white teeth. I don’t care about the money. I care about keeping her and her kid safe. But I decide we can argue about that another day.

“Fine,” she says. “Where is this safe place you’re thinking of taking us?”

“My house. It’s secluded, has a top-of-the-line security system, and it would take an army days to break into it.”

“I remember you talking about the big house on a hill that you inherited, but you hardly stay there.”

“Yeah, my old man cleared most of it out before his cancer got bad. He sold off or gave away everythin’ that wasn’t bolted down. I guess he wanted me to start with a clean slate. His notion of love was sparin’ me the job of doin’ it after he passed.”

The last bit of anger drains from her face. “You mentioned that before. I remember thinking it was a bittersweet gesture.”

“Let’s get a move on. I’m going to check your vehicle and your phone for tracking devices while you get packed and get your kid ready. I’m on my motorcycle. You can follow me there.”

“Okay. I never fully unpacked, so it shouldn’t take long.” She reaches into her back pocket, pulls out her phone, unlocks it, and reluctantly hands it to me.

I get busy searching her phone for tracking apps and don’t find anything. Some dark part of my personality desperately wants to look through her phone and try to get a glimpse into her life over the last three years. But since that’s a super shitty thing to do to another person, I turn her phone off and hand it back in exchange for her car keys so I can check her vehicle. I’m finishing up about the time she comes out, carrying her kid.

Her precious little daughter is slumped over her shoulder, sound asleep. I watch her gently ease her down into her car seat and strap her in.

Instead of standing there looking like a fool, I get busy helping her. “I’ll go ahead and grab your luggage.”

Reaching into her back pocket, she pulls out a keycard and hands it to me. I hurry to the very room she shut me out of earlier, quickly grab their luggage and haul it all out to her vehicle in a couple of trips. Women and babies need a helluva lot more stuff than men. These two have five suitcases in all. I literally cannot imagine what might be in all these cases.

When we make it to my house, I go ahead and unlock the door. She steps in behind me, carrying her still-sleeping child. We stand there in the middle of my big, cold front room for a second before I sprint over and turn on the heat. I turn around in time to watch her looking around curiously.

My place is sparsely furnished and safe, but there’s not a lot in the way of creature comforts. Even I have to admit it’s not very kid-friendly. There are no toys, kid-sized furniture with padded corners, or outlet covers. I know about all that stuff because Jinx has been obsessing over things like that, even though his child is just a baby. Hell, I don’t even have toss cushions, the holy grail of fuckin’ civilized living, to hear some tell it.

“There are rooms upstairs,” I tell her, tryin’ to be helpful. “Take whichever ones suit you. I’ll be right back with your bags.”

I haul the first load of her stuff upstairs and find her in one of the guest rooms. I have four, and she picks the one with an adjoining bathroom and a queen-size bed.

“This is a good choice. I don’t think it’s actually ever been used before. In fact, I think the plastic is still on the mattress.” I walk over, rip off the bedspread and then tear through the plastic. She’s already laid her little one on a small loveseat by the window.

When I pull out fresh bedding, she tells me, “I can make the bed if you want to bring the rest of our suitcases up.”

Without hesitating, I do as she suggests. When it’s all stacked neatly against the wall, I explain, “The entire outside of the house is covered with monitoring equipment. I don’t have cameras set up inside the house. You’re both safe here. I’ll get groceries and other supplies delivered for us. And don’t worry, I have an office downstairs with a bed in the room. That’s where I usually stay on the odd occasion I’m here. That means you and your daughter have the upstairs to yourselves.”

She nods without looking up as she moves her little one from the loveseat to the bed. I watch her remove her daughter’s little shoes and coat, surprised that her daughter sleeps right through it. “Thank you. I appreciate you taking this job.”

Hearing her remind me this is just a job stings a bit. I take a step back and murmur, “I’ll leave you to get settled in.”

Walkin’ back downstairs, the realization hits me that the woman I never stopped loving or looking for is under my roof again. It’s my wildest dream come true. But she’s here as a client who doesn’t trust me, with a child whose name I still don’t know, and some dude in a gray truck stalking her.

I lock the doors, check the windows, and set the alarm. Then I sit down in my office and sign into my personal security portal so I can finish working and keep an eye on the apps I’ve set to dig up information on the guy in the gray truck. I have a burning need to keep the two of them safe, ‘cause that’s the only thing I have left to offer.

Chapter 6

Beth

Iwake up this morning in Striker’s family home. It’s exceptionally nice, with high ceilings, white crown molding, and hardwood flooring. All the walls are painted in a subtle off-white color. The windows are large, and each has a custom-designed white vertical blind. It’s true what he said about it being a blank slate. There’s something lovely about all that untouched space.

I sit up in bed and tug the blanket up around my little daughter. I let her sleep with me last night because I didn’t want her to wake up in a strange bed all by herself. I reach over and tuck a lock of hair behind her ear. Josie is the most precious thing in my world.

That means I’ll do anything to keep her safe, including accepting help from the man who accused me of working with the feds when they were investigating my old boss. My plan when I came back to Cedar Falls was to ignore the hell out of him. That plan went up in smoke the minute he verified someone was following us and offered to protect us. To be honest, I was slowly coming to the conclusion that the gray truck I kept seeing was following us. It just seemed like such an absurd, surreal idea that I couldn’t get my head around it. But when it comes to security, Striker owns this town. He’s got eyes everywhere. I anticipated he would notice I was back and try to make contact. What I couldn’t have foreseen was the reason. I still can’t imagine why anyone would bother to follow me around. My only real enemy is my former boss, and he’s been sitting in prison for three long years and isn’t getting out anytime soon. As far as I know, no one else has a reason to come after me, so this makes zero sense.

I get up, grab a quick shower, and get dressed. Josie wakes up complaining of being hungry, so I get her out of bed, cleaned up, and dressed for the day. I carry her downstairs to the smell of fresh coffee and bacon. We pass one big room after another as I follow my nose to breakfast.

Striker is in the kitchen. He looks up with a polite smile on his ruggedly handsome face, and it reminds me of one of the reasons I fell for him in the first place. “Mornin’. I hope you both slept well last night.”