Total pages in book: 211
Estimated words: 201554 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1008(@200wpm)___ 806(@250wpm)___ 672(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 201554 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1008(@200wpm)___ 806(@250wpm)___ 672(@300wpm)
“Then bring her here,” he says. “Get her out of there.”
Harper, in New York, in my bed. That works for me. Me leaving and not knowing this is over, doesn’t work for me or her either though. “I might send her to you and then join her later.”
“Send her. Sooner than later if she’s in danger.”
“I’ll let you know and I’m calling Julius now.” I disconnect and leave Julius a message.
I back out of the driveway and I’m about to pull away when I catch sight of a car parked to the far right, next to the curb with a light flickering behind the shaded window. Unease radiates through me, the kind that used to set me off while in the deep, dark bowels of enemy territory. That threat, the idea that Harper might know more than she thinks she knows, that someone might think she’ll lead me there, hits ten wrong places in my gut. I back up, place the car in park and walk back to the door where I knock.
“Harper, it’s Eric.”
She opens the door. “What are you doing?”
I pull her to me. “Come with me. I want you with me.”
“Yes,” she says softly. “I want me with you, too.”
“Good,” I say. “I want you to want to be with me.” I lead her to the car, and that feeling of uneasiness I’d felt with the idea of leaving her behind is not gone. In fact, it’s stronger. Someone is watching us.
Chapter thirty
Eric
Halfway to the car, Harper shivers, and I pull her close, under my arm and against my body. “I should grab a coat,” she murmurs.
“I’ll get it for you and lock up,” I say, wanting her inside the car where I can get her the hell out of here. I click the locks and open the passenger door. Obviously eager to escape the cold, she slides into the seat. I kneel beside her, my hand settling on her leg, and when she looks at me, when this woman looks at me—and I mean every damn time—I feel a punch in my gut. She’s no longer just sex and revenge to me, and I’m not even resisting.
I hand her my key. “Turn on the engine and the heat. There’s a seat warmer, too.”
She laughs. “I know. Because I’m a Jaguar expert.”
Amusement lifts the corners of my mouth. “Are you now?”
“Of course I am. They’re the enemy and the competition.”
“But I’m not, sweetheart. Remember that. Where’s your coat?”
“Pretty sure it never made it out of the kitchen.”
“Got it. Lock the car door.”
“What? Why?”
“Lock it, sweetheart.” I don’t give her time to ask questions I’m not going to answer until I get some precautions in place. I stand up and shut her inside, waiting until she clicks the locks. Then and only then do I head toward the house, walk inside and retrieve my phone from my pocket to dial Blake. “I have thirty seconds,” I say when he answers. “I don’t want Harper to hear this conversation until I have time to explain myself.”
“I’m listening.”
I grab Harper’s coat and her keys from the counter and then step back into the doorway to keep an eye on the car. “There’s someone staking out Harper’s house in a black sedan. This, after my brother threatened me and Harper.”
“Gut feeling about who’s watching her?”
I step outside and pull the door shut. “If I had a damn gun, I’d yank the asshole out of his car and make him tell me. Hell, I might do it anyway.”
“You think it’s your brother’s hired hands?”
“Maybe,” I say, securing the lock, “but the look in Isaac’s eyes tonight tells me that he’s running scared. Really fucking scared. He’s in trouble, which means Harper is in the line of fire.”
“I’ll get you a weapon. Where are you headed and what’s your plan?”
“We’re about to leave for my hotel to grab my things, which is only three blocks away,” I say, walking toward the car with a slow pace meant to buy time to end this call.
“You’re staying with her then?” he asks.
“Damn straight I am. I came here for her. I’m keeping her safe and close.”
“I’ll leave a weapon outside her place and text you the location. And that data you needed is in the electronic folder I set-up for you along with my analysis. Text or call me when you look at it.” He disconnects.
I stop at the car door and unlock it before climbing inside the now-toasty interior. “You’re all set now,” I say, offering her the coat.
“Thank you,” she says. “I guess I really didn’t need this. The car is warm and we’re stopping right at the hotel door.”
“The wind is still cold, really fucking cold actually. Is there a storm blowing in?”
“There’s a winter storm warning,” she says. “I saw it on my phone earlier. And normally my mother would be the weather woman warning me. She’s not this time.”