His phone vibrated on the counter, breaking their connection.
She was the first to look away. “Aren’t you going to get that?”
He shook his head as he stalked closer, closing the distance between them. His warm hand cupped her cheek. “We go down this road together. We’ll see this through to the end.”
She believed his words. She read the conviction in his blue eyes. The way they twinkled when he was being playful, and how they tended to darken with determination. The swirl of dark blue reminded her of the deepest depths of the ocean.
Becca nodded, unable to speak from the energy sizzling between them.
His phone vibrated on the granite counter top again, and he ignored it still. Lowering his head, he pressed his lips against hers. Her body swayed of its own accord into his chest. She couldn’t have fought it if she’d tried. His tongue dueled and danced with hers as she plundered his taste, digging her nails into his arms to try as she might to remain grounded. Ian McDougall was going to win if she didn’t stop him. He’d have her agreeing to anything he said, as if she were one of the hussy maids he’d sweet talked into making out in a castle closet.
Becca opened her mind to his and found nothing but tenderness in his thoughts. He confused her more by being the first to break the kiss. This was bad. So very, very bad.
He ran the pad of his thumb over her lips before he took them once more in a quick kiss. He grabbed his phone off the countertop, and his brows dipped. “Looks like we’ve got our first lead for themorning. Why donae you try and get some rest.”
She turned toward the living room and paused. “Aren’t you coming?”
“Nae. I think I need to cool down before getting in bed with you, or I’ll break my own resolve of earning your trust.”
She couldn’t hide the confusion from showing on her face as she went back into the bedroom and lay down on her bed. Her eyes were open, wide and trained on her ceiling fan. She hadn’t asked if he was coming to bed so she could seduce him. She’d asked so she could keep an eye on him. His warm body was just a bonus. Becca wasn’t sure if she liked this sweet side Ian was showing her. She could handle his gruff, obnoxious, over-demanding side as if he were a fly to be swatted, but this….this was foreign territory that made her heart race while she dug her nails into her palms in frustration. Damn him for getting into her head.
Chapter Eight
The soundof male voices coming from the living room woke Becca out of a peaceful sleep. The laughter and talking grew louder as she slid out of the bed and peered out the bedroom door. Men she knew all too well walked back and forth across the hallway opening out into the living room. Oh, hell no. Ryker had not come over to set up security before Becca had even opened her eyes, much less had the time to call Harper to have her call off her husband. Was this how her day was starting?
“What the hell is going on?” Becca flung the bedroom door open, bouncing it off her wall, before stomping down the hall.
Her brothers-in-law, Collin, Cooper, Ryker, and Sam, were in her living room. Some stood on furniture with drills in their hands; others had her lamps in their hands as they were attaching little devices.
Each man glanced in her direction before ignoring her question. They went back to doing what they were doing before she’d walked into the room.
Ian walked in the front door with extension cords draped over his shoulders. “These should work.”
Where in the world had he gotten those? Becca didn’t want to know. She stomped across the room and grabbed his arm, pulling him toward the kitchen and away from some of the noise. “What are they doing here?”
“Installing security,” Ian said, leaning down to kiss her cheek. “Ryker told Harper, and next thing I knew, all of the guys showed up to help. Your sisters are picking up breakfast, and then they’ll be over.”
“I’ve spent twenty years keeping this secret.” Anger boiled through her veins. Twenty years of keeping her sisters safe from worrying about her had been thrown out the window because she’d trusted the wrong man.
“They care about you, lass. We all do.” Ian patted her ass. “Fix yourself some coffee and relax. We’ve got this covered.”
Ian disappeared out of the kitchen and left Becca grasping the counter in an attempt to keep from strangling him and having to spend the rest of her life in jail for murder. Her heated cheeks had her clenching her eyes tight before she opened them. Her gaze landed on Ian’s cell phone.
She snatched it up and went into his messages looking for the one from Ryker last night. She scrolled until she had two addresses, one of the dead nurse and the other located on Briar St.
A smirk split her lips as she shoved his phone into the waistband of her yoga pants and covered it with her shirt. She smiled as he walked back out into the living room and past her brothers-in-law. “I’m going to take a shower, and I expect all of this to be gone before I get out.”
They ignored her like she knew they would. If her luck could just hold out for a bit longer, she might be able to handle this on her own. The killer had never shown up at her house. Not once had he tried to make contact with her. Heck, it wasn’t until recently that she’d felt, in her gut, that the connection went both ways, although there was nothing to indicate the killer knew anything about her, much lesswhere she lived. The guys were wasting time, but who was she to point that out?
Becca changed into jeans, slipped into her tennis shoes, and brushed her teeth and her hair before grabbing her keys and climbing out her bedroom window, like a horny teenager up to no good. A smile formed on her lips as she peered around the side of her house to find that none of the guys were outside. She crouched beneath windows as she made her way to her car unseen and slipped inside.
“If they want to waste their time, far be it from me to stop them,” she said through gritted teeth as her passenger door opened and a woman slipped into the passenger seat. Her long, blonde hair was styled to perfection, as were her dress and heels.
“Ian isnae verra good at keeping an eye on you.” The woman’s Scottish accent made Becca pause.
“Who the hell are you?”
“Ah, now you sound like Quinn. I shouldnae be surprised.” Blondie let out an aggravated breath. “I’m Margarete, Ian’s sister.” She gestured toward the window. “If you have any hopes of running, you should do it now. I’m sure one of them is bound to notice you gone.”
