The Agent Next Door (7 page)

But before she could go, she had to get
through this.

Erin drug in a few more breaths between
clenched teeth before she pulled her hands away.

“Okay. So, now I know,” she managed to say.
“Do you need anything else from me?”

A tight silence filled the room as John and
Ty shared a long look.

Shit. There
was
more. And Erin was
pretty damned sure that she wasn’t going to like it.

John turned back toward her. “Erin, the
Mustaar just blew up your house.”

“I’m aware.”

“Kallus was trying to kill you. He will try
again.”

A bubble of hysterical laughter escaped
Erin’s throat. “That’s ridiculous. You said he wanted revenge for
his wife’s death. Why would he pick me for a target? We’ve only
known each other for a couple of days.”

“Someone from the Mustaar must have followed
me home the other morning. He must have seen me go inside your
house and assumed we were lovers.”

“Well, just tell them that’s ridiculous. I
mean look at us. It has to be obvious that we’re nothing to each
other.”

John’s mouth was a flat line as he shifted
his weight on the couch.

Ty cleared his throat. “Sure doesn’t look
like nothing from the outside.”

Erin turned her head to glare at the
interloper. Who the hell was this guy anyway? She took a wild
guess. “You’re FBI, right?”

He nodded.

Of course. With that smug smile and
condescending attitude what else could he be?

“Then I’m not really interested in a damned
thing you have to say.”

The response was automatic. The words weren’t
even her own. They were her parents’. But they’d been drilled into
Erin’s head since she was a child.

The Federal Bureau of Intimidation.

Never trust a fed.

A smile to your face and a knife in your
back.

And that was before they’d shot her father
and burned down her home.

Erin’s grandmother had done her best to
temper her parents’ angry words, but they were only cemented by
months of being moved from house to house and being forced to
answer the same questions over and over again.

Did you ever see your Daddy talking with
this man?

Did you hear what they talked about?

Was your Mommy there too?

Even after years of doing her best to hide
from the legacy her parents had left her, Erin still couldn’t
escape her prejudice against the feds.

A smile to your face and a knife in your
back.

“Well, then I’m guessing that the next couple
of weeks aren’t going to be all that much fun for either one of
us,” Ty said.

“Why?” Erin looked to John for answers. “What
is he talking about?”

“Ty is here to take you into protective
custody,” he said.

“Like hell he is.” The words exploded from
her mouth.

“Erin, there are some very bad men out there
who want you dead.”

“And you think that
he’s
going to stop
them?” She crossed her arms over her chest and shot a pointed look
in Ty’s direction. His brows arched in what Erin hoped was offense.
A petty sense of satisfaction swept through her at the thought. If
he could toss off her wounded emotions so easily, she could do the
same.

John nodded. “I do. I trust him
implicitly.”

“Well, that’s one of us then. You forget that
I have intimate experience with ‘FBI protection’. I’m not really
eager to go back to it. What else have you got?”

John lifted his chin. “What else?”

“Yeah. The way I figure it, you made this
mess, so you should be the one to clean it up.”

There was a long pause before John said
anything. “You want to stay with me?”

“No,” Erin said flatly. “I want to go home. I
want to sleep in my own bed. I want to go back to that morning you
moved in and not make the mistake of coming out of the ivy. But
that’s not going to happen, is it?”

Ty gave a long whistle from his post on the
wall. Erin snapped her palm up to silence him. She had no idea
where this sudden spine had come from—it almost sounded like her
mother’s voice coming out of her mouth—but she welcomed it. Better
that than to be pushed around by a pack of feds.

“But I’ll tell you what’s not going to
happen. I’m not going to allow the FBI to rip me away from my
friends and family again. I’m not going to be whisked off to some
distant safe house to be kept in isolation with only a rotating
guard of cops for company. That’s no better than being locked up in
prison, so I don’t really see another option.”

John leaned back on the couch, his gaze fixed
on Erin for a long time. It took everything inside her not to
flinch. Her newfound courage was quickly fading as the seconds
ticked by.

Could she really trust him to keep her safe?
Could she trust her own motivations for wanting him too? Did she
have a choice?

He had saved her life tonight. Right after
he’d put it in mortal danger.

That wasn’t fair, she corrected herself. John
hadn’t bombed her house; Estonian gun runners had.

There was something she’d never imagined
she’d be thinking when she’d woken up this morning.

After a long minute, John looked over at Ty.
“What do you think?”

Ty shrugged. “Up to you. My men can secure
this neighborhood as well as any other.”

John nodded once and turned back to her. “All
right then.”

“All right,” Erin said, pushing the words
past the lump that was all but blocking her throat.

“Okay.”

“Okay.”

A second of strained silence passed before Ty
chuckled softly.

“Yeah, no idea where Kallus would get the
idea you two were into each other,” he said. “No idea at all.”

Chapter 5

Erin turned over in the strange bed for the
twentieth time in as many minutes. It wasn't that she wasn't tired.
She was, down to the bone, but every time she closed her eyes, she
was treated to the memory of her house splintering into a million
pieces, along with all her hopes and dreams of a stable and safe
future.

It was just like when she moved in with
Grandma. She hadn't been able to fall asleep then either. Violent
images had flashed in her mind then too, visions of everything she
ever knew being ripped apart at the seams.

Maybe not
just
like those nights, Erin
reminded herself. Those waking dreams had been drenched in blood
and death. No one had been hurt today. John had saved her from
that. She hadn't been blown to pieces and neither had he. They were
safe.

Or were they?

Erin had believed her grandmother all those
years ago when she had stroked the hair back from her forehead and
calmed her fears. She’d believed the promises that someday the pain
would fade. She’d trusted that she would be able to beat back the
swells of pain and fear that surrounded her, that if she worked
very hard she could build a protective barrier of safety that would
keep all the uncertainty at bay.

But tonight danger had come for her
anyway.

She had to get some sleep. Even a couple
hours would do. That would be enough to clear her head and pull her
out of the past.

Erin closed her eyes, balled the sheet into
her fist, and tucked it underneath her chin. It smelled of
unfamiliar laundry detergent and something else.

Him
.

The faint scent of John clung to his linens.
To his pillow. To everything in this house.

The realization shouldn’t have reassured her.
It shouldn’t have slowed her breath and calmed her heartbeat.

He was the reason she was in this mess. He
was all the things that she had tried to run away from. Danger.
Risk.

She’d been a fool to think she could escape
those things. No matter how high she grew her boxwood walls, they
always found their way inside.

We can’t run from who we are, cupcake.

Her father’s voice rang out in her mind. Erin
shot up in the bed just as sleep began to creep in.

How long had it been since she had heard that
voice? Her heart hammered so hard in her chest she feared it would
seize.

Suddenly the room felt large, and twice as
dark as it had before. The shadows in the corners deepened.

It didn’t matter that she knew the FBI was
out there watching the house. If there was one thing that Erin knew
it was that determined people didn’t care who they had to steamroll
in order to get their way.

She threw back the covers and put her feet on
the floor. There was a line of light shining under the door. A
murmur of sound coming from the main room. She threw on her jeans
and inched out into the hall.

A flickering blue light glowed in the main
room. The television was on, the volume turned low.

Erin rounded the corner and found John
sitting on the couch. A floorboard creaked as she shifted her
weight, and he turned toward her.

His eyes softened.

“I thought you were asleep,” he said.

Erin shook her head. “I tried, but...” she
trailed off.

“That’s understandable.”

Erin looked down at her bare feet. “Listen,
I’m sorry I was such an ass tonight. I don’t know where those words
came from.”

“I do,” he said. “And you have nothing to
apologize for. You were right.”

“Was I? Then I take it all back.” She forced
a laugh and tilted her chin up.

It was hard to think of him as dangerous when
he looked like this—arms resting languidly along the back of the
couch, feet kicked out in front of him, his gentle gaze steady on
her.

“Is there something I can get for you?” he
asked.

“Yeah.” Erin fidgeted her thumbs against each
other. “Would you mind if I sat up with you for a while?”

“Of course not.” He pulled himself up from
his lounging position. “But, there's nothing interesting on.”

“That's okay. I just...” Erin hesitated,
unsure of how much she wanted to share.
Screw it.
“I’m just
scared and I don't want to be alone.”

A flicker of surprise showed on his face.
Erin wasn't sure if was because he hadn't expected her to be
afraid, or hadn’t expected her to admit it. Either way, she didn't
care. She was too tired, too beaten down.

She'd care again in the morning, she promised
herself. Once she'd gotten a little sleep and a little perspective.
Once she'd made it through the night. Then everything would be
better. Everything would be clear.

“So what are you watching?” Erin asked as she
plopped down next to him on the couch.

“Some old western,” John said.

“Ah, some old western,” she said. “My
favorite.”

***

John eased his arm around Erin, pulling her
closer. She'd fallen asleep against his shoulder a little over a
half hour ago, a mere twenty minutes after joining him on the
couch. He'd been surprised that she had lasted that long.

She'd been through a lot today. More than a
lot. More than anyone should have to go through.

Erin shifted just a little. A tiny quiver
rushed through her body. John reflexively tightened his hold until
she quieted.

He knew he should pick her up and carry her
back to bed. He could tuck her in and she’d spend the rest of the
night in comfort.

Instead, he slid down the cushions, moulding
her against his body, until they were stretched out on the couch
together. He rationalized that he didn’t want to risk waking her,
but he knew the truth. He didn’t want to let her go.

She was brave. Braver than him. She had
admitted to being afraid. He never would, even though that’s
exactly what he was. Deep down, he was terrified that Kallus was
out there somewhere with his sights set on Erin. Add to that the
simmering rage that boiled inside him, and John’s emotions were
rioting inside him. He'd only kept his head on straight because he
wouldn’t be any use to her if he lost it.

Erin murmured something in her sleep and
burrowed her face deeper into the hollow of his neck. John glanced
at the top of her head. A mess of blond locks covered his chest,
and swept down his arm.

He took in a deep breath and enjoyed the
quiet of the house. Only the soft, rhythmic rise and fall of Erin's
breathing and the occasional settling of the house broke the
silence.

She might not like who he was and what he
did—he’d never truly expected her to—but at least she recognized
that he could keep her safe.

And he would, with his dying breath if need
be.

Her breath swept across the exposed curve of
his neck, her lips close to his skin. He wondered for a moment how
sweet she would taste, not just her lips but every inch of her.

The thought, combined with the feel of her in
his arms, stirred him. If it was just her curves that his body
reacted to, he could have easily ignored the fire building inside
him.

But Erin glowed with a light that made it
impossible for him to turn away. Maybe it was her honesty or her
humor. Maybe it was the enigmatic sparkle behind her blue eyes that
drew him deeper.

He didn’t just want to lose himself in her
for an hour. He wanted to protect her, to hear her laugh, to feel
the full force of her passion.

But for right now all he could do was hold
her while she slept. He told himself it would be enough.

It would have to be.

***

Erin opened her eyes and recoiled from the
bright slash of sunshine cutting across her face. At least she
tried to, but something wouldn't let her. There was something
behind her, some kind of immovable wall, holding her fast.

Erin looked down to see an arm draped over
the curve of her waist. It banded around her tummy. She turned her
head to see another one under her head, like a pillow.