SASSY IN STILETTOS ARe version (13 page)

“I can’t yet. I need to talk to the girl to make
sure she’s safe.”

“Either you trust me, or you don’t. You know how I
work. Once the girl was in my care, you don’t get to know where she is or talk
to her. In case you’ve forgotten, that’s to protect the kid, in case you get
caught pulling one over on Cabrillo and tortured for her location. It’s also to
keep you from trying to coerce her to come to you.”

“Fuck you, Caleb. Don’t be a prick.”

“She’s with me. That means she’s fine.” It also
meant that Carlotta was safer with him than she was with Sabine. The girl had
so far been quiet and hadn’t made any moves. She refused to leave the safe
house even for meals, so something Sabine had told her probably scared her into
staying put. Caleb didn’t trust his former partner. He didn’t trust the girl
either, or at least the story about her. But he was sworn to protect her, and
that’s what he was going to do. “How much longer will you be?”

“Another few days.”

“Fine. I’ll keep the kid safe till you get back.”

“Caleb, I don’t want to have to remind you of what
happens when you go off script, do I? A family is dead because you went off
script.”

Ice flowed into Caleb’s veins. “And I don’t want
to remind you of what happens when people threaten me. Do what you have to do. I’m
protecting the kid.”

Sabine knew how to get to him. But he also knew
her. At least well enough to know that the story about Carlotta was bogus. Sure,
she wanted the kid out of sight, but not for the reasons she’d given. He merely
had to figure out what game she was playing.

Caleb kept an eye on the empty hallway of their
apartment building as Micha unlocked her door. It had been a long day, and from
the looks of it, with her slumped shoulders and the tense set of her beautiful
mouth, it was only getting longer for her.

She slanted Caleb a look over her shoulder. “Satisfied
now? I’m in the door safe and sound. Now you can go home.” She might have met
his gaze directly, but she shifted from foot to foot, and her tongue peeked out
to lick her lips.

His gaze glued to her mouth. He couldn’t help but
remember her sweet taste as she’d wrapped herself around him. He shook his head
to clear it. “Still trying to dictate terms to me, princess? I thought you’d
already come to the conclusion that this was how it was going to work. I’m now
as close to you as a second skin. Everything you do I’ll know about.”

“Caleb, that works in the office and when I’m out
and about, but for the love of God, in my own apartment? If you’re that
worried, you can see me from across the way. Why not get yourself some handy
dandy spy equipment and spy on me from there. I need some time to myself.” Stepping
into her apartment, she tried to close the door on him.

She was strong, but he was stronger.
Much stronger.
Gently, he stopped the door’s progression. Caleb
had to chuckle to himself. She really thought she’d get rid of him that easily?
She was one stubborn woman. Though he was inclined to cut her a little slack. Her
world had been turned upside down.

He tried for calm rationality again. “Look, this
situation is hard on you, I get it. It’ll only be temporary. This is my job,
and it’s what I do well. Until I can get all the security measures set up in
this building, I’ll feel safer if I’m physically watching you and not from
across the way. It’ll make me feel better. You’re a client now, but you’re also
a friend.”
Yeah right
. A friend he was dying to make
love to. Bad.

At this angle, given her height and how she was
pressed up tight against him, he wondered what it might be like to make love to
her standing up against those windows he watched her through every day. She was
tall enough to make it all sorts of interesting.
Shit
.
He inched back giving himself a little room. If he didn’t get his thoughts
under control, he’d end up with a serious hard on, and that would get them
nowhere.

Micha met his gaze as if assessing his
seriousness. When she relented, he was surprised. He hadn’t expected that, but
okay, sure. When he stepped inside, he watched her closely as she tossed her
purse in a chair and her keys on the counter.

“Do you want a drink or something?”

“No. Thank you.” Then, because he realized that
she must be a little raw from the whole day, he added, “I mostly want to get a
look at the layout of the rest of the place. Then you and I are going to do
some talking. But we’ll do that at my place so I can grab a few changes of
clothes and toiletries.”

Her eyes widened. “You’re moving in? That’s
bullshit. If that’s the case, I’d rather you sent someone else.”

He cocked his head and studied her from the roots
of that beautiful head of hair, to her outstanding breasts, to the tips of her
toes, pausing at all the interesting places in between. “Is there a reason you
don’t want me to stay with you?”

Exasperated, she tossed up her hands. “Don’t be
daft, Caleb. We used to be interested in each other. And given the other night
when I was, uh, vulnerable”—a splash of pink tinted her dusky cheeks—”I don’t
think this is necessarily wise.”

A smile tugged at his lips. “Look, you and I have
a minor history. As much as I would kill to have you naked, under me and
moaning my name, I gave up on pipe dreams years ago.” There, let her stew on
that. He hadn’t given up on shit, but he’d let her believe what she needed to
get through what was going to be a long night. “I’m here to work, not put the
moves on you. So relax. Show me around.”

Her apartment mirrored his. Their master bedrooms
faced each other across the courtyard. The inside of her bedroom was feminine
without being overly frilly. It smelled of flowers and perfume and something
else fruity, but it didn’t overwhelm. He checked her closet and her bathroom,
as well as the windows. They were on the third floor, so he wasn’t as worried
about access to her place, but there was a fire escape. He checked that it was
locked up tight, but her windows were pretty useless. They locked, but they
weren’t anything a determined stalker wouldn’t get through.

As they were leaving her bedroom, he caught
something glinting and reflecting light from under her bed. Striding over, he
bent down and reached for it. What the…

He slanted Micha a questioning look.

She shrugged. “Buffy had Mr. Pointy. I have Mr.
Slashy.”

The knife in his hand wasn’t the average kitchen
variety. It had a solid handle with a delicate grip, designed for a woman. The
blade was long, larger than his hand, and deadly sharp. It was clean. “You want
to tell me what you’re doing with this under your bed?”

Deadpan, she said, “It’s for when I can’t get a
finished-with suitor out of my bed.”

Wow. Yeah
. Then he
spied the hair spray and lighter on her bedside table. “Do I even want to know?”

She shrugged again. “Homemade blow torch.”

This time a grin did escape. What kind of woman
kept a homemade blow torch by her bed?
Micha, of course.
“You’re serious?”

“I don’t joke about weapons. I watch a lot of Myth
Busters.”

Right
. “I’m surprised I
don’t see a gun.”

“Top drawer. I don’t keep it loaded. Bullets are
in the mattress spring at the foot of my bed.”

Holy shit.
“You know
all this shit is dangerous.”

She crossed her arms over that magnificent rack. “I’m
not an idiot, Caleb. I know how to shoot. I go twice a month to the shooting
range. I also know how to use the knife. I do Krav Maga. The flame thrower I
haven’t been able to try yet, but I understand the mechanics of it. I’m using
Aquanet for a reason. Higher alcohol content.”

He blinked. “Yeah, but why?”

Her eyes went fierce and her jaw tightened. “Because
I never wanted to need anyone like you. I want to be able to take care of
myself. It’s better to not depend on anyone ‘cause what the hell are you going
to do when they’re not there?”

Ah, that did it. If he hadn’t already been in love
with her, that did it. Not the pontificating on weapons but her inner strength
and her awareness of her own vulnerability. She might have been a warrior in a
past life.

“Micha,” he said gently, “You won’t need any of
this stuff. I’m not going to let anyone touch you.” And that went beyond the
job. His possessiveness flared again, and he opted to go with it. This woman
churned him up inside and made him feel things he wasn’t ready for. But there
it was—he had to deal with it. And she would have to deal with it eventually
too. After she was safe.

She tapped her foot impatiently. “We done here? I’m
hungry.”

“Depends. Do you have any other weapons?”

She rolled her eyes heavenward. “There’s another
gun in the lockbox in the office, another knife strapped to the bottom of my
coffee table, and another gun in the wall by the kitchen.”

She had to be kidding, right? But no. After
another perusal of her kitchen and living room and office, she showed him all
the weapons. He took her word about the one in the wall. He wasn’t about to
start tearing down her walls to see it. But now they needed to have a much
broader conversation. This went beyond a woman who was scared because of a
couple of isolated incidents. This level of caution spoke of a woman who had
spent too much time afraid.

He studied her again, finally seeing her stripped
of all bravado. She was scared and vulnerable and soft. Lethal, yeah, but still
soft. “It seems you and I have a few things to talk about, yeah?”

After they’d left Micha’s place, he escorted her
back to his to grab a few things and ordered food. When they finally sat back
around her coffee table, he asked, “You want to tell me why all the weapons?”

“I like to protect myself.”

He frowned at her. “But instead of using an alarm
system inside your house, you opt to arm up.”

She eyed his shoulder holster pointedly, and he
made a mental note to start tucking his gun at the small of his back. He didn’t
need her attention focused on it all the time.

“It’s fine for you to be armed, but not me?”

Yes
. “No. It’s not like
that. But there are simpler methods. You don’t have to go all nuclear.”

“I’m not getting rid of the guns or the knives,
Caleb. You can forget it.”

Was that what she thought? That he wanted her to
get rid of them? He liked that she knew how to shoot. Maybe he’d take her to
the shooting range when this was all over. He was impressed she knew
self-defense. The Israeli fighting technique she favored was a real field
leveler. And unlike a lot of martial arts, it didn’t take years and years to
learn how to be useful. From the jump they taught practitioners to defend and
attack if necessary. So he liked that she knew how to fend off an attacker. The
knife, well, that meant someone would have to get close enough for her to use
it, so he wasn’t a fan. And as for her homemade incendiary, well, he didn’t know
what to make of that.

The thought of some asshole trying to fuck with
her filled him with conflicting emotions. It made him hot thinking of her
taking care of business. It also pissed him off enough to kill, thinking of her
having to.

“I’m not taking anything away from you. Matter of
fact, think of me as an added weapon. But in order to be effective, I need to
know everything. So why don’t you start by telling me the real reason you’re
armed to the teeth?”

She chewed her bottom lip thoughtfully, and Caleb
couldn’t help but stare. Much more of that, and he’d take the job away from her
and do it himself. He cleared his throat and shifted on the couch. Getting a
boner was not a good call right now. “We have all night, Micha.”

She hefted a sigh like carrying around that breath
had been exhausting. “A few years ago, I had a stalker.”

“I need specifics.”

She rolled her eyes, but continued. “Six years
ago. I had moved to New York after college to work for a magazine. Everything
went great for a while, until I met this guy.”

Caleb ground his teeth but didn’t interrupt. His
mind immediately ran through several ways he could rip the guy apart if he’d
laid a hand on Micha.

“At first, everything was great. Dating was fun,
then things became serious. I was young and didn’t know any better. He was an
actor, so his hours were a bit odd. After a couple of months, this woman
approaches me at work and tells me to stop fucking her husband.” Micha rubbed
her nose as she met his gaze. Her eyes were full of derision and anger. Not
fiery anger, but the quiet seething kind. Like merely reliving the memory was
enough to piss her off all over again. “He had neglected to tell me he was
married.”

“Shit.”

“Yeah, he was a real asshole, that one. Anyway, he
gave me the spiel about him being separated etcetera. I didn’t want to hear it
and kicked him to the curb. A couple weeks later, his wife shows up again
outside my building, and she’s going off about how I’m a home wrecker, and I’ll
pay for what I’ve done to her family and stuff.  I told her that as soon as I
knew I broke it off and she was welcome to him.”

“How did she take that?”

“More yelling. I left her where she stood.” Micha
shrugged. “A month went by, and I hadn’t seen either of them again, so I
thought it was all over. Then one night I came home, and there was someone in
my bedroom. I had an alarm system, so I thought it was Simon, come back to try to
get back in my good graces. He had the code after all; he had practically lived
with me. But it was her. She’d slashed my bed, trashed the place, and broken
every dish.”

He frowned. “How the hell did she get into your
apartment?”

“I don’t know. The police said she must have taken
his key.”

“You didn’t change your lock?”