Following Her (Unexpected Heroes #2.5)(13)
His breath fanned against her bare neck, and she couldn’t stop a shiver from slowly running down her spine, nor calm the instant spike in her pulse.
“You smell good, too,” he whispered against her skin, and it took all the strength Ella possessed not to turn around and leap into this man’s arms.
Deciding sometimes the best defense was no words at all, Ella rushed toward her car. She didn’t care if the girls followed or not. If she didn’t get out of there right then, she was afraid she’d do something she knew she’d regret.
As she climbed into her car, Maycie and Reese quickly joining her, she could feel his gaze boring into her. She just prayed he’d be done with her security system and long gone by the time she returned. Otherwise, she didn’t think she’d be able to withstand the next time he came on to her.
Axel was hooked on this woman, and he knew it wasn’t a wise move. He’d made a promise to his friend to protect her, and if he was focused on chasing after her, then he wasn’t doing a good enough job of keeping her safe. That incident at the restaurant had really thrown him off. But then, a few more days had passed, and nothing else had happened.
That didn’t mean that the bad guys were giving up. It simply meant they were waiting to make their next move. He needed to be on his A-game, which didn’t seem like something he was capable of in Ella’s presence.
It was just that the woman was witty, strong, determined, and on top of that, had a smoking-hot body. What wasn’t there to like about her? Nothing he’d found so far.
He normally didn’t go after women; they just sort of fell into him, literally and figuratively. He’d meet a woman, and if there was a connection then he let her know he was interested. If there were no sparks, he’d move on.
And sparks were certainly firing between Ella and him, but because of the disastrous relationship she’d had with her ex, she seemed to be leery of any and all relationships, and the blasted woman was fighting mightily against their mutual attraction. He should walk away, take a hint and offer silent protection.
Of course, Axel also had never been one to run from a challenge. So instead of hiding in the bushes and making sure the woman stayed alive, he was having nightly fantasies about her, fantasies he certainly wouldn’t be sharing with his friend and partner anytime soon.
Axel had to smile as he realized where he was, because at the moment he was literally hiding in the bushes.
It wasn’t good enough for Bryson that he’d installed the best security system known to man on Ella’s house. No, his friend wanted to make sure the system was foolproof because, of course, Bryson said the people who had painted a giant target on her back were crafty and he was sure they could get through the alarm.
So here he was sitting in her bushes, making sure no one could sneak up behind him while he tried to bypass the system and break into her house. Not that he was going to actually break into her house, but if the cops happened to drive by he didn’t think that they’d believe he was there for her safety while wearing dark clothes and a hood.
It was close to midnight and all the lights were off, so it looked like the coast was clear. Even the neighbors had all turned in, it seemed. Axel made his way to the back of the house, crept around like a thief in the night, and was satisfied when he saw the windows were all locked and the blinking light on the security box indicated the home system was set.
That alone would put off most criminals. They knew what happened when you tried to breach a security system. Alarms went off, loudly. With the added floodlights he’d installed that would illuminate not only her house but half the block, any criminal would be a fool to try to break in.
Finally for the test, he crept up to the security panel and looked at it. He hadn’t actually installed this part, as it wasn’t his forte—he’d let his friend Maverick do that. So if he ended up setting off the alarm in this process, Axel was going to be pissed at Bryson, because surely he’d spend a night in the slammer.
Carefully, he looked at the box, checked for a back way into it, and was satisfied when he didn’t find one. There was no possible way of overriding the system without setting it off. Any tampering at all, and the lights would flash on, the police would be called, and the culprit would be dragged away to spend at least one night in the county jail.
He could call Bryson with confidence, let him know that no one was getting into this house as long as Ella set the alarm, and she’d promised her cousin, Maverick, and Axel that she would.
Normally there was no way anyone could ever sneak up on Axel. It was his job to know his environment at all times. Maybe it was the fact that he’d been off the job a couple of weeks, maybe it was the fact that he was feeling guilty over sneaking around a young woman’s house. Whatever it was, Axel’s guard was down.
One minute he was packing up his stuff to leave and the next he heard the unmistakable sound of air splitting as something came for him. He only had time to lift a hand, which didn’t help much as solid wood hit the side of his head and stars exploded behind his eyes.
Though dazed, he heard a step, and knew the person swinging was coming in for another blow. Reaching out, Axel found a leg and tugged hard, tumbling the person. He was moving much slower than usual, but he managed to shake off the buzzing in his head and tackle the bat-wielding villain when a piercing scream nearly shattered his eardrums.