Chapter1
Cole Clayton had done a lot of messed up shit in his day.But spying on someone who was also spying on him?
Thatwas new.
Technically, he supposed what he was doing could be deemedstalking.Especially since he’d taken early retirement from the CIA and any horrible thing he decided to do now wasn’t government sanctioned.
Not that any of the horrible things he’d done in the service of his country wereactuallysanctioned.Not on the books, anyway.Black ops didn’t work like that.It was more of a do-what-you’re-told-to-do-and-if-you-get-caught-we’ll-disavow-all-knowledge-of-you-and-let-you-die situation.
Which wasn’t the point.Thepointwas that somemightsay he was stalking his neighbor—the one who used her binoculars for bird watching and occasionally getting a better look into his bedroom.
He refused to think too hard about why he didn’t just close his curtains.Or refrain from getting naked in front of the window like he was in aMagic Mikeperformance.
Again, not the point.
The fact of the matter was that stalking was an ugly word, and he wasnotstalking his pretty little neighbor, the peeping Tom.Nope.He was merelylooking outfor her.Because if there was anything Cole could spot at twenty paces it was a bad guy, and this woman’s boyfriend was 100%, USDA-certified, grade-A bad guy.
So far, he’d been able to stop himself from doing any research on his neighbor or her questionable boyfriend.He was proud of himself for not using any of his considerable skills to look into them at all.Hell, he didn’t even know their names.He was just doing a little old-fashioned surveillance to make sure the poor girl didn’t get hurt.Like any good neighbor would…right?
The fact that she was the most adorable woman he’d ever seen, with the shiniest black hair and big Disney-princess eyes, hadnothingto do with it.Just like the fact that she was, at that very moment, sitting in a car with an obviously dangerous guy, letting him put his hand on her thigh didnotmake him jealous.It wasn’t likeColewanted to touch her thigh.That would be weird.
It’d been so long since he’d had any human interaction that wasn’t part of an op he wasn’t even sure he remembered how.He’d been such a hermit since retirement that he was practically feral at this point.
So, watching her sit in that car wasn’t personal.He was just doing what he imagined any decent, normal person would do.
Which didn’t explain the immense satisfaction he felt when she very purposefully removed the bad guy’s hand from her thigh.
Good girl.Now, get out of the car.
If she sat in there any longer, they’d lose what remained of the daylight, which meant he’d have to switch his tactical binoculars out for something with night vision and that’d just be a pain in the ass.
The dude was still talking, though.Based on his tense posture and the way he was making increasingly bigger hand gestures, Cole guessed the guy was angry.She pressed her body back against the door like she was hoping she might melt through it and disappear.
She was afraid.
Cole tossed the binoculars on the bed, rushed out his front door, and was crossing his yard into hers before he’d even considered formulating a plan.That was new for him.Spies didn’t do much of anything without a plan.All he knew for sure was thatno onewas going to hurt this woman.
Not on his watch.
Chapter2
When Hadley Lockhart was in middle school, an older boy, Brandon Rowe, loaned her his jacket to wrap around her waist when he noticed a spot of blood on the back of her jeans.It was the first time she’d gotten her period, and she was unprepared and utterly humiliated.
But Brandon had been super calm.He told her he had sisters and this kind of thing happened all the time.When tears sprang to her eyes, he’d tipped up her chin and told her to dry her eyes, because everything was going to be fine.Then, he’d walked her to the school nurse so she could get a pad and call her mom to bring her a change of clothes.
For the next four years, she’d doodled Mrs.Brandon Rowe on her notebooks, memorized his class schedule so she could cross his path a million times a day like a creepy stalker, and fantasized about the kind of magical life they’d have together once he realized they were meant to be.
Brandon, of course, never seemed to think of her again after their initial meeting.He’d only done for her what he obviously would’ve done for anyone in her situation, because he was simply a great guy.But she’d convinced herself (in all her naïve, childish glory) that she was in love with him because he’d been kind to her.
For four years.
That’s how she ultimately learned she was prone to romantic idiocy.Which was why she vowed to never, ever fall in love with a man first.Therightman, the one she’d eventually marry, would fall ass-over-elbow for her, then—and ONLY then—would she allow herself to fall for him, too.
That vow was the backbone of her dating strategy.The second a man gave her even the barest hint of a clue that he might not be as into her as she was into him, she ruthlessly cut him from her dating roster.No second chances, no letting things play out.
Now, that’s not to say her mercenary dating style had jaded her.It hadn’t.She stilllovedlove.And if romance novels had taught her anything, one day shewouldfind a knight in shining armor who’d adore her as much as she’d once adored Brandon Rowe.Only, you know, without the stalking.
So, even after years of failed relationships and dead-end dates, she still held out hope that the love of her life was right around the corner.As a matter of fact, it was hope that had landed her in her current predicament.
