Chapter 1

 

Elle

 

Take a deep breath and just calm down.

Ok, that was worthless advice.

Take a deep breath?  Who was I trying to kid? Someone hated me.  There was no way I was going to be able to calm down.

Truthfully, someone didn’t just hate me.  Someone was after me and really, really detested me. 

They broke into my apartment and left a bone-chilling message.  I had experienced slight obsessions before this, but being in my personal space and leaving that message made me feel more than just slightly uncomfortable.  I was downright terrified.

I should explain. 

My name is Elizabeth Blackman, but everyone calls me Elle.  I’m twenty-five years old and live just on the edge of Rising Sun, Wyoming, where I’ve built a career as a musician.  I haven’t made it to the big time and, to be honest, I’m not sure I’m interested in going there.  I mostly sing at local establishments, but occasionally travel to perform a few gigs at smaller venues.

I like the feel of the small hometown.  I like that I can walk into a local corner store or bookstore and everyone knows my name.  Some might say that what I choose to do for a living is the reason that all the locals know who I am.  It could also be because my older brother, Wes, is the owner of Blackman Boards, a company that manufactures snowboards and winter sports accessories.  His company is in the early stages of production on new board lines in the skateboarding and surfing industries.  Between the two of us, we’ve made the Blackman name a household name here in Rising Sun.  Wes has certainly expanded his fan base beyond what I have, since he’s appealing to the masses in his career.

Either way, it doesn’t matter what the reason is.  I just know I like where I live and the people with whom I surrounded myself.  For the time being, I am content with where I am in my life and don’t feel the need to upset that balance by trying to make it with the big dogs.  Of course, I also didn’t want to wake up ten or fifteen years from now and wonder whether I should have tried to take my career to the next level.  Therefore, I planned a mini-tour that would start next week.  I was excited, but the truth of the matter is, I already knew it wouldn’t be the lifestyle for me.  I know that I’d end up sacrificing a lot if I took that step and some things just aren’t worth it to me.  In taking that path, I’d miss out on things like having lunch with my new sister-in-law, Charley, when she came home from her honeymoon. 

Charley and Wes were married three weeks ago.  They had a beautiful wedding and I was overjoyed for my big brother that he had found the love of his life.  The two of them left two days later for their honeymoon and just returned a few days ago.  Charley worked as the lead graphic designer at Blackman Boards and took a longer lunch earlier today so the two of us could finally catch up.  I hadn’t seen her since the wedding, so we planned to meet each other this afternoon.

Following a two-hour lunch with Charley, I stopped at the drug store.  I needed to restock my lip balm collection.  I had to admit I had an unhealthy obsession with lip moisturizers.  My purse, my medicine cabinet, my nightstand, my make-up case, my traveling make-up bag, nearly every room in my apartment, my car, and countless other spots always had at least one tube of lip balm, but most had several.  I had some favorites that I typically stuck to but, occasionally, like today, I ventured out from my usual and picked up some new kinds to try.  The ever-faithful strawberry lip balm was my favorite and the one I typically bought in copious amounts.

After my lip balm raid at the drug store, which took longer than was necessary given my need to mull over and purchase most of the new lip moisturizers I had found, I decided to head home.  I was performing tomorrow night at Big Lou’s, so a good night’s rest was in order.  Big Lou’s Restaurant and Saloon was the spot I performed at the most, and with so much love and support from my hometown fans, it was hard to not want to perform there weekly. 

I arrived back at my apartment building, gathered up my drugstore haul, and made my way inside.  Ignoring everything along the way, I went straight to my bedroom with my purchase.  Just as I was about to set my purse and bag of lip balms down, something caught my eye on my bed.

Given my chosen profession, I had done several meet-and-greets locally over the years where I’d signed headshots to give to my fans.

One of them was sitting on my bed propped up against the pillows.  It struck me as odd to see the photo there because I had obviously not put it there, but I really began to panic the moment I noticed what was written on it.

I will always be watching.    

Ok.

I wasn’t aware I had any enemies.  I was freaked out.  Someone knew where I lived, got into my apartment, and left this.

I ran.

Clutching the picture in my hands, still carrying my bags, I ran.  I left the apartment as quickly as I could and ran to my car.  Once I was locked inside my car, I found the address to the place I knew I needed to go and sped out of the parking lot.

Now, I was here.

Sitting in my car late on a Friday afternoon outside the Cunningham Security offices in downtown Windsor, Wyoming, I was trying to stop panicking.

Who was I kidding? 

I was still panicking. 

Still trying to catch my breath.

Still attempting to control the shaking of my body.

I didn’t know if someone had followed me or if they were watching me, but I knew what I needed to do.  I pulled the keys from the ignition, left everything in the car, got out, and ran to the building. 

When I got to the door, I pulled to open it and found that it was locked. 

Fuck.

I tried again. 

Nothing.

Shit.

I turned around, looking behind me to make sure nobody had followed me. 

I banged on the door.

Then, I noticed a call button off to the side of the door. 

I pressed the button and continued pressing while I kept checking behind me until finally a man appeared at the door.

It wasn’t him.

Damn it.

After he noted, I’m guessing, the panic and terror in my face, the guy opened the door to let me in.

“Are you ok?” he asked, reaching out to grab my arm and pull me inside.

“Levi,” I spat out, desperately.  “Is Levi here?”

He wrapped his hands around my biceps before he explained, “No, he just left, but I can get him back here.  Are you ok?”

I shook my head as my eyes welled with tears and I could still feel the burning in my lungs.  “I…I can just come back tomorrow.”

“Looking as terrified as you do right now, I’m sorry, but that’s not happening. Are you hurt?”

I shook my head.

“Saw you outside looking behind you.  Is someone following you?”

My bottom lip began to tremble before I whispered, “I don’t know.” 

“What’s your name?” he asked.

“Elle.  Elle Blackman.”

The guy jerked his head back and confirmed, “Blackman?  Relation to Wes Blackman.”

“I’m his sister,” I shared. 

Then it hit me.

“Please don’t call him,” I begged.

He nodded and assured me softly, “Ok, I’ll get you Levi.  Have a seat.”

I sat on one of the couches in the waiting room area and watched as the guy who let me in pulled a phone out of his pocket and walked away from where I was sitting.  He was out of earshot, but kept me in sight as he put the phone up to his ear.  Not even two minutes later he walked back over to me and said, “Levi’s three minutes out.”

I nodded.

“Thank you…” I trailed off realizing I didn’t know his name.

“Pierce.”

“Thank you, Pierce.”

Pierce sat next to me, but stayed quiet.  I appreciated the fact that he knew enough to know that I wasn’t real fond of being alone at the moment and, at the same time, respected that I asked specifically to speak with Levi. 

I noted the large clock on the wall behind the reception desk and followed the seconds’ hand.  It made its way around two and a half times before the front door opened.  My eyes shot to the door to see Levi walking in.

His eyes came to mine and I could see the worry in his.

Levi’s gaze shifted to Pierce’s and he jerked his head to the side.  Pierce got up and walked down the hall out of the reception area.

Levi came to me and sat down.

He was close.

Super close.

Close enough that his thigh was pressed up against mine.

“I’m sorry to make you come back here, but…” I managed to get out in a shaky voice before I was cut off.

“No apology needed, Elle.  Tell me why you’re here.”

I swallowed and explained, “I’m here because I believe you are in the business of keeping people safe.”

His body went alert. “Are you unsafe right now?”

I shrugged my shoulders.

Levi stayed silent and relaxed only slightly.

“Somebody was in my apartment,” I finally blurted.

I felt Levi go solid again.  “When?  Did they hurt you?”

I shook my head and answered, “No.  I don’t know who it was because I never saw them.”

His brows drew together.

“Wes and Charley just got back a few days ago from their honeymoon.  I made plans to go out to lunch with Charley today to catch up.  I was out for a couple of hours and when I got back home I realized someone had been there.”

“Did they trash the place?”

“No.  I didn’t stick around long enough to really assess anything.  I saw what they left on my bed and got out of there.”

“What was it?”

The creepiness of it swept over me.  It freaked me out.  I began feeling the shivering of my insides again.  Levi noticed and wrapped his hand around the back of my neck.  His touch instantly settled me. 

“Elle, what was it?” he pressed gently.

“A photo of me.”

Levi’s fingertips tightened ever so slightly on my neck.

“What kind of photo?”

“It was a signed photo from a meet-and-greet event I had done a couple months back.  The only thing is that the person wrote their own note on it.”

“What did they write?”

I couldn’t say it.  Just thinking about it made my body begin to tremble again.  Levi’s hand moved from my neck to my shoulder so that his arm was now wrapped around my back and he pulled me just a bit toward his body.

It felt nice.  

Safe.

“Elle?”

“I will always be watching,” I whispered just before the reality of the situation hit me full force and tears started to fall down my cheeks.

I dropped my head and buried my face in my hands.

“Oh my God,” I mumbled.  “Someone knows where I live, got into my apartment, and was in my bedroom.  What do I do?”

Levi’s voice was soft when he answered with a question of his own, “Is the picture still at your place?”

“In my car.”

“Ok.  I’m going to need you to give me your keys so I can get that.  Then, I’ll need you to give me the address to your place.  I will take care of everything else.”

I brought my eyes to his.  He searched my face and I wondered if he could see just how terrified I was.

I got my answer when he spoke again.

“You were right.  One of the things I do in my business is keep people safe.  Right now, I need you to know that I’m going to keep you safe.”

Hearing those words from him made me relax a bit.  I believed he would do just as he said and keep me unharmed, at least, physically.

“Thank you, Levi.”

He nodded at me and asked, “Are you ok?”

“Not really, but I feel a bit better now than I did when I first got here.  Can I ask you one small favor?”

“Sure.”

“Please don’t tell Wes.”

“I thought you two were close.”

“We are.”

“So why are you keeping this from him?”

“He just got married and just returned from his honeymoon.  He and Charley are getting settled in their new lives together.  I don’t want to mess that up for him.”

Levi gave me a look.

“I think you should tell him.  He’s going to find out eventually and he’ll not be happy to know that his sister kept this from him.”

“Please,” I whispered.  “I will tell him, but not right now.”

He held my eyes a beat before he begrudgingly let out a sigh and nodded.  He stood, offered me his hand, and requested, “Come here.”

I pulled my brows together, but put my hand in his and stood.

Heat spread through my body the second my skin touched his.

Caught off guard by the feeling, my eyes shot to Levi’s.  He had a look that told me he felt what I did.

Levi quickly recovered and offered an explanation, “Here’s what’s going to happen.  You’re going to give me your keys so I can run out to your car and grab the photo.  Then, I’m going to get one of the guys working on figuring out anything they can about that photo and possibly who put it there.  You are also going to give me your address so I can get that to Trent.  He’s going to look into any security footage from your apartment building.  Once I get that in motion, I’m going to take you to your place.  You’ll sit in my truck with the doors locked until I do a sweep of your space.  When I confirm that all is good, I’ll come out and get you.  You can pack up some stuff that you’ll need for the next few days.  After, I’m going to take you back to my place where you are going to stay until I know what I’m dealing with.”

My eyes nearly popped out of my head.

“I’m sorry…what?”

Levi didn’t answer me.  He held out his hand and said, “Keys, sunshine.”

Sunshine?

I had no immediate response so I gave him my keys.

“Wait here, I’ll be right back.”

Levi walked outside and I watched as he approached my car.  Once he made it there, I turned around and began to think about everything he just said to me.  Mostly, I was focusing on the fact that he said I was going to be staying at his place until further notice.  This was going to be a problem for me.

I should give a little back story here.

I’m overly attracted to Levi. 

In a very serious way.

I met him a couple months ago when he was providing security detail for Charley’s best friend, Emme.  Back then, Emme’s ex-boyfriend was stalking her and Zane, her fiancée and Levi’s younger brother, insisted on her having round-the-clock, one-on-one coverage whenever he was unable to be with her.  The day I met Levi was the day he was providing coverage to Emme when we were at Wes and Charley’s house.  The minute I saw him, I felt my knees get weak.

He was beautiful.  Dark hair, dark blue eyes, a strong jaw, full lips and, from what I could see, an impeccable body.

Everyone around us felt the sparks between us, too.  I denied it at the time, but they could all see right through me.

I talked with Levi later in the day, but before there was even an opportunity for something to develop between us, my brother put a stop to it.  I had just met Levi that day and Wes was already taking his role as big brother way too seriously.  His protectiveness was appreciated to a certain degree, but thinking he could tell me who to date was something I wasn’t prepared to tolerate.  Unfortunately, even though I refused to allow Wes to stand between us, Levi wouldn’t budge.

I saw him again not long after that one night at Lou’s and, while he was friendly enough, he wasn’t acting very interested.  I knew he felt attracted to me, but he sighted his respect for my brother as the reason to not pursue anything.  What frustrated me was that I couldn’t possibly come up with any good explanation as to why Wes was so against it.

As I let this disappointment filter through me I heard the door open.  I turned back around to find Levi carrying not only the photo, but also my purse and the bag from the drug store with my lip balm haul.

He walked over to stand about two feet in front of me and handed me my purse and the lip balm.  As I took them from him his eyes dropped to my lips.  He assessed them a minute before he brought his eyes back to mine and I noticed the heat swirling in them.  He held the picture up so the back of it was facing me and informed me, “Need your address so I can get that to Trent and this photo to Pierce.  Then we’ll leave.”

Given the intense scrutiny my mouth had just been under I couldn’t manage to speak, so I simply nodded, pulled my license out of my purse, and handed it to him.

Levi walked off.

I decided I needed lip moisturizer.

I walked over to sit on the couch, dug through my purse, and pulled out the strawberry tube.  After applying it, I tossed it back in my purse, and tried to come up with a way to tell Levi what I thought of his plan.

A few minutes later, he reappeared.

“Ready?” he asked.

I stood and said, “Um, Levi?”

“Yeah?”

“I appreciate what you are willing to do here, but I can drive myself home and pack a bag.  I can just check into a hotel for a few days until you have time to figure out what’s going on.”

“Elle?” he responded.

“Yeah?”

“That’s not happening.”

“Levi —” I got out before he cut me off by positioning himself within inches of me.

“It’s. Not. Happening.  You can fight me, but you aren’t going to win.  You came here because you feared for your safety.  I talked to Pierce.  He just showed me the footage from outside the building when you got here.  You were terrified, Elle.  I’m not allowing you to go back to your place alone where someone managed to break in not more than a few hours ago and could then possibly follow you to a hotel where you’d also be alone.  I’m taking you to your place so you can pack up some of your things and then you’re staying at my place until I figure out what’s happening.”

“It’s a Friday night.  You had already left for the day when I got here.  I don’t want to put you out or inconvenience you.”

“Sunshine, I’d hardly consider you staying at my place an inconvenience.  You aren’t putting me out and if you want to fight me on this, then I’m going to be forced to call Wes to let him know what’s going on.  If you’re with me right now, I can keep you safe.  If you aren’t and I don’t know yet what I’m dealing with, I can’t keep you safe.”

I took in a deep breath and let it out.

“Ok,” I agreed. “But just to say, if you think Wes wasn’t happy before when nothing was going on between us, I can assure you he’s not going to be happy to find out I’ve been staying at your place.”

“Don’t really give a shit.”

I jerked my head back.

“Elle, your brother has an issue with us having a romantic relationship.  I don’t believe he has a reason to be against it, but I respect his position.  Wes is not going to have a problem with me doing what I’ve got to do to keep you safe.  And if he does, like I said, I don’t give a shit.  I’m making it my job to see to it that you remain unharmed.  Got it?”

I nodded.

With that, Levi and I walked out of the Cunningham Security offices and over to his truck.  He stayed close to my side the entire walk there and made sure I was safe inside before he rounded the front and got in on the other side.  Then, he took me to my place so I could pack up some of my things. 

Someone had it out for me.  I didn’t know who and I was certainly worried, but I decided to look on the bright side.  I was sitting in Levi’s truck after he had called me sunshine twice, breathing in the manly scent of him, while he did what he promised by taking me to his place.