Chapter Eight
A steely hand gripped Lindsey’s arm and roughly yanked her back.
“Are you all right?” Shock and a sick feeling at what almost happened etched deep lines on Nick’s face.
“Y—Yes. I’m sorry.” Lindsey pushed her hair out of her face and drew in a shuddering breath. “I think someone pushed me.”
“Are you sure you’re okay?” he insisted. “You nearly became a hood ornament for that bus.”
It amazed Lindsey that all around them people continued to move about, totally unaware of the disaster that nearly occurred. She might as well have been invisible to them.
“Answer me, damn it.” He ran his gaze over every inch of her. “Are you hurt?”
“No. I’m fine.” She drew a shaky breath. “But I think I need to sit down somewhere.” Her eyes were wide. “I know this sounds crazy, but I swear I felt someone’s hand on my back. Nick, I think someone pushed me.”
His jaw muscle clenched. “Not so crazy. Someone called my name, but I think it was deliberate, to distract me from you. I didn’t see anyone I know, and no one came near me. Come on. Let’s sit over here.”
He led her to a covered VIA bus stop and sat her gently on the bench. Her face was white and strained, and her hands still trembled as she lifted the hem of her skirt to assess the damage. A large, ugly scrape below her knee was slowly oozing blood.
Nick cursed steadily under his breath. He took out his handkerchief and brushed off her leg as tenderly and gently as he could. The wound needed cleaning, and she would have a hell of a bruise.
“All right,” he told her. “We’re going to sit here for a few minutes, and then we’re going to walk slowly back to your building. It’s my own damn fault. I’m not usually distracted like that. I never should have let go of you, and you can bet that’s the only time it’s going to happen.”
They sat on the bench for a few moments, Nick close to her, eyes scanning the people moving past.
“Okay.” She let out another long breath. “I think I’m okay now. Let’s get away from here.”
“Are you sure?” He ran a critical eye over her. “Your color’s better, but you still look like you’re in shock. I think we should take a cab.”
“For just a couple of blocks?” She shook her head. “I don’t think so. We’ll just walk slowly.”
Nick kept a firm grip on her arm as they headed back to the office, his eyes constantly checking the crowd. She gritted her teeth against the sharp pain slashing through her knee, unwilling to admit just how much it hurt.
“I need to clean that knee,” he told her as soon as they were back in her apartment.
“It’s fine,” she insisted. “I’ll just wash it off.”
“Damn it, Lindsey, you’ve got all kinds of dirt in it.” He blew out a breath of frustration. “Quit being so hardheaded and let me take care of it. Or do you want me to take you to the emergency room?”
She looked at the wound and had to admit it was a lot nastier than she’d thought.
“Lie down on your bed,” Nick ordered. “It will be easier to clean the scrape that way. Besides, you look like you’ll fall down otherwise.”
She realized he was right. The ordeal had caught up with her, the adrenaline high was crashing, and her legs were about to give out on her. On top of that, the pain seemed to be getting worse. She did as he told her, thankful to lie back against her pillows.
I wish I was lying on this bed with him for some other reason than first aid.
As soon as the thought entered her brain, she ruthlessly suppressed it. What the hell was wrong with her? She’d known this man for less than seventy-two hours, and she was having all kinds of inappropriate thoughts about him. Inappropriate because she was a client of his, and because she had sworn off men. Maybe this was all a big mistake, because Nick Vanetta, just by being in the same room with her, was playing hell with her hormones. Every hour they were together, her unwanted attraction to him grew and intensified.
Damn. Everything he did just increased the attraction she felt for him. Not good. Not good at all. Why couldn’t he be one of those rude men who just did his job and nothing else?
Nick brought her two aspirins and a glass of water, helping her to sit up while she took them. Then he rummaged through her bathroom, found some first aid supplies and a washcloth, and carried them back to the bedroom. With great care and the utmost gentleness, he cleaned and treated her leg. But she noticed a fine tension in his body and he kept clenching his jaw so hard a muscle twitched in his cheek.
“What in the world is the matter with you?” she finally asked. “I said I was sorry I got careless.”
“God damn it.” The words exploded from his mouth. Then he drew in a deep breath and let it out very slowly. “Don’t you understand? This was my fault, not yours. I’m supposed to be protecting you. Fine protection I am.” He shook his head. “Shit.”
“Nick, it was an accident.” Or maybe not.
He drew a deep breath, let it out slowly. “This was no accident, Lindsey. You could have been killed because I wasn’t paying attention. Because someone called out my name. And I don’t know if whoever this is has someone working with him or was just clever enough to distract me and push you into the street.”
She struggled to sit up. “I was the one not paying attention. Please don’t keep blaming yourself. I should have been more alert, too.”
“Be as alert as you want, but it’s still my job to keep you safe. I don’t appear to be doing it very well. I’ve been in the office too long. Maybe I’ve lost my edge. God fucking damn.”
“Nick—”
He shook his head. “Leave it, Lindsey. It was my fault, and I’ll make it right. Stand up and tell me how the leg feels.”
When she put her weight on both feet, she wanted to tell him it felt like crap, but that was the last thing he needed to hear. “It’s okay. Sore, but I can handle it.”
“Tonight we’ll put some ice on it. At the moment, I need to make some phone calls. Among other things, I want some backup around us. In most situations, I can take care of you completely. But if this guy is escalating and doing the kinds of things that happened today, it’s stupid not to have reinforcements.” He pulled out his cell phone and punched a number on speed dial, then gave her a crooked grin. “I’ll get someone to bring us some food, too. We sorta missed lunch.”
“I don’t think I can eat,” she protested. “My stomach is too tied up in knots.”
“You need something,” he objected. “I saw some soup in your cupboards. Can you handle that?”
“I think so.” She started to get up, but he forced her back down again.
“Rest. Let the aspirins work. I can heat up a can of soup.”
While he fixed lunch, he made several calls on his cell. Lindsey strained to hear what he was saying, but all that came through was the soothing murmur of his low voice. Finally, she heard him call her to come to the table and she limped out of the bedroom. He had a bowl of soup set out with crackers and sat with her while she ate slowly. The tension in her body eased as the hot liquid worked its way through her system. She hadn’t thought she could finish all of her lunch, but surprisingly, when she looked, the bowl was empty.
“Good girl.” Nick rinsed the bowl and stuck it in the dishwasher. “We’ll do better at dinner. I have some people on the way here. They’ll come directly into the apartment because I want to keep them away from your office.” He let his gaze roam over her, assessing her. “Are you sure you’re in shape to go back to work?”
“I have to.” She raked her fingers through her hair. The aspirin had taken the edge off the pain, and the soup had given her some strength. “There are things I have to take care of. Anyway, it’ll be good for me. It’ll take my mind off what’s happening.”
“All right. But I’ll check on you periodically. And don’t say anything to your office staff about this,” he cautioned. “I want to contain it until I feel I have a better handle on things.”
“Sure. I understand. Whatever you say.” She forced a smile. “You won’t get any argument from me.”
In the bathroom, she straightened her hair and makeup, thinking nothing would help much today, but at least it made her feel a little better. Finally, she put on a longer skirt, fuller, with softer material that hid her injury and wouldn’t be rough on her skin.
Back in her office, she forced herself to go pick up the sketches she’d left, trying to wipe the incident with the bus out of her mind. But her brain kept wandering, unbidden, back to that terrifying moment. She could still feel the pressure of a hand against her back, the brush of the bus against her knee. Shivers chased themselves along her spine.
Luckily, she had a light appointment schedule for the afternoon, because she felt on the ragged edge of collapse. She had no idea how she’d handle a lot of people right now. Even so, the hours seemed endless. Her knee kept stiffening up on her, and she had to stop and flex it every so often. She needed more aspirin, too, but she didn’t want to walk to get it and she felt ridiculous bothering anyone. If she could make it to the end of the day, she could lie down again.
****
Nick spent the afternoon making phone calls, asking questions, and talking to Reno about the situation. His partner agreed with Nick’s assessment that the stalker’s tactics were escalating. That meant the game plan needed to be changed. The two men decided which agents would be tapped as backup, and Reno said he’d take care of it.
Nick was angrier with himself than he’d been in a long time. Falling for an old, stupid, amateur trick like the one today violated a hard and fast rule of private security—never, ever take your attention away from the client. Never lose your concentration on the surroundings. He had done both. It was a wonder Lindsey hadn’t fallen under the bus and a greater wonder she hadn’t fired him. This was a dumb rookie mistake.
He quietly checked on her throughout the afternoon, poking his head apologetically into the office, giving her a reassuring smile. When the men he’d asked for arrived, he spent a lot of time giving them an overview of both the building and the situation and deciding who would take which assignment. He’d tapped Tony Sullivan, Reno’s brother, to lead the support team. They were in the apartment going over details when he heard Lindsey shout.
“Nick? Nick, come here right away. Hurry.”
The fear in her voice had a fist closing around his heart and sent him barreling into her office, Tony right on his heels.
Lindsey stood at her desk, not moving, staring at her computer. She was shaking so badly she had to hang onto the desk. Nick crossed the distance in three quick strides. On her screen was a shot of her at the corner today nearly being sucked under the bus, with Nick yanking her to safety. Across the bottom were the words, “Close, wasn’t it? Remember, bitch. I’m watching you.”
“It’s okay, Lindsey,” he soothed, his hands gentle on her shoulders. “I’ve got it.”
Fucking son of a bitch.
Lindsey Ferrell sure didn’t seem the type to generate this kind of rage in someone. He was so angry, if he got his hands on whoever this was, he might strangle him. Clenching his jaw, Nick pulled himself together to focus on what was needed. He was an expert at this. That was why people hired him, and he’d already screwed up once today. He didn’t plan for that to happen again. He’d take all the anger at himself and direct it at whoever was doing this.
“It’s okay, Lindsey. It’s just another email. We’ll identify the source and see wat we can do about blocking it on your computer.”
She leaned back against him, her body fragile beneath his touch. “I trust you to do this, Nick.”
Well, he damn well better deserve that trust. He stroked her shoulders for a moment, but such close contact with her body made his own behave in a totally inappropriate manner. Maybe he’d need to have a stern talk with is cock as well as with himself. He needed to stop imagining what it would feel like to bury himself in her soft, sweet flesh and—
Stop it, you asshole. Do your job.
“Let’s move you out of the way,” he told her in a soft, soothing voice.
And away from the temptation to take you to bed instead of figuring out what was going on here.
In all the years he’d been in this business, he’d never felt such strong temptation where a client was concerned. Not even with the women he took to bed. When he was alone, he’d give both his heads—big and little—a stern talking to.
He guided her over to a chair where she stretched out her injured leg. Just looking at it stoked his anger, and he clenched his fists to get himself under control. God, he was just losing it all over the place. Then he printed out two copies of the email as he’d done with the previous one. He handed one to the Guardian agent who was already speaking into his cell phone in low tones.
“Th-There was someone there today, Nick.” Her voice shook. “Look how close the person was who took this picture.”
“Don’t worry.” His voice was steady and calming, even as he kept wanting to kick his own ass for making a rookie mistake. “We’re surrounding you with the best.” He indicated the man who’d come into the office with him. “This is Tony Sullivan, Reno’s brother. He’s going to be my personal backup on this.”
Tony nodded. “Miss Ferrell.”
She gave him a shaky smile. “The big brass, huh?
Tony winked. “Nah, we let Reno think that’s him.” He studied the photo. “Looks like whoever pushed you moved back with his camera. Which means today’s episode wasn’t necessarily meant to kill.”
“It came damn close to it,” Nick growled. “Come on, Lindsey. Let’s get you out of the office. Tony, get everyone back up here and get hold of our IT guy.”
“Already done. You take care of the lady.”
Nick led her into the apartment and coaxed her to the couch. He blotted her tears with his handkerchief, then gave her the square of white linen to hold.
“I’ll be right back.” He returned with a plastic baggy filled with ice cubes, a towel, and more aspirin and water. “Here, take these.”
She swallowed them down. “I think everything’s starting to ache now,” she apologized, lying back on the couch.
“I’m not surprised.” A muscle twitched in his cheek. “Here.” He lifted the edge of her skirt with the same gentleness he’d used earlier, placed the towel over her injury and the ice cubes on top of that. “Keep this on there. It looks swollen, and you were limping. Are you okay by yourself here for a little bit while I take care of some things?”
She nodded, blinking back a fresh round of tears. “Sorry. I seem to be a leaky faucet today. I want you to know this is not who I am at all.”
Nick swore softly and touched her cheek with the tips of his fingers. “I didn’t think so. I can feel your strength, Linds, but today would make even a grown man weep.” He couldn’t stop himself from lightly stroking her cheek. “Okay. Just hang tight here and give me a few minutes.”
He noticed her looking over his shoulder and turned. Tony had entered and stood a discreet distance away.
Nick waved him forward, then turned back to Lindsey. “Like I said earlier, Tony’s going to be the number two man on this job. I need an extra pair of eyes and hands, and these are the best available. Most of the time, you won’t even know he’s around.”
“Thank you so much,” she told them, looking from one to the other. “I appreciate everything you’re all doing.”
Like nearly getting you killed. Nick would never forgive himself for that.
“Tony and I are going back into the office, Lindsey. He’s going to do some security work on your computer, and I’m going to see what Guardian has come up with. I also want to call Detective McCune, just to let him know what happened and shoot him a copy of the email. I’ll be in the next room, okay? You can holler if you need me.”
She nodded. “I’ll be fine. You do what you have to.”
“Good girl.” He smiled, his heart nearly breaking at the sight of her, and went back into her office.
****
The aspirins soothed Lindsey a little, and her knee throbbed less with the ice on it. She closed her eyes, resting her head on the soft pillows of the couch, and tried to make herself relax. No good. The image of that picture kept flashing across her mind. She tried to think of everyone she knew, everyone she came in contact with, anyone who could hate her so much they’d do something this vicious. Who could want to destroy her life like this? What had she ever done to anyone to make him or her take such vicious actions?
Out of nowhere a nasty thought struck her. Did this person somehow have something to do with her mother’s sudden heart attack? No, that would really be reaching. But she had yet to receive a satisfactory explanation, so was the idea really so farfetched? Maybe she could get Nick or one of his men to question the people at the nursing home again.
She rubbed her forehead, trying to ease away the tension, and felt herself drifting off.
A soft touch on her arm roused her.
“I’ve talked to McCune.” Nick knelt beside the couch. “He was going to come by and take a report, but I gave him all the information he’d need over the telephone. There still isn’t much he can do, but at least now he knows we’re dealing with more than a harmless prankster.”
Lindsey shuddered. “We certainly are.”
“Whoever this is has planted a virus to mask his own address with one from your address book,” he went on. “Tony will take care of it and put in some new security settings. They’ll block out all email attachments, as well as emails from any source not already in your address book. It may be inconvenient for a while, but I don’t want you opening any more attachments like that last one.” His gaze scanned her face. “Can you sit up?”
“Yes.” She gave him a lopsided grin and rose slowly to a sitting position, pushing the ice aside. “If I have to.”
Nick helped her adjust her position so she was more comfortable. “I had to decide what the best option would be for tonight. All things considered, I don’t think it’s a good idea for you to go to the ranch. Ruben and Mary would wonder why you’re limping, and you’d have to go through the hassle of explaining everything to them.”
“Oh, Lord.” She rubbed her face. “I didn’t think of that.”
“I don’t think staying here is so great, either, but it’s the better choice of the two. We’re shutting down everything in the office, machines and all, for the night. Guardian will monitor the alarm, which I put on high security alert. We’ll keep all the drapes closed and the lights low. Tony will be in charge of external surveillance along with a couple of other guys on night duty.”
Her eyes widened in terror. “You think he’ll come here, whoever this is?”
“No.” He shook his head. “I don’t think anything else will happen tonight. He’s had his fun for the day. But just in case he’s hanging around somewhere with his camera, we don’t need to take any more chances.”
“You’re right about not going to the ranch,” she agreed. “Ruben would take one look at me and know something else had happened. He’d be out in his truck with his shotgun shooting anyone who even looked suspicious.” She smiled ruefully. “I think he’s a little overprotective of me.”
“Unlike me, who nearly got you killed today,” Nick said roughly.
“Please don’t keep beating yourself up about that. Everything happened so fast. How could you have expected it?”
“Lindsey, I’ve built my reputation on being the best in the business. When we started out, private security was the bulk of what I did. Even as a neophyte I never let anything like this happen. And believe me, it won’t happen again.”
She nibbled on her lower lip. “I only have the one bedroom here, though.”
He thumped a cushion on the couch. “I’ve slept on a lot worse than this,” he teased. “I’ll be fine. Don’t worry about it.” When she didn’t make a move to get up, he cocked his head. “What? Another problem?”
“I know you’ll think this is way out in left field, but something just occurred to me.”
He crouched down in front of her. “Right now nothing is too wild, so let’s have it.”
When she finished telling him about her mother’s heart attack, he frowned. “And no one could give you a reason? There hadn’t been any unusual cardiac activity prior to it? She was stable?”
Lindsey nodded. “What if whoever is doing this to me somehow did something to my mother? Scared her, or something, so badly she had the attack?”
“I agreed it’s reaching, but I can’t rule anything out. While we’re eating, tell me everything about the nursing home, and Guardian will send someone to sniff things out.”
“Thank you so much.” Tears flooded her eyes again, and without realizing it, she leaned forward, put her arms around his neck, and hugged him.
Heat flooded her at the intimate contact, and Nick’s body tensed. They both froze, as if the wrong button had been pushed. The atmosphere between them had definitely changed.
Lindsey snatched her arms back, trying to pretend her impulsive action hadn’t happened, but they both knew it had.
Nick rose slowly, avoiding her eyes, and helped her to her feet. “It’s okay. Really. Now I think you need a good hot shower, and then I’m going to clean that knee again. Tony is bringing us some Chinese food. I hope that’s okay.”
“You sent your partner’s brother for carryout?” She was incredulous.
“He’ll eat while he’s there so it’s no big deal.” Nick grinned. “He has to eat anyway and walk back here, so carrying a little sack shouldn’t exert him too much. Go take your shower. I’ll take one after you, so we can eat when he gets back.”
In the bathroom, she stripped off her clothes and tossed them in the hamper. She’d built the apartment when she’d decided she needed a place to stay for those nights she worked late in town. Leasing the unit next door and turning it into a small apartment turned out to be a smart choice. And she’d allowed herself a lot of luxuries. One of her treats was an overlarge freestanding shower with glass blocks on two sides and a wide door on the third. Showerheads were built into multiple locations along the wall.
She turned the water on as hot as she could stand it and let it pummel her body with its jets, easing the soreness in her muscles. But the one thing it couldn’t do was wash away the feel of Nick when she’d hugged him or the clean scent of his cologne that teased at her nose.
Closing her eyes, she leaned back against the tiled wall of the shower and lathered her breasts. It was so easy to imagine Nick’s hands touching her as she cupped her breasts, squeezing the flesh, hefting their fullness. She pinched her nipples with her fingers, imagining they were Nick’s fingers. Imagining him tugging on them before putting his mouth to them and lightly biting each one.
Heat with the force of a thunderbolt streaked right to her core, setting up little spasms in the walls of her sex. The more she tormented her nipples, the more intense the internal spasms. She wanted him inside her in a way she’d never craved another man, his cock filling her, his mouth on her everywhere.
She slid her soap-slicked hand down past her abdomen to the folds of her sex, easing one finger into the slit, and—
She jerked her hand back, breathing hard.
Stupid, stupid, stupid.
Nick Vanetta would never be interested in her that way. Imagining it would only complicate an already dangerous problem.
I should wash my brain while I’m washing my body and hope to fill it with nothing but common sense.
But when she turned off the water and reached for a towel, the pulse in her sex still thrummed with need and her nipples still ached. It was going to be a damn long night.
****
“Special delivery.”
Nick answered Tony’s knock and took the paper sack from him. “Thanks.”
“Do I get a tip?”
“Yeah. Here’s a tip,” Nick said gloomily. “Take better care of your clients than I seem to do.”
“I think the self-flagellation’s getting a little heavy,” Tony said. “We need to focus on what to do from here on in. Besides, there’s a hell of a big difference between sending weird messages and trying to kill someone. I looked at the file you gave me. There’s no indication of any threat to harm at all.”
“Except someone tried to throw her under a bus today,” Nick reminded him, still disgusted with himself.
“Yeah, right. I’ll let you know if we find anything. Meanwhile, your dinner’s getting cold.”
Nick closed the door after Tony, set the alarm, and leaned against the kitchen counter. The one thing he hadn’t discussed with his friend was his feelings for Lindsey. He was past the point of denying they were far more complicated than he wanted to acknowledge.
She was so totally different than the women he usually dated. With eyes like liquid pools of melted chocolate and hair like newly spun dark silk, this softly rounded package of dynamite was stealing his heart one tiny piece at a time. How had it happened so fast? How was it possible to want someone so desperately in so little time?
He shook his head. She was a client, for God’s sake, and a frightened one at that. He would never take advantage of her in such a vulnerable state. Except he wanted her, all of her, in a way he’d never wanted anything or anyone else in his life.
Sighing, he lined the takeout cartons up on the counter and went to get Lindsey. This was liable to be a very long night.