Deadly Intentions (Hardy Brothers Security Book 1) (13 page)

Mandy woke up at the wrong end of her bed, pushing the sleep clouds from her mind so she could try to figure out why. Memories of James flooded her. She lifted her head up, expecting to find herself alone again, mentally preparing herself for the hit when it came. When she turned to her other side, she found James lying next to her, his dark eyes glittering in the morning light.

“You’re here,” she breathed.

James felt a pinch of shame at her words. He pulled her closer, tightening his arm around her waist. “I told you, I’m sorry,” he murmured, pressing his lips to her temple. “I told you I would be here.”

Mandy let out a shaky breath, relaxing into him. “I don’t know what’s worse,” she said finally. “Waking up to find the bed empty or waking up to know that you’ve seen me with profound bedhead.”

James chuckled, pressing her face against his throat. “I like the bedhead. It makes you look all sexy.”

“I doubt that.”

“Then you don’t see what I see,” he countered. He wanted to pull her closer, but there was no way to do it. If she was any closer, she would be inside of him – although part of her already was. He knew that now. He was done fighting it.

“So, what do you want to do today?” James asked. “I’m thinking we can call for food delivery and stay in bed all day.”

Mandy smiled. “As good as that sounds, I have a work function.”

James frowned. That wasn’t how he saw this day going. “On a Sunday?”

“I have to go down to the art fair in Mount Clemens,” Mandy replied. “I promised Judge MacIntosh I would help hand out fliers for him.”

“What kind of fliers?”

“It’s an election year.”

“Isn’t it a little unprofessional to expect your employees to get you reelected?” James asked. He was still hoping he could talk her into a day in bed.

“I volunteered,” Mandy countered, shifting in his arms. “How about this? You spend the day naked in bed and I’ll get away from the art fair as soon as possible and rejoin you here in a couple of hours?”

James immediately shook his head. “I’m going with you.”

“You’re going to the art fair?” Mandy cocked an eyebrow as she pulled her head away.

“Yeah, I like art.”

“You don’t like art.”

“You don’t know that.”

“You’re going to watch me,” Mandy corrected him. “There’s a difference.”

James sighed. “Fine. I’m going to watch you.”

Mandy thought about arguing with him but decided against it. “I have another compromise.”

“And what is that?”

“Well, I figured we could shower together and do whatever comes naturally,” she said, brushing her hand over his already erect penis. “Then we could go to the art fair and, when we get back, we can do something arty here.”

James was definitely interested. “How arty are we talking?”

“I guess you’ll have to wait to find out,” Mandy teased, brushing her lips against his jaw.

“I can’t wait,” James admitted, lowering his mouth to hers.

TWO HOURS
and two orgasms later, James was starting to rethink his decision not to tie Mandy to her bedpost. He was sitting in a chair, watching Mandy converse with various visitors who wanted to meet Judge MacIntosh, and wishing he could get her somewhere – anywhere really – where nudity wasn’t frowned upon.

“Mr. Hardy, it’s good to see you.”

James got to his feet, extending his hand and taking Judge MacIntosh’s proffered greeting. “It’s good to see you, too, sir.”

“I have to admit, I’m surprised,” the judge said. “I wouldn’t think an art fair is your idea of fun.”

“I like art,” James said, marveling that he’d said that sentence twice in one day.

Judge MacIntosh glanced over his shoulder, his eyes falling on his clerk mischievously. “I’m thinking you have another reason to be here. A blonder one, perhaps?”

James smiled. “Perhaps.”

Judge MacIntosh clapped him on his back. “I’m glad. She’s a good girl. I heard you were the one that saved her in the parking lot the other night. Good job. I didn’t even know you two were seeing each other.”

“It’s kind of a new thing.”

“How did you meet?”

“Actually, we grew up in the same small town up north,” James explained. “She was best friends with my little sister. We just kind of got reintroduced about a week ago.”

“I see.” Judge MacIntosh smiled. “She looks a little different now than she did as a child, I’m guessing.”

“You have no idea,” James muttered.

Judge MacIntosh pursed his lips. “You better be good to her,” he warned.

“I plan to,” James said, meaning every word.

“Good,” the judge replied. “Because I know a few people who owe me favors and I could lock you up for years if you’re not.”

James smiled at the threat. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

“You do that,” Judge MacIntosh smiled. “Now, why don’t you take that girl and buy her an elephant ear and have some fun. There’s a carnival down there. Maybe you should take her on a ride.”

James didn’t tell the judge that the only ride he wanted to take Mandy on didn’t involve a carousel. Although, he was interested in the elephant- ear-comment. “Does she like elephant ears?”

“Loves them,” the judge laughed. “I heard her telling Heidi.”

“Good to know.”

James made his way over to Mandy, wrapping his arms around her waist from behind. She was surprised that he was suddenly so free with his affection. “What are you doing?”

“I heard you can be bought off with elephant ears,” he replied. “I’m going to test that theory.”

“I still have some work to do,” Mandy said, hating the truth of her words.

“Not anymore,” James said, taking the stack of fliers from her. “The judge told me to buy you an elephant ear and ravish you on the carousel, and that’s what I intend to do.”

“He told you to ravish me on the carousel?”

“I might have added that part,” James admitted.

“Well,” Mandy bit her lower lip. “I do want to check out some of the art booths.” She was worried James would balk.

“Okay, let’s go,” he said, taking her hand in his. “I’ll buy you an elephant ear after.”

“Why after?” She narrowed her eyes suspiciously.

“Because I want to make sure you’re in a good mood when I take you home,” James said. “And I want you in an even better mood when I just take you later.”

Mandy laughed, the sound warming James’ heart. “Okay.”

They made their way to the side street where the art-fair booths were located. James didn’t really care what they were looking at; he just liked having her near him. His attention was diverted when he saw a former client trying to get his attention from across the street. He held up a finger to still the client and then moved his lips to Mandy’s ear. “I see someone I need to go talk to.”

Mandy shivered when she felt his lips brush against her. “Do you want me to go with you?”

“There are so many things I want right now that my mind is a jumble,” he said. “How about you finish your shopping and I go find out what that moron wants and we’ll meet at the elephant-ear stand in a half hour?”

Mandy turned to him with a smile. “Sounds good.”

James glanced down at his watch. “You have a half hour, not one second more. If you take any longer than that we’re going to have to find a phone booth or something.”

Mandy rolled her eyes. “They don’t make phone booths anymore.”

“I have no modesty,” James replied. “I’m willing to do it in the street. I don’t care who sees – even a judge.”

He dropped a quick kiss on her mouth and then moved away. Mandy’s cheeks were burning when she turned back and saw the jewelry artist in the booth staring at her.

“I’m sorry.”

The jewelry artist fanned herself. “Oh, honey, don’t be sorry. If I had a man that looked like that I would be making jewelry in bed.”

Mandy wandered away from the booth, not even trying to hide the wide smile on her face. She’d experienced the heady infatuation that accompanies a new relationship before – but never like this.
It might not work out. He might run again.
Mandy pushed the thoughts from her mind. All she knew right now was that she was happy. She wasn’t ready to give that up until she had to.

James watched her move through the crowd, warmth spreading through him every time he saw Mandy smile from the corner of his eye. Miles Davenport, a local businessman that utilized the security company’s services from time to time, was busy yammering in his ear – but James couldn’t muster the energy to listen.

Mandy stopped at a stained-glass booth, her face lighting up as she reached up to tap a beautiful set of butterfly wind chimes. She grimaced when she saw the price tag. She had money, but she couldn’t justify spending that much when she only had a small patio to display them on and, given her neighborhood, they would probably be stolen.

James said goodbye to Miles when he was still mid-sentence. He had no idea what the man was talking about and, frankly, he didn’t care. He made his way to the booth with the butterfly wind chimes, pulling them down without even glancing at the price tag. “I’ll take these,” he told the giggling girl behind the table.

“They’re expensive,” she warned.

“I don’t care,” he said, pulling his wallet out of his pocket.

“They’re a hundred and fifty bucks.”

James pulled two hundred-dollar bills out of his wallet and handed them to the girl. She took them with a gleeful smile. “Do you want them wrapped?”

“Yeah,” James said. “Make sure they don’t break.”

“You got it.”

James stood next to the booth, watching as the girl wrapped the wind chimes and occasionally sent him a flirty smile. He ignored her rather obvious hints and waited patiently.
He owed Mandy a gift.
That wasn’t why he was buying them, though. He wanted to see her smile when she opened them. He loved that smile.

“You don’t seem like the butterfly type,” the girl said.

James’ mind traveled back to the sight of Mandy this morning, the happy curve of her smile as she slept, and shook his head. “I’m exactly the butterfly type.”

When he looked back up, James realized he’d lost Mandy somewhere. She’d been swallowed by a sea of art enthusiasts. His heart jumped to his throat as worry washed over him. He immediately tried to calm himself.
Someone would be pretty stupid to try and grab her in a crowd like this.
He glanced down at his watch. She was supposed to meet him in front of the elephant-ear stand in ten minutes. If he couldn’t find her, he would just wait for her there.

James started searching the crowd anyway. He was relieved when he saw a flash of purple. Mandy had been wearing a purple top. He sliced through the crowd, heading toward the purple shirt, letting out a small sigh of relief when he recognized her blonde hair from behind.
She was fine.

“So, Mandy, I heard you had a rough night the other night,” Chad Cooper said, sidling up to her.

“It was just an accident,” Mandy replied, fighting the urge to roll her eyes when Chad cut her off from the final table on the street. “It was no big deal.”

“I bet you were scared.”

“It wasn’t that bad.”

“If you had a man, you wouldn’t be so scared,” Chad said, taking a predatory step toward her. “If you had a man, you’d have someone to protect you.”

James’ hand was shooting out, slamming into Chad’s chest before Mandy even realized what was happening.

“She has someone to protect her.”

Chad looked surprised at James’ arrival. He looked James up and down, taking a step back when he saw the fire reflected in his dark eyes. “Sorry, man, I didn’t know.”

James pulled his hand back, wracking his brain for a name. He knew this guy, he just couldn’t place where. He slung an arm around Mandy’s shoulders, pulling her closer to him as he tried to remember.

“I’m Chad Cooper.” Chad extended his hand for James to shake.

James ignored it. “I know who you are. You’re a prosecutor.”

Chad dropped his hand. “And you are?”

Mandy shifted under James’ heavy arm, her eyes traveling up so she could see his face clearly. She wasn’t thrilled with what she saw reflected there. It was like he was marking his territory. “This is James Hardy.”

“Your boyfriend?” Chad asked.

Mandy stumbled over her words. “He’s a … a … friend.”

“I’m her boyfriend,” James announced, surprising Mandy with the voracity of his words.

Chad glanced between the two of them, reading the surprise on Mandy’s face. “I see. Well, um, try to keep your girlfriend safe. It would be a shame if someone ran her down in a parking lot or something.”

James furrowed his brow. “I’ll do my best.”

Chad took the hint and walked away, casting one more glance – and a saucy wink – in Mandy’s direction. It took all the self-control he had for James not to follow him.