Page 10 of Ivory's Familiars

Ivory’s husky voice had him jolting in shock. Since when did he allow anyone to sneak up on him unawares?When you start fantasising about your client naked in the middle of a round bed with your two long-term lovers,he answered himself.

“You have a round bed,” he uttered excitedly and without thought, before cursing himself when he saw her eyebrows rise. He needed to get a grip here. She had hired them to do a job and he was already falling down on it because of some misguided chemistry.

“Yes, I do,” she responded slowly, looking at him as if he weren’t all there.

Trying to recover from his rather inane comment, he went into full bodyguard mode; “Well, your security is pretty shit. That alarm system you installed is the cheapest one on the market and your window locks are pathetic.”

He saw her lips firm and her jaw clench as if she were holding back her words. It didn’t do much good because when she opened her mouth, all that came out was sarcasm; “My apologies. If I’d have known I was going to be stalked, I would have called the CIA and asked for their recommendation on window locks. And that alarm cost me four hundred dollars!

He heard his panther purr inside his head. The stupid animal loved to spar and Ivory was giving as good as she was taking, “Thank you for acknowledging your shortcomings. In addition to updated security, from now on, you don’t go anywhere alone. One of us will be with you everywhere you go whether it’s down in the bar or up here in your apartment.”

Her brown eyes looked hot enough to incinerate him where he stood, “Don’t you think that’s a little excessive?”

He shrugged, “Fine, then. You’re not interested in the way we do things, we’ll leave. Get yourself another bodyguard.”

“Boy, you really are a hard-arse. Not really a social animal are you, Vaughn?”

If she only knew exactly what kind of animal he really was, “No, Ivory. I’m not. But you didn’t hire me to be your BFF. We can help you – we really can. But if you’re not willing to listen to us, this will never work.”

“I’m not trying to be difficult – unlike someone else,” She added, tossing an imperious look his way.

He smiled widely for the first time since meeting her – the lady sure had some spine, “It’s best if you see the real me from the outset. That way, you can’t say you weren’t warned when you discover I’m not house-trained.”

Wait, was that a joke? Did I really just make a joke?He was definitely losing his edge here.

She smiled, even chuckled a little, “I bet you leave the toilet seat up, huh?”

She managed to startle a laugh out of him, “I live with two other guys – the toilet seat always stays up,” he saw her eyes dim a little with the reminder of his relationship status, but he didn’t think it was because she disapproved, “Anyway,” he began, rocking back on his heels a little, “who’s your contact at the police department? What did they have to say about all of this?”

She hesitated and shifted restlessly from foot to foot, “Not much.”

“Not much? That’s not very informative. I’m going to need a copy of all the police reports – see how far into the investigation they are,” Vaughn informed her. With any luck, the Po Po had already done half their work for them. They weren’t private investigators by any stretch of the imagination but sometimes they found themselves playing amateur detective. He had a feeling this was going to be one of those times.

Ivory winced, muttering; “That’s going to be a problem.”

“And why is that?” he folded his arms over his chest, awaiting her slow response.

She sighed, “Because there are no police reports. And the reason the police haven’t had much to say is because I haven’t reported anything to them.”

That was certainly interesting. She would have no reason not to involve the police unless she had something to hide. Despite the surprising reaction his dick had around the woman, he hadn’t forgotten his reservations about the coincidental nature of the case. Not to mention the bizarre fact that she smelled like them all. He didn’t necessarily think her unique scent was connected to why she was being stalked, but it was another strange piece to the mysterious puzzle that was their newest client.

“Why haven’t you gone to the police?” he demanded.

She shrugged, negligently, “Because I hired you instead.”

“Try again, sweetheart. These threatening messages began months ago. Any average, single woman living alone would have been on the phone to the authorities in a heartbeat, crying her eyes out and pleading for help.”

“Well, I’m not your average woman, am I?” she answered, her tone turning snotty.

She certainly wasn’t. He was pushing her deliberately, trying to judge her reactions and also to see if she would slip up and reveal her secrets. However, their continued banter was having a different effect on him – in the crotch area. The spark of defiance and the sass in her vocabulary was making him hard and he fought the urge to readjust himself.

He leaned closer, using his height to intimidate, and backed her up three steps until her back was against the hallway wall, “What are you hiding, Ivory?”

Her head tilted back and the annoyed heat in her eyes would have flayed a lesser man, he was sure, “None of your business.”

“But you admit you are hiding something,” he pointed out, surprised. He hadn’t been expecting her to disclose that.

She shrugged, doing her best to appear uncaring when she really wasn’t. Vaughn could hear her heart, and it was beating far faster than normal, “Sure, I admit it. But I’m entitled to my privacy. As long as it has no bearing on my current situation, I don’t see how it’s your business.”

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