“The town hasn’t done anything against us specifically—not anything actionable anyway. They just never seem to be available for service when it comes to Restoration Ranch. Contractors, landscapers, hell, even takeout. There’s never anyone in the area when we call. Except for Earl, I always have to go outside the town for skilled labor. I can’t prove it, but either an entire town is scared of my money, or maybe they’re scared of someone who doesn’t want them to take it.”
He scratched at his beard as he took in what she’d said. “You think Eli is threatening them?”
“He’s sleazy enough that I wouldn’t put something like that past him,” she replied.
“Well, Jennings and Gleason are going to his ranch tomorrow to talk to him. We don’t have enough to bring him in for official questioning, but we can show up on his doorstep and see if he’ll talk to us.”
She waved a dismissive hand in the air, hoping to get off the topic of Eli. She’d had a lovely meal. There was no need to sour her stomach talking about that piece of filth.
“Back to my security. How do you plan to get someone out here big enough to handle my problems and not blow your cover?”
“I know someone,” he answered. “My dad’s security firm handles emergency jobs like this all the time. Your contractors are coming in soon; they could work in conjunction, get everything up and running in a quick and efficient fashion. If you’re all right with me calling my father, that is.”
He sat next to her, eyes wide with expectation, waiting for her to agree. All it took was her softly whispered “Okay” for him to pull his phone from his back pocket and connect the call. One simple gesture to begin the process of securing the property and for her to break another promise to the people she’d pledged her friendship to.
While he talked on the phone, Aja slid away from the counter and stood at a nearby window, looking out into the darkness on the other side of the glass pane. Was it her destiny to hurt the people she wished to love and protect? Would she never know the peace of being able to keep her promises and keep those she cared about safe at the same time? Because to date, she’d never managed to do both simultaneously.
Chapter 8
“We can make it out there first thing in the morning. Are you sure this woman understands…”
Jackson’s attention drifted from the voice coming through his phone to the woman standing in front of the kitchen window. Her shoulders drooped like she was weary, exhausted from carrying the twin invisible weights perched there.
“Jackson, did you hear what I said, boy?”
The sharp ring in his father’s voice pulled his attention from the sad picture Aja made and back to his phone. “I’m here. She owns a ranch in Hill Country; I think she can handle whatever this will cost. First thing in the morning should be fine for a consult.”
“All right. Kip and I will see you at nine.”
“See you then.”
Jackson ended the call and slid his phone back into his pocket. He cleared his throat, hoping the sound would draw Aja’s attention away from the darkness outside. “They’ll be out at the start of business tomorrow to speak with you and gets pictures of your land.”
“That’s fine.” The soft utterance dissipated into the air. Her usual voice, as he knew it, was full and rich. Like her presence, it resonated across a room, pulling everyone in, forcing them to focus on her whether or not they wanted to. But the way she stood so still, shutting the world out with her silence—it didn’t feel right. Not to mention, the unexpected meekness in her voice made him ache, and not in a pleasurable way.This is all wrong.
He rubbed a hand over his face. She was still standing there, weighed down by her worries with her hands wrapped around each upper arm as she held herself.
This wasn’t fear. This was vulnerability. There was something almost breakable about her as she stared out into the night. And as he watched her literally fold into herself, the need to protect her scratched at him from somewhere deep inside.
Protecting those around him wasn’t a foreign concept to Jackson. He was a lawman, someone sworn to protect the public. But what Aja stirred in him wasn’t anything like his trained reaction to professional situations. No, this ran deeper. It was rougher, calling to a baser need in him.
This thing clawing at him from the inside tested his will. It made him stand rooted to the floor. It made him clench his fists to keep from reaching out for her. He let a long, frustrated breath escape. He was literally battling against himself, trying not to answer the burning desire her vulnerability sparked in him. And for the life of him, he couldn’t understand why.
He walked over to her, placing a tentative hand on her shoulder. There was no reason to touch her, other than he thought it would make her feel better. Second-guessing himself, he withdrew but the gentle press of her hand stopped him.
She barely touched him; a minor twitch of his wrist, and her hand would be dislodged. But he stayed, tightened his grip on her shoulder, letting them both know he wasn’t going anywhere.
“I can see you beating yourself up over this. No one will invade their privacy. Not much anyway. There’ll be no surveillance devices in their private dwellings. This is all to protect your business from harm and liability. As the proprietor, you must make this ranch safe.”
“I know. But it feels wrong not to inform them of it beforehand.”
“You can blame it on me if it makes you feel better. No one else has to know.”
“I would know,” she whispered.
She turned around to face him. He glanced at her shoulder where their hands still mingled even with the change in position and thought how right that idea seemed. The two of them tangled together, touching everywhere at the same time.
“It’s bad enough I’m keeping the truth of who you are and why you’re here from them. I can’t add this on top of it. I’ll tell them I’ve decided to add cameras to the property. I may as well. It’s not like they won’t notice them as they go up.”
