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Chapter Twelve

T he next morning, Claire walked into the kitchen to find Sam sitting at the kitchen table, eating yogurt. Thunder rumbled outside. The kitchen window framed bolts of lightning filling the sky.

Sam glanced over at her and put down her spoon. “Good morning to you.”

“Good morning. Lots of lightning out there.”

Sam nodded. “It’s going to be one of the crazy on/off storm days.”

“I guess. Rain is always good.” Claire looked around—no Joe. She didn’t hear any other noises coming from the house. “Is Joe here?”

When Joe left last night after Mark came home, but he hadn’t said anything to her about not coming back today. She assumed he would be and was disappointed he wasn’t. She missed him already.

“He’ll be here later this morning. I had the time, so I thought it would be a good time to get to know each other.”

Oh, damn. Claire knew what that meant. She was going to be grilled again. Her stomach churned, threatened to spill what little contents were in it.

Sam shook her head and grinned. “Calm down. I’m not going to grill you.”

“Are you a mind reader?”

Sam laughed. “No. But you should never play poker. All your emotions show on your face. I just thought that because you’re Mark’s cousin and since Mark and I are involved…

” She shrugged. “I know nothing about you, and I’d like to get to know you better.

Come on.” She patted a chair. “I’ll get you a cup of coffee. We can sit right at the table.”

Claire let out the breath she was holding and sat down. “I guess I did panic for a minute. So how long have you and Mark been going out?”

“Hmmm. Let me think.” Sam placed a cup of coffee in front of Claire, her action precise and quick.

“It’s been about three years. We met when Mark was doing some renovations on my friend Laura’s restaurant.

Oh, I should get the girls together to meet you, and we’ll go there for dinner. They’ll love you.”

That sounded so normal to Claire. To be able to go out with friends, to laugh, talk and just have fun.

It had been so long since she enjoyed being with friends.

Would it be possible for her to finally have a normal life again?

Keith had consumed her life. He’d dictated her every move—every little detail.

She couldn’t remember who she was some days.

Joe had been disappointed when Sam informed him that she would be going over in the morning to stay with Claire instead of him. He wanted to see Claire again. Being around her was like coming home. But Sam had a job for him. One she knew he would relish .

Phil, KnightGuard’s IT guy, found out that Keith was staying at the Omni Hotel in downtown Black Pointe. The city had a couple of luxurious hotels, but the Omni was the ritziest. Joe had never been there but knew its reputation.

He arrived early, and the valet handed him the ticket for his truck. He walked into the four-story open atrium. Multiple beige and brown leather sofas dotted the lobby. People lined up registering or leaving, bellhops were stacking luggage, and almost every chair was occupied.

Sam had suggested he wear a dress shirt and pants so he wouldn’t look out of place. Lucky for him, he had one of each in his closet.

He brought a book and sat on one of the plush chairs in the lobby, facing both the revolving door and the elevator bank.

He watched well-dressed people come and go and was glad Sam had suggested the change in clothes.

Soft piano music played in the background, muffling some of the chatter.

KnightGuard didn’t know if Keith was going out or not but wanted to keep watch on him and see what he was up to.

Joe sat there for three boring hours. Keith hadn’t left his room.

Joe wondered what the heck the guy was doing in his room for so long.

Probably brought work with him. Just before lunch, Joe heard the elevator ding.

He looked over, and out walked Keith Willis in the flesh.

It was all he could do not to get up and pummel the self-confident bastard.

Keith walked like he owned the place. He didn’t look around, just entered the hotel restaurant and was promptly seated in the middle of the room. Joe followed from a safe distance. The hostess seated Joe at a corner table draped with a white cloth behind Keith.

His eyes were on Keith, and he was startled when a server unfolded his napkin and placed it on his lap. The first time that happened to him, he almost punched the guy’s lights out, thinking he was getting fresh. Who knew servers did that? They should warn a guy.

He noticed the waitress come over to take Keith’s order. Whatever he said to her must have been funny because he had her laughing. The waitress bent over to take the menu from him, and Keith whispered something in her ear. She nodded and wrote something on a piece of paper.

That piece of shit. Harassing Claire and yet picking up women. What was wrong with the asshole? Keith was good-looking for a guy. Blondish hair, slender, sharp dresser. He could see why Claire might find him attractive. But pretty packages sometimes hid the worst presents.

Joe was drawn out of his thoughts when a plate was placed in front of him.

He couldn’t remember what he had ordered, but the sandwich and fries looked good.

He asked for the check and signed it. He glanced at Keith’s table.

He was finishing his meal, so Joe ate fast. Keith had signed his check and was walking out.

Joe put down the cup he was holding and followed him.

Unfortunately, he was caught behind an older couple ambling out.

Damn, Keith was already at the revolving door and exiting the hotel while Joe was trying hard not to push the older couple out of his way. He was finally able to pass them and exited the hotel just in time to see Keith scurry down the street.

That was the trouble with some of these guys who pretended to be detectives.

Keith had recognized the military guy the minute he got off the elevator.

He might have been dressed better, but he recognized the same jerk from the other day who was banging his Claire.

Besides, who could miss a serious-looking, muscular guy sitting straight up, book on his lap but not reading, his eyes searching.

He shook his head—undercover wonder. He paid his detectives the big bucks to blend in.

But it had been fun to stop and eat at the hotel’s restaurant. He hadn’t been hungry, but he wanted to play with the guy a little.

He took his time eating and then speeded up when the guy got his food. The bonus was he got the waitress’s name and a promise she would visit him later. Damn Claire. He needed her to take care of his needs, not some stranger. But there you go. Women just couldn’t be trusted.

He signed the check and slowly walked out of the restaurant to let the guy catch up. But an older couple strolling behind him threw a wrench into his plans. He couldn’t slow down anymore; it would be too obvious. The dick would figure it out. Or not. The guy hadn’t been too sharp up to now.

Now what? He had the afternoon free. Why not dick around on the dick?

He chuckled over that. He’d already ordered the white tulips to be delivered the next day for Claire.

He wanted her to feel relaxed and safe before they were delivered.

She needed to be reminded that she would never be safe if she weren’t with him.

He didn’t sign the card; she would know he sent them.

Tulips were her favorite. At least, they had been for a while.

Keith walked up and down the block. He stopped for a while at a cigar bar. Made smoke rings while watching the guy pace up and down across the street. He saw him wipe the sweat from his face. Sure, it was a hot one, but he was cool and dry, although it looked like it was going to rain any minute.

Keith put out the cigar, drank the last drop of Cuban coffee and sauntered out.

Where to next? Dark clouds piled up in the sky.

Thunder roared. A flash of lightning. He could smell the rain in the air.

Oh yeah, it was going to rain any minute.

He walked another block and managed to grab the last seat inside by a window so he would stay dry, but the asshole following him was going to get a little wet.

Actually, a lot wet. He laughed to himself.

There were only exposed outside tables, which wouldn’t work at all if you were following someone.

He hadn’t had this much fun in, well, a long time. No one was going to get the best of him, and no one was going to have Claire but him. Time for all the assholes to learn.