Chapter Nine

Rebekah

By the end of the week, two things were blaringly obvious. One, I was either going crazy or someone was definitely stalking me now—more than a feeling and someone going through my locker, now my truck had been broken in to and I’d found fresh footprints in the mud outside my bedroom window. But nothing had been stolen and no harm had come of it, so I wasn’t sure if I should report it or what the cops could do even if I did.

And two, I had a crush on my tenant. A big crush.

Not that one thing had anything to do with the other, but having a big, strong guy living in our garage apartment did make me feel just a tad bit safer at night . . . even if it did make sleeping a little more difficult for other reasons. God, the man made it hard to concentrate. He conveniently seemed to always be around, ready to lend a hand if I needed it or just to talk, and he made me laugh more than I had in ages.

And the way he was with my grandfather? He seemed almost perfect, and I knew better. But, ignoring my own better judgment, I let him talk me into dinner. Not a date exactly, but when he found out that Friday was my first night off in basically forever, he insisted on celebrating by buying me a steak, and he played dirty by getting my granddad on board.

“You’re still a young woman,” Grandpa said when we were alone late Friday afternoon. “You need to go out and have some fun once in a while. You can’t sit around and waste a perfectly good Friday night with an old man like me when you have a nice looking young man ready to court you.”

I felt myself blush. “He’s taking me to dinner, not courting me, Grandpa.”

“I may be old, Rebekah Anne, but I doubt things have changed that much. The man is smitten with you and he is definitely courting you, sweetheart. Enjoy it.”

“Pfft.”

He waved me off, dismissing my denial. “Go pretty yourself up for the young man. Make him sweat a little.”

I shook my head and made my way to shower and dress, but I couldn’t help the way his words rolled around in my brain. Smitten. Courting. Such old-fashioned terms, but they still made my heart race. Could this possibly be more than dinner? Could Tanner possibly be more than a tenant here temporarily? I’d do good not to hope for too much. The man had too good to be true written all over him in big, fat, bold blinking neon letters.

Still, I took extra time showering and shaving and doing my hair and makeup. Then I obsessed a little bit over what to wear. I was vertically challenged, so I only had a few things that I thought looked really good on me, so the question was, what kind of signals did I want to send? Friendly, celebrating my night off casual? Flirty and charming with a touch of cute? Pull out all the stops sexy, you’re-getting-laid-tonight-Tanner?

In the end, I opted for friendly with a touch of flirty, hoping that if my grandfather was right, and Tanner had any more-than-friendly feelings, he might find it sexy. I tugged on my favorite jeans and a clingy baby blue blouse, and just as I was strapping on my heels, I heard his knock. I let Grandpa get it as I swiped on some lipstick and a dab of perfume.

I took a breath and looked at myself in the mirror. “Here goes nothing.”

I strode into the living room like I walked around looking like this all the time and picked up my purse. I pecked Grandpa on the cheek. “See you later.” I waved at Mrs. Clancy, who was already engrossed in their episode of CSI. “Bye, Mrs. Clancy.”

“Bye, dear.” She didn’t even glance away from the television.

Grandpa winked at me. “Have fun, sweetheart.”

“Okay.” I rose and finally faced Tanner, who was still standing by the front door. “Hey . . .” I froze when I saw the way he was staring.

He ran a hand over his head. “Wow. You look . . . you look amazing.”

Grandpa cleared his throat behind me, but I ignored him. “Thank you. So do you.” And he did. The man cleaned up nice in khaki cargo pants, a charcoal gray button-down, and boots.

He held open the door. “Ready?”

“Ready.”

I stepped out as he said goodbye to my granddad and he followed me outside, where he led me to his truck and opened the passenger door for me. I climbed inside and he closed the door, encasing me in with his scent.

I smiled over at him as he got in. “Hungry?”

“Yes. I’ve hardly eaten all day.”

“Well, if I remember right, this place has the best steaks. I hope it still does.”

I nodded and he started driving, chatting me up and easing my nerves as he drove, though if I didn’t know better, I would’ve sworn he kept his attention always riveted all around us at all times. I guess that was the security guard in him, always on alert.

I peeked over at his strong profile. “I really appreciate how good you are with my grandfather,” I admitted. “Thank you for spending time with him. I know he enjoys it.”

He shot me a quick, smiling glance. “I enjoy spending time with him, too. He’s a cool guy.”

My heart melted just a little as tears filled my eyes. “Yeah, he’s the best.” I bit my lip and turned my face down to my lap. “He’s getting weaker.”

“I’d kind of noticed that,” he mumbled. “I’m sorry.”

I nodded, overcome. I knew this was coming, but somehow, that didn’t make it any easier. My grandfather was dying and there wasn’t one damn thing I could do about it other than love him and make him as comfortable as possible for whatever time he had left.

Suddenly, Tanner’s big, warm hand was cupped over mine. “What’s the prognosis?”

I didn’t move my hand from under his, selfishly letting him comfort me. “Not good. He’s already lived longer than they said he would.”

“Damn, Rebekah. I don’t know what to say.” He brushed his thumb along the back of my hand in a soothing motion and it felt entirely too intimate and entirely too good.

“There’s nothing to say.” I blinked to clear my eyes and looked up. “But thanks for taking me out tonight. I needed a break.”

He smiled. “My pleasure.”

The restaurant was beautiful, the food was delicious, and the company was wonderful. I’d only known Tanner a week, but I could easily see myself dating him . . . falling for him . . . and as he stared at me across the candlelit table, sweet smile in place, wine flowing freely through my system, the idea was suddenly a lot less scary.

“What’s your last name?” I blurted.

His eyes shuttered just a fraction, but quickly cleared. “Richardson.”

“And you do security.”

“Among other things,” he hedged.

I sipped my wine. “So mysterious. What else do you do, Tanner Richardson?” I asked in my most sultry voice, though I was terribly out of practice.

His gaze grew dark and lusty. “I enjoy the company of beautiful women.”

I choked on my drink. “Wow. You are a hopeless flirt, aren’t you?” I smiled at him, but he wasn’t smiling back.

He shrugged and leaned forward, trapping one of my hands underneath his on the table. “In this case, I’m just speaking the truth.” He tilted his head. “Does that make you uncomfortable?”

I opened my mouth, closed it, met his gaze head-on. “A little bit,” I finally admitted.

“Why is that?”

“Because.” I drew my hand back and picked up my wine for another sip of liquid courage. “Look at you then look at me. It doesn’t compute.”

His frown was fast and fierce. “What the hell are you talking about? You’re stunning. Any man would be lucky to have you.”

I gaped. “No—”

“You care to wager on that?”

Now I frowned. “Wager?”

“Yes.”

“How . . .? What are you talking about?”

He sat forward and plucked up my wine glass for a sip of his own, making sure to put his lips where mine had just been, making me hot all over. He carefully placed my glass back in front of me before looking me in the eye again. “Here’s the wager . . . you go sit at the bar by yourself.” He tilted his head toward the restaurant bar area. “I’ll bet you that a man hits on you within say, fifteen minutes tops.”

“No way.”

“Yes way.”

“Okay, fine.” I sat back, encouraged by my third glass of wine. “What if that doesn’t happen? What do I win?”

“What do you want?”

A hundred sexy things filtered through my brain in a rush. I blinked and flushed when his smirk told me he knew exactly what I was thinking. “Your muscles,” I finally blurted.

His brows lifted. “Excuse me?”

I licked my lips. “Um . . . yeah.” My body suddenly felt like it was on fire. “Let me explain that . . . ever since my grandmother died, I’ve been meaning to plant a tree in her memory, but I’m not strong enough and Grandpa can’t help me obviously, but I’d really love to get that done, so . . . your muscles.” I jerked up my wine and took a slug.

“Right. I can handle that. Not that you’ll win.”

I rolled my eyes. “Yeah, okay, Mr. Confident. What if you win? What do you want?”

His gaze dipped to my lips then tracked back up in a slow perusal of my face, as if he was memorizing every feature. “A kiss.”

My throat went dry as we stared at each other. “A . . . a kiss?”

He nodded.

“You’re serious?”

“Seems fair.”

My stomach began to churn. Was he playing me? Something in me said no . . . or maybe didn’t care. “Fine.” I stood and ran my hands down my thighs, enjoying the way his eyes followed the motion. “You’re on.” I spun to head to the bar, but peeked at him over my shoulder, catching him staring at my ass. I waited until he lifted his gaze to mine. “Hope you’re ready for a workout. It’s gonna be a big tree.” And with that, I sauntered off, making sure to sway my hips more than usual just because I knew he was looking and loving the fact that he was.

I moved to the farthest end of the bar and climbed up onto a bar stool, smiling at the bartender. I ordered yet another glass of wine and settled in to wait out my requisite fifteen minutes. I sipped, twirled the stem, licked my lips, and glanced around. Not a soul in sight. This was going to be an easy win. I shot him a smirk and a wave. He waved back, just as cocky.

I shook my head and turned back to my drink. I took another sip, but after a couple of minutes, I got bored. What in the world had Tanner been talking about? On a good day I could be cute, but stunning? Wow. Just . . . wow. I felt my face heat just thinking about it, so I pulled out my cell phone to Google types of trees to keep myself busy.

Just as I had magnolia in the search bar, I felt a shadow fall over me. I glanced at the clock on my phone and smiled. Thirteen minutes.

“Giving up so—?” I lifted my head and the words fell from my mouth as an older, distinguished looking man in a suit slid onto the stool next to me and offered me a smile as he ordered a shot.

“Hello.” His voice was deep and slid along my skin like butter. He tilted his head toward my glass. “Can I buy you another drink?”

“I . . .” I felt Tanner’s eyes burning holes into my back. I ignored him. “Can I ask you a question first?”

The man accepted his drink. “Sure.”

“Do you know a man named Tanner Richardson?”

“Can’t say that I do.” He threw back his shot in one smooth swallow and dropped the glass to the bar. “Why? Should I?”

“Nope.”

“So . . .” He glanced down at my wine. “Would you like another?”

I bit my lip. Was this man hitting on me? It’d been a while, but it kinda felt like it. But, there was a lot riding on this bet. I’d better be sure. “I’d like that.” I smiled up at him. “Thank you.”

He waved down the bartender and ordered me another glass of wine and a beer for himself. He chatted me up while we drank, and overall, I found him to be very nice. His name was Thomas, he was passing through town on his way to Mobile for work. He did some kind of IT work. He was married with a couple of kids. He showed me their photos. Nothing screamed that he was hitting on me. Just a nice guy passing the time. I was so winning this bet.

And then I felt his hand on my knee.

I shot a horrified glance down as he slid his palm up my thigh and leaned in to whisper in my ear. “Come back to my hotel with me?”

I scrambled off the bar stool so fast, it toppled and I nearly fell, but a pair of strong arms caught me. I flailed, fighting them off, but I recognized Tanner’s scent right away.

“Not tonight, buddy,” I heard him murmur before drawing me away and out of the restaurant under the protection of his embrace.

“Jesus. What a jerk,” I fumed once we were out in the parking lot. I glared up at Tanner from my seat in the truck. “He was married!”

He shrugged. “It happens.”

I gaped. “Wha . . .” I waited until he rounded and slid in to his seat. “Wait a second. Are you married?”

This made him chuckle. “No. Absolutely not.”

I was feeling a bit discombobulated now. I wasn’t naïve. I’d experienced more in my life than most and I worked in a casino, for crying out loud, but something about that guy at the bar made me feel . . . dirty.

I glanced over at Tanner’s profile as he started the truck. “I’ll never understand people.”

He shifted to face me. “I’m sorry, Rebekah. I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable. I hope you know I would’ve never let that get out of hand. Ever. The minute he touched you, game over.”

I could see it all over his face, in his body language. He meant it. He wouldn’t have let anything happen to me. I nodded and dropped my gaze to my hands, which were knotted in my lap.

My heart leapt to my throat when he brushed the hair back from my cheek so he could see my face, his fingertips caressing my flesh. “So, pretty lady, what do you say?” He waited until I lifted my head and met his gaze. “I think I won that bet fair and square.”