Chapter 103
904 Words
Dallas approached the front door, his gun drawn and at waist-level. He peered through the window, and relaxed when he saw Selena standing there with a small suitcase. He swung the door open.
“Hey, boss,” she said. “How’s Liv?”
He lowered his voice. “I just told her about the fucker probably being in her house. She’s – she’s fragile.”
Selena nodded. “Got it.”
They turned as an SUV pulled up to the curb outside. Sully nodded from the driver’s seat and they waved back. His dark eyes scanned the street, checking to make sure he hadn’t been followed, making sure that nobody was watching him or the house. Then he climbed out, shrugged off his large overcoat and stuffed it in the hatchback before getting back in the vehicle.
Dallas took the bag from Selena. “Thanks for this. Hang out here for a few minutes, until I get her settled with Sully. Coffee’s on, if you want some.”
“Great. I’ll help myself.”
He went back to his bedroom and shut the door. Olivia was still sitting on his bed, pale and shaken. When she saw him, she tried to smile.
“So I guess I can’t stay naked and in your bed all day, huh?” she said.
He came to her now, pulled her into his arms, pressed a lingering kiss to her perfect lips. “I’d love that, baby. I promise you that I want nothing more than to cut off all your access to clothes. For many, many days, not just today.”
She grinned.
“But right now, we need to get you to the office, OK? And that – unfortunately – requires covering up all that glorious shape.”
She pouted. “Damn rules of etiquette.”
He laughed, relieved that her sass was back. “You know it, darlin’.”
“OK.” She took a deep, steadying breath. “I’ll get dressed. I’ll be ready in five minutes.”
“I’ll be right outside.”
Dallas went back to the living room and his eyes met Selena’s.
“Goddamn, Dallas,” she said softly. “You really think this guy’s been hiding out in her house all this time?”
He was silent for a few seconds. “Yeah. I do.”
She sighed. “What’s that going to do to Liv’s head?”
He glanced over his shoulder. “I have no f*****g idea. Whatever it is, I’ll help her through.”
She studied him, then grinned. “So. You two? Last night? Finally?”
His blue eyes snapped back to her face.
“Come on, Dallas. It was always a question of ‘when’, not ‘if’ with you two. We all saw it.”
“You did?” he asked, genuinely unnerved.
“Jesus Christ,” she said in mock exasperation. “You’re surrounded by bodyguards on constant high-alert, and highly-trained and observant military types. You really think we don’t know love when we see it right in front of our faces?”
He blushed and she laughed, delighted.
“Never thought I’d see the day that I made Dallas Foreman shuffle around like a high-school boy with a crush.” She c****d her dark head. “Looks good on you, boss. And Olivia’s amazing.”
“Yeah. Yeah, she is.”
“So, let’s go and make sure this asshole is far, far away from her once and for all. Then you and Liv can just get on with your happily-ever-after, alright?”
He heard the bedroom door open. “Sounds good.” He took a breath, felt his body and mind click firmly into place: up a level, cool and clear and totally in his control. “Sounds very good.”
****
Selena glanced over at Dallas. He was totally silent and still in the passenger seat, and he'd been that way ever since they’d sent Liv with Sully. She’d seen him like this before, and she knew that his amazingly sharp mind was processing something, putting puzzle pieces together, connecting dots. In her whole life, she’d never met anyone with Dallas’ ability to see patterns where nobody else could.
He was troubled, she saw. Whatever he was turning over and over in that gorgeous head just wasn’t adding up – not yet. Selena stayed quiet, let him think. When he finished contemplating whatever it was, he’d share, ask for feedback, make a call. So she left him for now, let him work through whatever it was.
Dallas couldn’t shake the feeling that he was missing something… something f*****g massive. Something crucial, and if he didn’t grasp it soon, he had the terrible sense that this whole thing was going to end in disaster.
OK, man, enough with the melodrama. Maybe you’re just unhappy about letting Olivia out of your sight… at least when she’s with you, you’re totally sure she’s safe. Is that all it is?
He thought about that and then firmly rejected it. No, this wasn’t just some weird or twisted possessiveness or protectiveness. Olivia was with Hunter Sullivan, and that made her as safe as she could be; almost as safe as if she were next to Dallas right now.
Something about that thought snagged in his mind. Something about it caught, twigged, pulled on him.
What? What am I missing? For f**k sake, man. Think.
- Writer
