Chapter 6
If Avery finds out about this I’ll be out on the street or doing security on Easter Island, but I don’t care.
Sam just couldn’t make herself care. Not when the long-suppressed dream of a love-struck teenager was about to come true. Maybe it was just a foolish leftover from her teen years but the circumstances had stayed with her all these years.
Besides, she told herself, Blake needed this right now. Needed her. She could push all her insecurities into an imaginary closet for the time being. This didn’t mean anything more than the fact she was offering him comfort when he needed it.
Yeah, right! Lie to yourself much?
If only she hadn’t made so many bad choices in the past.
But she couldn’t make herself say no, so she just wound her arms around his neck and nipped his chin.
“Okay, then.”
A stairway led off the little foyer and Blake took the steps two at a time. Pressed against his body, Sam inhaled his scent, a heady combination of earthy outdoors and pure male, breathing it into her system already on sensual overload.
He nudged open the second door on the right and carried her into what was obviously his bedroom. She caught a glimpse of the room. A double bed of dark wood was centered on one wall, flanked by two nightstands. On another wall was a desk with shelves above it still holding a collection of books and high school memorabilia. She could tell Anne Morgan had chosen not to make any changes in the room her son had grown up in.
That was all she had time to absorb because Blake stood her next to the bed and began an assault with his mouth again, on her chin, her neck, behind her ears. He grabbed the hem of her shirt, yanked it over her head, and tossed it to the side. The heat of his hands spread through her as he cupped her breasts, squeezing them and pressing his thumbs against the nipples. His mouth was on hers again, hot and insistent, and this time he nipped lightly along the outline of her lips.
Sam felt the tension vibrating in him, the urgency to wipe it all away—today, the past weeks, the notes, and now the brutal assault on his neighbor. Whatever he needed at this moment she would give him, no matter how hot and hard and fast.
But then, abruptly, he lifted his head and took a step back.
Sam frowned, searching his eyes, seeking a clue as to what was happening. “What—”
He held up a hand. “No.”
She stared at him. “No?” Her insides knotted and a chill raced through her. Did he suddenly regret everything he’d said at lunch? Did he think he was making a mistake? Oh, God, it was happening again. What an idiot she was. “I don’t understand. I thought—”
“I meant no, not this way, like some animal.” He shook his head. “Not like this.” He blew out a breath. “You might not believe me, but I’ve thought about this for too many years to go at it like a dog in heat.”
“But I understand,” she protested. “You’ve had a rotten few weeks, topped off by a really rotten day. It’s okay, Blake. Really.” As long as you don’t leave me hanging like this. “If we’re finally going to do this, please don’t walk away.”
The kiss he gave her, just a brush of his lips over hers, was soft as the kiss of a butterfly.
“Oh, we’re going to do this alright. Make no mistake. But we’re going to take it slow, and easy, and enjoy every single minute.”
He sat her on the edge of the bed and knelt before her.
“One inch at a time,” he told her. “That’s how I want to see you. I’ve waited a long time for this and I don’t intend to hurry it.” Then he chuffed a short laugh. “At least I hope I can take my time.”
She noticed he didn’t offer to put her shirt back on. Not that it mattered. She was so hot anyway she didn’t need it to keep her warm.
He slipped off the short ankle boots she wore and set them to the side. Then he cradled each foot in turn, stroking the arch with his thumb, a sensual gesture that sent shivers through her. Even more so was the feeling when he slipped his hands inside the legs of her jeans and rubbed her calves with his thumbs.
She couldn’t tear her gaze away from his face and the hungry look in his eyes. Yes, hungry. That was the only word for it, as if he wanted to eat up every inch of her. Just the thought of it set up a hard throbbing in her sex and made her nipples peak. She wanted to squeeze her legs together but Blake had placed himself squarely between them.
He watched her carefully as he ran his thumbs up and down her skin.
“So soft,” he murmured. “I’d love to taste every inch of you.” He looked up at her. “Maybe I’ll do just that.”
Before she could say or do anything he rose to his feet and yanked her close to him. The heat and hunger in his eyes burned its way inside her, hitting every pulse point and every nerve. Sam couldn’t remember ever being wanted like this before, by anyone. She stood, unable to move, while he eased her jeans over her hips and down her legs, helping her to step out of them. With a very light touch he brushed his knuckles along the lace at the upper edge of her bikini panties. As utilitarian as she dressed for work, underneath it all she refused to give up her sexy lingerie. And Blake’s obvious appreciation made it all the more worthwhile.
She waited for him to slide her panties down her legs but instead he focused for a long time on her breasts and the pink satin and lace bra that contained them. Her nipples were so hard she was sure they were almost poking through the fabric.
Blake cupped them in his palms and brushed his thumbs back and forth over the hard points. Her breasts ached for his touch and her sex throbbed so intensely she wondered why her entire body wasn’t one big pulse.
He moved his big, warm hands down her arms, across her midriff and then to her back. With a deft flick of his fingers he unclasped the bra and added it to the pile. Cupping the mounds in his palms, he brushed his fingers back and forth across the tips already so stiff they were almost painful. When he gave them a light pinch, she sucked in a breath and curled her fingers into her hands. Her legs were shaking and she wasn’t sure she’d be able to stand up much longer.
Thank the lord Blake moved his hands to her arms, then her shoulders, then to cup her face again. If she’d thought the kiss before was hot, this one was off the charts. His tongue was a live wire, setting her mouth ablaze everyplace it touched. She gave it back as strongly, absorbing the taste of him. By the time he broke the kiss she was shaking with need, and he’d barely touched her!
Nudging her gently, he pushed her back until she was sitting on the bed. With hands she realized were shaking almost as much as hers, he eased the tiny panties down her legs and off. When he parted her thighs and stared at her sex, she suddenly realized what the phrase “eating me up with his eyes” meant.
Blake drew in a deep breath. Then, parting the lips of her sex with his thumbs, he bent his head and slowly licked the length of her slit.
Oh, sweet Jesus!
She nearly came right then. His tongue was hot and slightly rough and he damn sure knew what to do with it. He stroked her wet flesh, tracing lines on either side of her clit before pausing to take a nip of the swollen bud.
“Aaahhhh.”
The sound rolled out of her mouth before she realized it. She tried to thrust her hips up at him, to silently urge him to do more, faster, harder. But it was obvious he had his own agenda.
When he lifted his head to look at her, his lips were wet with her juices and hunger was stamped on his face.
“I’ve waited fifteen years for this, Sam. I’m taking my time.”
And he proceeded to do just that, licking and lapping, nipping at her sensitive clit, running the tip of his finger around her opening. When he thrust his tongue inside her she nearly came off the bed. Blake Morgan was a man who knew how to pleasure a woman, and she didn’t even care how he’d gotten this way. She just didn’t want him to stop what he was doing.
He slipped one finger inside her, curling it so he hit that sweet spot that drove her crazy. Then he added a second finger.
More! She wanted to scream the word at him. Give me more. His slow, steady pace was driving her out of her mind. She gripped the bedclothes with her fists.
She almost yelled No! when he removed his fingers from her wet heat, but in another second he replaced them with his tongue, and his fingers went to work on her clit. God! She could feel the release building inside her, stronger and more intense, until her entire being was focused on that one thing. At that moment he pinched her clit, hard, and she tumbled over the edge, the force of her release shaking her.
He stayed with her all the way, wringing every last drop from her, slowing his strokes as her body began to ease from the grip of her orgasm. Finally she unclenched her hands, felt her entire body go lax. Blake eased his tongue from her body and placed a soft kiss on her clit before raising his head.
He rose to his feet, his eyes still glued to her naked body as he stripped off his own clothing. He paused only long enough to grab a condom from his wallet and drop it on the nightstand.
“I didn’t expect I’d need any more.” He lips curved in a half smile.
“And do you?” She watched him carefully. “Expect to need more?”
Again that heat flashed in his eyes. “Oh, yeah. A lot more. But I don’t think I’ll buy them in town here. I’m probably already the subject of more gossip than I want.”
“Blake, listen.” How did she phrase this? “We aren’t…This isn’t…”
“I wanted to see if this chemistry is real. It is. Maybe this won’t go anywhere at all, but I really want to try. Sam, you starred in so many of my dreams I wondered if I was in an alternate universe and it was real, not imagined.”
“You dreamed about me?”
Now why was that so hard for her to understand? Hadn’t he had a starring role in her own dreams all these years?
He came down over her, his face so close to hers she could count his eyelashes.
“More nights than I can tell you, and that’s no lie.”
She nibbled her bottom lip. “But what if that’s all we’ve got between us?”
He brushed his mouth over hers. “Then we’ll enjoy the hell out of it while it lasts. Sam, I don’t want to push you into anything. And I certainly don’t want to screw up your situation at Vigilance. I don’t imagine sex with a client is on the usual checklist.”
She burst out laughing. She couldn’t help herself.
“No, it isn’t. But let me worry about that.” She tried to read the expression on his face. “This was a long time coming, Blake, if you’ll pardon the pun. Like you said, this may be all there is between us. We have no idea where it’s going, or if it’s going. I can still do my job while we satisfy our curiosity. I promise you that.”
“Good.” He placed a kiss on each of her breasts.
“But I don’t want you to feel—”
He touched a finger to her lips. “You let me worry about what I feel. And right now, what I feel is extremely hard and painful if I don’t get inside you in the next ten seconds.”
Naked, he was as magnificent as she’d always imagined except her teenage dreams did not do justice to the mature reality. She figured he had to do more than sit in front of a computer all day, because he was fit and toned. His pecs and abs were hard, the muscles of his arms and legs defined. The hair sprinkled on his chest and scattered on his forearms and legs was a shade darker than the hair on his head, and so soft she wanted to rub herself all over it.
She tried to slide her hand in between his legs, to wrap her fingers around his hot, throbbing cock and feel the soft sac of his balls, but he shook his head.
“Later. After.”
She stared at him, wishing he’d just get on with it. “After what?”
“After I’m inside you.”
He knelt between her legs and lifted them, spreading them wide to give himself both an unobstructed view and a clear path. He placed the head of his shaft at her opening and slowly eased himself in.
“Look at me,” he commanded as he entered her with a slow stroke, his passage eased by the slickness of her walls.
Again she looked directly into his eyes, and what she saw there made her catch her breath—need, desire, and something else. Something close to desperation. She wanted to make that last disappear. Wrapping her legs around his waist, she locked her ankles at the small of his back. Their bodies now so tight together they moved as one.
As his strokes grew harder, as the tempo increased, she swore she could see right into the heart of his soul. Every nerve in her body fired as she met him thrust for thrust. When they came, together, it was with the force of an explosion, tremors shaking them both. She had no idea how long they lay there, connected, until she finally unwound her legs from his waist and let them fall to the side. Blake placed a soft kiss on her lips and another on the hollow of her throat. Did he feel the hammering of her pulse through the thin layer of skin? Or know how completely he had turned her inside out?
Kissing her one more time, he eased his body from hers and went to dispose of the condom. The perspiration on her skin was drying, taking her body heat with it, so she pulled up the covers and waited to see what he did. Should she get up, act like nothing happened, thank him for some stupendous sex, or what? That one night with him so long ago, that one incredible kiss, had fed years of daydreams, even as she’d hated him for the way he’d treated her afterward. She would take her cue from Blake. That would be the safest thing.
But good lord. Unexpectedly he had touched something deep inside her. If she wasn’t careful she could be in big trouble here. The last thing she needed was to fall in love with Blake Morgan. Their shared past and her personal history was a road strewn with rocky bumps. Want and need battled with common sense and a little bit of fear.
Damn!
When he came back into the room, unselfconscious about his nudity, he lifted the covers and slid into bed beside her. He pulled her against his body, spooning himself around her, one hand cupping her breast. Silence stretched between them. Finally, Blake cleared his throat.
“Sam, I—”
She shook her head. She couldn’t have a discussion with him now. “No talking, okay? It was…beyond great. Can we just leave it at that for now?”
“Just as long as you agree it was good.” Hunger still swirled in his eyes. “Damn good, and I’m not going to let you forget it. Now.” He stroked her hair. “Right now I think we can both use a little nap, don’t you?”
Sam knew at some point they would have to talk about this, and she wasn’t even sure what she would say. Meanwhile, a nap sounded good to her.
“Mm-hmm.”
She closed her eyes and rested her head in the curve of his neck, but she didn’t fall asleep for a very long time.
* * * *
The ringing of Sam’s cell phone woke them. At first, she had to remember where she was, whose bed she was lying in, and who was spooned against her, one arm around her, hand cupping her breast. Then in an instant it all came back. Blake. The events of the afternoon. And the unbelievably spectacular sex.
No time to reflect on that right now, though. The job was calling. She fumbled for her phone and saw it was Avery.
“Hey, Avery, what’s up?”
“Couple of things. First an update on Grant Kennelly.”
Sam sat up in bed, pulling the sheet up to her breasts and doing her best to ignore Blake’s warm hand insinuating itself between her thighs.
“Yes. How is he?”
“Okay, but he’s got a long recovery ahead of him. As the chief law enforcement officer on this, Sheri was able to get the details for me. He has a broken jaw and a bad concussion. Looks like the guy pounded his head on the concrete of the porch on top of everything. He also took a punch to the chest right over his heart so they’re monitoring that.” Avery’s sigh carried over the connection. “Tell Blake I spoke to the hospital administrator about Blake paying Grant’s bill. He’ll have to jump through some hoops to do it because of HIPAA, but there are some appropriate ways to do it. As soon as I have the info I will forward it to him so he can make arrangements.”
“Good. That will help, although I’m not sure anything can make him feel better about this. He still blames himself.”
“And I’m sure telling him it’s not his fault doesn’t have any effect.”
Now it was Sam’s turn to sigh. “You got that right. Anything else?”
“No. Just wanted to check in. Take care of him.”
“That’s my top priority,” Sam assured her before hanging up.
“Okay.” Blake pulled her back down to hm. “I know you were talking about Grant. Tell me everything.”
Sam repeated what Avery had told her.
He was silent for a long time, digesting the information. “I guess it never occurred to me someone else could be in danger from this guy. Sam, we have to find out who he is before someone else gets hurt.”
“And we will. Meanwhile, let’s get up, search for that wine and raid the refrigerator. I think it’s long past dinner time.” Her stomach chose that moment to grumble softly. “See what I mean?”
They both laughed, and the tension eased just a little bit.
“Yeah, I see,” he chuckled.
“Let me take a shower and we’ll see about eating.” She started to slide out of bed.
“Wait.” He tightened his hold around her.
“What for?”
“You were right earlier. I don’t know where this is going. Yet. But it’s more than a roll in the hay to me, Sam.” He nipped her earlobe.
“And like I said, let’s just see what happens. Maybe we’ll fulfill that teenage dream, and that will be enough. But whatever happens, I want both of us to be sure.”
She wanted to believe that so badly, but that hurt teenager kept getting in the way. Not to mention the memories of her other bad decisions. Well, she’d think about them later. Now she just wanted to enjoy the residual good feeling.
Then he grinned at her. “But think of the fun we can have figuring this out.”
She laughed softly, turned around, and brushed a kiss over his lips.
* * * *
When they brought their luggage upstairs, Blake didn’t even give her a chance to put hers anywhere but his room. He knew even though what they’d shared had been nothing shortly of cataclysmic, Sam was probably still uncertain of what this was between them. That was okay. She wanted to be sure and so did he. In the middle of all this madness she was the one bright spot.
Baby steps, he tried to tell himself. Remember, baby steps.
He urged her to shower in the other bathroom, however, afraid that if he got naked with her right now they’d never make it downstairs. He was in the kitchen standing in front of the refrigerator when Sam came up behind him.
“How are you fixed for groceries?”
Blake chuffed a short laugh. “Take a look. Leave it to my mother to make sure we don’t starve.”
She looked over his shoulder, to the fridge stuffed with every variety of groceries they could need and burst in laughter. “I guess we won’t have to worry about what to eat.”
“Yeah, that’s my mom. She still thinks I don’t eat right. Of course, when I’m into a book, sometimes that’s the case.” He spotted what he was looking for and pulled a bottle of Riesling out of the second shelf. “I’m pretty sure we can use this, right?”
She nodded. “I’ll make us some sandwiches to go with.”
As nice as the day was, under normal conditions he’d suggest they take everything out on the patio to eat. But he wasn’t sure he could sit out there without imagining Grant Kennelly’s bleeding body stuffed under the hedgerow. Instead they took the sandwiches, the wine, and two glasses to the table in the breakfast nook. Blake filled both wine glasses and lifted his toward Sam.
“To you, Sam, just for being here and keeping me sane.”
He watched, waiting, until she touched her glass to his.
“We’ll get past this, Blake.” Her lips curved in a warm and gentle smile. “I promise you.”
They each took a sip of wine. Then Blake picked up half of his sandwich, took a bite and chewed thoughtfully.
Sam studied him for a long moment. “Listen, Blake, I—”
“Sam, I want to tell you—”
They looked at each other and just like that the tension eased.
“Ladies first,” he told her.
She let out a tiny sigh. “I just wanted to say that this afternoon was really great.”
“I agree.” He swallowed some more wine and tried to collect his thoughts. He was feeling his way here, no pun intended. “We waited a lot of years to see if the chemistry from that one night is real, and was something beyond high school. Something that would get past my being such an ass to you. Circumstance, fate, whatever you want to call it, brought us together. I’d say we at least made a start. Let’s leave it at that for now. Okay? No pressure here.”
“Yes.” She said the word slowly. “I agree. I’m not rushing anything. We have to be sure.”
He nodded. “But I just have to say this. I’ve carried the memory of that date—that kiss—around with me for a long time.”
A memory that was never out of his mind. He had a limited time to see if this worked, to convince Sam that it could, and he didn’t intend to make any mistakes.
“I have, too.” She said the words reluctantly.
He nodded. “I just want to be sure you know I’m not just looking for a roll in the hay.”
She smiled. “I get that, Blake. We’re good.”
“Okay, then.” That would have to do for now.
“Besides, first and foremost I have a job to do here.”
“And I don’t want to get you crosswise with Avery. Fraternization and all that.”
“She trusts us to handle things and be alert. Anyway, lately we’ve had a couple of assignments turn into permanent relationships and it worked out okay.”
He reached across and took one of her hands. “Then let’s see where this goes, and take it from there. So. How about telling me how you ended up being a high-risk security agent?”
“Oh, well, that will require a little more wine.” She refilled both glasses. “So let’s see. Where should I start?”
“How about the beginning.”
“Okay.” She swallowed a bite of her sandwich and washed it down with a sip of wine. Once upon a time…”
He listened while she told him about her four years at Florida State. Studying criminology, of all things, she told him and laughed. She sat on a bench one day wondering exactly where she wanted to go with it when she learned military recruiters were on campus.
“I was graduating, had no clear plans except I wanted to go into law enforcement.” She grinned. “And the recruiter was really cute.”
“So you joined the Army to get a date with the recruiter?” He winked.
“Not exactly. And it was the Air Force.”
He stared at her. “The Air Force? For real? I didn’t know you liked to fly.”
“I do, but that’s not why I joined. I just saw a great chance for advancement.”
Blake cocked an eyebrow. “So what did you do in the Air Force?”
She shrugged. “This and that. After four years I could apply for the Ravens, which was really cool.”
“What are the Ravens?”
She grinned. “I could tell you what we did but then I’d have to shoot you.”
He frowned. “No kidding?”
“Yes, kidding. Just pulling your leg. They’re part of the Air Force Security Forces. We provided security for the Air Mobility Commands, and that’s just too complicated to get into right now.”
“Where did you provide the security?”
She shrugged. “In all the fighting zones. For dignitaries, special passengers, and some very expensive airplanes the people might want to steal or destroy.”
Now that he really didn’t want to think about. Not about Samantha serving in the midst of the wars going on overseas.
“How long were you in for?” He kept trying to visualize her in an Air Force uniform.
“Eight years. Four until I could get into the Ravens and a four-year commitment for that. And don’t look at me like that,” she warned. “I was well trained for what I was doing.”
He had no doubt about that.
“So when your contract was up you decided to stay in the same business, so to speak?”
“So to speak.” She fidgeted with her glass, twisting the stem. “I really didn’t know what I wanted to do. My family wanted me to be in a more secure environment. I guess they were done with being glued to the television for bad news.”
“And after that?”
“I came home to hang out with my folks while I looked around.” She took another swallow of her wine. “Avery had moved Vigilance here a couple of years before that. Someone must have told her about me because she invited me to lunch one day and we clicked.”
“It’s obviously working out.”
She nodded. “Avery’s great. So is everyone there.”
He had so many questions he wanted to ask her. Questions about her friends. Questions about men in her life, which he probably had no right to dig into. But suddenly he wanted to know every single thing about her, including what kind of movies she liked and if she was a baseball fan or did she like football. He hoped that even with the situation they were in, he’d still have the opportunity to find out. Because today might have begun as a stress reliever but it ended up being way more than that. He hoped that the upcoming trip would be the beginning of something for them.
If only they could find the fucker that was screwing with him.
Blake chewed the last bite of sandwich, swallowed, and drained the rest of the wine from his glass. This had all been a nice respite from the reality of what was happening. A respite that he needed and that was important to him for a lot of reasons. It was nice sitting here with Sam, talking, learning little things about each other. It almost made him think none of this crazy stuff had happened at all.
Almost.
And then reality intruded again.
They had both placed their cell phones on the table next to their plates. Now Sam’s went off, its distinctive tone the sound of a foghorn. They looked at each other, the softer mood broken.
Sam looked at the name on the screen. “It’s Avery again. Maybe they found out something.” She hit Accept. “Hey, Avery. What’s up? Anything new to report?”
Blake waited with barely controlled patience while Sam nodded, said “uh-uh” a few times, and finally hung up.
“Well?” he demanded.
“Sheri called. And no,” she said quickly when Blake opened his mouth to ask if they’d caught the guy. “They did, however, find a few neighbors who remembered seeing a pickup parked in your driveway. They didn’t think much about it because it has some kind of commercial name on the door.”
“Removable signs,” Blake guessed.
Sam nodded. “No doubt. Pickups are up pretty commonplace these days, especially around here. And people are so used to seeing service people of all kinds they don’t pay much attention to it.”
“But if we know it’s a pickup, we can keep an eye out for it from here on out.”
Sam shook her head. “That would be nice, but no. You can bet the first thing he’s going to do is swap vehicles. I’m sure this one isn’t his. He had to fly in here from someplace, if he’s hitting you at all your tour stops. You don’t know, he could even have flown in to Tampa on the same plane you did.”
Blake’s sandwich suddenly felt like a lump of cement in his gut.
“Are you kidding me? On the same plane?” A chill raced along his spine. “You mean he could have been that close to me?”
She reached across the table and grabbed his hand. “I just said maybe, because anything is possible. You need to be aware of that.”
He squeezed her hand but then leaned back in his chair, his brain spinning with the whole situation.
“I’m thinking maybe we should get out of Arrowhead Bay sooner rather than later.”
“And go on to your next book signing early?” She shook her head. “That would accomplish nothing except give him lead time there to cook something up.”
He ground his teeth in frustration. “I feel trapped, Sam, like I have no place to go. Like I have a big black X on my back. I want to take this trouble away from Arrowhead Bay but I don’t want to bring it with me someplace else. And that’s not possible, is it?”
“No, unfortunately. But there are still things we can do.”
“Like what?”
She held up four fingers and bent one down. “For one thing, staying around here has its advantages. We’ve got immediate access to Vigilance and all its bells and whistles, as well as more manpower if we need it.” She bent a second finger. “We’re in a location where we know every nook and cranny, better than your stalker. Makes it easier for us to be aware of anything out of sync.”
“Except for today,” he interrupted.
“Except for today,” she agreed. “But that came out of nowhere. You can be damn sure that won’t happen again.” Another finger. “Third, he’s probably expecting you to leave here and may even be making his arrangements to hit your next stop ahead of you.” She bent down the last finger. “Plus, it gives Avery time to dig through all those names you gave her and maybe identify some possibilities. People we can be on the lookout for.”
“I know you all keep saying that, but truth to tell, I can’t imagine anyone I know doing something like this.”
Sam snorted. “You know how many people have said that and been wrong? Not too long ago we had someone kidnapped by a man who supposedly was her father’s best friend.”
He stared at her. “Are you kidding me?”
She shook her head. “Not even a little. So we both need to be hyper alert at all times. Don’t assume anything about anyone just because you know them. You never can tell what goes on in someone’s brain.”
He looked at his phone. “At least I haven’t gotten any text messages since we switched phones.”
“Right, but that’s because we haven’t been anywhere that he could get close enough to you to clone it and get your number.”
He swallowed the bitter taste in his mouth. “There’s a comforting thought.”
“You want comfort? Lock yourself up until we catch whoever this is. And even that is no guarantee.” She reached across and touched his hand. “I’m just trying to make you understand all the aspects of this. It’s my job to see that nothing happens to you, and I need your help to do that.”
“I know.” He turned his hand over and wrapped his fingers around hers. “And I’ll do my best not to give you grief.”
“I’ll count on that.” She smiled. “And maybe I have some extra incentive to keep you safe.”
At once memories of what happened in his bedroom came alive in his brain and his cock swelled to painful proportions. He thought it would be great if they could spend all their time in bed. Maybe the stalker would get tired of him. Every word Sam had said to him at lunch was burned into his brain. He knew the connection was there, in spades. But getting her to trust it was another matter altogether, something he planned to work on. He’d take it one day at a time with her and hope like hell when this book signing tour was over and the stalker was history they could make plans for the future.
“What else did Avery have to say?”
“They’ve already eliminated a number of names on the list, especially those people who have daily routines that would be disrupted if they were flying all over the country stalking you.” She swallowed the last bit of her sandwich. “She did say, however, that it was strange that Annemarie Schaefer seemed to have no family at all. Her parents are both dead, she has no siblings—at least that we can find so far—and her mother and father both appeared to be only children.”
“What about friends?” He frowned. “How was I so self-involved that it didn’t occur to me she lived in a vacuum? Who does that?”
“You’d be surprised. Besides, you had more things to worry about than Annemarie’s personal life.”
“Yeah,” he grunted, “selfish ass that I was. I kept her busy all the time. All I was concerned with was getting my stuff taken care of.”
“I’d say that just means you were focused and depended on her to take up the slack so you could do your thing. Don’t keep beating yourself up, Blake. This is not your fault.”
“So you say. Try telling that to Sharon Kennelly.”
“Okay, look at me. Guilt is normal in a situation like this, but you have to deal with it. We have to deal with it, difficult as it might be. You have a career you’ve worked hard to establish and a signing tour to prepare for. Let’s tackle it one thing at a time. Getting you rattled is exactly what this jerk wants. Anyway, they’re going to continue digging, because to Avery this is like a puzzle she needs to solve.” She rose and picked up their plates. “Why don’t I get my tablet, pour us some more wine, and you can start schooling me on what’s required to be your assistant.”
“Sounds like a plan.” He knew the grin he gave her was positively lecherous. “Except you might have some additional duties that weren’t on Annemarie’s list.”
She stopped with the plates in her hand and turned back to him.
“Just so you know, I might need a lot of practice in those ‘extra’ duties.”
He nodded. “I’m counting on it.”