Page 10 of Not the Bodyguard's Widow
Mr. Alexander smiled. “Mom said she craved straight lime juice with Andrew. I remember seeing her drink it, so I tried it when she wasn’t looking. I still don’t like lime anything.”
“Oh, that sounds good. Will you add limeade to the list?”
He shuddered and wrote “limeade” in neat writing under her ice cream selections. “I won’t suggest anything else. It might not fit in the kitchen.” Mr. Alexander folded the paper and put it in his pants pocket. “Let me give you a tour of the alarm system, and you can nap while I am gone.”
The tour went quickly, as some components were similar to the system she’d used before.
“I expected the panic buttons to be big and red.” Kimberly traced the well-camouflaged button in the hallway with her finger.
“Red buttons scream ‘Push me.’ Not what we want. The idea is to not invite outsiders to notice them.”
“I found the one in the loft today. Which I didn’t push.”
When they concluded the tour, Mr. Alexander held up his phone. “My phone is connected to the app. When I have it on me, I can exit and enter the house without setting or disabling the alarm. I should have a phone for you by tomorrow morning, and you can do the same.”
“What about a key?” Not that it would do her much good as he already had one.
“I’ll pick one up from the local security contractor while I am out.” He patted the pocket that held the grocery list. “Anything else you need?”
Kimberly shook her head.
“Call me if you do.” Mr. Alexander left through the front door.
Some security guy.She didn’t have his number. Kimberly started back to the bedrooms.
A knock sounded on the door before it opened. “You’ll need my number.” Mr. Alexander handed her a card. “Make sure you dial the extension too.”
When he left, Kimberly stared at the closed door. He’d knocked.Granted, he hadn’t waited for her to answer, but he hadn’t barged in. If only it were six years ago and he wasn’t a bodyguard, she might have convinced him to ask her out. She placed a hand on her abdomen. “Mommy is thinking silly things. It must be those pregnancy hormones. Let’s go take a nap.”
Her old bedroom had been repainted a cheery yellow. The mattress was one of the new elastic-polymer ones she’d seen advertised on social media. It felt odd to sit on, like dozens of squishy boxes, but when she laid down, they turned into heaven. The mattress perfectly supported her baby bump without her having to turn at an odd angle. Kimberly barely had time to contemplate the invention before she fell into the first nightmare-free sleep in months.
* * *
Alex started his car and punched in the number for Alan’s phone.
“Good afternoon, Mr. Alexander.”
“Hey, Elle, is Alan still in a meeting? His phone forwarded to you.”
“He was just here at the desk. I’ll see if I can find him.”
“Have him call me back.”
The stop at the local security contractor took only minutes. Alex informed them the house was back on active status and Hastings would take over first response as long as a Hastings team was in the area. The company manager frowned as he handed over the only key they had, but Alex couldn’t risk them stumbling into the house and finding the feisty woman. Someone would get hurt, and it wouldn’t be Kimberly. A vision of her defending herself with the marble rolling pin filled his mind.
If she had been a roommate when Mandy’s life was in danger, Alex would have had a hard time focusing. But a pregnant widow on the run from a possibly imaginary threat? It would help if her nose didn’t crinkle, but otherwise, the scenario made it easy to be professional. Nothing said unavailable like a pregnant woman. A widow, even. Two Hastings siblings had already fallen for their clients. Alex would not make it a third. Especially not after the hard time he’d given his twin. He got in the car and headed for the old Crawford caretaker’s house to see what he needed for groceries.
His phone rang. Alex connected the call through the car’s hands-free system.
“ZoElle says you’ve been trying to reach me.” Alan’s voice boomed over the speakers.
“There was a break-in at Art House last night. The alarm malfunction was likely because of water in the connection.”
“Water?”
“It was raining when the intruder came in through the skylight. Apparently the locking mechanism hasn’t worked for years. The installation team must have missed that.”
“You are telling me someone entered through the skylight in a thunderstorm? That is crazy! There aren’t even any valuables there.”
