She frowned, finding his words hard to believe. She was an attractive enough woman, but not someone who made guys pant. Or sprout erections without end. “It must be a side effect of the serum.”
He didn’t respond and wasn’t that a bit of a blow to her ego? It would have been nice for him to at least acknowledge her looks. Either way, it wasn’t important. She had people to see and a best friend to rescue.
“Look, you can’t come with me. They’ll spook for sure. You’re not just a bear, you’re a cop.”
“We serve and protect. That includes wolves.”
She shook her head. “It’s not going to work.”
“Make it work.”
Impasse. Which meant they could stand here arguing needlessly or she could show him the truth. “Fine. Come with me, but at least stay outside. Let me talk to them on my own.”
He shook his head. No words, just a flat denial.
“Why not?”
He frowned, and his expression grew troubled. “I’ll give you what space I can.”
She’d have to make do with that. Otherwise, her brother was going to lead them into a war and neither wolf nor bear would come out of that alive.
Fortunately, they didn’t have to go far, just a couple blocks over to the apartment complex owned by her family’s company. She and Kennedy walked quickly, and she noted his eyes were constantly moving. He watched, he remembered, and although he made her nervous with the way he was standing so close, he appeared completely relaxed. As if it was his right and his purpose to serve as her personal bodyguard.
They rounded the corner and Frankie saw with pride that the sidewalk had been fixed and the swing set in the back replaced. She’d had to badger her father for a week to get that taken care of. When she was in charge, there would be a large line item in the books for property upgrades, and she’d hire Hazel to regularly inspect the buildings and make recommendations.
She went to push inside the front door, but Kennedy was there before her, stepping in to make sure it was safe. She startled, oddly touched by the gesture. No one had ever done that before. Normally she was the one protecting everyone else, and his simple action threw her. Especially since he then held the door for her to enter. A protector and a gentleman? Wasn’t she supposed to feel insulted that he thought she couldn’t take care of herself?
She didn’t. She felt cared for, and that was a very seductive feeling.
The elevators worked in the building, but she headed for the stairs. Bad crap always showed up there in the debris on the floor or a lingering smell. Plus she wanted to check that there were cases of bottled water on each floor. She’d ordered the superintendent in every complex they owned to provide cases for everyone. It was the least her family could do.
“We’re heading for the sixth floor,” she said.
Kennedy nodded and checked out the stairwell before he let her enter it. He did all the things she normally did, which was even more disconcerting. He slowly pushed open the door, working to be as silent as possible. He scanned the area while sniffing the air. And she immediately took up a defensive posture behind him. She was alert to anything behind or beside them while he scouted the front.
It felt like they’d been doing this for years and she stepped inside the stairwell the moment he pulled the door back for her to enter. Then they climbed with him elbowing her gently behind him as he took the lead.
She noted that the water cases were stacked right where they were supposed to be. Every floor was clean, no disasters. If it were a normal day, she’d check on any number of tenants, but they didn’t have time, so she pressed ahead to the sixth floor. Then together they maneuvered down the hallway to apartment 6E.
“Just stay back,” she said. “Noelle’s skittish.”
Kennedy arched a brow, but stepped back. Then she knocked on the door. “Noelle? It’s me, Frankie. Are you in there—”
The door flung open, and Noelle eyed her like she wanted to murder her. But ten times worse was the stink of vomit that wafted out and the sound of whiny children from the back bedroom. “Now you show up,” Noelle said. “After they burst through, wake up the boys, and nearly scare me to death. I’d just gotten the kids to sleep, and suddenly the goons bang on the door, and my boys are screaming and throwing up again. And everybody’s looking for you.”
“Noelle—” she began, but the woman held up her finger, wagging it in front of her face.
“No. You don’t get to talk. It’s been tag team vomit for two days. Thank God, they’re keeping down the Pedialyte now, and what do those assholes do? They demand to see you, and when you weren’t here, they left. Just left. Not even an apology. And they have the nerve to wrinkle their noses at the stink. Well, duh. Vomit stinks, and they’re assholes.”
Frankie nodded, letting Noelle burn through her fury. Fortunately, it didn’t last long. The woman was so exhausted she couldn’t even keep up her anger. Instead, she dropped her arm and eyed Kennedy.
“Aren’t you the cop everybody hates?”
Kennedy jolted. “Um, I didn’t know everyone hated me.”
“Yeah. ’Cause you’re a bear and you didn’t do shit when you worked in robbery and all those wolves were getting targeted. What the hell are you doing here and with her?”
Frankie winced. “I keep telling you that Raoul made up that story. Raoul—”
