Page 6 of Target Me
Priorities straightened once more, I took my time walking the property, probing weak points in the fence line, and devising plans to strengthen the perimeter. I plotted points around the first floor to recommend camera installation and wondered if contact sensors on the windows would be overkill.
I made notes of all my suggestions and sent them in a preliminary report to the General before wandering into the kitchen in search of coffee.
The machine had finished dumping liquid gold into my mug when Avery came flying down the stairs, scraping her hair into a ponytail with a hair elastic in her teeth.
“I’m late. Shit, I’m really late.”
“Late for what?” I asked, eyeing her black yoga pants and t-shirt curiously. Her tennis shoes squeaked on the floorboards, she pulled up so quickly, and she eyed me cautiously, securing her hair in place.
“Shopping. I’m… late for shopping. Don’t worry about it. I’ll be back in two hours.”
The click of a lock was loud in the silence that followed her statement. Moving in a way that was second nature, I pulled the nine millimeter I’d stashed in the waistband of my jeans and pointed it calmly at the front hall where the tap of shoes announced the arrival of an unannounced visitor.
“Wait—” Avery started.
A shadow preceded the visitor, and I cocked my weapon, moving in quickly to aim at the head—
Of a small dark-haired woman who took one look at the weapon pointed in her face and slapped it away. A stream of Portuguese that finished with, “Devia fazê-lo, seu filho da mãe estúpido!”
“My Portuguese is a little rusty, but I think she just called me a stupid son of a bitch,” I muttered, staring in wonder at the tiny woman who moved straight past me and into the kitchen, clucking her tongue at the mess I’d made of the coffee maker.
“You missed the part where she threatened to shoot you?” Avery asked, cocking an eyebrow as she edged toward the door I was blocking.
“Hold up, give me a second, and I’ll come with you.”
“Oh, you don’t have to do that. I’ll just be browsing shoes. Very boring.” Her eyes shifted toward the door, body practically vibrating with the need to leave.
“You’ve already forgotten the part where I said I’d be your shadow for the foreseeable future?” I asked, retrieving my ball cap and sunglasses from the kitchen bench and downing my coffee, not trusting her to wait if given the chance.
“I’m going to be buying lingerie. I don’t feel comfortable having you there. We only just met. Seriously, I won’t tell if you don’t. I’ve been to the mall plenty of times. I promise it’s safe.”
“No deal,” I said, grabbing the keys to my truck and steering her out the door. “I’ll wait outside the store if you’ll feel more comfortable, but you aren’t going alone.”
Avery climbed into the passenger seat with a huff. This girl was clearly not used to the word no. I suppressed the urge to teach her a lesson and slid into the driver’s side, starting the engine and waiting for directions.
3
AVERY
Shit. The guy had pulled a gun on Luciana. It should not have turned me on as much as it did. The way his face had darkened, going from curious to dangerous in a heartbeat, was going to feature in late night fantasies for a while to come. Who was I kidding? Even without that encounter, I knew Captain Tanner’s crazy hot body would be starring in my dreams.
His large hands tightened on the steering wheel. They would be strong, but would they be rough? Or smooth? Rough. I decided, watching with far too much interest as he downshifted to take the corner smoothly. He was a good driver. I didn’t know if that was an attractive feature or not.
Ugh. I knew better than to find Army guys attractive. They were never worth the hype, anyway. The clicking of his turn signal reminded me I had more pressing issues to worry about. I needed to lose my personal guard for a while.
“You can let me out here and just come back in two hours. Deal? Great,” I babbled, unclicking my seatbelt and reaching for the handle.
Logan grunted, reaching across and pinning me in place. The move brought us face to face, and his chest pressed against my breasts in a way that made my heart race. Heat crawled up my neck as his breath tickled across my lips. Without thinking, I lifted my chin.
He pulled back, securing the seatbelt across my body again with a smirk that said he knew exactly what he was doing to me.
“Not a chance in hell. Stay buckled up until I get us parked. I’m sure the shoes will wait for you.”
Asshole.
I glanced at the clock, cringing as the time ticked over the hour. I was officially late. I had to lose the guy as quickly as possible.
Logan swung into a parking space, and I was out of the car before he had finished applying the parking brake.
