Whirlwind (SAI Book 2) (9 page)

“See, I think that’s where you’re wrong. I’m falling for you in a way that’s never happened before. It’s scaring the shit out of me, and that’s why I’m acting so possessive and crazy.”

Sipping her coffee, she wondered if he was sane. Six days didn’t seem long enough to develop the feelings he had. “Why now? We met a year ago and nothing happened. Are you sure this isn’t a reaction to what happened with your ex-girlfriend?”

“It has nothing to do with that. When I’m around you, my heart beats double time. That in and of itself is crazy, because my resting heartbeat is around seventy. My adrenaline spikes, and that hardly happens in the heat of battle. I spent fourteen years facing all kinds of nasty evil, and I never felt this way. So…it must be the real thing.”

“Are you comparing me to being in a battle?”

“No. Maybe… It’s hard to tell.”

“It could just be a midlife crisis. How old are you?”

“I’m thirty-four, and it’s not a midlife crisis. I’m falling for you because you smell like home…my home. I want to spend time together and see what we have.”

Pressing her hand against her throat, she tried to take in the enormity of his words, and she couldn’t. “My heart is beating out of my chest. I’m not ready to deal with the idea of an
us
.” Nothing about her current circumstances would allow her to pursue anything with him.

She was in the sights of one of the most dangerous criminal organizations on the FBI’s list. Anyone she got close to was going to be a target as well. The fact that she was already attracted to him made the whole thing unbearable. Men like Grady didn’t come along very often, and the thought of passing him up was depressing. “I can’t. I’m up against a difficult situation, and I can’t involve anyone.”

“That’s the other thing…I’m going to take care of that for you. I figured if you were worried about somebody killing you, then it might make it hard to think about falling in love with me.”

“Just like that?”

He shrugged and then replied, “Yeah. It’s not that complicated. I’ve got Lance working on it, and the team is meeting next week to come up with a plan. SAI has seven offices around the country, so I called Hank in Chicago, and he’s working it from his end. We should have enough intel by Monday. We’ll put an initial plan into place, and then we can adapt as more information comes in.”

“What the…what?” Standing, she stomped away and then stomped back. Her hands went up and then came down. “Of all of the overbearing, autocratic things I’ve ever heard of, this is the worst.” Sara stared at him and waited for him to back off. Then she waited some more while he drank his coffee. “I’m waiting.”

“For what?”

“For you to back off. Why are you butting into my life and trying to take over?” She watched him carefully set his cup down and stand up. A satisfied grin filled his face, and he remained eerily calm. Backing off didn’t seem to be within his capabilities.

He clasped her hands and then kissed her quickly. “I’m taking care of a problem that’s relatively easy for me. I want to kiss you as much as I can, and I know you won’t let me do that until you feel safe.”

Spinning away, she started to pace. “You have lost your marbles. That is, if you ever had any. Your behavior suggests that perhaps you were never given any.”

“I have plenty of marbles, and they all work. When you take a breath and calm down, you will realize that I’m right.”

Heat suffused her face as her heart tripped over itself. She thought about killing him herself. There was no need to wait for him to get in the sights of Louie Tomatoes, because she was going to take care of him herself. She pointed to the door. “Out!” Stomping over, she opened it and waited. “I suggest you leave now, before I lose my temper.”

“This didn’t go the way I planned.”

When he stood in front of her, he tried to take her hand, and she wouldn’t let him. How dare he tell her to calm down and then say that he was right? Those were not words that allowed a man to live very long. “Never tell a woman to calm down, unless you plan on an early death.”

“Is that where it went south?”

“It started before that, but that drove the nail into the coffin.”

“This isn’t over. We have a bump in the road. I’ll come back in an hour so we can go over to CA. You can beat up on me and get your frustration out. And then we’ll come up with a plan together.” He kissed her cheek and then stared into her eyes. “I want you, Sara. Just know I’m never giving up.”

As he strode down her walkway, she felt like screaming. It was too much to handle. He was a bloody land mine. First the confession about his feelings and then the declaration about him handling her situation, and then he told her to calm down when she balked at the whole thing. Lord have mercy. Slamming the door shut, she turned and checked the clock. All of this before eight in the morning.

Moments later, her phone rang, and she answered it with a growl. “What?”

When Sammy’s voice came on the line, she felt foolish. Why should she take out her frustration on the only man who stood between her and danger? “Sorry.”

“I’m calling you on Skype. I need to see your face and make sure that you’re not cracking under the pressure.”

“I’m cracking, all right. But it’s because of my neighbor.”

“That’s why I’m calling.”

All she could hear were the birds calling to each other outside her window. The sound seemed at odds with what was currently going on in her life. As though the soundtrack to her current situation should include a heavy bass from a rap tune and not the melodic harmony of calm birds. “I’ll grab another cup of coffee and be ready in a couple of minutes.” Patting down her hair, she considered brushing it. “I might need longer if you can’t control your scream when you see me. I haven’t had time to put myself together yet.”

“I never scream. I merely expressed my surprise at the way you appeared the last time we spoke.”

“You keep telling yourself that, but from where I sat, it sounded like the scream of a fourteen-year-old girl. And not in a good way.”

“If you’re done taking out your bad mood on me, I’m going to hang up.”

She remained silent for a minute and thought about it. “I can harass you when we’re face-to-face.”

“I look forward to it.”

Sammy ended the call, and she shuffled over to the coffeepot and poured a fresh cup. When she dumped some cream into it and tasted it, she realized that it wasn’t as good as Grady’s. How annoying. He even made great coffee. The sound of a call coming in allowed her to quit thinking about him as she moved to her laptop. When Sammy’s face appeared, she tried to smile. It was fairly evident that it wasn’t working, because he cringed. “I told you not to be shocked.”

“I’m not shocked…just surprised. How do you get your hair to stick up in so many different directions at once?”

“Wild monkey sex. It’s not easy, but totally worth it.” She tipped back on her chair, drank her coffee, and waited for Sammy to get over his coughing fit. Apparently he wasn’t ready for true confessions so early in the morning. The fact that none of it was true just made it all the more entertaining. Glancing at her sketch pad, she noticed how handsome Grady was even in a pencil sketch. All she had done were quick drawings, but even with so little effort, she couldn’t deny how very appealing he was. Closing her eyes, she tried to think of all of his annoying qualities. While there was quite a list, none of it made a difference. Because even she couldn’t deny that he was a good and decent man at his core. Bossy and autocratic. But sweet and overbearing. God, she was giving herself a headache.

“I’m back,” Sammy stated. “Got it together and fully operational.”

Raising an eyebrow, she studied him. “If I say
monkey sex
again, can you hold yourself together?”

“All I can do is try.” He straightened his tie and folded his hands.

“For a man who was a Delta operator and then was on the HRT team, you sure are easy to rattle.”

“Being in the Army and on the Hostage Rescue Team did not prepare me for the likes of you.”

“Ahh…you say the sweetest things.”

“If you’re done yanking my chain, then I would like to give you the latest. It seems your new boyfriend has been busy. He has his guys digging up everything they can find about you. SAI has access to some impressive programs, and in a couple of hours, Grady is going to know what grade you got in algebra.”

“B-minus. That was my grade. It was never my thing.” Gulping down the rest of her coffee, she tried to compose herself. “Is this a bad thing or a good thing?”

“Both. SAI is made up of men from some of the most elite special operations forces in the world. They have impeccable ethics, and they don’t stop until the job is done. If I was going to pick a company to protect you—it would be them.”

“Really, that good?”

“Yes, Sara. I got a call from the man who runs the Chicago office. Hank and I know each other from some training that we did together when he was still on the Teams and I was with HRT. He’s a rock-solid operator, and I trust him. Apparently your boyfriend dug up enough info to tie you to the Outfit. He asked Hank to get in touch with the FBI and let us know that you are now under his protection.”

“That’s so infuriating. Why doesn’t he talk to me, maybe ask me if I’m interested?”

“Is this the man who you’re going to have monkey sex with? Because if he is, then it’s all starting to make sense. If he’s fallen for you, then his behavior is right on point.”

“This is because I kissed him the other day. All of this nonsense is my fault.”

“Probably.” Leaning back, he crossed his legs and smiled. “In cases like this, it’s always the women’s fault. If you kiss us—then you have to keep us. Men are simple creatures.”

“Truer words have never been said.” She twirled her hair up and tried to squish it into a bun. When that didn’t work, she gave up. “So, in your professional FBI opinion, what do I do?”

“Let Grady do his thing. He’s a stand-up man with a ton of experience. If you won’t go into WITSEC, then this is a great option.”

“But he told me to calm down and realize he was right. That’s not something that I can live with.” Glancing out the window, she saw Grady pick up his paper. “I would rather disappear than be in a situation with someone telling me what to do. And telling me to calm down. If you want to piss a woman off, then just utter that phrase.”

“Yeah, I learned that lesson the hard way.”

They studied one another and remained silent. “What is SAI, anyway?” Sara asked.

“It’s a security firm that was started by a retired SEAL named Max Bishop. He started the company several years ago after retiring. The first office was in San Diego, and he expanded the company when one of his buddies became interested. I think they have six or seven offices now. They are one of the most successful companies of their kind. The men who run each office are from the Teams, and they employ men and women from all of the spec ops groups.”

“So, if I were to hire private protection, then this would be my best choice?”

“Without a doubt. Let me talk to Hank again, and I’ll let him know what you’re up against. He’ll give me his honest opinion about what they can do for you. This is a great option, considering that you want to stay out of the program.”

“When you speak with him, can you ask for a rundown of costs? If I do this, then I want to pay for it, and I have a feeling that Grady won’t tell me what they usually charge.”

“I can ask, but I have a feeling that Grady will never let you write a check.”

“That’s why I want you to find out for me. He told me that he wants to make sure I’m safe so he can kiss me.”

“It’s good to know what motivates people. Makes things real clear.”

“Yeah…he’s real clear about his feelings. I’m just not sure that I’m ready for them.”

“Think about giving him a chance. He would be a good man to have on your side.”

“I don’t think it’s my side that he wants.”

Leaning forward, Sammy gave her a disapproving stare. “Thanks for the visual. I think of you as a sister, and I don’t want to be picturing you with a man.”

“Whatever. Don’t get your boxers in a twist.”

“Behave, Sara. I’ll call you after I speak with Hank.”

“Okay. Thank you for everything you’ve done. I really do appreciate it.” She blew him a kiss and ended the call. Twirling a pen around, she considered everything he’d said. It seemed that having Grady around was her best option if the men in Chicago got serious about her. Or, she wanted a really sexy man to kiss.

***

The doorbell rang at exactly nine, and Sara checked the monitor to see who it was. Man of his word, it was Grady. Walking slowly toward the door, she smoothed her ponytail and tried to feel in control. When that didn’t work, she pasted a smile on her face and tried to pretend she wasn’t freaking out.

Swinging it open, she saw a big bouquet of flowers in front of Grady’s face. “It’s the flower man. How nice.” When he tipped them sideways and smiled, she felt her heart crack open. He was hard to resist even if he did tell her to calm down.

“Agnes told me that I committed a cardinal sin this morning, and I now know that it’s never under any circumstances acceptable to tell a woman to calm down. Also, I’m supposed to ask you what you want and not tell you. So before you give me a hard time, I want you to know that I’ve learned my lesson.” He handed the bouquet over and kissed her cheek. “Let’s have a do-over.”