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“Yeah. I don’t particularly want anyone to know why I’m here.”
“What if someone Google’s Spencer Riley and doesn’t find you. Wouldn’t that make them suspicious?”
“I’ll ask Mel to put my fake identity as a computer guy out there with some pictures of me. Just enough to satisfy anyone’s curiosity.”
“I’ll have to tell Janet that you’re my bodyguard,” Zoe said as the elevator slowed for her floor. “She’s my assistant. She was the first employee I hired when I started Melbourne Solutions, and I trust her completely. She knows everything about the company, and she’s very discreet. She’ll tell anyone who asks that you’re a new hire.”
He wasn’t crazy about Zoe’s assistant knowing what his real job was, but he had to trust Zoe’s judgment on that. He’d be showing up with Zoe every day, and better that her assistant knew the score than start to wonder what was going on.
As the doors slid open, Zoe started to step out of the elevator. Spence grabbed her elbow, and she bounced backward into his chest. He stilled for a long moment, and he felt Zoe tense where she was pressed against him. Then she jerked away.
“I go first,” he said, clearing his throat. “Number one rule of close protection.”
“Right,” she muttered. “I should have realized that.”
He stepped around her and off the elevator, cataloging everything. A desk in front of him, with a blond woman sitting behind it. Small seating area next to the desk. Corridor leading off to the right. Several doors lining the corridor.
Artwork on the walls. Nice carpeting. Only a faint trace of voices, far to the right.
The blond woman looked up, and her eyes widened. “Zoe! I didn’t think you’d be in today.”
“Wasn’t planning on it but thought I could get a little work done.” She leaned closer to the woman. “This is Spencer Riley. He’s going to be with me for the foreseeable future. We’re calling him a project consultant. Can you find him a chair for the table in my office so he can do his work?”
“Of course I can.” Janet looked over at him, her gaze assessing. “Is Mr. Riley’s presence related to the events of yesterday?”
“Yes, Janet, it is. But that information goes no further. If someone asks, tell them Spence is a new hire who’s working with me on a project.”
Janet nodded. “Got it, boss.” She pushed away from her desk. “Let me hunt down a chair for Mr. Riley to use.”
Janet hurried down the hall, and Zoe let Spence into her office.
* * *
Just like at her condo, Zoe wasn’t sure how she felt about sharing her workspace with Spence. She had no choice, and Spence was an easy guy to have around. But she wasn’t used to working with someone else in the room, sharing her personal spaces. Her condo was her refuge, and so was this office.
She knew Janet would guard the door. Her assistant wouldn’t let anyone in who didn’t have a legitimate reason for seeking her out, and she’d always ask Zoe first. Now Spence was going to spend all day, every day with her.
And he’d be in her apartment every night while they slept.
Everything about this situation made her twitchy. Ethan was in Seattle, thirteen years after killing her father. He’d sent her one of the charms off her bracelet, announcing his presence in her city and his intention of taking her.
Spence, the guy who’d driven her crazy when he’d come to Seattle to help Nico guard her friend Julia, was now her bodyguard. And he’d be spending every moment with her, both waking and sleeping.
She had two men orbiting around her. One terrified her. The other one? She wanted to jump his bones.
Which, unfortunately, was the last thing she could do.
She slumped against the back of her chair. Thank God she’d figured out the final problem with that program yesterday. Because with everything that had changed in her life in the last twenty-four hours, she’d have trouble focusing on it today. Or any day until Ethan was caught and was in police custody.
As she sat at her desk, Spence prowled her office. He examined everything. He tugged on her bookcases. He looked in her restroom, his hand sliding over the tiled walls. He patted down the couch and chairs and lifted the cushions, his long fingers gripping the material. What was he looking for? Her office was locked when she wasn’t using it.
She shivered. Spence had said that Ethan might have a lock pick. Assuming he got past the security guard, Ethan could spend hours in her office at night. Gathering all kinds of information about her and her business.
After studying the furniture for a few minutes, Spence moved to the windows, where he stared out at downtown Seattle. He stood perfectly still, but Zoe could feel the energy pouring out of him. When he was protecting someone, following them around all day, how did he burn off all that energy?
Her mind went places it had no business going. But she couldn’t stop the mental pictures from scrolling through her head. Her and Spence, staring at each other. Moving close enough to touch. His eyes would darken. Her heart would flutter wildly in her chest. He’d swallow. Slowly reach for her…
She closed her eyes and dropped into her chair, horrified at where her mind had gone. She blindly reached for the papers on her desk and stared at them, seeing nothing but the hunger gleaming in Spence’s gaze last night.
