Page 196 of Protective Heroes

Reece picked up from there. “That’s step one. Now we need your car. I assume it’s parked in the employee parking lot?”

Abigail nodded. She had to wait for the car insurance man to come and look at the key scratches in her hood, which landed her a good hour and a half late to work. “It’s in the underground parking of this building, you can’t miss it. It’s the only one with a black bag taped to the hood.”

Caden moved over to the phone again to make a call with a grimmer look on his face than before.

Reece stood, to pace the small patch of hardwood floor between the table and the floor-to-ceiling windows. “Do you have any other family in town or close by besides your sister?”

“No.” Her sister, the only family she could speak of, lived almost three hours away in San Diego. Too far for a commute and she didn’t want to bring her into this if it would put her in danger as well.

“Then you’re coming back to the house with us tonight. It’s too dangerous to be on your own.” Reece’s words held no room for debate. Her ego bristled again and she tightened her fingers in her lap. What was it about men—especially military men—and their belief everyone would fall in line with what they thought was best? Her father had been that way before he’d died. Her mother knew how to maneuver around his controlling tendencies, but Abigail never understood why she put up with it in the first place.

A small voice told her to tread carefully and phrase her words just right.

But she didn’t listen.

“Mr. Sterling, are you trying to get me in bed?”

Surprise flitted across his face, quickly replaced with a sizzling heat before doused with a stone-cold stare, but he couldn’t hide the slight tilt to his lip. “And I thought I was direct, Miss Torres.”

She crossed her arms over her chest and held his gaze firmly. It was amazing to watch the myriad of emotions right before his usual cool, calm and collected took over. What was he so afraid of? Almost six months and the last hour was the first time he’d even hinted at something more than the secretary and employer relationship. Why the change?

Caden, on the other hand, was the smooth talker of the team. He cut in from his place by the phone. “We have a lot to discuss, sweetheart. But your safety takes top rack right now. Everything else has to wait.” He nailed her with a heated look that gave her a good indication of what ‘everything else’ entailed.

They have this tag team duo down to a science.

“That’s a promise.” Reece cut in this time, and she enjoyed the way his gaze caressed her ample curves. She watched the golden specks in his dark brown eyes dance with banked emotions.

“I realize you guys are worried, and I am too, but there has to be some other way. I refuse to be run out of my home over a few pictures.”

Reece’s mouth hardened into a firm, stubborn flat line again. He had the look down pat.

Abigail stood. Suddenly the room seemed too small. In a breathy voice she continued, “I do happen to have the state-of-the-art home security system thanks to company benefits.” She plastered on a fake smile for their sakes. Or hers. Maybe both. Her insides quivered with a foreign mixture of fear and lust.

If she was going, now was the time. She wanted the two Marines more than her next breath, but pursuing the attraction they obviously shared wasn’t the wisest decision. Especially now. They’d have to figure something else out. “I know a hotel close enough for a cab ride.”

Both men shook their heads in unison. “What Reece said is true—you can’t be alone, Abigail. Not for a while anyway. Let us find out what this is all about first. It could be a prank from your asshole ex gone overboard or it could be something graver than that and carry even more weight.” Caden made his way back over to them. “We don’t know who is responsible for this, and leaving you on your own wouldn’t settle well with me.”

“Or me, for that matter. You have to realize this is more than just a few pictures. You’ve been issued a death threat. That shit isn’t taken lightly by anyone, especially when it involves you.” Caden tossed a reprimanding glare at Reece who shrugged it off before continuing. “Are you willing to put yourself in danger for your pride? Or have us sitting outside your house all night because there’s no way in hell we’re going to leave you out in the boondocks all alone?”

“In case you forgot, you two have a trip to prepare for. Speaking of…” Abigail glanced at the big clock hanging on the back wall. Late afternoon had slipped into early evening. “The flight leaves for Puerto Vallarta in a little over seven hours. You can’t miss this meeting because of me. You’ve been working on closing the contract with your first international client for three weeks now. I don’t think rescheduling with the governor of Jalisco is a wise move. And sitting outside my house will do nothing but set you back in everything you’ve worked so hard to build. Besides, living in the country isn’t like living on another planet.”

Irritation ate at Abigail’s resolve. They knew how to layer on the guilt and fast. As much as she’d like to put her foot down, she had a sneaky feeling no matter where she stayed, if it wasn’t at their place, they’d be right where they promised—outside wherever she ended up, watching over her like two stubborn burros.

She added this new tidbit of information to her growing pile of puzzle pieces she’d amassed over the last hour. Both Reece and Caden aroused her and perplexed her totally and completely.

“All the more reason to do as we ask.” Both Caden and Reece stood with her. As if by some unspoken code, they shifted their weight to their heels, digging in for the long haul of convincing her. She had half a mind to continue this, but she was no fool. One smile from Reece and a little tilted sexy grin from Caden would do her in.

She let out an exasperated smile. With no family close by, Reece and Caden were her only option. For now. She could stay at their place tonight while they left on the red-eye flight for their business trip. Tomorrow she could work out other arrangements for lodging until this freaking nightmare was resolved. They couldn’t babysit her from a thousand miles away—she had to figure something out for herself.

“I have to go home first. I have to get a couple of things. No way I’m showing up to work tomorrow wearing the same thing. Especially after everyone sees me leaving with the two of you. Then, I guess, after that I’m all yours for the night.”

A wolfish grin slipped into place on Caden’s face while Reece watched her with a devilish glint in his eye. The golden specks lit like embers in the dark depth of his brown eyes. A heady rush of eagerness poured into her veins.

Both men were as much alike as they were different. Edgy, capable, dangerous and delicious.

Reece leaned a fraction closer and in a low, rough whisper said, “Indeed, darling.”

Three

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