Page 5 of Locked Down

“Um, yes?”Dear God, this man was sexy.

“I’m Ryker Sterling.”

She blinked.“Um, what are you doing here?”She hadn’t given her address to Archer Gray but clearly that didn’t matter. Open-mouthed, she stared at the stranger, who was studiously keeping his eyes on her face.

“We need to talk.”

Shit.She was late and this was going to make her even later. Tightening her grip on the towel, she moved back so he could enter the apartment and closed the door after him.“I’m not quite sure what you want to discuss.”I don’t have time for this.

He stood in the middle of her living room and suddenly the apartment seemed much smaller. He had to be well over six feet with broad shoulders and narrow hips. He was wearing a summer-weight light gray suit with a blue silk tie that matched his eyes. Gorgeous didn’t cover it. He had his hands on his hips and his gun peeked out from beneath his blazer. There didn’t appear to be an ounce of fat on him.

Her nipples tightened under her towel. This man oozedrizz. Everything about him said it didn’t matter how charismatic she found him, he was dangerous as hell. She’d never been so turned on in all her life.What the hell was wrong with me?

“If you want me to protect your uncle, I need some details.”

“Such as?”she said as she readjusted her towel. The one on her head started to slip so she just let it fall. She couldn’t hold both at the same time and she was late enough already that she didn’t want to run into her bedroom and get dressed and then come back out and have this discussion. She wanted it over with and him gone. There was no way she’d be able to concentrate on getting ready with him in her apartment. She was way too aware of him, and he was just standing there. If he kissed her, her body would probably explode.

“What did you tell your uncle about me coming?”

Oh, boy.“Nothing yet.”

He cocked an eyebrow.“What? Am I just supposed to show up and you’re going to say‘surprise’?”

“Well, not exactly.”Her heart hammered against her rib cage as sweat broke out on her palms. She’d been up all night worrying about this very thing.

His eyes narrowed.“So… whatexactlyis going to happen.”

She swallowed.“Look, I didn’t expect Gray to send someone so quickly. He said today but I assumed it would be, well, later today. Regardless, I’m going to tell my uncle that he needs more security and force him to hire you. I assume you have a good resumé.”Like it would be that easy. Her uncle wouldn’t like it one bit, not to mention Floyd Armstrong, his assistant. Floyd would have a cow.

“My resumé is the least of your worries. How are you going to‘force’him?”

“I don’t know yet.”She flapped her arms and almost lost her towel. Grabbing the top of it, she held on tight.“But I will figure something out.”

He stared at her for a long minute and then raised his hand, and brushed soap bubbles off her shoulder.“I have my own company outside of the Lock and Key Society. Sterling Security. It’s small, but very reputable. You are going to tell him to call Cal Wallingford. He will vouch for me. He’s a behind-the-scenes major power broker in Washington.”

“I know who Cal Wallingford is. I’ve met him.”He was another in a long line of DC elite her uncle was courting.

“Good. You told Cal of your worries about your uncle, and he dropped my name. Do not tell him you spoke to Archer. Your uncle won’t like that. Use Cal as a reference point. Does that work for you?”

Cal Wallingford made and destroyed careers every day.“I…I don’t really know Mr. Wallingford that well. Why would I tell him anything?”

“Because you saw him at the charity event you attended last Thursday night, and he caught you in a weak moment. You were scared because your uncle had just managed to escape being shot on an empty road in Virginia. You were shaken up. Mr. Wallingford bumped into you and one thing led to another. You spilled your fears. Cal offered my firm as a solution.”

“How do you know all of this?”She swallowed.

“I’m good at my job. Your job is to get me in.”His gaze raked over her.“You’d better hustle or you’re going to be late. Your uncle hates that.”He moved around her and grabbed the doorknob.“See you at eight, at your desk. Make sure I’m cleared before I arrive.”With that, he went out the door and closed it softly behind him.

Vic’s knees wobbled as she took a few tentative steps towards the bedroom. What the hell had she been thinking asking Archer Gray for help? Ryker Sterling was terrifying and sexy and bossy all at once. Her gaze landed on the bedside clock. Jesus! Was that the time? She’d have to worry about Sterling later. First, she needed to get into the office on time.

* * *

At exactly seven-thirty-three she walked into her uncle’s main office. He had an official office on Capitol Hill, but he liked having a space where he could do‘real’work as he called it without all the eagle eyes on the Hill keeping track of him when the senate was on summer break, like it was now. He glanced up and then pointedly looked at the clock on the wall.

“I know, I know,”she said with a grimace.“But I stopped to get you your favorite muffin from the bakery on the corner. It was a spur of the moment decision, and I didn’t plan for it appropriately.”She held up the bakery bag. She’d been thinking bad thoughts about her uncle all morning, and the guilt got to her. So she stopped for the muffin. Her uncle wasn’t a bad man. He just did things differently than she would and had different philosophies than she did. Truthfully, they had nothing in common but DNA.“Does that mean you don’t want your muffin?”

A large smile creased his face.“Plannin’ is important, but so are muffins,”he said in his thick Texas drawl. He reached for the bag, and she handed it over, her stomach relaxing just a fraction. If she were being honest, the muffin wasn’t just a guilt buy. She needed to get her uncle in a more relaxed state. Cara, the woman who worked the cash register knew her uncle and knew how intense he could be. She just threw the muffin in the bag and added it to Vic’s tab so she didn’t have to stand in line and pay. Cara was a good human. Vic owed her lunch.

She glanced at Floyd, who was sitting across the desk from her uncle, and nodded. He didn’t eat muffins so she hadn’t brought him one. As a matter of fact, she wasn’t sure Floyd ate anything other than yogurt and salad. He was average height but very lean. He was a runner and looked it. He also gave her the creeps. His dark eyes always seemed to be leering at her.“So, what’s on for today?”she asked her uncle as she stood in front of his desk.“Any changes in the schedule?”

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