Dangerous Protector (Red Stone Security #14)(11)
“Sorry,” she murmured.
Aaron shrugged, clearly not annoyed if the sexy half smile on his face was any indication. “He still tries it with his uncle Callan and anyone he thinks will give him what he wants.”
“Nana always gives me…” Dillon’s dark eyes widened. “Hey, can we get a dog, Dad?”
Smooth topic change, Tegan thought, fighting a smile.
“We’ll talk about it,” Aaron said to him before looking back at Tegan. “Callan’s going to hang out at Kimmy’s shop the next couple days and keep an eye on the place.”
“Thank God.” Tegan had been worried about that. Just because she wouldn’t be at the shop didn’t mean that someone looking for her wouldn’t come by ready to finish what they’d started. “Maybe Callan will finally work up the courage to ask her out.”
Aaron’s mouth lifted into another one of those devastating half smiles. It was like he’d been holding onto all this sexiness for eight months and was now letting her see a softer side to him. It was irresistible. Almost. Because she had to resist the man. “God, I hope so. Put us all out of our misery.”
She laughed. Callan and Kimmy pretty much danced around their attraction to each other to the point of being ridiculous. Kimmy was a widow and a single mom, so Tegan could understand her hesitance in being in a relationship, but it was pretty clear Callan would do anything for her. She couldn’t understand why he was so gun shy.
“Look, my mom will be here soon. We’ll talk when we’re alone.” Talking about any of this in front of Dillon wasn’t a good idea. She wondered if Aaron knew more from the detective.
After leaving the hospital she’d had a police escort to her place where she’d packed up a bag of clothes, her laptop, and then Kali from her neighbor’s house. From there she’d thought she’d have another police escort but instead someone from the company Aaron worked for—Red Stone Security—had picked her up with Aaron already inside. They’d driven to Red Stone, changed vehicles, then their driver had driven them around for over an hour before stopping at Aaron’s place even though he didn’t live very far from her. Their driver had assured her that no one had tried to follow them. She felt a lot better being here with all the precautions they’d taken.
At the sound of a doorbell chime Kali let out a short yip and raced out of the room, her nails clicking against the tile. Dillon wasn’t far behind her.
“She can get a little excited.” She couldn’t help the apologetic note in her voice. Tegan knew dogs weren’t for everyone and Kali was excited to be in a new place. So far she’d been pretty well behaved but she was still loud and jumpy. At least soon Tegan would be able to get her settled into the guesthouse, which was way smaller. Once it was just Tegan and Kali, she figured her dog would calm down a little.
Aaron frowned slightly, falling in step with her. “I had a couple dogs growing up. She’s not a problem at all. Okay?”
Tegan released a sigh she hadn’t realized she’d been holding. She felt weird being here, like she had to watch her step. It wasn’t Aaron’s doing. If anything he seemed to be going out of his way to make sure she was comfortable. It was a huge change from the closed-off man who’d been coming into Kimmy’s shop the last eight months. “Okay, thanks. I just feel weird, I guess. I don’t want to get in your way or anything.”
He frowned again, but turned away from her as they reached the foyer. Bree Fitzpatrick, his mother and a friend of Tegan’s, was scooping Dillon into a giant hug. Dillon was trying to whisper—and failing—about getting ice cream as soon as they left.
Tegan bit back another smile when Aaron let out an exasperated sigh. Seeing him in full-on dad mode was really, really nice. She’d always thought of him as this intimidating, cranky—and ridiculously sexy—man. Now he just seemed like a sexy, take-charge, do-the-right-thing kind of guy. Seriously, he didn’t know her that well but was still offering up his house because she was in danger. In her experience, the world didn’t work that way. Which made her want him even more. It was stupid, because she wasn’t looking for a relationship and definitely not with a ready-made family.
“Tegan! I heard about what happened.” Bree moved at her lightning fast, pulling her into a tight hug. The woman was in her sixties with dark hair, petite, fit, and a force of nature.
She hugged Bree back, glad to see her. Tegan’s own mother had been lacking in the maternal department, so whenever she was around Bree, she found herself wishing she’d had a mom like her growing up. “I’m okay,” she said, stepping back. It wasn’t true. She was a hot mess inside but the answer was instinctive. She didn’t want to admit that she was filled with terror that someone wanted her dead bad enough to set a bomb in her car right in the middle of a busy street. “Thanks to your son.”
Aaron just grunted and gave his mom a hug. Bree was still shaking her head as she stepped back. “I can’t believe what happened. No one can. Neither of you have been named, but it’s been all over the news about the bombing.”
The neighborhood where Kimmy’s shop was located was pretty tight knit. Some of the shops had experienced turnovers in the last few years, according to Kimmy, but it was rare. It wasn’t a touristy part of Miami, but a friendly local one, where families had been for generations. Kimmy’s was one of the newer places but it was doing well. Part of Tegan was sad that she wouldn’t get to go into work but she didn’t want to bring any danger to the shop. At least she had her website design projects to work on. It would keep her busy and focused—and hopefully keep her mind off the person who had targeted her to die. Though Tegan knew nothing could do that. Not really. She wouldn’t be able to focus until the person was caught.