Page 40 of Sheltered By Love

I grab the bowl and twist the fork into the pasta, shoving it in, eating quickly out of habit.

I keep my eyes on the screen watching a minivan drive past where Jax’s camera is fixed.

“Jax and Levi can only be in place from 0000 to 0600. I’m taking the first shift. I’ll keep monitoring the cameras they’ve set up.”

She pauses, fork halfway to her mouth. “And if they see something what do they do?”

I twist the fork in my spaghetti as I answer. “They call me.”

“And?”

“We move in, trapping the burglars, and preventing them from leaving the area.”

Her mouth opens in a silent gasp. “You don’t call Garrett?”

That’s the part that Garrett isn’t too happy about. That part I may have neglected to mention to him.

“We’ll call him when we’ve secured the area.”

She slowly shakes her head. “Isn’t that something best left to the professionals? What if they have weapons?”

“I am a professional and we all have weapons,” I say.

I stop short of saying we’re all professionals. Jax maybe, Levi not so much.

She stares at me, so long that if anyone is watching her from the street, they’ll know someone else is in the room.

“Face the window. And if you need to talk, do it while you’re eating.”

She frowns but does what I ask her to, eating a mouthful of pasta while talking. “And what happens if something happens when you’re on your own?”

“Unless they try to break in here, my primary concern is getting footage of the vehicle they use. If I have no backup, I’ll call Garrett.”

She’s quiet for a while, so I pick up my fork and start eating again.

“You’re staying in here until midnight then?”

“Ayuh.”

“Won’t you get bored?”

“Probably.”

“Mind if I join you?”

“Only if you usually eat dinner up here. You’re probably visible from the street.”

She smiles. “I do. This room doesn’t just have the best view of the street, it has the best view of the harbor.”

I put my empty bowl to one side as she sits in the comfy chair a few feet from me.

As she looks out over the water and I keep a watch on the cameras, every so often I find my eyes drifting to her.

With her legs folded up under her, and her head resting on the back of the chair, she looks more relaxed than I’ve seen her do.

She doesn’t say anything else, and I’m glad. It’s hard enough staying focused when my thoughts are straying to how bizarre it feels to be back in this house again.

Considering I still don’t know anything about this woman I’m supposed to be protecting, it’s obvious I can’t trust my feelings about her or what I’m doing.

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