Page 22 of Close to the Edge

She’d disappeared by the time I locked the doors and went into the kitchen. Her coffee machine looked as if it hadn’t been touched since it came out of the box. After setting it up, I grabbed two mugs and waited for the machine to do its thing.

She walked in just as the first cup filled. The thin, long-sleeved sweater wasn’t temperature-raising in and of itself except it was cropped, exposing a good three inches of her midriff. Paired with black leggings hugging every glorious inch of hip, thigh and legs, it was incredibly potent. I swallowed a groan and busied myself making the second cup. Which took all of ten seconds.

“How do you take your coffee?”

She looked surprised at the offer. “Umm...cream with two sugars and a splash of vanilla.”

I found the ingredients, stirred them into her cup and handed it over. “If it sucks, keep it to yourself.”

She accepted the coffee, took a careful sip, then blinked. “It’s good. Thanks.”

I got mine and joined her at the kitchen island. “Why buy a coffee machine if you don’t intend to use it?” I asked just for something to do other than stare at the mouth whose taste was now stuck in my head.

“I didn’t buy it. It was here when I moved in, along with most of the furniture.” Her reply was the stiff, don’t-go-there kind.

I ignored the alarm bells. “How long have you lived here?”

Her face tightened. “Three years.”

“And you’ve only worked for SDM?”

She nodded and leaned her hip against the counter. I forcefully redirected my gaze up to her damp hair, anything not to stare at the silky stretch of bare midriff skin or the luscious curve of her hip.

“So why not a condo nearer to SDM’s offices in Sunnyvale?” This part of Silicon Valley was CEO territory, usually favored by those with families.

Her long, sooty lashes swept down. “Accommodation came as part of my signing package and this one was available. It was supposed to be temporary until I found my own place but...it grew on me. When the opportunity came up for me to buy it, I did.” She shrugged. “Also saved me time on house-hunting.”

The well-rehearsed answer heightened my suspicion that something else was going on here. I left it alone for the moment.

“Besides swimming, what else takes you outside on a day-to-day basis?”

“Nothing I can’t live without for the time being.”

“Great. So we’re agreed that you’ll give me a heads-up before you head outside?”

Rebellious green eyes met mine across the granite top. “If it’ll stop you from diving naked into my pool, then yes.” Impatiently, she set her half-finished coffee on the counter with a snap. “By trapping me in my own home, isn’t he winning?”

“You’re not trapped. You just won’t be doing stuff by yourself for a while. Besides, if he thinks you’ve got someone else in your life he might show his hand sooner.”

She frowned. “Someone in my life?”

I shrugged. “He doesn’t know who I am. That’ll make him nervous. Enough to show his hand, I’m hoping.”

She absorbed the words for several beats. “And if it doesn’t?”

I felt my face harden. “Then we’ll step up the game, take the fight to him.”

My days of sitting around, waiting for things to happen were long behind me. Trusting other people to do the right thing for my mother had cost her the ultimate price. She’d suffered for years until she’d taken the only option she felt available to her, leaving me to deal with the aftermath.

The bitter pill I’ve swallowed all these years rose to the back of my throat again. Ruthlessly I pushed it back down.

Her gaze dropped for a moment. “The other reason I hired you was because your success rate is one hundred percent. I guess you’re good at what you do,” she murmured as she toyed with the handle of the mug.

I silenced the cocky bastard inside that wanted to strut at the hidden meaning in her words as she tugged one corner of her lower lip between her teeth. “I have a lot riding on finishing my algorithm,” she added.

The admission wasn’t an easy one and I admired her a hell of a lot for voicing it. It was probably why I skirted the counter to stand in front of her. Why I tucked my finger under her chin and raised her gaze to mine. “We’ll catch the bastard. I promise,” I said.

Her nostrils quivered delicately as she took a breath. This close, I could see the faint shadows and fear she was fighting lurking in her eyes. She’d been brave up to this point but the edges of her composure were beginning to unravel. I opened my mouth, to promise fuck knows what, but she stepped back.

---