Page 5 of Indecent Proposal

And apparently, despite EPC’s first class security services, they hadn’t had the foresight to invest in bulletproof windows in their lobby.

I could admit, I screamed when that glass shattered.

The whole incident had been terrifying. I barely remembered going up the elevator. It felt like my brain was shutting down while my body was out of control. I couldn’t seem to calm my breathing. I couldn’t see for the spots in front of my eyes. I heard things through what felt like several inches of water. Through it all was this sickening nausea in my stomach, rising in my throat.

None of this had been a coincidence. None of this was my imagination.

Someone had killed Richard, and now they wanted to kill me, too.

And I didn’t even know anything!

The man helping me—Vaughn—at least seemed to know what he was doing. Even if the insolent way he’d looked at me before the shot rang out had me simultaneously flushing hot and getting irritated. It had been a long time since I’d felt such a curl of want inside of me.

The guy was handsome as sin, even if he was a bit of an asshole when I’d hurried into the building and tried to explain my situation. Light brown hair that flopped into his face a little, neatly trimmed scruff, with bright blue, assessing eyes—and he was built like a goddamn brick house. What did the man do, bench press freight trains every morning?

His grip on my arm was tight without hurting as he led me out of the elevator and into a room, locking the door behind us before demanding to know what was going on.

I attempted to explain everything, of course. Why I looked like a disheveled, chaotic mess. How I was being targeted, or at least the generals of it, and my last cryptic conversation with Richard. The things that had happened after Richard’s death and my attempts to find answers without any success. The fact that he’d been my fiancé, though we’d been on a hiatus at the time of his death, that I had only a little money left and I was desperately running out of options.

And today, knowing without a doubt that whoever wanted me dead had found me once again, despite my efforts to fly under the radar.

To his credit, Vaughn listened quietly while I talked, which helped me to calm down after that scare in the lobby. But a part of me wished he’d offer me a damn apology for his superior attitude when I’d arrived—and suggesting that I was just being paranoid. And, okay, maybe I could admit that my story sounded fantastical, maybe even a little crazy, especially since I had no proof of any of it before that bullet came whizzing by.

But when I finished summarizing everything, he only said, “So you have no clue who these people are or why they’re after you?”

“None.” I felt myself deflate a little—but then I bristled. “I told you that Richard didn’t have the chance to finish whatever he meant to tell me during that last phone call.”

He leaned back against the desk in the office and crossed his arms over his broad chest, looking completely in control. Dominant, even—and despite his overall gruff demeanor, something inside of me responded to that assertive trait.

“And you thought that you could just evade these people on your own?”

I glared at him, his patronizing tone infuriating me—like he was the person who had all the answers and he was just waiting for me to catch up.

“I didn’t have a choice,” I said, lifting my chin in an equally imperious way. “The police didn’t take me seriously because I had no concrete evidence of being stalked and harassed.”

Vaughn eyed me up and down. The man wasn’t checking me out. He wasassessingme, and I hated the fissure of heat and awareness that appraising look sent through my body—warming my cheeks, making my nipples pucker, and awakening things between my legs.

Jesus, what was wrong with me?

“The question I’m asking myself right now,” Vaughn said in a low drawl that sounded almost . . . seductive, “is how you think you’re going to pay myself and my colleagues for our services when you’ve just admitted to me that you’re out of money?”

Yeah, my financeswerea bit of a problem. “I was hoping that I could… maybe compensate you after everything was settled?” I suggested. “I’m not rich like Richard was but I do—did—have a job and if you help prove he was murdered I’m sure I could persuade his family to help pay your fee. They like me.”

I almost winced at that last part. Well, they liked me before the separation, anyway. I wasn’t so sure now.

The arrogant jerk arched a dark brow. “Even after you left their son and he—as far as they know—killed himself shortly afterwards?” Vaughn pointed out.

“You can drop the know-it-all tone,” I snapped—having been the target of a sniper making me more on edge and short. “It wasn’t cute from the boys in my philosophy classes and it’s not cute now.”

“Oh my God, were you a philosophy major?” Vaughn looked annoyingly delighted by this information. “I bet that’s coming in real handy in your day-to-day life.”

“It’s coming in real handy right now as I remind myself of all the reasons why I shouldn’t walk out of this office right now.” Because she needed him and his expertise, as much as that knowledge galled her.

He smirked—and how did that make him look evenmoresexy?

“You don’t need a philosophy degree for that, you just need to remember there’s a sniper out there on your ass.”

I grit my teeth. “I’ll find a way to pay you. Once my life isn’t in danger. I just need someone tobelieve me, and help me out before I end up as dead as Richard is.”

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