Deadly Intentions (Hardy Brothers Security Book 1) (17 page)

Sheryl was still in town. There was some knitting convention at Gibraltar Trade Center – and she was staying for its entirety. It only took one call – and a few little nudges from James – to force Mandy into wrangling a lunch date, despite her initial reticence.

They were in his Explorer, driving toward Mount Clemens, but James wasn’t sure how to read her mood. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine.”

“You don’t seem fine.”

“I’m just … thinking.”

“About what?”

Mandy worried her lower lip. “What if she is the one?” The question was short, but there was a lot of emotion behind it.

“Then we’ll catch her.”

“What if it’s not her?”

“Then we’ll find out who it is.”

“What if … ?”

James reached over and grabbed Mandy’s hand. “I need you not to freak out about this.”

“I’m not freaking out. I don’t freak out.”

James couldn’t hide his smile. “For someone who doesn’t freak out, you were quick to sass your way into my office and confront me after the … incident.”

“Is that what we’re calling it now?”

“I’d like to pretend it never happened,” James said honestly. “Since I know that’s not possible, I have now taken to calling it the incident. In the future, though, I’m going to start referring to it as the
accident
. After that, I’m going to call it my ‘cute little freak out.’ Someday, you’ll forget.”

Mandy couldn’t help but doubt that statement. “I’m going to refer to it as emotional blackmail.”

James chuckled. “I can live with that.”

Mandy squeezed his hand. “Thank you.”

James was surprised by her words. “For what?”

“You didn’t have to do this,” she said. “When I showed up at your office, you could’ve just sent me away. Instead, you jumped right in to Crazy Town.”

“No,” James argued. “I certainly couldn’t have done that. I would never have walked away from you.”

“Because you wanted to sleep with me?” Mandy questioned.

James shook his head. “Because I wanted to make you happy.”

“What?”

“Is this a test?”

“No.”

James sighed. “I understand why you’re still … leery.”

“I’m not leery,” Mandy protested.

“You are, and it’s okay,” James replied. “I did a horrible thing. I regretted it the minute I did it.”

“I forgive you. I told you, I forgive you.”

“That doesn’t mean you’re still not scared I’ll do it again,” James pointed out.

Mandy considered arguing with him but, ultimately, she didn’t see the point. “Am I that obvious?”

“Not obvious,” James argued. “I see the worry in your eyes sometimes. It makes me feel like a jackass.”

“I’ll try to keep that in mind.”

“I don’t want you to feel anything but what you feel,” James said. “One of these days, you’re going to wake up next to me without checking to make sure that I’m in the bed and I haven’t sneaked out in the middle of the night. When that day happens, I’m going to be a happy man.”

“You’re not happy now?”

James smirked. She looked worried again. “I’m happy every time I see you smile.”

JAMES PARKED
in front of the Greek restaurant, glancing at Mandy as he did. “Do you want me to come in with you?”

Mandy was surprised by the question. “Are you willing to stay out here?”

James stiffened. He had a few questions of his own that he wanted to ask Sheryl. He also knew Mandy was struggling. She wanted to believe in her stepmother. She wanted to believe in him even more. He wasn’t going to force the situation. “If you want to do this yourself, I’ll stay out here.”

Mandy leaned over the console and pressed her lips against his cheek. “I want you to be there.”

James exhaled slowly, trying to hide his relief. “Are you sure?”

“Oh, please,” Mandy scoffed. “If I didn’t want you there, you would’ve paced outside the restaurant until you couldn’t take it anymore. Then, you still would’ve interrupted lunch and then distracted me with sex until I forgave you.”

James smiled, reaching his arm around her shoulders and dropping his lips to hers. “I’m glad you get me.”

“I’ve always gotten you.”

“You have,” James agreed. “Even before I was ready to be gotten.”

They entered the restaurant together, hand in hand, and searched the booths for Sheryl. Mandy saw her first, moving toward the table and tugging James behind her. “Let me do the talking.”

“Is this a test?”

Mandy ignored the question, sliding into the booth across from Sheryl and making room for James beside her. “Thank you for meeting me.”

Sheryl eyed James curiously. “This isn’t the guy from Don Pablo’s, although they kind of look alike.”

“No,” Mandy agreed. “This is his brother.”

“You picked his brother?” Sheryl raised her eyebrows appreciatively. “That was gutsy.”

“No,” Mandy said. “I was always interested in this brother.”

James rested his arm on the back of the booth, content to let Mandy lead the conversation. “I’m James.”

“It’s nice to meet you, James,” Sheryl said. “I have to ask, though, is there a reason you had your brother following my stepdaughter?”

James flinched at the question. “It’s a long story.”

“It’s a good thing that we have an endless time for lunch then, isn’t it?”

James flashed a grin – the one that made women across the state go weak in the knees when they saw it. “I guess so.”

“So how did you two meet?” Sheryl prodded.

“She used to have sleepovers with my sister when she was a kid,” James admitted.

Sheryl wrinkled her nose. “You look older than her. Not a lot, but you still look older.”

“I am.”

“You didn’t like her when she was having slumber parties with your sister, did you? That might be cause for concern.”

James smiled. “I liked her. I didn’t
like
her.”

“That’s good to know,” Sheryl laughed. “How did you two reconnect?”

“I ran into his sister one day, and then, well, one thing led to another,” Mandy supplied.

James didn’t argue the point, but Sheryl could tell there was more to the story. “Why don’t the two of you tell me what’s going on?”

Mandy shifted next to James. He could tell she wasn’t sure how to proceed. He was never one for putting off the inevitable – okay, most of the time – so he cut right to the chase. “I want to know why you changed your name.”

Mandy sucked in a breath. James tweaked her shoulder reassuringly.

“How do you know I changed my name?” Sheryl didn’t seem surprised by James’ question, more resigned than anything else.

“I ran a background check on you,” James admitted. “I run a security business. It wasn’t that hard.”

“And why did you run a background check on me?”

James saw no sense in lying. “Because someone has tried to run Mandy over with a car twice in the same week.”

Sheryl gasped. “What are you talking about?”

“Mandy was almost run down on two different occasions at the courthouse,” James replied. “There has to be a reason. We’re running background checks on everyone in her life. Yours was … cause for concern.”

Sheryl sighed. “I understand.”

“I don’t think it’s you,” Mandy said, reaching across the table and patting Sheryl’s hand. “James is just … well, he’s just relentless.”

Sheryl smiled. “I bet.”

“That’s not what I meant.”

Sheryl waved off Mandy’s concerns. “I don’t blame you.”

“You don’t?”

“I have a … colorful past,” Sheryl said. “Your dad knew, in case you’re wondering. I told him.”

“You did? He never mentioned it to me.”

“Is that really a surprise to you?” Sheryl asked.

Mandy considered the question. Her dad was a private man. It made sense that he would keep his wife’s secrets – whether she asked him to or not. “I guess not.”

“I come from trash,” Sheryl said. “Total trash. It wasn’t strange to help my mother shoplift from Meijer when I was a kid. That was normal to me.”

Mandy swallowed, pressing herself closer to James. He tightened his arm around her shoulders but didn’t say anything. He remained silent so Sheryl could tell her story.

“I did what my mother told me to do for a long time,” Sheryl said. “There was a point – and I’m not exactly sure when it was – but there was a point when I knew what I was doing was wrong.”

“That’s why you changed your name?” James asked.

“Yes, and no,” Sheryl replied. “I changed my name because I wanted to get away. Not just from my past, but from my family, too.”

“You cut ties with your family?” Mandy questioned.

Sheryl nodded. “I did. It was hard. It was so hard, in fact, I wondered if I had made the right decision for two full years. Every time I struggled, I thought of my mother and what she would do. Then I did the exact opposite.”

“Which was?” James prodded.

“Whenever I felt my old life calling to me, I would volunteer at a homeless shelter,” Sheryl said, shrugging. “Whenever I felt the urge to steal something, I would volunteer as one of those bell ringers at a store.

“After a while, I didn’t have to fight the urge to steal or call my mother anymore,” Sheryl continued. “It just felt right. Was I a better person? I have no idea. Finally, I started to feel better and I just was … better.”

“Did you love my dad?”

James glanced down at Mandy, searching her face for a hint.
Why would she ask that?

“I did,” Sheryl said. “He was a good man, Mandy. You should never doubt that.”

“I never did,” Mandy replied. “I never did.”

James pressed his lips against her forehead, pulling her as close as he could, and then turned his attention back to Sheryl. “What did he say when you told him the truth?”

“He was understandably surprised,” Sheryl replied. “He broke up with me, in fact. After a few weeks, he showed up at my place and told me he’d come to a decision.”

“What decision?” James asked.

“He wanted to marry me,” Sheryl admitted. “He wanted me to sign a prenup, which I totally understood, but he wanted to marry me. I agreed, signed the prenup, and we were married two weeks later.”

“Why do you think he didn’t tell me?” Mandy asked.

Sheryl smiled. “Your dad loved you more than anything,” she said. “He was worried you were too serious, though. He thought you dwelled on things – like he did. He wanted you to be more carefree. He wanted you to have fun.”

“I have fun,” Mandy argued.

“Not the kind of fun he thought you should have,” Sheryl said, glancing at James. “He wanted you to have everything you ever wanted. He didn’t know how to give it to you.

“You’re a lot like your father,” Sheryl continued. “You’re quick to anger – and quick to forgive. You’re also a worrier. You should stop worrying. Things will work themselves out. There’s no reason to worry all the time.”

James smiled. He was seriously starting to like Sheryl.

Mandy clasped Sheryl’s hand. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

After Sheryl left the restaurant, James pulled Mandy close again.

“What do you think?” Mandy asked.

“I think she was awfully convincing.”

“You don’t believe her, though,” Mandy said, biting the inside of her mouth.

“I didn’t say that.”

“You didn’t not say that.”

“I’m suspicious by nature,” James reminded her. “I want to believe her. I’m not ruling her out. I won’t rule her out until I know you’re safe.”

A niggling worry invaded Mandy’s mind.
Was he only staying until he was sure she was safe?
If that was the case, she couldn’t help but wish for constant danger – which made her feel pathetic. She pushed the thought out of her mind. “So, now what?”

“Now?” James said. “Now we enjoy our day. I’ll have Grady run a few more background checks, but whatever you want, I’m game for.”

Mandy narrowed her eyes. “Whatever I want?”

James smiled. “Wow me, baby.”

“This wasn’t what I had in mind.”

Mandy glanced at James, sending him a small smile as he paced next to the ornate pirate ship irritably. He waved the putter in his hand for emphasis – just in case she wasn’t aware of his profound unhappiness – as he eyed the small, blue ball in front of him hatefully.

“You said I got to pick what we were going to do today,” Mandy reminded him, working hard to stifle the laugh bubbling at her throat.
He was cute when he was frustrated.

“I didn’t think that would include miniature golf,” James admitted. “I thought we would be doing something a little more … horizontal.”

“You can lie down next to the hole if you think it will help,” Mandy teased. “I’m beating you by five strokes, so I don’t think trick shots are going to help you at this point.”

James growled. “You’re enjoying this? Really? I thought our afternoon would involve strokes of a different kind.”

Mandy groaned. “Just hit your ball.”

James wrapped his hands around his club and tapped the ball. If Pirate’s Cove wasn’t crawling with families, Mandy had no doubt James would have subsequently erupted with a string of curses that would’ve immediately gotten them banned from the facility.

“Maybe I should give you some pointers.”

James shot her a dark look. “I didn’t realize how competitive you were.”

“I’m not the one freaking out about miniature golf,” Mandy replied, glancing behind her when she heard giggling. Two boys, both around nine years old, were watching them with wide eyes and big smiles.

“What are they saying?” James asked.

Mandy shrugged. She’d heard the boys, but there was no way she was going to tell James what they’d said.

James moved in their direction. “What did you say?”

The boy on the right, the one with dark hair and eyes, shrank back. James was an imposing figure and, even though Mandy knew he would never lay a hand on the child, she could see the kid wasn’t so sure. His blonder friend was braver.

“Your girlfriend is beating the crap out of you,” he said. “That must be wicked embarrassing.”

James scowled. “I’ll have you know, I’m letting her win. That’s what you do when you have a girlfriend. You let them win.”

“I’m never having a girlfriend then,” the kid replied. “It makes you look like an idiot.”

James bit his lower lip. He turned back to his ball and tapped it into the hole. “Would you two like to play through?” James offered, his voice tight. “That way my profound idiocy won’t be your concern anymore.”

“Yes,” the blond boy said. “I can’t watch this for one more second.”

Mandy stepped off the green, shoving her own purple ball into her pocket as she watched the boys. The blond teed off, bouncing his ball off the pirate ship and ricocheting it into the hole with one shot. He sent James a smug look, which only caused James’ face to redden further as he stepped up next to Mandy.

“You’re going to owe me big time later,” he mumbled.

Mandy reached over and ran her fingers through his hair, brushing his ear softly. “What did you have in mind?”

James stilled. “How about we quit now and go home? You can make me feel better about my horrible golfing skills?”

His eyes were so hopeful Mandy couldn’t contain her laughter. She moved closer to him. “How about, we finish the game, and then we go home and you pay up. We made a bet. Remember?”

“That was before I knew you were a miniature golf shark.” James moved his arm over Mandy’s back suggestively. “If you wanted a massage, you could’ve just asked. You didn’t have to embarrass me to get one. I would’ve volunteered if I knew how this afternoon was going to turn out.”

“Please,” Mandy scoffed. “If I didn’t make you agree to the bet, you would’ve given me a massage for five minutes and then you would’ve let your fingers do the walking until you convinced me I didn’t need a massage.”

James frowned. “You must really want a massage.”

“My muscles hurt,” Mandy said. “I’ve been getting a … workout the past few days. I usually go to this place downtown, but I figured I might as well take advantage of your boundless energy.”

James tightened his arm around Mandy, dropping a sweet kiss on her lips. “I’m going to massage the hell out of you. I promise. I’ll even set a timer if it means we can be done doing … this.”

Mandy sucked James’ lower lip into her mouth. “I’m going to remember you said that.”

“Gross!”

Mandy looked over to see that the two boys were watching them again.

“What’s gross?” James challenged the blond boy.

“You’re kissing a girl.”

“That’s why I have her,” James said, spanking Mandy’s butt lightly. “Trust me. In a few years, you’ll get it.”

The kid shook his head, his doubt evident. “My dad says bitches be crazy – and I believe him.”

James smiled at the boy for the first time since he’d interrupted their play. “They’re definitely crazy,” he agreed. “Some of them might be worth it.”

A FEW
hours later, Mandy was stretched out face down on the living room floor, a pillow propped under her chin. She’d stripped her shirt off, and James was sitting on her rear as he rubbed her knotted muscles with his strong hands. He’d been true to his word and his hands remained on her back without wandering for an entire half hour – even though Mandy could feel his need for other activities pressing into her lower back.

They’d put in a movie. James had suggested horror – mostly because the idea of Mandy crawling onto his lap after a gruesome kill was appealing to him – but he was having more trouble with the flick than she was.

“I can’t believe you watch these things,” he complained, cringing when the hockey-mask-clad killer splattered a co-ed’s blood across the inside of a summer camp cabin.

“You’re the one that wanted to watch a horror movie,” Mandy reminded him, groaning appreciatively as his fingers found a tender spot between her shoulder blades.

James attacked the spot with vigor. “I wanted to watch a horror movie because I thought it would scare you into sitting on my lap. I didn’t know you had a whole library of the things. Seriously, how many horror movies can one woman own?”

“I like horror movies.”

“You like being scared?”

“They don’t really scare me,” Mandy said. “Real life is a lot scarier than horror movies.”

Considering the previous week, James couldn’t really argue with her. “Are there any movies that scare you enough to crawl on my lap?”

Mandy chuckled. “
Jaws
scares the crap out of me. I won’t go in the ocean.”

“You’re scared of the ocean? Are you telling me you’ve never been in the ocean?”

“I’ve been in the ocean,” Mandy countered. “I just won’t go in above my waist. And, just for clarification, I’m not scared of the ocean. I am scared of being eaten by something in the ocean. Don’t you watch
Shark Week
?”

James laughed. “No. I can’t say I’ve ever watched
Shark Week
. I do find it cute, though, that you’re terrified of sharks and yet you still watch
Shark Week
.”

“I like sharks,” Mandy explained. “I find them fascinating. I just don’t want to get eaten by one.”

James grinned at her back. The kid was right, women were crazy. He reached under Mandy, flipping her over, and then settling back down and distributing his weight across her hips. Her naked breasts jiggled as she giggled – a sight that charmed James to his very core.

“Is my massage over? You did better than I thought you would.”

“I told you I was going to massage you for an hour and that’s exactly what I’m going to do,” James said. “I just think your front needs some attention.”

He reached down, cupping her breasts and flicking his thumbs over her erect nipples. Mandy’s eyes were heavy and full of lust. It took every ounce of self-control James had not to just slide into her right there.
A promise was a promise.
If things worked out, she’d be begging him to forget the massage very soon.

James continued rubbing her breasts, loving the way she arched under him. Mandy suddenly bolted upright, grabbing the hem of James’ shirt and yanking it upwards. James let her pull his shirt off of him, sighing as she pressed her naked chest to his.

“I thought you wanted a massage,” he rasped. “I’m not done yet.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Mandy murmured, brushing her tongue against his throat. “Who said anything about stopping the massage? I’m just enhancing it.”

Mandy ran her hands up the long lines of James’ back, rubbing small circles into the hard planes of his shoulders as she pulled him in closer. James tightened his arms around her as he rolled back, sliding his weight off her hips and settling onto the carpeted floor. They both jumped as a streak of lightning stretched across the sky, followed closely by a deafening clap of thunder.

“It’s storming,” Mandy breathed, her mouth next to his.

“You have no idea how big of a storm we’re going to have,” James said, pulling Mandy to her knees and claiming her mouth with a hot kiss. “A really big, steamy storm.”

“How big?” Mandy teased, reaching her hand down to his crotch so she could rub him through his jeans.

James growled in the back of his throat. “How big do you want it?”

“I don’t know,” Mandy replied. “I guess we’ll have to see what you have to offer.”

James reached around her, grabbing her ass with his hands and snapping her to him. “What about your massage?”

“You can finish it in the morning,” Mandy said. “I have something else in mind right now.”

“Oh, yeah?” James lifted an eyebrow. “What’s that?”

“Well,” Mandy said, climbing onto his lap and straddling him so she could drag her hot mound against his hard erection. They were both still wearing their blue jeans, so they couldn’t get skin to skin just yet. The foreplay was heady, so they were both content with going slow. “You said that you wanted me to crawl into your lap.”

James nipped at her neck. “Do you want me to play the shark?”

Mandy stilled in his arms.

“Yeah, that sounded better in my head,” James admitted.

“Maybe you should be the lifeguard who saved me from the shark,” Mandy suggested.

James trailed a series of solid kisses down her neck, stopping at her breast so he could give her a good lick. “Is this how you would thank a lifeguard?” James asked, sucking her nipple into his mouth and rolling his tongue over it.

Mandy groaned appreciatively. “It depends on what he looks like.”

James splayed his hands along Mandy’s back so he could hold her still as he started to torture her with his tongue. “What if he’s blond?”

“Oh,” Mandy moaned, trying to keep her mind on their conversational foreplay. “I’m not really into blonds.”

“What about redheads?”

“Nope.”

“So, what would this lifeguard have to look like?” James asked before switching to her other nipple.

“I … um … I can’t think anymore,” Mandy admitted, tangling her hands in James’ hair.

James smiled around her nipple before dragging his mouth back up to hers. “Are you sure you don’t want me to finish your massage?”

“If you’re not inside of me in thirty seconds I’m going to make you go golfing again tomorrow,” Mandy threatened.

James laughed as he lifted her up, climbing to his knees so he could unbutton his jeans. Lightning flashed outside again and, despite himself, James’ attention was dragged from Mandy’s heaving chest to the outside world. The flash illuminated a dark figure on the other side of the sliding-glass doors. James sucked in a breath, never letting his eyes leave the spot as he waited for another flash of lightning. When it hit, he was sure.
Someone was outside the apartment.

James was on his feet and moving toward the door. Mandy was confused, but she’d read the shift in James’ body language. “What is it?”

“Someone is out there,” James said, snapping the lock on the door so he could slide it open. He glanced back at Mandy. “You lock this door behind me. You lock it and then you go and you sit in that hallway. When I come back, I’ll come to the front door. Do not open that door for anyone but me.”

Mandy was still standing there, her hands wrapped around her naked breasts, her mouth open to argue, when James slid the door open and disappeared into the stormy night.