Love Thy Enemy (Red Stone Security #13)(29)
“What if she’s involved? Maybe the whole thing was a setup.” Abram’s voice was tight, agitated.
“To what end?” He didn’t believe it, regardless. Dominique had been shaken last night. Unless she was the best actress in the damn world, no, he didn’t think she was involved with her own mugging.
“I don’t know yet,” Abram grumbled.
Viktor hid an exasperated sigh. “Why don’t you quit worrying about me and worry about yourself?”
“You’re my brother.”
“I know.” The truth was, he worried about Abram too. All the damn time. He was the only family Viktor had. “Let me know how Lucy is, if she needs anything.”
Abram just grunted and hung up.
Shaking his head, Viktor tucked his phone into his pocket. He’d be seeing Dominique in less than an hour and the anticipation humming through him was like a live thing. She’d been on his mind all day, consuming him.
After she’d picked up a new phone today they’d grabbed lunch at a food truck and eaten at a nearby park. While he’d been vigilant about their surroundings, he’d realized that he’d been relaxed with her, unlike how he felt with most people. But it was as if she didn’t want anything from him other than his company. Hell, she wouldn’t even take the house. He’d tried to bring it up once but she’d shut him down fast.
It was clear she still hadn’t made a decision about it, and that was fine with him. The longer it took her to figure out what she wanted, the longer he still had a reason to contact her. Not that he seemed to need one other than to simply ask her out.
He wanted more than just dating though. He didn’t care if it was too soon—he couldn’t just do casual. Not with a woman like her. He’d had casual sex, sex he paid for. He wanted something real. Even if he wasn’t sure he deserved it.
The only problem was, he knew shit about relationships and women. He didn’t want to come off too strong, but once they crossed a certain line, he knew he wouldn’t let her go. He just hoped she was ready for him.
Chapter 10
Feeling a little bit possessed, Abram pounded his fist against Lucy’s front door again. He knew she was in there; had seen a light flip on about ten seconds ago. And he knew he was acting like a psycho. He just didn’t care.
She lived on a quiet cul-de-sac with beach-cottage-style homes, some two-story but mostly one-story houses. A next-door neighbor stepped out from his front door, eyed Abram with suspicion. The guy was good-looking too, probably in his early thirties.
Shirtless and tanned, he glared at Abram. “You need something?” the man asked, his tone brusque.
“I’m here to see Lucy.” He forced himself to remain civil even if it wasn’t this guy’s business who the hell he was. Still…he was glad Lucy had neighbors who cared enough to look out for her.
The man crossed his arms over his chest and leaned against the railing of the front porch. “Don’t think she’s home.”
Before he could respond, Abram heard the click of the lock opening. Lucy jerked the door open, her expression unreadable as she watched him. She stepped out onto the porch and smiled at her neighbor. Some irrational part of Abram was jealous that the guy got to see her smile. He wanted all of that sweetness reserved for him, not some dick.
“Hey Leo, everything’s good over here. This is just a friend. I asked him to stop by to help me with my…computer.”
“You sure?” The neighbor’s gaze flicked to Abram, clearly not trusting him.
“Yeah, I promise. Tell Maria I’ll be bringing over that dish she left a little later this evening.”
The man nodded, still not moving from his sentry position.
Lucy grabbed Abram’s upper arm and practically dragged him inside, shutting and locking the door behind him. “What are you doing here?” She dropped her arm and placed both hands on her hips as she glared up at him.
“You’re not sick.” He swept his gaze over her, surprised to see her looking so casual, though he knew he shouldn’t be. She was at home, not work or a function. She had on skimpy beach shorts that showed a whole lot of skin, a tank top and the straps of a blue and white bikini tied behind her neck. She’d once told him that she had a small pool in her backyard so he guessed she’d been using it.
She crossed her arms over her chest. “So what? I needed a sick day, so I took it. And you showing up here to check on me is completely inappropriate.”
“As inappropriate as me eating your * at work?”
Her cheeks went bright pink. She opened her mouth but nothing came out as she stared up at him. Everything about her was adorable, right down to her painted cherry red toenails.
He was glad she wasn’t talking because there were some things he needed to say and if he didn’t get them out all at once he wasn’t sure he ever would. “We’re hiring someone new as soon as possible to be my assistant. You’ll work directly under Viktor when that happens. I don’t want there to be an imbalance of power between us and I can see how it could happen if I’m your boss—though to be fair, you boss me around a lot.”
She let out a shaky laugh and he could see some of the tension leaving her shoulders. That had to be a good thing so he barreled on.
“I want to be with you. I want…you to be my girlfriend.” Even saying that out loud was too strange. “Which is a dumb, f*cking word. But I want to start something real with you and I know that can’t happen unless there’s a division between us at work.” When she watched him with those big dark eyes, not saying anything, he started to panic. “Say something,” he demanded—okay, snarled.