Page 27 of Sensual Nights

Now his ears burned too. "I don't know."

Jace nodded. "Okay."

"It's complicated."

Jace chuckled. "Yeah." He swiped his hands through his hair and huffed out a breath. "It doesn't have to be though."

Mason swallowed. "Right."

Jace nodded. "So, they are looking into it. They didn't know the man in the video, but they'll be watching. I also told them where Carley works and lives. They'll be driving by her place of business and her house regularly to make sure everything looks okay. I've texted her and told her that."

Mason felt a bit of relief, but that might not be enough if the man got inside somehow. He'd felt a bit unsettled today about all of this. What if that man got to her before he or the police could?

Mason closed the storeroom door and headed out to the bar. He still had friends he'd served with in the Army. A couple of them were training soldiers now. They'd still have contacts with security professionals. Maybe he should consider that.

What he knew was he liked being around Carley. She was amazing. And just seeing her this morning and texting with her, made him happy. When was the last time he'd felt happy?

It had been a long damn time, just to be happy over nothing.

Was Jace right? Was he making it too complicated?

The bar was busy during lunch, and he found himself watching the door in case Carley came in. He wanted to see herright away if she did. But, as the time rolled on, she didn't, and a weird sadness filled his gut.

He finished up the lunch shift, restocked the bar, and managed the few customers sitting in the bar day drinking. Jace stepped behind the bar and nodded.

"If you want to knock off early today, go ahead. I can handle the bar and Margo said she could help if we got busy. Since you came in and worked your ass off in the storeroom, go home and relax, or get ready for your date."

Mason's cheeks heated. "How did you..."

Jace laughed. "My wife and your girlfriend are sisters. There are few secrets between them."

He glanced at his watch. Two-thirty. That was about the time Carley had the showing at the condo. Maybe he could be there with her.

He hustled out to his truck and drove out to the barracks. As he pulled into the lot, he saw Carley's SUV in the last spot in the parking lot. He saw there were landscaping trucks in the back lots when he first pulled into the main driveway. There were landscapers milling all around and four of them worked on the front building, which was his building. It was looking wonderful. He was happy once again he'd purchased this place. It seemed that all the good things revolved around his buying this condo. He'd finally met Carley face to face and look how good that turned out so far. Plus, he'd slept last night. Likely, not having to worry about the other tenants propping open a security door and the lack of noise suited him better. It would be better suited to anyone, actually.

He entered the building and could hear Carley's voice. They were at the condo across from his. He quietly walked down the corridor as he listened to her explain the features of the condo. He was proud of her.

The male voice, though, seemed a bit edgy.

"So when they started building these condos, did they have to dig up the ground underneath?"

"No. The barracks were in place. They just gutted the inside then restructured and built the walls as you see them now."

"So, there was no digging involved?"

"No, there was no digging involved."

"All right. And what about for telephone lines and cable lines and whatnot?"

Mason's brows furrowed. What weird questions.

"Well, there aren't telephone lines anymore. Everything is basically wireless. You'll have your phone service provider, and they either have towers or fiber optics in place. I do believe they laid the fiber optics in the beginning here, and the only digging that was done was with a trencher. The ground was overturned, the fiber laid in, and it was covered up in one pass. So, I guess some digging was done, but not in the sense that they brought in heavy equipment."

The man wasn't finished asking questions. "So who did all the building of these barracks?"

"Quinn Kurtz Construction is the builder. Is there something in particular I can help you with? You seem to be searching for some particular information, and I'm happy to help you find that out."

"No, I don't think so. I just wondered."

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