“I’m not a shadow. I’ll be so invisible, you won’t even know I’m there.” He moved his hands back and forth in front of his face. “Listen, I take my responsibility seriously.”
Shadow? Invisible? They sounded the same to her. And his eyebrows pinched together, telling her he really didn’t understand her problem with the situation. She could wait and run him from one floor to the next every few minutes, all day tomorrow, or she could end this right now.
“I understand you want to protect me, and I fully appreciate everything you’ve done. But you said this place was safe. Lots of security.” She sighed. “So, how about you give me a little breathing room?”
The more she talked, the more she saw the set of his jaw growing tighter.
“Once this is over, you can go anyplace you want. You can do anything. With anybody you want. Because I won’t be your protector then. And that should make you happy.” Mitch’s tone sounded as harsh as the look in his eyes. “Until then, you let me know if you’re leaving the floor.”
Reese walked in from the deck. Stopped and glanced at them. “Should I wait outside?”
“No. We’re done here.” He narrowed his eyes in her direction.
She shot him her own version of narrowed eyes, mad-as-hell look, right back, then headed to her room. With everything inside her, she wanted to shout that him being gone would not make her happy. That knowing she’d never see him again after this assignment made her insides weep. He’d grown on her, more than she’d thought ever possible. She swiped her fingers across her cheek. Then again, there were times he drove her outright crazy.
At Mitch’s bedroom door, she remembered she was supposed to talk to Josh on the computer, so she walked inside. Mitch’s scent bombarded her.
Sandalwood and Mitch—two scents that had combined in her mind days before. The now familiar combination that was slowly driving her hormones crazy. Somehow, the look of the room felt like him also, even though she doubted he’d chosen anything there.
A wall of whitewashed wooden boards acted as the headboard behind a massive king bed covered in shades of silver to gray, charcoal to black. Sleek, smoked-glass lamps sitting on clear floating shelves completed the look. His chairs were ultra-modern and black with touches of red and white pillows. Truly a man’s room.
Atop the dresser, a five-stalk bamboo and rock arrangement sat on the corner, while graceful, large palm plants were positioned in various pots along one end of another wall. No sign of computer screens that she could see. Maybe she’d misunderstood and he’d said one of the other bedrooms at the opposite end of the hall.
She swept her fingers across the one thing of color on his bed, a bright red throw made of softer than soft material. Material that draped sensually onto the floor. Taking a few steps around the room, she glanced at what she assumed were closed double doors to his bath, but she stayed where she was. What lay beyond those doors wasn’t hers unless invited.
Heading for the bedroom door, she finally saw an office nook off to the side. She rounded the corner and was overcome with technology. The magnitude of computers and speakers and screens heightened her adrenalin. There on the screen was Josh; his image even showed up on a panel laying alongside, so she picked that up.
“You look a little confused,” Josh said.
She let her gaze float around the office once again. “First of all, where are you?”
“Back at headquarters on the outskirts of St. Louis.”
“St. Louis, Missouri?”
“That’s right. We’re practically center of the United States here. Makes for fast travel getting anyplace the agents are needed in the U.S.” He leaned back in his chair. “What was going on downstairs?”
“There was some confusion about me getting a bag of cookies and milk.” Sliding onto the chair in front of the computer, she realized she’d left both on the balcony table. Just as well. She wasn’t hungry anymore. “I’ll let Mitch explain.”
“Was someone yelling?”
She knew he’d recognized her voice. “I like to think of it as a creative way to get attention.”
Josh smiled. “Mitch getting to you?”
That phrase could mean so many things, but she’d stay with the safest one. “He’s so…so… Never mind, it doesn’t matter.”
Josh half shook his head. “Okay, what can you tell—”
“But have you ever noticed how he’s kind of controlling?”
“Controlling? No. At least not any more than what’s expected of an agent.”
Maybe she’d made too much out of his rules. After all, this was her first time being protected. By an agent. An agent who made his living by being in charge of other people’s lives.
Josh’s expression gave nothing away. “Like I started to sa—”
“So having everything here that I could possibly want is normal on a case? Telling me not to go from one floor to another without him following is normal on a case?” She shook her hands in front of her. “Changing the rules every time he decides, is that normal?”
