The Agent Next Door (9 page)

So maybe alone wasn’t really the right word.
But whatever this was, it would have to do.

Erin drew in a deep breath, closed her eyes
and let her head loll against the wall behind her. All she needed
was just one brief moment of peace.

The text alarm in her pocket sounded
again.

Crap.

She pulled it out and swiped the screen.

Say hello to your boyfriend for me.

Erin stared down at the text. At first she
didn’t understand. She didn’t have a boyfriend. It had to be a
wrong number.

She was about to text back just that when
another one came through.

So many guards for one girl. There has to be
half a dozen FBI outside the dress shop. Ryman must be terribly
afraid. Are you?

Erin’s hand started to tremble. She had to
clench her fingers tight to keep her hold on the phone as she
glanced up at the address bar.

Unknown.

Of course it was. There was only one person
who would send her a text like this.

The familiar whistle sounded again as another
text popped up on the screen.

As long as you’re asking for opinions, I
like the blue dress best. You’ll look beautiful in it when they lay
you out in the morgue.

A small squeak escaped Erin’s lips as she
tried to suck in a breath. It was as if her throat had seized.

The phone clattered against the fitting room
floor and her hand flew to cover her mouth.

A half second later, the door was wrenched
open. John’s wide shoulders filled up the narrow space.

“What happened?” he demanded.

She looked down at the phone.

John picked it up. He glanced for a moment at
the screen. His expression hardened. He wrapped one arm around her
shoulders and pulled her close.

The invisible weight on her chest eased
enough that air filled her lungs. She wasn’t sure if he meant the
gesture to be reassuring or protective. She didn’t care. All that
mattered was that he was there, and she was able to breathe
again.

For the moment, at any rate.

John tucked her phone into his pocket, pulled
out his own and dialed. Whoever was on the other end answered
quickly.

“He was here,” John said, then disconnected.
He looked down at her face. “You okay?”

Erin nodded even though she wasn’t. How could
she be? It wasn’t enough that she’d been marked for death by a
brutal killer, now he had her number and wanted to play some sick
game of cat and mouse with her too?

John must not have believed her. He lifted
her chin with his finger and forced her to meet his gaze. “It’s
going to be all right, Erin, but we’re going to have to stay right
here for just a few minutes longer. Ty and his men are going to
secure the area. When they’re done, he’ll call me and let me know
we’re clear to leave. Understand?”

Erin nodded again, but there was no use
pretending. Her eyes burned with welling tears. Her whole body was
shaking so hard that she could barely stay on her feet. All she
wanted to do was run home, lock her doors and hide under the
blankets until this whole thing had blown over.

But that wasn’t possible. It might never be
possible again.

Erin tried to blink away the tears. If she
was going to get through this she was going to have to find some
other source of strength.

“Erin,” he whispered as he lowered his head.
His mouth lingered near hers, the look in his eyes slowly changing
from apologetic to…something deeper.

Then he blinked, and the look was gone. He
pulled back, straightening. Distancing himself, she realized.

Marianne chose that moment to turn the corner
to the dressing rooms with her hands full of new clothes.

“I found another—” She stopped short, a wide
smile spreading across her face. “Am I interrupting something?”

Crap. She’d forgotten all about Marianne. How
could she have been so selfish? She’d put her friend in danger the
second she’d agreed to leave the house with her. It wasn’t a
mistake she would make again.

Erin tried to push away from John’s side, but
he held her too tight.

“Marianne, thank God you’re here,” Erin said.
“Don’t go back into the store.”

The panic must have come through in Erin’s
voice. Marianne’s gray brows pulled together. “Why not?”

“We need to go back home.”

“But we’ve only gone to about half the stores
we planned on.”

“It doesn’t matter. We need to get out of
here.”

“We
need
to?”

Erin nodded. She didn’t care what Marianne
thought. She couldn’t even begin to imagine what she was going to
say to explain this all away. Not that it mattered. All that
mattered was getting home in one piece. She’d worry about
everything else later.

“Right now?” Marianne asked, her voice heavy
with suspicion.

John’s phone chirped in his pocket. He pulled
it out and glanced at the screen.

“Now,” he said.

***

It was a quiet ride back to Shannon Court.
Marianne didn’t mention the radio once. All through the ride she
kept her arms crossed and her mouth shut as she sat in the back of
John’s Range Rover. That wasn’t a good sign. Erin could practically
hear the gears turning in her mind, trying to figure out what in
the world was going on.

It wasn’t until they pulled into the driveway
that Marianne spoke. “So, I take it neither one of you are going to
tell me what the heck happened back there.”

Erin looked at John. His expression stayed
hard as he undid his seat belt and threw open his door. Apparently,
he was leaving the explanations up to her.

“It was just a long day, Marianne. I got a
little overwhelmed.”

Marianne shook her head as she stepped out of
the car into the fading light of day. “And here I was hoping you
were going tell me the part I didn’t already know.”

“I’ll call you soon,” Erin called out as
Marianne started walking around the corner toward her house.
Marianne slowed to eye the black sedans that pulled to a stop
across the street.

“Gas leak, my ass,” Marianne muttered loudly
as she disappeared from sight.

John grabbed the bags from the back of the
car, and Erin followed him inside.

“I need a drink,” he said, dropping the bags
and leaving her standing in the empty hallway.

Erin looked down at the bags at her feet.
She’d made a hell of a mistake going out today. She’d put Marianne
at risk by allowing her to talk her into the shopping trip. John
too. Not to mention whoever was in those unmarked cars. They might
have been Feds, but they were still people. It didn’t seem right
that they should put themselves in harm’s way for her.

Or anyone, for that matter. Until this was
over, anyone that she was close to was in danger. She couldn’t risk
seeing any of her friends. Not until Kallus was gone…or she
was.

A chill ran up Erin’s spine. She had gotten
what she wanted. She was still in her neighborhood, still
surrounded by all her friends…and she’d never felt so alone in her
life.

Erin lifted her head at the sounds of glasses
clinking in the kitchen.

She wasn’t completely alone. John was with
her. Even though she didn’t fully understand why. She got that she
was his responsibility, but that didn’t explain why he’d almost
kissed her today.

Or why she wanted him to.

Maybe it was the cold pit of loneliness that
had taken up residence in her belly, but now seemed like as good a
time as any to find out.

Erin found John pulling a bottle of what
looked like whiskey down from a cabinet.

“You want one?” he asked, not bothering to
look up after her.

“You sure this is a good idea?” she
asked.

“Nope.” He poured a healthy splash into both
glasses, and slid one along the countertop toward her. He downed
his in a single swallow.

Erin picked up the glass and risked a sniff.
Bad choice. She recoiled as her nostrils burned. “Is it made out of
gasoline?”

“I paid eighty dollars for that bottle of
scotch.”

Erin held her breath and dared a sip. The
alcohol scorched her tongue and throat. She tried not to cough,
tried to keep some semblance of cool, but it was no use. The best
she could do was to cover her mouth as her body rebelled against
the fiery invasion.

“What do you think?” John asked.

“I think you should get your money back.”

A flicker of a smile lifted the corner of his
mouth. He finally turned to face her.

“It’s going to be okay, Erin.”

“Sure it is,” she said.

“I mean it.” He focused intently on her. “I
promise you, I will do everything in my power to keep you
safe.”

She gave a shaky nod, not because she
believed him—hell, she was pretty sure that nothing was ever going
to be okay again—but because she needed to cling to the fantasy
that he was telling her the truth if she was going to have any hope
of living through this.

“Kallus was never there today, was he?” Erin
asked, even though she knew the answer.

“Probably not. He would never risk being seen
in a public place. He no doubt sent a man to spy so he could scare
you.”

“Well, it worked.”

“But it also means Kallus wants you scared
more than he wants you dead. That’s good. If he’s taking the time
to play games it means we have time to find him.”

She took another sip of the godawful drink in
her glass. It might burn like hellfire, but it was also beating
back some of the terrible, cold feelings inside her. It lent her
courage she wouldn’t have had otherwise. She met his gaze.

“It’s not me he wants to scare,” she said.
“It’s you. He thinks he can get to you through me. You said so
yourself. I’m just a pawn.”

“I never said you were a pawn. You mean a
hell of a lot more than that to me.”

“What exactly do I mean to you?”

Silence. His lips tightened. He didn’t
answer, but he didn’t look away either.

“You keep saying that this Kallus guy wants
to hurt you by hurting me, but how is that possible since…since
we’ve never even kissed.”

She took a step toward him. His shoulders
tensed underneath his fitted shirt.

“Today, I thought you were about to,
but—”

“Erin,” he cut her off, his voice thick with
warning.

“Was I just imagining it, then?”

She inched forward. He didn’t move away.

“Please tell me, John.” Her voice was barely
a whisper. “Please. I’m alone, and I’m scared. I can take it if
it’s not the answer I want to hear. I just want to know the truth.
I promi—”

Erin’s words were cut short as John’s hand
slipped beneath the fall of her hair. His fingers wrapped around
the base of her neck. He slid her back against the counter. His
body pressed flush against hers. His shoulders were so wide in
comparison, his chest massive. He easily pinned her in place.

Erin closed her eyes as a warm rush of air
brushed against her lips. She waited for his mouth to crash against
hers.

And waited.

Erin opened her eyelids a sliver and peeked
out. John’s lips were just millimeters from hers, held frozen. An
internal war played out clearly on his face.

“The truth?” His voice crackled with tension.
“I’ve been fantasizing about kissing you from the first moment I
saw you.”

Erin drew in a breath. She wetted her lips,
still waiting for his to fall. But he held her just a breath
away.

“Then why haven’t you?” she asked.

“Because I know the second I start I’m never
going to stop. Not until I’ve tasted every damned inch of you.
Maybe not even then.”

Suddenly, Erin’s throat felt very dry.
“Oh.”

“I know what you think of men like me, and,
God knows, you’re right. My whole life, trouble has been right
behind me. I’m no damned good for you.”

Erin’s heart pounded against her breastbone.
Heat roared to life inside her.

“But you have to understand, Erin” he
whispered against her lips. “If we start this, there’s only one way
it’s going to end.”

Her body responded instantly to his words
even if her mind lagged behind. She pressed forward. Her lips met
his, softly at first. She drank in the warmth of his mouth, softly
tracing the curve of his bottom lip with her tongue.

He groaned, the sound rattling deep in his
chest. He tilted her head back as his mouth began to move against
hers. He released her neck, his hand tracing a line down the column
of her back. His hands wrapped around the curve of her bottom and
lifted her up onto the counter.

Erin’s legs fell open. As he positioned
himself between them, she shivered even though she was anything but
cold.

A ray of evening light cut across his eyes
and what she saw there was enough to melt away some of the fear and
loneliness that had gripped her. No one had ever looked at her like
that. Never. Like she was the most tempting thing that he had ever
seen.

Hungry. He was hungry for her.

The realization cut through her like a razor
blade, sharp and surprising.

He undid the first two buttons of his shirt
before pulling the garment over his head.

He was magnificent. Even in the dim light,
Erin could make out every contour and muscle. She reached out and
skimmed her fingertips over his tight, smooth skin. He hissed in a
breath at the contact.

She pressed her palms flat against him. Not
truly believing that this could be real, that this could be
happening. But it was.

He felt so warm, so strong. She wrapped her
arms around him, letting her hands travel over the hard plane of
his back. His mouth nuzzled the sensitive skin of her neck, and she
arched her back and melted against him. She bit into her lip as the
outline of his erection pressed against her center. Instinct took
over, and she tilted her hips back and forth.