Page 7 of Tice’s Kind of Trouble (Obsessive Protectors #2)

SEVEN

Tice

The call is over quickly, but as I look out the window, searching for Bethany, I’m filled with unease.

She’s safe. There are no threats on my property. I’ve got world class alarms. One would have alerted if anything was wrong.

A strange sensation fills my head, a dreamlike quality. Bethany is at my place. Mine to protect.

But...

To soothe the obsessive asshole in me, I hit the space bar on the keyboard, waking up the computer beneath the desk.

Every inch of the property is monitored. Call me paranoid. It’s from years of the work I’ve done.

The wife I’ll marry will be safe. At all times.

After scrolling through the feeds, I find the one I want.

There she is.

Her small form is curled on the oversized lounge chair by the pool, her hands tucked below her cheek.

Something in my chest clenches. It’s an unfamiliar sensation. I’m not sure if it’s a good feeling... maybe it’s too much. Which aligns with the unnatural nature of the possessiveness I’ve been having for Bethany for months.

Tapping on the plus sign on the screen, I zoom in.

Her beautiful gaze is staring off, her lower lip pinched between her teeth. Worried.

A kick of adrenaline hits me. This shit with her break-in needs to be wrapped now . Whoever destroyed her lock and violated her privacy— while she was in the house —will pay.

Fuck. A blistering rage makes my fists tighten, bunching into corded knots on the desk.

If I have my way, Bethany will never be worried about anything again.

Now I need to make that happen.

Grabbing my phone, I text a couple of longtime contacts, filling them in. But I can’t stop staring at the monitor.

Giving myself a shake, I dial Kane. The man is going to be livid—I stole his sister right out from under his nose.

Before he answers, I’m already preparing for the yelling, holding the phone away from my ear.

“ Where is she? ”

Yelling, just as I expected.

“Bethany is safe. Currently resting on my patio.”

“ ALONE outside? ” Kane’s breathing rivals a bull. “You asshole, she needs to be under protection at all times.”

“I’m watching her on a live feed right now. The property is completely surveilled. There is a strategic explosive network. No one is getting to her while she’s in my care.”

A car door slams in the background. I’m surprised the glass doesn’t break.

“I’m on the way.”

“Don’t. Come.”

“Tice… that’s my little sister,” he warns in a growled tone.

If he could throttle me through the phone, he would.

“Take a fucking pill, brother,” I snap, because Kane knows the kind of man I am—or at least he should.

We’re part of the same war-fighter community.

“She’s safe. If you use your logical brain, you’d know this.

I haven’t had a chance to talk with her about any leads.

You take care of the footwork—go to her place and secure her property.

I’m going radio silent while I... debrief her. ”

Kane’s raging even louder when I end the call.

There will be hell to pay to my new business partner, but I’ll gladly pay it to spend time alone with Bethany.

I hit the code on my computer that closes the ten-foot gate across my driveway. It won’t keep Kane—a fellow Navy SEAL—out, but it will slow him down.

Bethany and I need time.

Striding through the house, I catch a hint of her scent. A smile breaks out on my face. Another unfamiliar sensation.

This flesh and blood has been personal witness to more bad than good.

But now I feel… different. Complete. I love having her fragrance lingering in my house.

The peaceful quiet on the patio loosens my tense limbs as I approach.

Bethany’s finally here.

My lungs expand like they haven’t in months of craving to be close to a woman I didn’t even know beyond paper.

“Hey, gorgeous,” I say quietly, folding myself to sit on the lounger next to her hip. “Did you doze off?”

She scrubs at her face with her wrist, blinking for a few seconds. “No, I just went into a rabbit hole in my head. Truthfully, I’m not sure I’ll ever sleep again.”

“You will.” My tone is gravel and fury rolled up together. “I’ll make sure of that.”

The need to make whoever scared her pay magnifies tenfold inside of me.

“Tice, what’s wrong?” She pushes up on her elbow, brows tugging together. “You look angry.”

Angry. Determined. Maddeningly attracted.

I’m... single-minded. But if I tell Bethany I’m going to convince her to be my future, I’ll scare the fuck out of her. So, I settle on replying in a way that sounds rational.

“I’m motivated to find who broke into your home.”

Nodding, she looks away. “How will you find them?”

“I’ve got the right people on it.”

In addition to watching Bethany on camera and calling her brother, I messaged my go-to bloodhound. The kind you should be terrified to have hunting you.

“We’ll know something within hours.”

She’s surprised, her gaze crashing toward mine. “How is that possible?”

“Knowing the right people makes all the difference.”

“So, what do we do until then?”

Without thinking, I trail a hand down her hip. “We could make use of the pool…”

Or the palatial king-sized bed—but I refrain from going that far.

Bethany glances at the pool, thinking. Curious?

“I don’t have a suit.”

Blood thumps in every part of my skin.

“There’s no one for miles,” I reply, voice raspy.

The way her breathing falters draws my attention like a snare to her low-cut blouse. Gorgeous. Soft. Mouthwateringly plump. But it’s the way her skin goosebumps under my gaze that makes my throat go dry.

“Except you,” she whispers.

It’s a challenge to swallow for the pounding of my pulse pushing up from my chest, through my throat, into my ears.

“Exactly.”