Page 27 of Top Secret Cowboy


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Straightening, she narrowed her eyes on Jace. “What the heck did you do to my cat? He never tries to follow me out the door.”

His lips twisted, making her stomach knot.

“Do you have catnip in your pockets?”

He grunted. With a smug grin, he closed the door and punched a code into yet another new lock on the exterior.

She glanced around. “Is this all really necessary? All those locks? Cameras?” She waved at the ceiling and the tiny orb hanging above her door.

“I don’t take chances. Not with my wards.” He took her arm. Warmth spread through her elbow and up into her shoulder as he walked her to the elevator. Every step she took, he mirrored. The entire way, he swung his head right and left, searching for danger.

Once the elevator doors shut, she withdrew from his grasp. “This is crazy, Jace. I realize you’re just doing your job, but I’m not in danger.”

He braced his feet wide. “Denial.”

She almost stomped her foot. “The only thing I’m denying is that we’re engaged. So don’t get any ideas about spreading that rumor around Artemis!”

His eyes gleamed despite the shadow of his hat. “What makes you think Anthony didn’t already send a memo?”

“He doesn’t work for me. He can’t send memos,” she hissed, wishing she had her phone so she could text the client about the misunderstanding.

Even if she had her phone, what would she even say to Anthony? It was all a big joke?

Her highhanded bodyguard thought a car backfiring was a shooter threat?

Jace really escaped from the asylum?

They rode the rest of the way to the ground floor in charged silence. She wanted to bash him over the head with her handbag but didn’t want to risk putting a mark on the leather. So she settled for ignoring him.

Before the doors opened, he slipped his hand around his back. Her stomach bottomed out. He was putting his hand within reach of his weapon.

WEST Protection really took their job seriously, even if the only threat so far had been back in that car when Jace and the driver wrestled over a loaded gun. But this was a big city and crime happened every day. She still wasn’t convinced it had anything to do with her. She was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time.

As he walked her through the lobby and outside, she took in how he maneuvered himself into the line of fire, always shielding her with his big body.

The car was still parked where it had been the night before.

“You got a parking ticket,” she said, pointing to the windshield.

He snatched the parking ticket off the windshield as he opened the passenger door for her and made sure she got securely inside. “I hate cities. This isn’t even a car. It runs on electricity. Cars run on gasoline. It’s how car pioneers planned it back in the old days.”

“I can drive if you hate the car so much.”

He ignored her as he slid behind the wheel. He took a moment to plug the office address into his phone.

“I can just give you directions, you know.”

“I got it.” He set his phone in the cup holder. “So we need to get some things straight, Bronte.” He pulled into traffic.

“What else is there to say? I’m in danger, blah blah blah, something about The Broker.”

He jerked his head to pierce her in his stare. “Not ‘something about The Broker.’ That’s everything, Bronte. The man is dangerous. We’ve dealt with him twice now. One woman he threatened ended up in the hospital, and the other…”

He cut off and directed his attention to the windshield again.

Apprehension skittered down her spine. “What happened to her, Jace?”

When he didn’t answer, she whispered, “She died, didn’t she?”

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