Secret Obsession (romantic suspense) (Red Stone Security Series Book 12) (17 page)

Ford understood why Ivan was there, even if he wouldn’t be allowed to see Julieta try on her wedding dress. And Montez was Julieta’s brother—though he was clearly only there because Ruby was. But Ford had never thought guys came to these kinds of things. He’d have been shadowing Raegan regardless, but she’d asked him before he could suggest it. He hadn’t wanted to ask her if it was normal for significant others to be here and reveal how truly relationship-challenged he was. He’d grown up with a brother and most of his friends were either cops or retired Marines. And his ex hadn’t had many girlfriends so this was new territory.

Ivan just shrugged as Montez nodded. “Yeah, things are different now, man. Women want their men involved in
all
of the wedding stuff. They’ve even got couples showers.”

Wait…couples showers? He blinked, trying to figure out what Montez meant. Was that like a swingers thing? It seemed too weird for Montez to be talking about casually. God, he really felt old.

Montez burst out laughing, shaking his head. “Oh my God, not like that. I see where your mind just went. Showers, like for babies and weddings and stuff. Not all guys go and not all of them are joint, but yeah, it’s a thing now. Trust me, I’ve got a lot of female cousins. You’re gonna be expected to go to all sorts of stuff like this now.”

Ford didn’t think that sounded like a bad thing, not if he got to hang out with Raegan more. Just maybe not all the time. Baby showers didn’t sound like fun. “Those drinks inside were fucking awesome,” he said, referring to whatever the hell they’d given them in the shop earlier. It was bubbly and had fruit in it and he wouldn’t be caught dead drinking it anywhere else, but damn.

“We’d still be drinking them if someone hadn’t got us kicked out,” Montez muttered.

Ford nodded, looking at Ivan. “I think you horrified the sales clerk, talking about making sure her wedding dress had an easy access—”

“Dude, I do not need to hear that again.” Montez stood, shooting Ivan a pointed look. “She’s still my sister. Keep some shit to yourself.”

Ivan just grinned and shrugged again, which seemed pretty standard for the guy’s communication style.

Montez rolled his eyes before nodding at the café next door. “I’m gonna grab a drink. You guys want something?”

Ford stood as Ivan said, “Iced coffee.”

“I’ll go with you.” He wanted to stretch his legs and he needed to use the restroom. And Raegan had said it would take at least another hour for them to finish getting fitted. “You gonna go anywhere?” he asked Ivan, needing to know that someone would stay put in front of the store.

“Nope.”

He nodded once. The guy was a former Ranger and he worked for Red Stone. Not to mention he’d been there the other night at the club and knew the deal with Raegan right now. Nothing had happened in the last week—no threats, no phone calls, no weird messages or attempted attacks.

But…his gut told him it wasn’t random. Not after the things the unknown guy had said to her in that bathroom. It was just too personal. He knew the detective who’d been assigned her case, but the truth was, she wasn’t a priority to the department.

Even with some of the guys at Red Stone working on finding out who’d tried to hurt her, they hadn’t found much. They hadn’t been able to get a matchup of faces from both the club and the event. When people wore hats or hoodies or anything that obscured their faces, it messed with the facial recognition software, making it virtually useless.

It wasn’t like she was receiving strange messages they could track either. Which was good and bad. Maybe she didn’t really have a stalker. Or maybe the guy who drugged her was just very patient.

That scared Ford more than anything. Someone who was patient was a bigger threat. They’d be less likely to make a mistake.

He rolled his shoulders once and glanced up and down the street as they reached the door to the café. There was a tingling sensation between his shoulder blades.

It put him even more on edge, made him wonder if he was being paranoid, but he’d seen enough combat to never ignore his instinct. Right then he needed to see Raegan, needed to know that she was okay.

“Hey, I’m gonna go talk to Raegan. I’ll meet you back outside,” he said to Montez. “Get me a bottled water?” he asked, pulling out his wallet.

Montez nodded and waved away his money.

A cool breeze rushed over him, making the wind chimes outside the boutique next door jingle as he reached the glass door to the bridal shop. He smiled at the sight of Raegan on the other side, already starting to push it open.

“Hey,” he said, opening it for her.

“Hey, you,” she murmured, lifting up on her toes to brush her lips over his. He covered a groan as she stepped back.

She gave him a wide smile and he could tell she was a little tipsy. The women had been drinking mimosas during the fitting and he knew she hadn’t eaten much for breakfast that morning.

“Are you done?”

She nodded then glanced around him. “Jules said you can come back in if you’re good.”

Ivan just laughed but gave Ford a pointed look. One that clearly asked if he wanted backup right now.

Ford shook his head and held the door open again as Ivan stepped past them. He was armed and he’d been well trained.

“Can we grab something to eat really quick? I have a small buzz going and I’m starving,” Raegan said. “I was the first done so we’ve got some time.”

He wrapped his arm around her shoulders. After the second chance she’d given him, he wasn’t letting her go. He knew he’d let his past cloud his judgment, but the way she’d truly let everything go told him everything he needed to know about her. “Sure, let’s head next door.”

“Can we head to the food truck instead? I’ve been to that one before and they’ve got amazing veggie empanadas.”

“Sounds good. I’ll snag one too.” Out of habit he scanned their surroundings as they waited to cross the street.

There were half a dozen people in line across the street, waiting. He could see them looped down the sidewalk from their angle. A female couple walking a small dog was approaching from the right, but he couldn’t see to the left of the food truck. He didn’t like it, but he knew that Raegan couldn’t live in a bubble.

Besides, he was with her. He’d do anything to keep her safe. As they reached the other side, he was relieved to see nothing out of the ordinary on the other side of the truck. A few benches occupied by people eating food from the truck. It was a typical, sunny Florida day. Everything seemed normal.

Raegan half nuzzled her face against his chest as they got in line. “What’s going on in that sexy head of yours?” she murmured.

He laughed lightly, kissing the top of her head. “You are definitely tipsy right now.”

“Mmm hmm,” she agreed. “And I think we need to head straight back to your place after the fitting.”

“Is that right?” he asked quietly. The two college-aged guys in front of them were talking to each other—loudly—about how drunk they’d gotten the night before, and how they needed hangover food. Definitely not a threat.

“Yep. I only got to see it that once. God, that feels like a lifetime ago.” She seemed to sober at the comment.

“Yeah.” It really did. “I hate what happened, but for the record, I’m glad it brought you into my life.”

She looked up at him, eyebrows raised. “I was sorta already in your life.”

He grinned. “Yeah. But I was still figuring out how to ask you out.”

“Afraid of my cousins?”

He snorted. “More like afraid of you.”

She blinked in true surprise, then that slightly wicked smile he loved spread across her face. “I’ve been told I’m quite scary.”

He snorted again. “I’m sure.” That word was pretty much the opposite of her. He’d just been a coward. Never again though. He’d let his past hold him back for too long. And deep down…he knew Raegan was it for him. It was that gut instinct. She’d knocked him on his ass and he was never letting her go. Yeah, it was too soon to make any declarations or be completely positive about their future, but he saw the writing on the wall. He knew where this was going. The fact that he was actually looking forward to going to couples showers with her was a pretty big indicator that she was damn special.

Only a couple more people to go now, he realized. When he made eye contact with the man behind the flipped down metal counter, he gave a polite smile, nodded. The guy didn’t smile back, barely acknowledged him.

Ford kept his expression neutral, slid his sunglasses over his eyes as he scanned their surroundings again. “You said you’ve been to this food truck before?” he murmured.

She shifted slightly against him. “Oh, yeah. It’s parked right on our street outside work. I bet the owner does crazy-good business, considering the area. Red Stone even opened it up to him to do deliveries a couple months ago.”

“So you know the owner, personally?” Ford kept his voice low.

She shrugged against him. “Not really. I mean, we say hi, you know, the normal polite stuff. He delivers to Athena and me once a week along with our whole floor. I don’t know of any food trucks that add that type of extra service. It’s pretty great.”

Ford’s radar was going nuts as the guy continued to shoot looks at him and Raegan. The guy’s body language was all wrong. All his muscles were pulled tight as he continued taking orders and preparing food. Ford was surprised no one was in there with him. He also wondered about the location of the truck. He knew that food trucks moved around a city, but he didn’t like that this was the same one that parked outside Red Stone, and just happened to be at this location at the same time Raegan had a dress fitting here. Or that the owner had access to Raegan’s office, to her at work. No, it was time to get her the hell out of here.

He didn’t care if he was being paranoid, he was going with his gut. “You trust me?”

Raegan straightened next to him. “Uh, yeah. Of course.”

“We’re going to head back across the street to the bridal boutique. Stay to the left of me.”

“Okay.” There was a note of concern in her voice, but she didn’t say anything else as they broke away from the line.

A sense of relief had already started pulsing through him as they headed back toward the street and away from the food truck. He didn’t want to pull his weapon out in full view of everyone but as soon as they stepped down onto the curb, rounding the back of food truck, he reached behind his back for his pistol.

Just as the back door to the truck flew open.

A muscular man about five feet, ten inches tall was holding a pistol directly at Ford, his dark eyes glittering with hatred. Barely four feet separated them. He’d never survive a direct shot this close. It didn’t matter how much training and experience he had, he couldn’t draw fast enough to shoot someone who had a weapon pointed directly at him only feet away. Maybe on television that shit worked.

Everything slowed down in that instant as he stared down the barrel of the weapon. He wanted to shove Raegan behind him, but she’d clutched onto him tighter and he didn’t want to make any sudden moves.

“Get your hands off her,” the man snarled. “Raegan, get in the back of the truck.”

There were gasps coming from people on the sidewalk and someone said “Gun,” before running away. Ford could see other people scattering in his periphery but all his focus was on this threat.

“I’m going to take my arm from around her,” Ford said slowly, moving just as slowly. Adrenaline surged through him, but he forced himself to remain calm. No sudden movements, nothing to spook the guy into shooting her. There was no way in hell he was letting her get in that truck, however, but one step at a time. “You don’t really want to shoot anyone. You haven’t done anything you can’t take back yet.”

The man’s hand shook, his eyes just a little wild. “I’ll shoot you right fucking here! I know you were going to take her away from me! You think I’m stupid?”

“Please don’t shoot.” Raegan’s voice trembled but her words were clear.

The man’s focus lasered in on her even though he didn’t move his weapon in her direction. Thank God. “Didn’t I tell you to get in the truck?” he snarled. “Why’d you come over here today? Just to show off that you’re with him? I know what you want and I’m going to give it to you. Get in the fucking truck!”

A siren wailed in the distance, cutting through the air and making Raegan jump. The man turned at the sound, as if on instinct. His weapon hand wavered to the side. Not by much, but it was enough.

Ford knew this might be the only chance he ever got. He had to take it.

Years of training had prepared him for this moment. It would take too many steps to draw his weapon, bring it around his body and fire at the threat. No, he had to go with the only other option.

Adrenaline punching through him, he shoved Raegan to the side as he lunged at the man. Since the guy was raised up on the back of the truck, Ford rammed into the guy’s upper legs and lower torso with a full-on tackle.

A shot boomed through the air as Ford slammed him to the floor. He heard the clatter of the weapon but couldn’t see where it had gone as the guy screamed.

The man punched at Ford’s head. He ducked to the side, the blow glancing his temple.

He struck out with his fist, slamming it against the guy’s nose. Bone crunched under the force of his punch as the man’s head slammed back against the metal floor.