But then I mentally kick myself when I realise he’s talking to Mrs. Holloway, who goes to take a chequebook out of her top drawer, but Beau waves her away.
"Later. You've got enough on your plate and staff to pay."
Her lip trembles, then suddenly, she reaches forward and pulls him into a tight hug, her tiny body engulfed by his massive arms, as he lets her cling to him for a minute before she gathers herself and pulls away.
Unable to reconcile this Beau with both the dominant man who fucked me blind and the one who looked at me like he wouldn't spit on me if I was on fire the last time I saw him, I stare, slack-jawed.
She adores him, and clearly, he’s protective of her.
"I'm sure you can take it from here." Beau still doesn't turn to face me. He's already reaching for his jacket, desperate to get away from me.
"Actually," Mrs. Holloway says, her hand shooting out to catch his arm, "I was hoping you might stay, Mr. Lennox. Just until we've gone through everything with the police. I’d feel so much better with you here."
Beau's expression softens as he looks down at her, giving me a brief side-eye as he tries to make his excuses to leave. "Mrs. Holloway..."
"Please." She turns to me. “He’s been amazing.”
She looks up to him. “Forgive me for saying this, Beau, but lots of people questioned the wisdom of hiring you, but from the first time I met you, I just knew you were a good man, and that you’d help me.”
Beau’s jaw works, he clearly doesn't want to stay because of me. Every line of his body is angled toward the door, but he's not going to say no to her because he cares too much.
"Of course," he says finally, settling back into his chair. His eyes cut to me, and for one charged moment, we just look at each other, lots of unsaid words and fraught tension choking the air between us.
Despite all reports to the contrary, what everyone assumes because of his name, and even what I initially expected, the evidence suggests that Beau Lennox, is in fact, a giant teddy bear.
Apparently Mrs. Holloway, a woman who’s just been burned by two of her most trusted staff, was brave enough to go with her gut and trust him. Unlike me.
With the weight of his stare still on me, I pull out the chair across from Mrs. Holloway and sit down before flipping open my notebook.
"Let's start from the beginning."
6
BEAU
Lisa is a menace.
She doesn't know it. Or maybe she does, I can't decide.
She's sitting here flipping through my files, asking Mrs. Holloway questions in that calm, frustratingly professional voice that makes me want to lean over and kiss her just to rattle her cage. I’ve seen how passionate it is. This detached, formal version of her irks me even though I know it’s designed to let Mrs. Holloway know she’s in a safe pair of hands.
I’ve tried to stay away, even actively avoided bumping into her, which is hard in a town like ours, but that desire, that same overwhelming attraction to her I had that very first night in the bar, hasn't faded one bit despite the rational parts of my brain knowing this is a woman I should stay away from.
Every time she moves, every time she leans forward to look at a document or tucks her hair behind her ear, it feels like a kick to the balls.
Every fucking time.
She’s human. She cares more about her job than your connection. She doesn’t want to date you,I remind myself, overand over, gaze locked on her flame red hair that’s become my obsession.
“Beau?” Lisa raises an eyebrow at me, and I clear my throat.
Shit, there was a question.
I tip my head to Mrs. Holloway, encouraging her to answer, giving her a reassuring smile, and she does, growing braver as her understanding of the complex fraud increases.
Lisa gives me an odd look—she knows I wasn't listening—then with a despairing shake of her head, her luscious locks shimmering as she moves, she resumes her perusal of the documents.
Her hair is loose around her face, and every time she shifts, the colour changes depending on how the light hits it. I noticed it the second she walked in here because any time other than that night in the hotel, even when I've seen her in the distance, she's had it tied up or hidden under a ball cap.
