Forged in Desire (The Protectors #1)(25)

Striker knew that he and Margo needed to talk. Set things straight. What had happened in her kitchen couldn’t happen again. No touching. No kissing. Yes, definitely no kissing. He was here to protect her, not lust after her. And the last thing he could do was let her get under his skin and start thinking foolish thoughts about her. Hadn’t he promised himself years ago to never get attached to a woman? If he ever fell in love, he’d be risking losing her the same way he’d lost others that he’d loved.

Raising the coffee cup to his lips, he was about to take a sip when his phone rang again. He pulled in another frustrated breath when he saw the call was from Frazier Connelly.

“This is Striker,” he said into the phone.

“Striker, this is Frazier. Not sure if you’ve heard, but the authorities got their guy, which means your services are no longer needed.”

Striker shook his head. He’d been afraid Connelly would think that way. “An arrest means nothing, Frazier. Too early.”

“The FBI just ended a news conference. They seem confident they have the right guy.”

Don’t they always? Striker thought angrily. He could clearly recall men he’d befriended while in the slammer, who were innocent. The situation involving Sheppard Granger quickly came to mind. Shep had been locked up for fifteen years for killing his wife, and the real murderers had still been out there killing others.

“I feel confident the FBI knows what they’re talking about, so I’m relieving you of your services and—”

“You didn’t hire me, Frazier. Roland Summers did and I stay put until he says otherwise,” Striker cut in.

Frazier got quiet for a minute and then snapped, “Fine. I’ll talk to Roland to let him know my position.”

“Yeah, you do that. Good-bye.” Striker clicked off the phone.

Certain Margo had heard his cell ring, he went back into the living room. She was watching him. Did she know the caller had been her uncle? Needing to talk to her, he was walking toward the workroom when his phone rang again. This time it was Roland.

“Yes, Roland?”

“The FBI thinks they have their guy.”

‘So I heard,” Striker said, still holding Margo’s gaze.

“I want you to stay put,” Roland said.

“Connelly just called to relieve me of my duties.”

“That’s not going to happen,” Roland said angrily.

“I basically told him that and he wasn’t too happy about it, so expect a call from him.”

Striker noticed that Margo had finally broken eye contact with him to resume working on her computer. “Do you know what I think, Roland?”

“What?”

“That you and Connelly need to get together and work things out. Reach an agreement. It’s obvious that although there’re ill feelings from all the shit that happened years ago, the two of you strongly agree on one thing, at least.”

“What’s that?”

“Keeping Margo safe.”

*

MARGO DREW IN a deep breath as she tried concentrating on keying information into her computer. Striker was staring at her. She knew it because she could feel the intensity of his gaze. Why couldn’t she forget about that kiss? The feel of his mouth against hers? His tongue sucking on hers? Why even now was her entire body still tingling from head to toe?

If the call hadn’t come in, would he have kept on kissing her or would she have eventually stopped him? For some reason, she doubted it. She’d barely gotten a taste of him but had enjoyed what she had gotten and ashamedly admitted she had wanted more from Lamar “Striker” Jennings.

Something he’d said earlier piqued her memory as well as her curiosity. He wasn’t overly fond of his first name. Why? At the time he’d said it, she’d been too annoyed with him to question him about it. But at some point, she would. And then there were those two phone calls he’d received. He’d been looking at her while talking on the phone. It was times like this that she wished she had the ability to read lips. Had he received more news about the man that had been arrested? Was there confirming evidence he was the assassin the authorities had been looking for?

She felt a presence beside her and jerked around, finding Striker standing next to her chair. She placed her hand on her chest to still her heart. Her pulse was racing like crazy. She hadn’t heard him enter her office. “Striker, you scared me.”

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to, but we need to talk. Your uncle Frazier wants to relieve me of my duties here since an arrest has been made. However, Roland agrees that I should stay awhile to make sure they got the right man.”

“So what’s the verdict? Do you stay or leave?”

“Connelly will be talking to Roland. Hopefully Roland will convince him why it’s important that you’re not left unprotected, even with the recent turn of events.”

“Okay, let me know what’s decided.” She didn’t want to think of the possibility that the wrong man had been arrested and the real assassin was still out there, getting ready to kill again.

She turned back to her computer, and when he continued to stand there, she glanced back up at him. “Is there anything else?”

“Yes.”

“What?”

“You know what, Margo, but in case you need me to spell it out for you, we need to talk about what happened between us earlier in your kitchen.”