“Um…” She thought back. “A couple of weeks ago.”
“What made you think you were being watched?” Zade asked.
“Honestly, I’m not even sure. I’d been walking to my car to go to lunch, and all of the sudden the tiny hairs on the back of my neck stood on end, and I got this weird feeling in my stomach.” Ellena chuckled nervously. “Saying it out loud, I hear how ridiculous that sounds.”
Kole offered her a kind smile. “Not ridiculous at all, actually. Gut instinct is a very real thing. It’s gotten us through some pretty hairy situations.”
Each of the men nodded in agreement.
“Logically, I know you’re right.” Ellena sighed. “I’m always telling my patients to listen to their instincts. I guess I should’ve listened to mine more closely. If I had, maybe I would’ve seen the person following me. Found out what it is they want.”
“How?” Gabe frowned down at her. “By confronting them?”
“Well…yeah.” She tipped her head back to meet his gaze. “I mean, if you saw someone taking pictures of you without your permission, wouldn’t you want to talk to them?”
“She has a point, Dawson.” Matt grinned.
“No, she sure as hell doesn’t have a point, Turner,” Gabe nearly growled at his teammate before bringing his focus back on her. “You see someone you think is watching you, you don’t even look at them. Let alonetalkto them.”
Wrong.“If I have a chance to confront the asshole who sent me those pictures, you’d better believe I’m going to take it.”
“Even if it means getting yourself hurt? Or worse?”
Ellena offered him a sugary-sweet smile. “I thought the whole point of you insisting on staying here to be my personal bodyguard was to keep that from happening.”
A few snickers traveled through the tense air, causing the scowl on Gabe’s face to deepen.
“You’re right.” He turned his body in order to fully face her. “My jobisto keep you safe. But I can’t do that if you go and make stupid decisions like walking right up to a goddamn stalker just so you two can have a nice little chat.”
“Whoa…” Zade—whom Ellena quickly pegged as the peacekeeper of the bunch—put a hand up, attempting to diffuse the rapidly intensifying situation. “Easy there, big guy.”
At least Ellena was pretty sure it was Zade. She couldn’t be certain, because she was too busy using her good arm to push herself to her feet.
Facing off with Gabe, Ellena placed her good hand on her own hip and stared him square in the eyes. “I’m sorry, did you just call me stupid?”
The room grew silent as his dark eyes closed. He then drew in a deep breath in an obvious attempt to calm down before letting the air out slowly. Gabe opened his eyes again before speaking.
“No, Ellena.” His voice sounded calm and controlled. “I did not call you stupid. I said theideaof you approaching a suspect is stupid. Two different things, sweetheart.”
Her insides filled with anger…and another feeling she chose to ignore. “I told you last night not to call me that.”
“Uh, guys?” Someone else piped in. “Do we really need to be here for this conversation?”
Without taking her eyes off of Gabe, Ellena bit out a sharp, “No!”
At the exact same time, Gabe released a growled, “Yes!”
Sensing they were headed for an impasse, Ellena regained her composure and turned to the others. Attempting to smile, she said, “Gentlemen, would you mind giving us a moment?”
The men shared a few awkward glances with each other before mumbling their agreements and excusing themselves from the room. Making their way through the doors leading to her backyard, Ellena watched and waited until they were all outside before speaking again.
The second the door shut, her eyes slid back to his. “If there’s even the slightest chance this is going to work, we need to get a few things straight.”
“You think?”
With his hands resting low on his denim-clad hips, Gabe looked every bit the strong leader that he was. Tall, tattooed, and more than ready to go toe-to-toe with her, the man screamed sexy-as-hell alpha male.
Even now, despite his overbearing ways, just looking at him made her knees weak and her panties wet. But physical attraction had never been an issue for them.
