Sinful Seduction (6 page)

“Thanks, I owe you.” As he set his phone on the counter, he heard faint movement coming from the hallway.

A moment later Mina stepped into the kitchen, looking bleary-eyed, rumpled and good enough to eat. Her dark hair hung loosely around her shoulders and the green fitted T-shirt she wore let him know she wasn’t wearing a bra. As her nipples started to get hard, he forced his gaze from her breasts to her face and found her staring at his bare chest.

Instinctively he patted his flat stomach and inwardly smiled when her gaze darkened and raked over his chest and abs. “I took my shirt off to sleep but I can put it back on—”

“No,” she quickly cut him off then cleared her throat as if embarrassed. “I mean, do whatever makes you comfortable,” she muttered before ducking her head and heading for the full pot of coffee on the opposite counter.

He liked that he had an effect on her because she sure as hell had one on him. She was all he’d been able to think about last night. He’d finally drifted off with thoughts of her naked and writhing underneath him only to wake up with an uncomfortable hard-on. He’d had to think of shitty things to finally get it to go away.

“You didn’t have to cook,” she said as she pulled a mug down from one of the cabinets and poured herself coffee. The woman had so many different flavors to choose from so he’d gone with the breakfast blend.

He shrugged. “I wanted to. Did you hear back from your father or his security?”

Leaning against the counter, mug in hand, she frowned as she shook her head. “No and that’s not like either of them. I called my father this morning and it went straight to voicemail too.”

“I hope you don’t mind, but I made some calls to a few contacts about your situation.” With the brazen attack still fresh in his mind, he hadn’t been able to sit back and do nothing. Even if Mina kicked him out of her life, he’d had to involve others. Too much time was passing since the attempted kidnapping and he didn’t want to lose any leads.

At his words, she straightened against the counter and set her mug down. He could see the flare of hurt in her gaze, but he shook his head before she could speak.

“
Not
to the police. People I work with and a couple guys I served with who live down here. What happened isn’t going to be made public and the cops aren’t going to be involved as of yet.”

The tension in her shoulders lessened some as she leaned back again. “Okay. So who exactly did you talk to and what did you tell them?”

“I let my boss know everything about the attack. Red Stone has a lot of resources for this kind of thing.” In addition to private security they also had a small branch dedicated to hostage negotiation when wealthy individuals didn’t want to involve the authorities. Their success rate was almost perfect.

“One of the Caldwell brothers?” she asked, sipping her coffee, her eyes more alert now that she was waking up.

He nodded. Last night they’d talked about his job and she’d known enough about Red Stone Security that it surprised him. It didn’t now that he understood her father had used Red Stone in the past. “Harrison. I told him who you are, what happened and the sensitive nature of the situation. No details of you and the life you’ve built here will be leaked to anyone.”

“Why didn’t you just wait until I woke up to ask me?” That hurt flickered in her gaze again, like a punch to his gut.

Blue turned the stove off and moved the pan to the side before turning to face her fully. “We went to bed late and I wasn’t sure when you’d wake up. I wanted to get everyone in the loop as early as possible.” And he hadn’t been sure if she’d even say yes. He’d figured he could just do it then ask for forgiveness later.

She rubbed a hand over her face and slightly shook her head. “Okay, so what did your boss say?”

“They’re looking into high profile kidnappings from the past year that fit a similar MO and one of Red Stone’s security specialists will be looking at CCTVs in the city to see if they can dig up anything from around the time of the attempted kidnapping.”

“That’s smart… But why are they doing this? I haven’t hired them or anything.” She frowned, eyeing him warily.

Blue had figured this question would come and went for total honesty. “I can’t be positive, but Harrison is a businessman. I think he’s hoping that by helping you it will secure more contracts from your father. As soon as I told him your last name he was all over this.”

A ghost of a smile tugged at her lips. Even if she didn’t hire Red Stone, she’d pay them for services rendered. “At least you’re honest.” She took another sip and he let her digest everything before moving on. After a moment she spoke again. “I’d thought Ivan would have called me back by now with instructions on how to proceed but he hasn’t. With Red Stone involved…what do I do now?” she asked and he could see the tension returning to her shoulders.

“Until and unless Red Stone is officially hired they’re not getting overtly involved for legal reasons, though they’ll continue to work in the background gathering information. But if you’re willing, I’d like to stay with you in an unofficial capacity until your father’s security contacts you or until you make a decision about your security. And I don’t care if you hire a company other than Red Stone, until whoever came after you is found, you
need
protection.”

Her eyes narrowed a fraction as she watched him. “And you’re just doing this out of the goodness of your heart?”

Blue wasn’t sure how to read her tone. “If I walked away and something happened to you I’d never forgive myself.” He’d lost too many friends and even though he hadn’t known Mina long, he wasn’t walking away from this situation. From her. Even if she kicked him out, he was still watching out for her until this threat was eliminated.

Her expression softened immediately. “Sorry, I’m just so used to questioning motives of people. I know you’re not like that. After a night of sleep I know I can’t just sit and wait around anymore. I think I was just hoping I’d wake up and yesterday would be a bad dream.”

Blue started to respond but she continued, surprising him. “Um, if I hire Red Stone can I request you as my personal security?” Her cheeks tinged pink as she asked.

Unsure what the protocol was and not particularly caring because he
would
be the one protecting her, he nodded. “I’m pretty sure you can request anything you want and get it.” Red Stone’s top priority was the safety and security of their clients and unless a client’s request put them in danger, they went out of their way to keep people happy. Considering his attraction to Mina he should probably step back if she did hire Red Stone though.

But he was only human and that wasn’t happening.

“You don’t have to make a decision now. Eat, drink and finish waking up,” he said softly.

She nodded and that dark green gaze tracked over his chest again, dipping low until she full-on blushed. Seeming to realize what she was doing, she glanced away and turned toward one of the cabinets. “Everything smells good. I don’t even know what I have in my fridge so I can’t imagine what you made.”

Blue watched her lift up on her toes, grabbing plates. Her shirt pulled up, revealing a few inches of bare, tan skin and her skin-tight yoga-style pants molded to her perfect ass and long legs. His mouth watered at the sight. What he wouldn’t give to taste every single inch of her delectable body. Feeling like a teenager with a crush, he turned around and started pulling the tortillas out of the plastic wrapping. “It’s simple, but you had enough eggs and sausage for breakfast wraps.”

She made an adorable snorting sound. “Usually I just go for coffee, but I could get used to this.”

Something foreign and long-buried stirred deep inside him. Yeah, he could enjoy this on a regular basis too. He wasn’t used to company in the morning—or ever. But he liked being around her, liked taking care of her… But that wasn’t something he could dwell on. As he started cutting up the sausage, he said, “In addition to Harrison, I also contacted a couple friends of mine who live here. Carter and Chris Foley. They run a dive shop. Both former military.” Carter had been in the Marines like Blue and Chris had been Delta. “If you’re okay with it, Carter is going to sit on your place today and I’d like to get you away from here for a few hours.” He looked over his shoulder to see her reaction.

Two plates in hand, she nodded. “I’d planned to paint all day, but I can take some time off. What do you have in mind?”

“Carter’s going to let us use one of his boats. We can spend some time on the water away from any threat. He said there’s a shallow reef near where he lives we can explore if you want. If we work it right, no one will even know we’ve left your place.” Which would work best for their plan to keep an eye on her condo during the day. He didn’t even want to bring Mina back here, but he didn’t think she’d agree to up and leaving, however temporarily.

When she nodded, a mix of relief and hunger warred inside him. He wanted her away from here, but the thought of seeing her in a bathing suit was wreaking havoc on his senses. Right now he was walking a fine line. She hadn’t officially hired Red Stone but if she did he couldn’t be involved with her during any operations. Or…he shouldn’t be.

* * *

Lewis sipped his iced latte as he slowly strode down the Hollingsworth woman’s street. He had earbuds in his ears but his mp3 player was turned off. He just wanted to give the appearance that he wasn’t paying attention to anything. The straw hat he wore was pulled low on his forehead. Combined with his sunglasses, it was enough to cover most of his face on the off chance the woman saw him. His attire was typical for tourists and locals so he wasn’t worried about standing out from anyone else.

He and two other members from his crew were alternating shifts today watching her place. After losing her yesterday and the new two-day time frame in which to grab her, they had to sit on her condo in case she moved.

Unfortunately he wasn’t certain they were the only ones watching her. Stopping on the sidewalk, he reached out and held onto a street meter, holding it for support while he bent down and pretended to pull a rock out of his sandal. Scanning the street, he saw the same truck he’d spotted earlier still parked in Mina’s designated curbside spot. With these expensive condo complexes they had two parking spots; one in the interior parking garage and one right out in the open parking area in front of the building. There were only six spots in the small space in front of the building and hers was never in use since she used the interior garage only.

Now her exterior spot was filled and he could clearly see the familiar green tag given to residents hanging from the rearview mirror of the truck. Which meant she’d given her spot to that big guy from last night, or someone else. Someone who was likely staying with her. Security maybe. She was certainly rich enough to afford it.

That truck hadn’t been there even two hours ago so this was a new development. Which just posed more questions. After covertly taking a picture of the license plate with his cell phone, he kept his stride casual as he headed in the opposite direction he’d come. He made his way into a quiet neighborhood and without glancing around, slid into the passenger seat of the waiting non-descript four-door car.

“You see anything?” Harry asked. He was the first man Lewis had brought in for this job. He was good with cracking safes and driving getaway cars. For this job, the latter was his primary function.

“Possibly. There’s a truck sitting in her spot.”

“Belong to the guy she’s with?” Harry turned left on the next street, moving seamlessly into the flow of traffic.

“No clue. If it is, it means he left her to get it.”

“Or he’s brought in backup.” His partner flicked a glance in the rearview mirror.

The plate had been local, not only to Florida but to Key West. Which meant the owner lived here. Lewis frowned as he went over the possibilities, then shook his head. The “what if” scenarios didn’t matter. He pulled out one of his burner phones and texted another member of their crew to run the license plate using one of his contacts at the DMV. They’d find out soon enough who the vehicle belonged to.

Then they could take appropriate action against the owner if necessary.

Chapter 7

Blue stood behind Mina on the dock as Carter held out a hand for her, helping her into the sleek, forty-foot Hatteras. This was Carter and Chris’s personal boat, not one they used at their shop. It meant a lot that they were letting him and Mina use it. But their kindness did nothing to quench the surge of possessiveness he felt at seeing Carter grip Mina’s hand.

The contact lingered a little too long as he helped her step onto the flat back of the boat. More likely that was Blue’s imagination but ever since Carter had picked them up from her private garage, Blue had been feeling oddly possessive. He knew it was total fucking caveman stuff, but he wanted Mina all to himself.

Carter had that all-American, Hollywood handsome thing going on that even Blue could appreciate. The blond-haired blue-eyed man was also easy going and never wanting for female company. Something Blue was reminded of now as Mina smiled sweetly at something Carter said.

Stepping onto the boat behind her, Blue automatically scanned the open water for possible danger, but they were at the Foley brothers’ house and he was ninety-nine percent sure no one had followed them. They’d been careful, getting into the backseat of Carter’s SUV when he picked them up, and laying on the floorboards as they’d left. Having Mina stretched out on top of him like that, all those long, lithe curves pressed to his body had been heaven and hell.