The Dangerous Thief (Stolen Hearts #3)(42)

“You know it takes more than that to get me drunk.” Stephanie moved to stand between Willa and James. “I can’t believe you’re screwing your bodyguard and didn’t tell me.” She eyed James. “I mean, I get it. The sex part, but you still should’ve told me!”

“What happens between us is between us,” said James.

Stephanie stared at him for a few seconds. “My God. Even when you’re being a dick, you’re hot. Where are you from? Are there more like you? Do you have brothers?”

Okay, this was getting out of hand. “James, can you give me a few minutes alone with her?”

He seemed relieved when he retreated off to a bedroom, and Willa couldn’t blame him. “Steph, what the hell?”

“What?” She made her way back to her drink.

“This isn’t about a dry spell or you needing a fuck buddy. You have guys falling all over you. If you want to work out your anger, that’s fine, but don’t be rude to my....” She realized she didn’t have the right word to say. Bodyguard was a lie and she didn’t want to lie to Stephanie any more than she already was. Boyfriend and friend weren’t right. James was still label-less.

“Oh,” said Stephanie. “I didn’t realize he wasn’t a Jesus. He’s the real deal.”

“He’s not—”

“I know I could find a guy to get in the sack with,” said Stephanie. “That’s not the problem. But everyone here in the city is so... city. I don’t want a guy in a suit and polo shirt. I want someone like your bodyguard.”

“The strong and silent type?”

“No. I want a guy who looks like he could be on the back of a horse.”

“A cowboy?”

“Yes! I want a cowboy. Flannel shirt, hat, boots—everything. And not someone who dresses like a cowboy but would squeal if they got mud on them, but like a real man’s man. Someone who gets shit done and at the end of the day wants to crawl into bed with a warm woman to work off the stress.”

Apparently there was a lot about Stephanie’s fantasy life that Willa didn’t know about. “I don’t want to state the obvious here, but if you want a cowboy, you might have to leave the city.”

“Leave the city,” said Stephanie, as though she tasted each of the words to see how they felt. “I can’t go anywhere. AJ needs me right now. Dad has been riding him hard. Taking out the stress of the divorce on him.”

“Steph, I know you and AJ are close, but he’s a grown man. He can take care of himself for a little bit while you work things out. And I don’t mean going off to find a cowboy to screw. I mean take a trip. Get away from family stuff. Breathe some fresh air. You’re obviously not in a healthy space right now.”

“What if I drive around the entire country and don’t feel any better?” asked Stephanie.

“Then you’ll be in the same headspace you are right now. No harm, no foul, right?”

Stephanie took a drink of her vodka. “You might think you’re being a good friend, but I know what you’re really up to.”

Willa froze as she waited to hear what Steph was going to say.

“You want me to leave so you and the bodyguard can be alone.”

“That’s not—”

“Nope. I understand and totally support you getting laid.” She took one more tiny drink of the vodka and set it down, still leaving a bit at the bottom. “I will leave you to it.”

“I’m still here if you want to talk,” said Willa.

“Yeah. Yeah. Just do me a favor and get freaky a few times for me tonight, will you?”

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“What the hell happened?” bit out Austin as he paced back and forth across the apartment.

Willa wrapped her arms around her body and shifted her weight. The entire room was permeated with an uneasy energy that was being projected off everyone. Even Toni, who was normally so together, sat, pissed off, in the corner.

The only ones there with a semblance of calm was James, who Willa happened to know was furious about what had happened—he was just good at hiding it—and Scott Hart.

Scott was looking through a stack of papers, as though it were any other day. “This was just a setback,” he said. “Nothing’s changed.”

“Nothing’s changed?” Austin’s voice rose to a mid-shout. Jennifer reached out to set a hand on his arm and that seemed to calm him down. “We had bad intel. We’re lucky Jen didn’t die.”

“It’s not that easy to kill me,” she said.

“I don’t care how good you are, babe. If you go in thinking all the bases are covered only to find out that there’s a completely different sport being played, it’s dangerous. What happened, Toni?”

Before Toni could answer, James said, “It’s not her fault. They brought in extra help. She had no way of knowing security measures had been bumped up. I don’t even think Jadon knew.”

“No,” said Toni. “I should’ve known. I should’ve looked at more emails or found a way to listen to more calls. There would’ve been an electronic trail for this somewhere and I just... I missed it.”