Page 27 of Justified Fear (TFH Team Bravo #2)
Fifteen
H alf an hour later, Keely was still in her room. Needing air, he stepped out onto the balcony.
He heard the sliding glass door. He knew without looking who had joined him.
“Well, that went better than I thought it would,” Emily said.
He glanced over at the woman. He hadn’t had much interaction with her, but he knew that a lot of TFH had respect for her computer skills. “That was good by your standards?”
Emily shook her head. “It could have gone worse. Keely’s reasons for not wanting to accept that it’s Chad aren’t because she still has feelings for him.”
“Why else?”
She cocked her head. “You know, because you seem to understand her better than someone who just met her.”
“I did just meet her.”
“Yeah, but sometimes, you can be with someone for years and they don’t know you at all. Or you meet someone one weekend and it all clicks.”
“You have personal experience then?”
She snorted. “No. Thank God. My parents. They met one weekend when they were both stationed at Quantico. They got married three weeks later.”
“You’re kidding.”
“Nope. Forty years and four kids later, they still can’t keep their hands off each other. It’s rather gross. But you…you have that same feeling, don’t you? And just so you know, I love daisies.”
He blinked. “What?”
“For thanking me.”
“For what?”
“I made sure that your lady isn’t still into her ex.”
He shook his head and looked out at the traffic below. “I knew she wasn’t.”
“And how did you know that?”
“Well, she wouldn’t have moved halfway around the world.”
Emily stepped closer and leaned against the railing. “Not technically halfway, and you would be surprised what a woman would do when her love is ignored or abused.”
“Your own experience.”
“No comment. Anyway, I wanted to talk with you about this guy. I mean, I was going to let you stand out here and pout like most men do.”
“I wasn’t pouting.”
She rolled her eyes. “Whatever.”
“I was brooding.”
“Brooding, pouting. Same thing. Believe me, I have three older brothers, and they all pout when they don’t get their way.”
“Even Mad Dog?”
“Especially Mad Dog. Dude tends to think he’s some kind of superstar.”
“He was one of the top MMA fighters in the world.”
“Well, I saw him cry when he was ten and broke his arm.” She waved her hand in front of her face. “Either way, we thought this Chad—what a name, am I right?—had no history of violence, but then, I did more research. He had some arrests before he was eighteen.”
“And how did you find that out?”
She shrugged. “I have my ways. I’ll say that his uncle was the sheriff where he grew up. I found at least two arrests when he was stalking an ex.”
“And you think he could be doing that right now? Doesn’t make sense. If he stalked, he would want to be closer. He wouldn’t explode all of a sudden.”
She sighed. “You know, Eden’s brother works for Dillon.”
“Good to know.”
“And he’s in Texas right now visiting the folks.
He’s supposed to move out of here. She’s not that happy about it, but that is another story altogether.
Anyway, he did some digging around for me.
Chad didn’t start stalking his exes right away.
See, Chad can’t keep it in his pants. He was always cheating on his girlfriend.
And it always seems like the guy gets dumped soon after he is caught with the skank by the skank.
That’s when he goes off. He tries to get back with the girl he cheated on, but they turn him down, and he loses it. ”
“But he didn’t do that in this case. Keely said she hasn’t talked to him since they signed the papers months ago.”
“Well, he’s been calling your woman. From what I have discovered, that jerk face has called her multiple times. She never picks up.”
“He’s been trying to call her?”
She nodded.
“Shit.”
“What? I think it’s good for you if she’s ignoring him.”
“She’s gonna blame herself.”
Understanding dawned on her face. “Aw, she seems like a really good woman. You need to make sure she understands that this isn’t her fault.”
He knew they would leave this to him, and he was both glad and irritated. He knew this would gut Keely. She wore her heart on her sleeve, and while she didn’t know anyone at that dinner party well, if this asshole had shown up in Hawai’i bent on revenge, it would hurt her.
“Come on, Maya,” he called out. His partner came running up to him. They went into the house together, and he made his way back to Keely’s bedroom. He knocked on the door, holding his breath, until he heard her voice.
“Come in.”
He opened the door. Maya bolted in running to her newest friend.
“Well, hello, pretty baby.”
He closed the door behind him and walked toward her.
She was wearing a pair of board shorts and a University of Hawai’i t-shirt.
She wasn’t a tall woman, but she had a set of legs on her that almost brought him to his knees every time he saw them.
Golden skin, toned muscles, and he knew what they felt like when they were wrapped around his hips.
She leaned over to pet Maya, and when she looked up at him, he felt his whole body tilt. Something was definitely going on with him, but at the moment, he had to do his job.
“What is it?” she asked, as her smile faded.
“I need to tell you some things Dillon just discovered about Chad.”
She sighed, sitting on the bed. “Fine. But I am pretty sure it’s not him.”
“Did you know that Chad had some issues in his youth? Like before, he turned eighteen?”
“He mentioned a few speeding tickets if that’s what you mean.”
He shook his head. He didn’t want to tell her. Knowing if what Dillon was suggesting was true it would gut Keely.
“No. Not speeding. He had two instances of stalking on the records.”
Keely blinked those golden eyes at him. “What? How did they find out?”
“Seems that Emily has some connections in Texas. They did some digging and found out that after breaking up with girls, he then tried to get back with them months later. When they refused, he stalked them.”
“Really? I just always thought he was too lazy.”
“You mention that a lot.”
“What?”
“That he’s lazy.”
“Well, I did all the work for the business. I had the ability in the kitchen, and he had a degree in restaurant management. He encouraged me to open up a place. It wasn’t me. So, I thought he would work just as hard. I was wrong.”
“Sometimes, people only show us what they know we want to see.”
She nodded. “I’m sorry about what happened last night. About flying off the handle.”
It took a moment for his brain to catch up to the change in topic. “No. Don’t be. You have every right to fly off the handle.”
“I am not a drama queen.”
“You’re seriously worried I would think that about you?”
She nodded. “I try not to live up to the whole idea of the temperamental chef. I dealt with enough of them at the CIA and when I worked in New York. It was just…I would hate that you would think that.”
He cupped her face again. She had the softest skin, like silk. “The fact that you aren’t screaming every minute means you are doing better than most people in the same situation. And while I’m sorry I threatened you, I wanted to make sure you understood that I will do anything to keep you safe.”
“Because it’s your job.”
“No.”
“What?”
“I don’t know what it is about you, Keely.
I’m not the kind of man who falls fast, but…
” he sighed. Ryan usually didn’t lay it all on the line.
He liked to play his cards close to his chest, but this was different.
She was different. “I don’t think I would have gone to extremes to get a victim to move like I did with you.
I’m usually better at handling the situation than I did yesterday. ”
“What makes me so different?”
He wanted to be cool like Rami and give her a clever line. He had seen his teammate do it over and over again, but that wasn’t Ryan. He had never been that suave with women, and, for some reason, he knew he needed to tell her the absolute truth.
“You matter.”
Her breath caught, then she sighed. A small smile lifted the corners of her mouth.
“You matter to me, too, Ryan. I know it doesn’t make any sense. We only met, but you definitely matter to me.”
He leaned forward. “Really?”
She nodded.
“Good to know.”
Then he pressed his mouth against hers. He wanted to be gentle to show her he could take care of her.
But soon, the kiss turned out of control.
He swept his tongue inside. He could taste the mint of her toothpaste.
He wanted her then, against the wall, in bed, anywhere.
Ryan had a feeling that he would always want her like this.
The insanity of his need seemed to be getting worse with each day.
He didn’t care. All he cared about was losing himself in her.
With effort, he tore his mouth away.
“What? Why?”
“We need to lock the door.”
He took care of that, glanced at Maya, who was curled up in the corner. Then he strode back to her. “Are you sure?”
“You keep asking me that. You did that the first night, too, Ryan, and I will say the same thing. Always. I am always sure about you.” She cupped his face. “Never in my life have I ever been so sure about a man.”
Then, she let her hands trail down his body.
“You know, when I fell on you, the first thing I felt was relief. I could tell you guys weren’t there to kill me.”
“Never.”
“But…even that night, I knew there was something special about you. On the surface, you look like some kind of surfer dude, but as my mama says, still waters run deep.” She slipped her hands beneath his shirt. “You’re kind…you’re sweet…you’re hot.”
He snorted, then he shuddered when her fingers teased his nipples. His dick was already shoving against his pants. When she leaned forward so she could run her tongue over his neck, he lost it.
“You’re playing with fire,” he said, before picking her up and tossing her up on the bed.
“I’m good with fire,” she said, giggling. The happy sound filled the entire room, and he could die a happy man hearing it.