Landon (In Safe Hands Book 1) (3 page)

“Okay.”
I shrug. I could use a break.

Landon

It’s
hard to keep my eyes off of Zoe when she sits on my couch, her sandwich in her
lap. All I can think is how her body felt under my palms when we danced. Her
ass grinding against me, the taste of her neck beneath my lips. Fuck. Why am I
so fixated on this one chick? Because I can’t have her?

Oh,
I
could
have her. She wants me even if she hates the idea, but now that she’s
my employee, I won’t touch her. One and done, that’s my rule. No staying
overnight or repeat performances. It keeps things simple. Fucking my
housekeeper, no matter how sexy she looked bent over the closet, would not be
simple. It’d be a mess.

Pale
brown eyes catch my scrutinizing gaze. “What?”

“Nothing.”
I just want to fuck you ragged.

“Okay,”
she replies, stretching out the word. “Do you live here alone?”

“Are
you asking me if I have a girlfriend?” She scoffs at my grin. Damn, I’m
flirting with her again. Off limits, off limits.

“No,
you Cro-Magnon, I meant relatives, friends, other staff. It’s a big place to
live alone. I imagine it’d be lonely.”

Oh,
what I could do to her smart mouth. “It’s just me. I spend most of my time in this
room, so it doesn’t seem as big as it is. What about you? Live-in boyfriend? A
bunch of cats?”

I
dodge the nacho chip she throws at me. “I wouldn’t sleep with you, so I must be
a crazy cat lady?” She’s trying not to grin.

“I
didn’t say that.”

“No
cats. No boyfriend.” She looks like she’s going to say something else, but
changes her mind. “I don’t have a lot of time between work and school.”

“What
do you study?”

“Science,”
she replies, a smile breaking through.

“Yeah,
you want to be a scientist?”

“I’m
working toward a PHD in evolutionary biology.” Smart and beautiful. This woman
is double trouble. She tucks a lock of light brown hair behind her ear and it
catches the light, illuminating her red highlights. “What do you do?”

I
gesture toward the computer on my desk. “Computer programmer. I build and
maintain websites for businesses.”

“Cool.
I’m close to computer illiterate. I know how to search, read email, and check
Facebook. That’s about it.”

“I’ve
always been interested in technology, and coding comes easy to me. I enjoy it.”

She
smiles at me. “That’s what I hope, to one day love my job. Speaking of, I
should get back to work.”

A
couple of hours later, I lean back from my keyboard, remove my earbuds and
almost laugh aloud. I can hear Zoe singing as she mops the floor. Her voice is
low and husky, sexy. Since when does someone singing make me hard? This
difficult woman does something to me I don’t understand, but it can’t be good.

I
lounge in the doorway, watching and listening until she notices me. Her cheeks
turn pink and she glares at me. “Are you going to stalk me the whole time I
clean?”

“Are
you always going to be this entertaining?”

She
grumbles something that sounds suspiciously like
asshole
and gets to her
feet. “I’m done in here. Where would you like me next?”

In
my bed, screaming my name. “The kitchen’s pretty grimy.”

“Lead
the way.” Her nose wrinkles at the sight of the inside of the fridge. I guess
it does have a certain…odor.

“I’ll
tackle this tomorrow. It’ll take longer than an hour to bleach it all.” I leave
her scrubbing down the counters when there’s a knock on my door.

“Landon,
open up, you son of a bitch.” Dare. I forgot he was coming by tonight.

“It’s
open, asshole.” Dare fills the doorway, looming just inside. The man is a damn
mountain.

“Watch
what you say, my housekeeper is in the kitchen.”

A
mirthful light appears in his eye. “Housekeeper huh? What does she look like?”
Before I can stop him, he strides into the kitchen. “Well, hello, sweetheart.”

Zoe’s
expression is thunderous. “Since I have no clue who you are, I’m confident I’m
not your sweetheart.”

Slipping
between them, I give Dare a look that says
mine
, and he grins at me.
“Dare, this is Zoe, Zoe, meet Dare. Just ignore him. Being an asshole comes
natural to him.”

“Nice
to meet you.”

Dare
laughs at her perfunctory greeting as I drag him out of the kitchen. “So, you
hit that, yet?” he asks, flopping onto the couch in my office.

“Tempting,
but she works for me. She needs a job and I need the help, so don’t fuck it up
by banging her.”

“Got
a mouth on her, doesn’t she?”

“Yeah,
she does. So, do you have the updated list?”

He
tosses a folder on the table. “We need the usual. Addresses, bank accounts, etc.”

“I’ll
get on it tonight. Have you talked to the guys about moving the operation
here?”

“They’re
on board. Once you get the place ready, we’ll get Justus in to wire everything
up, put the safeguards in place.”

Good.
I know I’m missing out on half the shit the group does since I can only work at
night. My foot taps the ground while I consider the possibilities. “With Zoe
helping, the room should be ready in a few months.”

“How
do you plan to explain what goes on here to your new employee?” He sneers on
the word employee.

“She
thinks I build websites. As far as she’ll know, we all do.”

“If
you say so.” Dare gets to his feet. “I’ve got some strange coming over. Got to
go.”

“Tell
the woman I can finish her off after you humiliate yourself.”

“Fuck
off, raisin.”

After
I feed the information Dare gave me into my computer, I head back to the
kitchen to find Zoe finishing up. “I’m done for tonight. Same time tomorrow?”

“Sounds
good.”

Her
eyes are locked to her phone as she skims through her contacts and presses a
button. “Yes, ma’am. I need a taxi at…”

I
reach across and hit end, stepping back before she can kick me in the nuts.
Judging by the look on her face, it was a distinct possibility. “What the
hell?”

“Why
do you need a taxi? Is that how you always get to work?” That’d cost her a
fortune.

“As
long as I’m at work on time, it’s none of your business how I get here.” She
holds up her palm as I open my mouth. “But, if you’re so concerned I might not
show, you can relax. I have a car. It’s being repaired. I’ll have it back in less
than a week.”

“Good
to know. Get your stuff. I’ll run you home.”

I
couldn’t have shocked her more if I’d dropped my pants and shook my ass in her
face. “You don’t need to do that, I…”

“Just
get your stuff, Ms. Difficult.”

After
considering for a moment, she huffs, “Fine, thank you.” Well, that sounded like
it killed her. “For some reason, I pictured a sports car,” she says with a
small smile as we settle into my sedan.

“Because
I give off a spoiled rich guy vibe?”

“No,
your house does,” she replies with a giggle.

“I
only inherited it a few months ago.” Why am I defending myself? I’ve never done
without anything, but I wasn’t exactly rolling in riches either. For some
reason, I don’t want her to see me as some rich douche.

I
try to keep the frown off my face as she leads me into a neighborhood I
wouldn’t want to walk through unarmed. The houses are dilapidated, the yards
overgrown. A car alarm blares, almost drowning out the sound of a police siren.
“Turn here,” she orders. “It’s the apartment on the end.”

“Thanks
for the ride,” she says, and pops open the door, eager to get out of the car.

The
sound of my door slamming makes her turn around. “What are you doing?”

“Walking
you to your door and making sure you get in okay. This isn’t the best
neighborhood.”

I’m
rewarded with a long suspicious gaze before she relents and heads across a
crumbling courtyard. “Do you live here alone?”

“No.”

She
doesn’t elaborate, but her door opens as she approaches and a teenage boy gives
me a cautious look. “Everything okay, Zo?”

“Yep.
This is my boss, Landon. He gave me a ride home.” She waves him into the house,
and he gives me a terse nod before retreating. “Thanks again for bringing me
home. I’ll see you tomorrow,” she says, making it clear she has no intention of
inviting me inside.

“Lock
your door.” The warning leaps from my mouth before I can stop it, and she
laughs.

Her
voice softens. “I’ve lived here for over a year. I think I know to lock up.
Good night, Landon.”

“Have
a good night, Zoe.”

Though
I barely know her, I feel guilty leaving her in such a dangerous place. I’m
glad she isn’t alone, but who is the boy? He’s far too old to be her son. Her
brother, perhaps? Maybe she still lives with her parents and a sibling? No
wonder she seemed so happy with the twelve dollars per hour I offered her. Now
that I see where she lives, that she isn’t just a student looking for a little
extra cash, I’ll have to pay her more. Whatever I can do to help her get out of
that area.

I’m
too restless to get any work done when I return home. Since it’s a warm night,
a run sounds like just the thing. Throwing on a pair of shorts, I grab a bottle
of water and head out the door.

It’s
almost a mile to the canal and as always, I can smell the water before I get
there. I actually prefer the trail along White River, but lately it’s become a
hangout for drug dealers and the homeless. After three reports of people
getting jumped and robbed in the last week, the well- lit, heavily patrolled
trail along the canal is a better choice.

A
few pale stars glow overhead as I jog along, lost in my thoughts. I can’t wait
to get out of here, to move to a more rural area. I’m no country boy or farmer,
but I’d like to see the stars at night, smell grass and trees instead of the
exhaust being belched out of trucks, or garbage piled by the street.

I
have the funds to go anywhere I want. More than I could ever spend in a
lifetime, but I don’t think that truth has sunk in yet. I’ve always had enough
to survive. My parents had generous life insurance policies that paid off when
I lost them in a car crash six years ago, but nothing compared to what my uncle
Larry left me, the only remaining member of the Clark family.

I
could’ve let the house go and bought a new one somewhere, but it seemed wrong
somehow. When Dare mentioned needing a more permanent place to set up our
organization, everything just fell into place. Hiring Zoe is just the first
step. Once it’s reasonably clean and organized, it’ll become our headquarters.
A nice house in an upper class neighborhood that won’t draw any unwanted
attention. I have no close neighbors to question why I only come and go at
night, and why most of my company does the same.

A
patrol cop nods at me as I jog past. He recognizes me now, but the first few
times I ran by him in the middle of the night, he regarded me with suspicion.
Finally, he just stopped me and asked what the hell I was doing. My explanation
of being an insomniac and training for a marathon placated him and now he just
waves or nods when I fly by.

That’s
another reason I look forward to living in the country. The privacy. No
suspicious faces or distrustful stares. You’d think being a night owl was a
crime. Maybe it’s the sudden cultural influx of vampire crap. There are
actually people who believe in that shit, like I’m going to bite them and drink
their blood. Gross. I want to yell, “Nothing supernatural here, you morons.
Just a guy who sleeps days.”

The
run does the trick, and after a hot shower, I’m able to get some work done on
the computer. A little after seven a.m. I shuffle off to bed, stiff from
sitting still the last few hours. Zoe’s pale eyes and mischievous smile flash
through my head, and I quickly try to picture something else. Anything else.
She has enough to deal with without me adding to her problems. Besides, I want
her to work here more than ever now that I know how much she needs the money.

For
some reason, Zoe is the first thing I think of when I wake. Well, actually, I’m
thinking of my uncle’s old truck that’s parked in the attached garage. It’s
just rotting in there. Why not loan it to her until she gets her car out of the
shop?

The
garage is a dusty mess. I’ve only been in here once since I moved in. One half
is piled with boxes and junk, while my uncle’s truck takes up the other half.
Unlike most men with his type of wealth, he didn’t give two shits about the car
he drove. His ten year old pickup did him just fine, and I’m sure it will work
for Zoe for a few days once I give it a little tune up.

She’s
due here in an hour, so I whip off the tarp covering the truck and get started.
The battery is flat as a pancake, but I have a portable charger. While that’s
running, I clean up the inside, vacuuming up the ashes and loose tobacco
sprinkled across the seat and floorboards. A little pine scented cleanser makes
it smell a whole lot better.