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She let out an annoyed sigh. “I knew you’d be this way. It’s just a stop by the office. It’s not like The Broker’s going to be there waiting to cap me.”
“To cap you?”
“Yes. I read the phrase in a thriller novel.” She huffed. “Let’s not argue. Please. Let’s just get the papers and we’ll be on the road. Jaren will understand the change of plans.”
McCoy was slated to remain in the condo with Kimmy. The woman must be upset not to be attending Trade Con with Bronte, but it was for the best. The fewer people the WEST team had to protect, the better.
When Jace actually listened to her request and drove to Artemis, she hid her pleased smile. Getting the papers from the office was quick, but on the way out, the elevator stopped and someone boarded.
Her heart sank as she saw who it was. Anthony.
She wet her dry lips. “Hello.” Did her voice sound natural?
A smile spread over her client’s face. “Look who’s here! I didn’t expect to run into you today.”
She felt Jace’s body tense, and he plastered himself closer against her in order to keep up that dumb charade of being her fiancé. Later she’d have to enlighten him that being engaged didn’t mean he had to wrap himself around her like a boa constrictor.
Anthony beamed. “So nice to see you, Miss Burns. And…Abel. Do I have that right?” He held out a hand for Jace to shake. Reluctantly, he did but as soon as he dropped Anthony’s hand, he wrapped his arm around Bronte and hauled her more tightly against his side.
“I’m just heading up to meet with the software designer at Artemis,” Anthony informed them.
She nodded. “Great. Clarissa is looking forward to it.”
Jace remained silent and tense. She stole a glance at his face, only to find his jaw locked in a way that said he didn’t like Anthony. Just what she needed. She hoped her client didn’t pick up on it.
Since the elevator was headed down when Anthony entered, he had to ride to the ground floor with them and then back up to the Artemis office. When she and Jace stepped off, they said their goodbyes.
As soon as the door shut on Anthony’s smiling face, Jace lifted a hand to touch his ear. He spoke low into his comms device connecting him to his teammates. “Jaren, you have eyes on that guy? Look into him.”
Bronte walked faster, hoping to get out of the building before she lambasted her bodyguard. They stepped outside and she tore free of his stronghold. “You’re looking into my client now? What has he done but be nice to you and believe your tall tales about being my fiancé?”
His eyes flicked over her angry face but he didn’t speak until they were locked in the car alone. Twisting in his seat, he pinned her with his stare. “It’s my job to look into everybody who comes in contact with you. Besides”—he faced forward and gripped the wheel—“Anthony was already in the building before going to Artemis.”
Her brows shot up into her hair that still needed a trim. “So? There are other offices in the building and he’s allowed to do business with them.”
“I don’t trust anybody.” His flat tone shouldn’t turn her on like that. “I didn’t say he committed any crime, Bronte-without-the-sideways-colon-over-the-E. I only told Jaren to check him out.”
She blinked at Jace. “Sideways colon? Is that the best you can come up with now as a way to insult me?”
His chest deflated, and he dropped his angled jaw to his chest. “I’m not insulting you, sweetness. I’m trying to distract you.”
She opened her mouth and closed it. What was there to say to that bit of bodyguard logic, even if it was an idea born from the caveman days when they believed a woman couldn’t handle stress?
Then again, he had orders and was trained to keep a ward calm. Only she was even more frazzled by his attempt to take her mind off him digging up dirt on her client, who was more than likely just using the services of a business on another floor of her building.
He started the car and pulled out onto the street. While he navigated out of the city and hit the highway, neither one of them spoke. She had too much on her mind to hold a conversation, and he was probably trying to come up with another way to refer to the dots that weren’t over theEin her name.
The highway leading to Napa Valley was always a busy one, and Jace buzzed in and out of traffic like he dealt with heavy city traffic every day. But she knew that Stone Pass, where the WEST Protection office was located, was a small town nestled in the mountains. Nothing like the Bay area.
A few fat raindrops splattered the windshield.
Jace peered at the splotches. “What’s this?”
“It’s something called rain, Jace. It’s a phenomenon all over the world.”
“The forecast didn’t call for rain today. I checked.”
“Weathermen are often wrong,” she returned.
