The Unseen Enemy Series

Chapter 85

Three days later, Liv was standing in the kitchen, drinking her coffee. She was staring out the window at the SUV parked right outside her house; she saw Selena and Griff inside, talking. She knew they’d be in soon for a coffee and some breakfast after Mark and Sully arrived, so she had the croissants heating up in the oven, and the bacon frying on the stove.

She heard a noise behind her, and she turned to see Dallas standing there, fully clothed. He was looking at her, taking in her long hair tumbling down her back, her clear brown eyes, warm and sparkling in the morning light.

“How you doing, darlin’?” he said.

“Good.” She smiled at him, thinking how much she liked seeing him first thing every morning. “Coffee’s ready.”

He poured a large mug and took a grateful sip. “God, I love this stuff. I truly cannot function without it.”

She laughed. “You’re preaching to the converted, baby.”

They shared a grin.

“Dallas?”

“Yeah?”

“I have somewhere I want to go tonight… but it’s kind of complicated.”

He leaned back on the counter and gazed at her. He had long dreaded this moment, when Olivia was going to want to go on a date with some shmuck, or – worse – stay over at said shmuck’s place.

He knew that Olivia wasn’t dating anybody special right now, and that she hadn’t done for a while. Her entire dating history was in her file, and Dallas had been over and over it with her, looking for jilted lovers, vengeful exes, guys who’d been a bit too persistent in asking for a date. Nobody had popped, and Dallas had let it go. It was one of those things about her personal life that he felt weird knowing as much about as he did, especially when he realized that she knew next-to-nothing about his own love life.

So, the fact of the matter was that if she was interested in someone now, and she wanted to stay over at his place, or have some yahoo stay over here, they’d make all necessary arrangements, of course. But Dallas was going to be annoyed. And jealous as hell.

Not that you have any right, you asshole. You want her so bad? Make a f*****g move.

He just couldn’t though. Dallas had never had one second of hesitation when it came to hitting on random women in bars and bringing them home to f**k. But his feelings for Olivia were strong and real, and that meant that if he did something, he’d better be prepared to stand by it. No way he was going to just screw her and get on with his life: if he kissed her, he’d want the whole thing with her. s*x, friendship, love. Everything. And with all that was going on in her life right now, he wasn’t sure she needed any more pressure on her.

When this guy is caught and she’s safe, then you see if there’s a chance. But right now, she depends on you to keep her safe. She trusts you. Don’t take advantage of that.

“OK,” he said, his voice calm. “Where do you want to go?”

“Let’s wait until Selena and Griff come in here,” she said, turning over the bacon. “It’ll involve them too.”

He opened his mouth to agree when he heard the front door open. He set down his coffee, put his body between Olivia and the door, his hands automatically reaching behind him to touch his gun.

“Good morning!” Selena’s voice drifted up the stairs. “Just us.”

“Hi,” Liv replied. “Come on up, guys.”

Selena arrived first, her dark eyes checking Liv out for signs of sleeplessness or stress. Her dark hair was chin-length and curly, her body fit and toned. She was a triathlete and competitive marathoner and every waking moment not spent at work was spent in the gym, the pool, the track. Her keen intelligence shone bright out of those eyes, and her wit was fast and funny.

Two nights earlier, Liv had been unable to sleep, and had gotten up to make some tea. Not wanting to disturb Dallas, she’d crept into the kitchen and turned on the light. Selena and Griff had spotted it from outside and she’d come in to make sure that everything was OK. The women had sat up for almost three hours, drinking green tea and talking. By the time Liv was tired enough to go to bed, they had decided that they liked each other very much.

Liv and Selena exchanged smiles now, and Liv handed her a cup of coffee. Selena took it with a sigh of thanks.

“Sully and Mark are outside?” Dallas asked.

“Yep, they just got here. They’re walking the perimeter now.” Griff sniffed and his green eyes opened wide. “Liv. Is that bacon?”

Liv grinned. “Yep. By special request…”

“Thanks, Liv,” he said. “You didn’t have to.”

“But I did,” she said. “I love it too.”

“You going to eat breakfast today?” Dallas said. He’d been perturbed by how little food she’d actually consumed since their Indian dinner. A bit of fruit for breakfast, a small salad for lunch, some chicken and vegetables for dinner. It was barely enough to sustain a squirrel, he thought, let alone a grown woman.

He knew that it was Olivia’s job, of course, to look good and God knows, he’d spent enough time in his life appreciating her assets. But he had never really considered what Olivia would have to do to look that good, and then stay that way. He felt disgust at himself now, for all those times he’d ogled the woman’s ass, before he knew her. He actually wished she’d put on a few pounds, but he knew the clients would let her go if she did. So he kept his mouth shut and an eye on her, looking out for dizzy spells or fatigue.

Liv looked at him. “I’m going to have one piece of bacon. One.”