5
Brick watched her eyes fill with temper.
He preferred her temper to her wariness. Something told him she had a good reason for being so guarded. He likely wasn’t helping her feel more at ease around him. He was bossy and blunt, and he didn’t know how to change.
One day he’d know all those nightmares he saw swirling in her eyes and he’d make every person that hurt her suffer. They’d rue the day they ever saw her.
Ease back.
You don’t know her. You’re here for a job. You have no right to her past.
And he shouldn’t have any interest in her. She was the client. She was obviously damaged. There was far too much shit in his life going on right now for him to get into any sort of relationship. And he definitely couldn’t fall for a client.
Perhaps it wasn’t a good idea for him to be her main contact.
“Give me your hand,” he said, injecting some Dom into his voice.
He waited impatiently for her to decide what to do. But before either of them could react or move, the door opened and Elias stepped in. “All clean, man.”
Juliet let out a small squeal. Did that mean her vocal cords weren’t damaged? She leaned into him, and he had to stop himself from preening like a damn peacock. Idiot.
There was definitely something weird here. He’d never felt such an instant draw towards someone.
“Sorry, didn’t mean to startle you, Juliet,” Elias said, holding his hands out at his sides. He held the mop in one hand and the broom in the other.
She made a noise of irritation, but he thought that was aimed at herself rather than Elias.
With a sigh, she picked up her whiteboard.
I’m not used to strangers in my house.
“I totally understand,” Elias said with a smile.
A stab of jealousy hit him as he sensed her relaxing. Elias could soothe the prickliest personality and have them soon eating out of the palm of his hand.
“It’s not easy for anyone having strangers in their home. But we’ll do our best to be as unobtrusive as possible,” Elias told her.
Will he?
He frowned as he saw she’d drawn an arrow pointing his way after those words.
Elias let out a bark of laughter. “Well, you’ve got Brick pegged right. And you’ve known him less than an hour.”
Juliet smiled. Actually smiled. Her whole face lightened, and she looked so gorgeous that for a moment, his breath caught.
Fuck. He definitely needed to get away from her.
He crossed his arms over his chest. “I’ve got things I need to do. No time to stand around and chat. Elias, check her hand and don’t let her walk on that foot.”
Before he could change his mind, he left the room.
As soon as he left, he started cursing himself. Fuck.
Shaking his head and ignoring his gut, which was telling him to go back to her, he strode out of the house and headed towards where he figured Sterling would be, setting up additional cameras.
About twenty minutes later, Elias came into where he was sitting at the dining table. The pool house was as big as most people’s actual houses. It had two bedrooms, both with attached bathrooms and a full kitchen. He could easily stay here while letting Elias stay with Juliet in the house.
“What was that?” Elias said.