Forged in Desire (The Protectors #1)(10)

“Just what are you doing?” Margo asked in outrage, rushing into the room and snatching the card out of his hand. “You had no right to read that.”

Striker had heard Margo coming up the stairs but hadn’t hurried to put the card back. Why should he? “As the man protecting you, I had every right.”

She threw the card on her desk and rounded on him. “You’re supposed to be protecting me from a crazy hit man. Not an ex-boyfriend.”

“And while I’m protecting you, I don’t want to have to deal with a boyfriend. Ex or otherwise.”

Anger flared in her eyes. “You won’t. Scott has a tendency of being overly dramatic.”

“For your sake, that drama better not happen on my watch.”

For a moment they just stood there, faced off. Why, of all things, was he consumed by her scent? A lush fragrance that was uniquely hers. It was undeniably woman. Oh, shit. Thinking this way wasn’t good. He backed up and turned to leave the room.

“Where are you going?”

“To continue what I was doing before you came up here—check out the place.”

He left her standing there and walked to another room. Her bedroom. It was the kind of bedroom he figured she would have. It wasn’t all that frilly, but it was feminine as hell. She was neat. Nothing out of place, no clothes lying on the floor or shoes thrown around. She’d decorated the bedroom in yellow and light gray, with a bedspread featuring yellow roses and matching curtains. Apparently she had a thing for yellow roses. In that case, it made sense for Scott to take advantage of that fact by sending her those flowers. And, damn, how many pillows did she have on that bed? Looked like a dozen or so.

“Is this really necessary?”

He didn’t turn when she entered. “Evidently it is or I wouldn’t be in here. I use all of my time wisely, Ms. Connelly.”

She placed her hands on her hips. “Margo. You want to be called Striker. I prefer being called Margo.”

He nodded. “Okay, Margo.” He moved to look into the master bath. When he returned moments later, he glanced around her room again. “I assume this is the room you sleep in.”

“Yes. Why?”

“Where is the guest room that I’ll be using?”

As far away from this one as possible, Margo thought. “I have a guest room downstairs.”

“Not close enough.”

She dropped her hands by her sides. “What do you mean not close enough?”

“Just what I said. The way things usually work is that a team of protectors will work in shifts to take care of a client. Since the demand for security is high right now, I’ll be the one protecting you morning, noon and night. Even when you sleep. I want to be close enough that I can hear you breathe, and I won’t be able to do that downstairs. What’s in the room next door?” he asked, already striding into the hallway.

He wants to be close enough to hear me breathe? The thought of any man, especially him, being that close to her at night made her go still. It then occurred to her just how underfoot he intended to be.

“Wait a second,” she said, rushing behind him. He had already opened the door to the other room.

“A guest room, I see.”

She didn’t say anything. To be honest, this was her only guest room. The third bedroom upstairs—where she found Striker snooping—was where she kept her work supplies and managed the accounting books. The room downstairs was her workroom where she did all of her fittings and sewing. Its sofa could be made into a bed, and that was where she had intended to put him.

“This is a nice room with its own full bath. It will work for me after I move a few things around.”

She released a resigned sigh. “I like the way the furniture is arranged.”

“I’ll put it back just as you have it when I’m all done.”

“And when will that be?” she asked.

“Depends on that crazy hit man.”

His words reminded Margo of the seriousness of the situation she was in. It just wasn’t fair. This was what she got for doing her civic duty. As if he’d read her mind, Striker said, “At least you’re alive. Can’t say the same thing for Jeffery Turner.”

Her thoughts immediately went to Jeffery and she remembered how the jurors had hugged each other before departing that final day. Each of them had tried to downplay Erickson’s threats, but deep down, they’d all been shaken up by them. She could tell. Nancy Snyder had been the only one to ask the FBI agent whether they should be concerned, and the man had assured her that they shouldn’t be. Well, undoubtedly that agent had been wrong.

When she saw Striker leaving the room, she followed. “Wouldn’t sleeping downstairs make better sense for you?” She was attracted to Striker and she wanted to put as much distance between them as humanly possible. She wasn’t used to a man sharing space with her, especially one who emitted sexual vibes with every step he took. She wouldn’t be able to concentrate on her work with him around. She wasn’t used to being drawn to any male this way and she didn’t like it. Found it downright irritating.

He surveyed the hall before checking out the bathroom. It was only when he came out that he responded to her comment by asking a question of his own. “Why would you think me sleeping downstairs makes better sense, Margo?”