Page 11 of Sawyer (Sabre Security Daddies #6)

I nstincts honed by years of service told him his conversation with Lele would have to wait. There was something in the air. Something was off. He sat in his car behind Videotopia and watched the camera feed on his cell phone so that he could keep an eye on Lele.

He didn’t think she’d be meeting someone at Videotopia, but he wasn’t willing to take that chance. She was at the bar most of the time, but she kept walking in and out of blind spots.

Half an hour later, he was about to give up and go inside when he saw movement behind the building.

A man wearing a dark polo shirt, jeans, sneakers, and dark shades walked to the back door and knocked.

While waiting for the door to open, the man continuously looked around.

The window tint would make it impossible for the man to see him in the car, especially with sunglasses on, but he slid down a little just in case.

A few minutes later, the door cracked and the man began to speak animatedly to someone behind the door.

He checked the camera feeds to no avail.

Damn it. That was the problem with having to place cameras quickly.

There were always blind spots. But this one was in a hell of a bad place for it.

Had someone spotted the cameras and knew where to stand.

Pulling up the other interior cameras on his phone, he scanned the main room and the kitchen. Lele was nowhere to be seen. Damn it. He hadn’t heard or seen her motorbike, so she was here somewhere. Was she the other person behind the door?

He watched the conversation as it seemed to grow more heated, at least on the part of the man he could see. Finally, the man pulled a small package from his pocket and tossed it to whoever was with him. Sawyer ducked down again when the man stalked back to the front parking lot and drove off.

Sawyer wasn’t worried about figuring out who the man was. At the very least, the front camera would get the license plate. Maybe it would capture a picture of the man’s face.

Right now, he needed to get inside and figure out where Lele had been when she should have been at the bar.

Swinging the door open, he stepped back inside. He stood waiting for his eyes to adjust to the low lighting.

“Back so soon?”

Lele walked in from the right side of the main room, opposite the kitchen. There were two places she could have been. The restrooms were on that side, along with the back exit.

He walked straight to her and pulled her in for a hug. She stiffened for a few seconds before relaxing in his arms. God, she felt good there. The perfect fit. She could rest her head on his chest, her ear to his heart. For some reason, that felt like a sign. Which was completely ridiculous.

He held her close and breathed in her scent. “I was worried when I didn’t see you. Where’d you go?” That she didn’t try to pull away from him was a good sign.

She shook her head. “You’ve only been gone a couple of hours. I haven’t gone anywhere. I’ve been right here prepping and cleaning, just like I said.” She nuzzled against him. Wait. Was she sniffing him? “You smell like pine trees. Did you leave to go for a walk in the woods?”

“Something like that,” he said. “You smell like lemons and lilacs. Is that a perfume?”

She laughed, and it warmed him more than the sun he’d been standing in a few minutes before. She had a beautiful laugh, and that was too bad because he had the feeling she hadn’t laughed much in her life. Nothing felt more important in that moment than changing that.

Everything in him told him she deserved a life filled with joy. Now he just had to prove it.

“It’s about as close to perfume as I ever get. I’m wearing Ode do Lemon Lysol and Clorox Scentiva Lavender with a touch of Jasmine. It suits me, don’t you think?”

Eyes narrowed, he purposefully deepened his voice. “Are you teasing me, little girl?”

Her eyes, on the other hand, widened, and her breath hitched. A red flush crept up her chest. She liked that.

His smile was wicked. But hey, he felt wicked. “Do you know what happens to Little girls who tease?”

She shook her head, whispering, “No. What happens?”

“They get kissed.”

Her chin dropped in slow motion, leaving her lips in a perfect O. “They do?”

He lowered his lips so his breath caressed her cheek. “They do.” And then he pressed his lips to hers.

He’d choreographed every second of their first kiss. It would be light and sweet. Practically chaste. He planned to leave her wanting more.

But a plan never survived contact with reality.

It disintegrated the moment his lips touched hers.

Turns out, there were several things he had not counted on.

Like how her softness would flood him with the need to protect her.

Or how, when her eyes fluttered shut, it felt like the sun had fallen from the sky.

Unable to stop himself, he threaded his fingers through the soft curls of her hair and tipped her head to the side. His tongue traced the line of her plump lower lip before he sucked it into his mouth and raked it with his teeth.

The gasp she gave when he did shot straight to his dick.

What was he doing? This was such a bad idea. Yet he couldn’t make himself care. From the way she pressed against him, she didn’t want him to stop. He sure as hell didn’t.

“Open for me, babygirl. I want to taste you.”

It was obvious she didn’t have a lot of experience. He could lead her to do whatever he wanted, but he wouldn’t. She had to want the kiss as much as him.

He wasn’t taking more than one kiss. That was his intention right up until her lips parted.

She gripped his shirt and held him, as if she feared he might disappear. She tilted her face up to his, and all his good intentions faded away.

He pushed his tongue into her mouth. She was just as sweet as he’d known she’d be. He teased her as another pulse of need shot through him. She joined in the game, tangling her tongue with his.

He pulled her arms up to wrap around his neck. She pushed to her toes to make the reach. He wanted to feel her legs wrapped around his hips. That would push him past his limit. He wasn’t going to fuck her. Well, not here on a table in a video bar where anyone could walk in on them anyway.

It killed him that he was attracted to her. Jaxon was a brother. A friend. The last person in the world he should be attracted to was the woman who ruined Jaxon’s life. It wasn’t like he hadn’t seen pictures. Sure, she was gorgeous. But he’d been in charge of ops with gorgeous women before.

She just seemed so fucking innocent and sweet.

He hadn’t expected that. He’d thought she’d be hard and conniving.

Deceitful. He couldn’t connect the woman who lied in court, knowingly sentencing an innocent man to life in prison, with the dancing disco queen who dressed her stuffie in matching outfits.

Whether it was right or wrong, he’d wanted her since he’d laid eyes on her. And when he forgot about who she was—which he could not allow himself to do—the chemistry they had was better than anything he’d ever known.

So, he didn’t stop kissing her. She held him as if he were the most important person in her world. Like she would never let him go.

And fuck him, he loved it. The Daddy in him, who never played with the same Little twice and always chose the brat over the sweetheart, shocked the shit out of him by roaring to life. Did she have any idea what she was doing to him? He’d be willing to bet she didn’t.

Unable to stop himself, he rocked his hips forward and pressed his cock against her. Her arms drew him closer, and she arched her back, pressing her breast against his chest.

He grabbed her ass and pressed her against his cock even harder. Then her legs were around his hips. Damn. He had to find some control. He fought for it, but it was nowhere to be found.

Then a door slammed in the kitchen, and the spell was broken. She jerked away from him, relaxing her legs from around his waist. He gently lowered her to the floor. She took a step back and nearly tripped. Catching her arms, he helped her regain her balance.

She stared up at him with those intoxicating bourbon colored eyes, her lips now red and swollen. Taking another step back, she pulled her arms free. “I don’t… I mean, that was…” She gave up and shook her head. Cute.

“Hey! Is there something I can help you with, buddy? ”

Sawyer’s gaze swung in the direction of the angry voice. Hector Cortez stood behind the bar, and big brother didn’t look pleased.

Lele spun to face the kitchen, losing her balance again. Sawyer stepped up behind her, steadying her once more. This time, he kept his hands where they were. “Hi, name’s Saul. I’m a friend of Lele’s.”

Hector’s expression turned derisive. “Oh, I’ll just bet you are, bud,” he said.

It took everything in Sawyer not to grab the man by the throat and choke him until his eyes popped out. Instead, he forced a smile. “I don’t guess I’ve had the pleasure. You are?”

“Pissed to walk in and see a stranger accosting my sister in my own bar. Don’t mean to be rude, bud, but get out before I call the cops.”

“Hector!” Lele cried out. “He wasn’t accosting me. He was just here to?—”

“I saw exactly what he was here to do, Leyla. Or should I say who he was here to do? I’m just glad I came in before you let him do it.”

Lele fell back a step at the accusation, as if Hector’s words were physical punches.

Oh, fuck no.

Sawyer moved to press his chest against her back to remind her she wasn’t alone. He was about to eviscerate this fuckwad. “I said I was her friend, bud .”

“You see, that’s how I know you’re lying. Leyla doesn’t have friends.”

Sawyer reached for his control. “She does now. You might want to remember that.”

“Oh, I’m not going to forget, bud .” Turning to Lele, he demanded, “You know this clown?”

“Yes, that’s what I was trying to tell you. He mowed my lawn for me. He’s a good guy. ”

“Yeah, I see you think that.”

Sawyer was about done with the sarcasm. He hoped it tasted good, because Sawyer was about to shove the words back down Hector’s throat.

“He is!” Lele tried to move toward her stepbrother, but Sawyer held her in place. He didn’t want her anywhere near the guy, stepbrother or not.

Something about Sawyer had flipped a switch in Hector. Sabre had a lot of footage of the man, but he’d never acted like this.

Was he really trying to protect his sister? Or was this the real Hector finally coming out to play? He put good money on it being the latter.

“Then you have my thanks. I’ll see to someone taking care of that from now on, so you don’t have to worry about her anymore.”

Sawyer allowed his eyes to run down Hector’s body, then back up. “Should have been seeing to that for the past two and a half years,” Sawyer paused before adding another, “ buddy .”

Hector’s frame tensed. “Well, I guess it’s better late than never.” Hector snapped.

Sawyer shook his head. “You see, that’s where you’re wrong.

Since you’re such a protective brother. The way I see it, there’s nothing better about letting your younger sister push a shit mower around a steep yard for two and a half years.

You weren’t looking after her. She could have had a heat stroke, and you wouldn’t have even known until she missed work the next day.

God forbid she’d mowed it on the weekend. ”

When Hector’s fists started clenching and unclenching, Sawyer fought back a grin. Oh yeah, Hecter got his meaning. Not that the idiot was smart enough to shut the fuck up.

“Well, I guess all of Elk Jaw is lucky that didn’t happen. You’ve had your say. You’ve got thirty seconds to get out of my bar.” Turning on his heel, Hector stalked back into the kitchen.

With the imminent threat gone, Sawyer tried to calm down and put himself in Hector’s position.

If Sawyer had come in and found his sister with her legs wrapped around someone he’d never met, he’d be pissed and protective, too.

He got that. But it was the sly way Hector had of putting Lele down at the same time that made him such a dick.

Being a dick didn’t make him guilty of working with the General to frame Jackson.

That was valid. You could be a dick and not be a criminal. Lele had taken a plea deal almost out of the gate at her trial. Why would she do that if she was innocent?

Fuck! He was here to find solutions that helped Jaxon.

All he’d found so far were facts that made things more and more convoluted.

It was possible that Hector was at the root of what happened to Jaxon.

Lele could have been the fall guy. Or Lele could have done exactly what she copped to and set Jaxon up.

He turned Lele to face him. “Maybe it would be better if I go. But I’m only leaving if you feel safe.”

Her brows scrunched. “Of course, I feel safe. Hector would never hurt me. I’m not sure what all that was about, but I’ll be fine.

” She glanced toward the kitchen and continued.

“You have no idea everything he’s done for me.

The next time we have a few minutes, I’ll share my story.

I can’t believe someone else hasn’t already shared it, but if they had, you wouldn’t be interested in kissing me or anything else. ”

“Lele, don’t ever put yourself down in front of me.” Reaching over, he gave her one last hug and kissed her forehead. “I’ll see you later.”

Outside the bar, Sawyer revisited his encounter with Hector. Sabre definitely needed to dig deeper into the stepbrother. The truth was in there somewhere. All he needed to do was find it.