“Sloan, I told you I thought there was more there than—”
“James, I’m not angry about your feelings for her. I’m grateful.”
“Y-you are?”
“Yeah, because I know that if I can’t be here, you’ll guard her with your life. And because I trust her. And you. I’ll text you the days I can’t be here.”
“O-okay.”
He turned to walk off. “But, James,” he called back.
“Yeah?”
“Don’t fuck up. Because no matter how what I fee
l about you, she comes first.”
“I get it. I won’t fuck up.”
16
The doorbell rang, and Kinley closed the fridge door. She’d been looking for something to drink with the pizza she’d ordered. Sloan was in the shower, having just arrived home twenty minutes ago. James was sitting in the living room. He’d spent the day with her while Sloan went to work, and Sloan had asked him to stay for dinner. She felt kind of bad now that she hadn’t cooked something, but she’d been too irritated to concentrate on cooking.
Having James here to guard her was complete overkill. There was no reason for the two of them to rearrange their schedules so someone was with her. The house had an alarm, and her secret admirer probably had no idea where she even lived. If he was even dangerous.
Although that last note had been a bit disturbing. The day after Sloan and James gate-crashed her bath, another bunch of flowers had arrived at her apartment. Unfortunately, James’s guys hadn’t had a chance to install the camera, so they hadn’t caught the guy. But the note had sent Sloan and James into overprotective mode.
Come out, come out, little flower, or I’m going to come searching for you.
Not an out and out threat, but still she’d found herself agreeing to call in to work sick and stay home until they could figure out whether Gary was the one doing this.
Sloan had contacted the police, and they’d come out to interview her, but there wasn’t much they could do. There had been no real threat, and, while they urged her to be cautious, they couldn’t trace anything without knowing what florist he’d bought the flowers from. So, they had to wait and hope the cameras caught him
Turned out she didn’t have that much patience. At least when it came to being cooped up inside the house, under guard 24-7. Despite how sexy those guards were, it was doing her head in. Or maybe part of it was because they were so sexy, and she shouldn’t be thinking that way about James.
“I’ll get it,” she called out.
James stood. “No, you won’t. Stay there.”
She ignored him. It was just the pizza guy, for God’s sake.
Someone grabbed her around the waist and pulled her back against a hard body. She knew instantly it wasn’t Sloan. She fought back, but James held her easily with one arm around her waist the other across her chest.
“Calm down,” he told her in a low voice.
“Let me go, asshole!” All right, so her anger was way out of proportion to the situation, but she couldn’t seem to find her rational side.
“Everything okay here?” Sloan asked from behind them.
“This fucking asshole grabbed me and won’t let go,” she spat out. Then she wished she could recall the words. James and Sloan were getting on. Sloan had told her everything, and her heart had hurt so much for the two of them and everything they’d gone through that she’d burst into tears.
Sloan had just held her until she’d stopped sobbing.
They’d lost so much time. And they were talking to each other again.
“Kinley wanted to answer the door, and when I told her no, she ignored me.”
“That so?” Sloan drawled in a deceptively easy-going voice. “James, I’d appreciate it if you’d let her go then go and get the door.”