“Oh, I don’t know. You should do him and get it out of your system. You might not get another chance. There is a killer that wants you dead, after all,” Grace said.
“She’s got enough on her plate. Don’t give her anymore ideas.” Becca added.
“Spoil sport.” Quinn replied.
Pain pierced Harper’s temple. The running commentary was giving Harper a headache. She lowered her head andpulled the transmitter out of her ear, holding it up for Ryker to see before shoving it in his coat pocket. His lips twisted into a smile.
“What’s the consensus?”
“It’s a tie. Two for me stripping you down and making you a notch on my bed post, and two for me watching you in the rearview mirror.
Ryker’s hands landed on Harper’s waist and slid down the silky fabric of her dress to cup her hips. “Which sisters said no?”
His question made her smile. Like she’d ever give him help getting Cara or Becca to agree. “It doesn’t matter. If I listened to everything they said, I’d either be in a psychiatric ward or already in my grave. I make my own decisions and”—she shook her head and patted his lapel—“you should have come clean from the beginning. I don’t sleep with men I don’t trust. I’m going home and going to bed…alone. I have to get up early and go into work.”
“I thought you were closed the entire week?” His brows dipped as he studied her.
“We are,” she said, not giving him any more information. He might be part owner in the company, but damned if she was going to acknowledge it.
Harper slid around him and waved toher sisters, who were standing by the bar, before she headed toward the exit. If there was a stalker outside or hiding in her car, he was going to get what he had coming. She was horny, hungry, and sober. It was a deadly combination.
“You’re just goingto let her walk out?” Crazy Aunt Betty said as she approached. Ryker had endured the last three hours with the woman who talked his ear off about sexual positions as she “accidentally” groped him.
“I’ve got surveillance at her house and a tracker on her car,” he said, not worried that Harper wouldn’t make it home in one piece. He could view her progress with a few simple clicks on his phone.
“You know my nieces always fight the attraction in the beginning. Take her sister, Cara. We had to make up a dangerous situation just so she’d spend time with Cooper. Quinn…needed to be stranded in another country to help her Highlander. Grace and Becca will be the same. Harper, though….she’s got walls a mile tall. Cracking through won’t be an easy feat.”
Betty’s words made him pause. Why would she think his intentions were anything more than sex and keepingHarper alive? He wasn’t a stay-around type guy. He was the type of guy who talked women out of their panties and then never looked back.
“I think you’ve got the wrong idea,” he said. “I’m not the kind of guy you bring home to mom, unless you’re trying to piss her off.”
Aunt Betty crossed her arms over her chest. “Is that so?”
“Of course,” he said in a firm voice, as if he was trying to convince them both. “She’s an assignment. You, of all people, should understand that.”
“Funny.” She grinned. “You’ve already met her mother and her father, and you were the one to instigate it. You do realize that we can keep her safe, don’t you?” Betty winked and walked off.
Her question rankled him, creating a certain void in his chest where his heart should be. It was possible they could keep her safe, but he could do it better. He knew the threat better than most.
Chapter Five
Ryker unlockedthe door to his home, which, on the outside, looked like an abandoned warehouse. He used it only in case of emergencies, preferring hotel food over cooking for himself. After the attempted assassination at the hotel, he had no choice. He reset the security alarm before stepping onto the lift up to the top floor to his residence. The nicely furnished apartment had been compliments of Eve, and he didn’t have the heart to change a thing. He rubbed his chest to ease his aching heart as he gazed at the floral paintings she’d hung on his walls. He had a whole storage shed full of her others, which used to hang in her studio. He’dbeen careless back then, but not anymore. He pressed a kiss to his fingers and touched his favorite painting.
“It’s almost over. He’s going to come after her like he did you, only this time I’ll be there to stop him.”
He flicked on the power of the six flat screens hanging on the wall and booted his personal computer. He was in for a long night.
Ryker walked into the kitchen. The stainless steel pans hanging above the island shined, confirming that Rosemary was still keeping the place clean. He yanked the fridge open to find it bare, save the six pack of Miller Lite and a couple cans of Dr. Pepper he’d left the last time he’d been back. Grabbing a can of soda, he walked back into the open living room. The room had a dual personality, much like his own. One part looked like command central, with high-tech computers and equipment and the wall full of monitors, the best that money could buy. The other side of the room looked like a normal living space, complete with leather sofas, his favorite La-Z-Boy, and another big screen TV hanging on the wall. The life he used to have.
He opened the soda and took a sip as he slid into his computer chair. The leather creaked beneath his weight as he pulled up the surveillance aroundHarper’s house on three screens, and on the other three, he pulled up the hidden cameras he’d placed inside her residence. He hit the switch to turn on the audio. He’d keep her safe. He wouldn’t make the same mistake again.
Harper had already made it home. She’d changed into yoga pants and a tank top. Her outfit of choice when she was home alone. His outfit of choice when he watched her. The tank top hugged the swells of her breasts. The yoga pants clung to her every mouthwatering curve. He would have definitely seduced her into bed if given the chance. He still might.
He engaged the motion sensors around the perimeter of her house. They’d trigger an alert through his system if anyone got too close. Not that she had many visitors during the week. A few of her sisters and the family friends, including the kilt-wearing Ian MacDougall, had been within an arm’s reach of her all night.
Harper booted her laptop and disappeared into her kitchen, returning with a glass of wine. She was one of the easier ones to watch. He watched as she surfed the web, and only then did he start to play. Within seconds, he’d taken remote command of her computer and started a video of a woman thoroughly being kissed on the bed. He typed a message across the screen.
This could be you.
