Blocked (12 page)

“Wait, don’t go.”
Why did I just say that?

She pivoted and nailed me with her suspicious gaze. “What?”

Feeling unnerved, I gestured toward the open box of cereal on the table. “Want some dinner? You don’t have to leave on my account.”

She stared at the cereal for a few moments. At first she seemed to give the box a longing look, like she’d discovered a deep cache of oil on a barren stretch of land. Then her eyes tightened into the same hostile look I’d seen so many times on her father. Despite this, I noticed dark hollows beneath her eyes and felt a smidgen of concern for her. That level of exhaustion typically didn’t occur until later in the season, when Holter’s constant demands would inevitably wear down the girl’s team.

“I’m not hungry,” she finally said.

“But you haven’t eaten anything.”

She glanced up from the box of cereal with wide eyes. “Yes, yes, I have.”

When she stepped away from me, I took my time getting to my feet in an effort to avoid scaring her away. “Then why’d you come to the kitchen?”

“I…” Her eyes darted around the modern appliances. She backed up until her butt brushed the counter, which one hand gripped with white knuckles. “I came to get a drink.”

Why did she look so tortured? “Oh.” I shrugged. “I’ll get it for you.”

“No—”

I made it to the fridge in two strides and opened the door. “What’d you want? We’ve got cranberry juice, orange juice, Coke…hey, there’s even some beer hidden back here—”

“Water,” she said. I backed out of the shelf and straightened, wondering if I’d heard her correctly. “Just ice water.”

“
That’s
kind of boring.” I crossed over to the cabinet and snatched a glass from the shelf, then returned to the refrigerator door to fill it with crushed ice and filtered water. “Here ya go.”

She hesitated as she studied the drink in my outstretched hand.

“Relax. It’s not poisoned.” I grinned at her.

She grasped the glass. Her hand trembled as she took a sip. “Why are you being nice to me?”

Man, she had trust issues. All I did was get her a freaking glass of water! I performed a little bow and adopted an English accent. “The setter is here to serve the hitter, milady.”

Was that a hint of a smile? The subtle quirk of one corner of her mouth filled me with warmth, and I realized that was the first time I’d seen her even come close to a smile.
Esa
chica
needed to learn how to chill if she wanted to last as a Highbanks varsity athlete. She set down her glass and seemed to take a deep breath.

“Have you always been a setter?”

Her question made me pause.
Why does she want to know?
“Yep.”

“Why?”

I need to be in charge.
“I like being the leader of the team.”

“Kind of tall for a setter, aren’t you?”

Wow
. Mute Girl actually engaged me in conversation? I watched her gaze linger at my feet and slowly sweep up my body. I stared right back at her, trying to figure out what she found so fascinating. When our eyes met, it took a second to register what was going on.
Damn!
She had just
ogled
me. Having her eyes roam over my body…I had to admit it felt pretty great. I winked at her, and a pretty, rose-colored blush crept up her neck a second before she looked away.

Huh.
I already knew she elicited some puzzling turn-on inside of me, but was it possible I did the same thing to her? I’d chalked up her heated reaction to my alcohol-induced kiss as mere surprise, but maybe there’d been something more.

“Sure, I’m tall. Every
inch
helps.” When her lips parted, I knew she’d understood my innuendo. “Besides, your setter’s tall too.”

She finally managed to look in my eyes. “Huh?”

“Nina. She’s a tall setter.”

I wasn’t sure what happened, but something broke the spell between us. Lucia looked down as she wrapped her arms around her midsection. She seemed to stiffen and shuffled from one foot to another.

I took a step toward her. “Did I say something wrong?”

“No.” She kept her head down.

“
Hey, China!”
Allison’s voice drew my attention to the foyer. “
Are you guys expecting company?”
I looked at Lucia, but she seemed as confused as I was. The buzzer sounded.

“C’mon,” I said and headed to the front hallway. I felt Lucia come up behind me as I stopped to see Allison frowning at the monitors. The buzzer beeped in staccato.

“Who is it?” China asked as she bustled around me to join Allison.

I felt my shoulders tense. More reporters?

“The guy’s wearing shades,” Allison said. “Don’t know about him.”

I circled around the agents to peer over their heads at the monitor showing the camera feed for the front gate.
Definitely shady
. The guy wore a baseball cap and sunglasses and leaned out the open car window with his arms up to the side, waving them like a madman.

China pressed the intercom button. “State your business, sir.”

“
This is ridículo! You know who I am
.”

“Alex!” Lucia piped up with a clap. “I’d recognize that voice anywhere.” She pointed at the monitor. “It’s okay, it’s my brother.”

Oh, fuck
. Alejandro Ramirez was even
more
opinionated than his father, if that was possible. And vitriol, racism, and classism fueled many of those opinions.

Allison turned to look at us. “Doesn’t he have a security detail?”

“No.” Lucia shrugged. “They think he’ll be safe at Johns Hopkins. Only for public events.”

Lucky bastard
. “Well,
we’re
safe at Highbanks, too,” I pointed out. “We don’t need protection either.”

“But then we wouldn’t have the pleasure of dealing with your scintillating personality every day, Mr. Monroe.”

China was such a bitch. She reached for the button again. “Remove your hat and sunglasses, sir.”

I watched Alejandro toss his hands up, appearing pissed off, but he did follow the agent’s orders. A thick head of black, wavy hair emerged once he freed it from the Houston Texans baseball cap, and his dark eyes bored holes into the camera. He’d begun appearing on talk shows over the summer, spouting off about health care in America, pretending he had a fucking clue. It had been obvious he was simply a child masquerading as an adult—he was only twenty-three or something like that, for Christ’s sake. But damn, today he looked more like his father than I’d ever seen him.

China shifted in front of me, and I noticed she’d patted the butt of her weapon in its holster. She tended to do that when she was nervous.

“Wait a minute—you’re not thinking of letting him in, are you?”

China spun around to look at me. “Of course I am. He’s Lucia’s brother.”

I ignored the hurt look in Lucia’s eyes and scowled at China. “But did you know he was coming?”

“No.” China squinted. “What difference does
that
make?”

“Security protocol!” I placed my hands on my hips. “You’re not supposed to admit unplanned visitors.”

“What’s going on?” With a white towel slung around his neck, Frank arrived on the scene, with Brad lumbering behind him. They both wore boxing gloves and reeked from their workout in the basement.

“Alejandro Ramirez is outside,” Allison answered. “And Dane was just voicing some concerns about our security protocol for visitors.” She smiled sweetly at me. “But Mr. Ramirez is on our approved list of visitors, so China’s going to buzz him in while I greet him outside.”

All four agents looked at me with challenging stares, daring me to protest. Lucia watched me too, seeming to hold her breath. I sighed as I laced my arms across my chest. “Fine. Just admit the entire Ramirez clan while you’re at it.
Mi casa es su casa
.”

My grumpy harrumph hung in the air a moment before Lucia grinned. “
Gracias, Señor
Monroe. Thanks for opening up your
casa
to us.” She performed a little curtsy, and it was so damn cute I almost grinned too.

Wait a minute!
I was supposed to be mad. Alejandro Asswipe was about to breach my territory.

China pressed the button to open the security gate, and Allison arched one eyebrow at me as she crossed between us.

“Here we go,” I said to Lucia. “I get to meet your older brother—this should be good. Do you know why he’s visiting you?”

Her smile vanished. “I think I have an idea.” She rubbed the back of her neck as she trailed Allison toward the front door.

“Stay inside, Lucia,” Allison said over her shoulder before she exited the house.

Lucia turned to face me. She opened her mouth to say something, but then shut it again. Her hands twisted together as she looked up at me. “Be nice?”

I frowned. Why was she so nervous? “This is my house. Will
he
be nice?”

She winced. “Probably not.”

Fan-fucking-tastic
. I braced myself for Adolf Junior.

As Alejandro walked in ahead of Allison, his face lit up. “
¡Hermanita!”
He gathered Lucia in a bear hug, and I noticed he was maybe a couple of inches taller than her. Still shorter than me. When his eyes found me over her shoulder, he quickly let her go.

His face darkened as he studied me, and I drew to my full height as I stared back at him. I imagined him as the starting setter for Bridgetown University—our biggest rival—and composed a stoic game face to match. From the corner of my eye, I saw Lucia look back and forth between us, her hands fidgeting at her side.

“Welcome, Mr. Ramirez,” China said as she approached him with her hand extended. “I’m Agent Halloway.”

He nodded as he shook her hand. “Alejandro. You’re one of the agents protecting Lucy?”

I looked at “Lucy,” who predictably blushed and ducked her head. She somehow seemed younger…
softer
…in her brother’s commanding presence.

“I protect Mr. Monroe,” China replied. She gestured to Allison. “You already met Agent Largent, and Agent Frank Vanderberg is also on Lucia’s detail.”

Alejandro grinned as he raised his fists in front of his chest, jabbing the air a few times while dancing and juking. “You guys don’t mess around with security, huh? Are you always this prepared?”

Frank held up his gloved hands and nodded, while Brad gave a hearty laugh. “I’m Brad Jansen. Welcome to the compound.” He bopped Frank’s shoulder with his boxing glove. “This old man and I will leave you to it—we need to get back to work. Frank’s got some catching up to do…what’re you down by, Frank—six or seven bouts?”

Frank shoved the muscled agent toward the basement door. “Dream on, Steroid Boy.”

Once the male agents left, silence descended on the remaining four of us. China cleared her throat, and her glare probably meant I should also welcome Adolf Junior to my house.
Fat chance
. Then I looked at Lucia, whose eyes pleaded with me.
Fuck
.

I squared my shoulders and met those cold, Nazi eyes. “I’m Dane Monroe.” I made myself approach the guy to shake his hand, and the force of his grip almost broke a few bones in my fingers.
Dude, lighten up
.

“Your mother set this up?” Alejandro asked once he let go of my hand. He gestured around the foyer. “Lucia living here, with you?”

I hesitated. What was he implying? “My mother set this up for
me
. The agents are responsible for Lucia living here.”

“And that’s our cue to leave,” Allison said. Her chuckle sounded nervous. “China and I will give you some privacy. Would you like to make yourselves comfortable in the living room?” She extended her arm to the left.

Awesome. Looks like Baby Hitler will stay for a while
. But maybe I could prevent future visits by marking my territory. To let him know this was
my
house, I led the way to the sitting area. I plopped down on the big chair, forcing Lucia and her brother to share the sofa.

“How’s Mom?” Lucia asked.

Alejandro looked at me like he was waiting for me to leave, but I didn’t budge. He leaned in and spoke rapid Spanish to his sister, and I stifled a laugh.

Lucia pressed her lips together. “
Dane habla español también
.”

His narrowed eyes darted to me, displeased.