Page 33 of Too Lethal to Love

He glanced out the window and scanned the street. “No. She has no idea. Neither does Chris. I paid Nic’s buddy to do the upgrade.”

“That’s…” she ran her fingers through her hair and pulled at the ends. “That’s the definition of stalkerish. God, Kane, did you ever come into my house when I wasn’t home?”

“No, I never went inside.” He sucked in a deep breath. May as well tell her everything and get yelled at all at once. “And since the break-in, I’ve been driving by at night to make sure things are secure.”

She blinked. “Christ, Kane. You drove by my house every night?”

“Not on the nights I was working.” Their teammate Gage drove by since he kept an eye on Scarlett while they were deployed, but Beth didn’t need to know that.

“Did you follow me home last Saturday? I thought someone was tailing me for a few miles. I was about to pull into someplace safe when a black pickup turned a corner and didn’t appear again.”

He cringed to show remorse he didn’t feel. “Scarlett mentioned you were at a bar with some guy. I thought you said you didn’t do relationships.”

“I don’t. It was just a drink with a…friend.”

He eyed her until she let out a huff and rolled her eyes.

“Fine, Kane. You want to know the sordid details about my dating life? He was a friend with benefits.”

White-hot jealousy, like the kind he’d felt when he’d watched the guy kiss her outside the bar, flashed to life. “How much do you know about this dude? Has Scarlett vetted him?”

“Does Scarlett vet the women you hook up with? You said it yourself that you don’t do relationships, but Christ, look at you.” She raked her gaze up and down his body. “You’re prime fling material, and from the way I’ve heard Nic talk about your nights on the town, you take advantage of it. Do you call Scarlett and ask her to run a background check before you take a random woman to bed?”

“First, I haven’t hooked up with a woman since we’ve met because I’ve been busy watching over you.” He paused as surprise and something he didn’t dare try and define flashed in her gaze. “Second. I don’t have a stalker after me who might disguise himself as a nice guy at a bar.”

The bonfire in her gaze roared brighter. “I’m capable of choosing my own sex partners. I didn’t need your protection then and I don’t?—”

He snaked his arm around her waist and spun her back to his chest. One hand wrapped around her neck. The other yanked her hard against him. Ignoring his body’s reaction to her ass pressed against his cock, he grazed her ear with his lips. “Tell me, sugarplum. What would you do if your date had done this?”

“My date was my friend who went home by himself that night, by the way.” She executed a maneuver she’d practiced a million times in the gym. As she spun to escape Kane’s hold, she smiled. “But if he’d been a threat, I would have done that.”

“Impressive. That would probably have worked on a normal guy. But if Chavez and his men…” He shook his head to block the images of what the sick fucks would do to her.

Of what they’d done to Jenna.

Her chest heaved as she backed to the center of the room and faced off with him. “You violated my trust.”

“You must trust me some because you were about to tell me about your nightmares.”

“I’m not telling you any of my secrets.” She twirled her finger around the room. “And you’re sleeping anywhere but here.”

His phone buzzed in his pocket. He pulled it out and glanced at the number. “I’ll take this downstairs. Get ready for the party and stay away from the windows.” He pointed to the purple pullout sofa as he strode to the door. “And before I fall asleep on that couch tonight, you can tell me about your nightmares.”

Closing the door behind him, he brought the phone to his ear and fought to douse the emotional firestorm blazing through him. “Hey Gran, make it to Atlanta okay?”

“Just landed. Are you with Beth?”

“Yes. We got here about an hour ago.” And it had only taken that long for his infatuation with the pretty scientist to bite him in the ass.

“Did you ask that girl to marry you yet?”

“Not going to happen, Gran.” By the time he was ready to settle down, Beth would be happily married to a man whose biggest threat to his life was eating too many super-sized meals, not frequent dangerous missions.

Gran let out a long, heavy sigh as he crossed the hall to the guest room. Kane knew that sound and braced himself.

“My dear boy, you can have your career and a family, you know.”

“No, I can’t.” Especially not with Beth. The anguish in her voice when she had nightmares messed with his equilibrium. He’d lied when she said she’d been out cold in the car on the way to the liquor store. She hadn’t screamed while she’d been asleep, but she called his name in a muffled plea that had nearly made him swerve off the road.

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