Page 23 of I Accidentally Hired a Shadow Walker
“Not just women.” He winked. “I’m a people person. People like me.”
“Men too?” I raised a brow. It wasn’t something I expected to hear, but Raymond was an attractive man. I could see people of all types wanting to get their hands on him.
“What are you asking me, Jericha? Is that a professional question or a personal one?” He frowned. “Doesn’t that go against your policy?”
“It’s not a question at all.” I kicked the thought out of my mind. “Forget I said anything.”
He moved closer to me and whispered, “Just know, I’m the one doing the bending.”
“I—” My breath caught in my throat. Had he really just insinuated what I thought he had? And why the hell was it a turn on? I mean, my pulse quickened, and I felt that familiar tightening between my thighs.
“Is that a problem?” He leaned back and propped his feet up on the table beside me, laughing when I knocked them down.
“Why would it be? I’m not asking to be bent.” I cleared my throat because I knew that sounded worse than I intended. “Look, it's none of my concern what you do or who you do it with. This conversation has left the realm of professionalism, so I think it's best I excuse myself. Besides, I need to make the rounds.”
“Ah, I’ve made her nervous. Never thought I would see the day when that happened.”
“Whatever. Keep your feet on the floor, please.” I pointed at the black sneakers he wore. “How many times do I have to tell you about the germs those things carry? I don’t need that near myface or hands.”
The illness that took Luke down had spread throughout the team. The next day, it was Sandra, and then Greg after that. Each night, there was someone we had to fill in for, which unfortunately meant I couldn’t escape Raymond. Even when I suggested he cover on his own, he would pretend he didn’t know what to do and play on my desire to make sure everything ran smoothly. And so, he and I would end up covering the night shift together.
“Looks like this is the last night we’ll share,” Raymond said after ending a call with his assistant. “Everyone’s all healed up, and the new recruits are ready to step up to the plate as well.”
“That’s good. Everyone passed the training?” I looked up from the clipboard in my hand.
“With flying colors.” The grin stretched across his face. “Sandra and Greg will move into their managing roles as of tomorrow.”
“What a relief.” I sighed. “Don’t get me wrong, I love what I do, but this is the more boring side of things.”
“You mean looking after property isn’t fun?” he teased.
“I got into this business because I wanted to protect people, but the bigger contracts are more about assets. I understand that. Taking a large contract like this means I can continue offering affordable services to individuals.”
“That’s a great way to think about it,” Raymond said. “I never asked why you chose to be in security.”
“I learned at an early age I needed to know how to protect myself, and not too long after that, I realized I wanted to protect others.” My throat dried as I talked, bringing up a memory I wanted more than anything to forget. “There are some actual monsters out there and too many people who are vulnerable to those beings.”
“Something happened, didn’t it?” Raymond asserted. “You don’t have to tell me what it is, but I can see it in your eyes. Some life-changing event pushed you to do this.”
“Well, yeah. That’s how everything works. There’s always a cause.”
As I looked at him, I realized Raymond had slowly learned more about me. During the nights we spent together, I’d softened to him, each time revealing more about myself. I talked about my time in college, the decision to buy a fixer upper for my first home, and even my friendships. I was a lot like Natalie. Long-distance besties was the name of the game. Just as I was about to tell him to mind his damn business, the alert sounded on the panel.
In front of me was a full dashboard full of cameras that gave a view of nearly every angle of the studio’s lots. I pressed the key on the dash that lit up, and the view on the screens shifted. The image shown was at the back of the east lot, an area that had had no activity yet. I used the controls to zoom in and scan the area, but there was nothing of apparent concern.
“What is it?” Raymond moved to peer over my shoulder. “Anything there?”
“I’m not sure. Something triggered an alert, obviously.” I peered at the camera, shifting the view again. “But I don’t see anything.”
“Maybe it was an animal,” Raymond offered. “Not unlike those things to trigger security systems.”
“Maybe, but I think we should check it out, just to be sure.” I stood. “Our systems are sophisticated enough to be able to distinguish between a threat and a stray. I’m going to go check it out just to be on the safe side.”
“Do you really think that’s necessary?” He stood as well.
“What? Are you afraid?” I laughed. “After the way you tossed me around, I wouldn’t have taken you fora scaredy cat!”
“Oh, don’t do that. Don’t try to play on my male sensibilities.” He sighed. “Fine, let's go.”
