Protecting The Billionaire (8 page)

The chill seeped deeper inside her, sinking into her bones. “The card wasn’t signed. It only said ‘Thought you’d like something sweet while you worked’ but I know you sent it. You know how much I love chocolate from Favre.”

“Allison, honest, I didn’t send you anything.” The carefree tone he’d used when she answered the phone disappeared. “If you got something at work today, it was from someone else. Call the delivery company. Maybe they’ll tell you who ordered it?”

Her scalp prickled as his words sank in. “I don’t know where it came from. There was no business information on the card, just the typed message.”

“Did whoever delivered it have on a uniform or a nametag?”

She should have thought of that. “I’ll check with the receptionist tomorrow. It was left with her.”

“Call the police.”

“And tell them what? Someone sent me a present? There’s not a law against sending gifts.” Perhaps there should be though. “And don’t tell anyone about this, especially Dad,” she said before her brother could offer any other advice. If he opened his big mouth and told their dad, he’d probably hire a bodyguard to sleep outside her bedroom door, and then he’d be on the first plane to Virginia. He hadn’t wanted her to move away from Providence in the first place. She loved her dad, but she didn’t need him going into overprotective father mode. “You know how he gets sometimes.”

“Getting gifts from strangers isn’t normal, sis. I won’t tell him if you promise to call the police or consider hiring some security for a little while.”

She didn’t want to do either, but she didn’t need Derek calling their dad either. “If it happens again, I’ll call the personal security firm we’ve used in the past.”

“No good. Either do it now or I’ll do it for you, and then I’ll let Dad in on what’s happening.”

Well, she could tell Derek what he needed to hear now and then do what she darn well pleased later. “Fine. I’ll call the police in the morning.” Derek was more likely to accept that answer from her than any other. He shared her sentiments when it came to having personal security around. “Happy?”

“I’d prefer if you called a security firm too. The police can’t watch you twenty-four seven, but I know what a pain in the ass a bodyguard can be. Don’t know how Uncle Warren stands having a shadow all the time. Promise me, if you get anything else, you’ll get some personal security.”

She didn’t want to think about getting any other gifts. “I will. Cross my heart.”

Derek’s sigh came through the phone. “I don’t like it, but okay. Give the police a call right now and if you need me, call. I can be there in a few hours.”

Allison promised Derek again she’d call the police once they finished their conversation and then hung up. Most of the pizza she’d made remained on her plate, but her appetite was gone. Finding out a stranger was sending you gifts had a way of doing that.

So if Derek hadn’t sent the teddy bear and candy, who had? It wouldn’t be impossible to figure out where she worked. Her name and picture had been added to the Falmouth Foundation website, so a quick search of her name would bring up that information. But how would they know to send Favre chocolates? It certainly wasn’t a chocolate every store stocked. In fact, few people in the States had even heard of it yet. Had the sender made a lucky guess or was it someone she came in contact with on a regular basis? Or did she have a stalker out there? Someone who followed her around and watched where she went and what she bought.

She tried to push the last thought out of her mind. Unfortunately, the idea of a stalker brought back the memory of how her house security system hadn’t been on Sunday night when she and Rock returned.

“I’m overreacting.” She checked the lock on the kitchen door before tossing the cold pizza in the trash and heading out of the room.

She’d switched on the television and the lights in every room, yet she remained restless as she read articles about hockey on the Internet. If she and Rock were going to a game Saturday, she wanted to at least understand some of the basics. Unfortunately, her focus kept straying away from the information, and every time she heard even the tiniest of sounds, she jumped half a mile out of her chair.

Since she’d moved to Virginia, she’d been a little on edge. More than once she’d been out and gotten the feeling someone watched her. Each time it happened, she told herself it was her imagination. She’d almost completely convinced herself of that until her car accident. She hadn’t been far from Jake’s house when she spotted the headlights behind her. At first she’d thought it was just someone heading in a similar direction. Then they’d gotten much closer and stayed right on her bumper for a good ten minutes. Unsure if the car was following her or not, she turned so she could return to her cousin’s. Like a shadow, the car had done the same. Shaken up, she started checking her rearview mirror more and more the closer she got to Jake’s neighborhood. Caught up in what was going on behind her, she hadn’t seen the other car skid on the slick roads and plow though the intersection and into her car. If she’d been paying attention, she might have been able to stop or swerve out of the way. Thankfully, the worst of her injuries had been a broken leg, and the driver of the other car had only needed some stitches.

She hadn’t told anyone about the car behind her that night. Instead, she’d convinced herself it had been a coincidence. The little bear and candy at the office had her reconsidering her belief. From now on, she’d need to be extra vigilant while out alone.

Unable to focus on anything, she gave up reading about hockey and the responsibilities of each player. The game wasn’t until Saturday. She had Thursday and Friday night to learn more about the rules. Picking up the remote, she flipped through the stations until she found the popular new sitcom she’d started watching in the fall. The show didn’t require much brainpower and always made her laugh. It was the kind of show she needed tonight.

***

The specifics of their date still eluded him. How could he plan an evening out when they had zilch in common? Regardless, he’d promised he’d call, and he never backed out of a promise. Rock dropped his wallet and keys on the counter and brought up Allison’s number on his smartphone. He’d stored it in his contact list the night he’d joined her, Trent, and Addie for dinner but hadn’t thought he’d need it. The phone rang several times and he expected her voicemail to pick up soon. When it did, he’d leave her a message, and if she was still interested in going out, she could call him back. If she’d changed her mind, he would have fulfilled his promise.

Her voicemail never picked up. Instead, her sultry voice greeted him. “Hello.”

“Allison, it’s Rock.”

“Rock, hi.” The hint of uncertainty he’d detected in her voice when she first answered disappeared. “I’m glad you called. I’ve been planning our night out.”

Having a woman plan an evening out was a first for him. He only hoped whatever she had in mind didn’t include the ballet or some equally ridiculous event. Once he’d been forced to attend the ballet as part of a school fieldtrip. He’d fallen asleep a quarter of the way through and stayed that way until his teacher rudely woke him up with a boney finger to the shoulder.

He had no desire to see guys running around in tights again and nothing except perhaps a 9mm pistol pressed up against his back would get him back to the ballet.

“I already ordered tickets for the hockey game. It starts at seven. There’s a great barbecue restaurant not far from here. I thought we could have dinner there before we head into DC. Or we can stop somewhere after the game. Up to you. Either works for me.”

The words hockey and Allison Sherbrooke didn’t belong in the same sentence. She struck him as the refined, theater-going, opera-loving, socialite portrayed in the movies. No movie he’d ever watched showed a woman like Allison drinking beer and cheering at a hockey game. “Sounds good.” If she’d ordered them already, he’d keep his mouth shut and be damn happy she hadn’t bought tickets to the ballet instead. “When do you want me to pick ya up?”

“How does around five sound?”

“That works.”

“Great. I’ll see you Saturday night,” Allison said, sounding as eager as he felt.

“See ya.” Rock hung up and ran a hand down his neck. The woman kept throwing him. He’d pegged Allison as your typical socialite, similar to those in the media, the kind of woman who liked lots of attention and only the best of everything. Her actions blew that theory out of the water. In fact, if he hadn’t known who lurked on her family tree, he would’ve assumed she was just any other woman. A woman who’d planned what he’d consider a perfect night out. He could accept that she liked barbecue. Lots of people did, but hockey? He didn’t buy that one. They talked about a lot of things the night he escorted her to the fundraiser, but not sports. While hockey had its loyal fans, it wasn’t as popular as football or baseball. The only way she would’ve known he enjoyed the game was if she’d asked his sister. Would she have bothered calling Addie? A few months ago, he would’ve said hell no. Why would she go out of her way, when men probably bent over backward for her all the time? Tonight, however, it was the only explanation, which meant his sister was going to love telling him she’d been right.

Hell
.

Rock mulled over his earlier convo with Eric Coleman as he vacuumed his truck, not that it needed to be done. Much like his apartment, he kept his truck spotless and he’d vacuumed it right before the fundraiser. Still, it gave him something to do. He’d spent as much time as he could at the range earlier shooting both his 9mm pistol as well as the .44 magnum revolver he’d purchased last month. Only the fact that he’d run out of practice ammo had sent him packing.

Thanks to Connor, he’d been expecting a call from Elite Force Security ever since he met him for a beer. When Thursday and Friday passed but no call came, he assumed the security firm had rejected Connor’s recommendation. He was good with that. Then Coleman called this morning.

He hadn’t given Rock a ton of specifics over the phone, but he’d read between the lines. The firm definitely did more than provide bodyguards. Exactly what else they did still remained a secret. Intrigued by the little bit of information Coleman gave him, he’d agreed to a face-to-face meeting in a few weeks. Well, the firm’s director called it a meeting. Rock got the impression it was more of an interview and most likely a waste of his time. He loved what he did and saw no reason to make any changes at the present. Elite Force would have to offer him something irresistible to get him to leave the Marines. No matter how much he thought about it, he couldn’t think of anything Coleman could say or offer which fit the bill, except perhaps Allison Sherbrooke naked and in his bed.

Mannaggia
, she was the living, breathing definition of irresistible. But it was safe to say the director wouldn’t be offering her up as an incentive to change careers.

The single thought of her brought back the memory of his hands on her ass while they’d danced. Damn, the thing had been perfect. He hadn’t fully recovered from the experience when she planted a kiss on him. Thanks to her, he suffered with a boner the entire ride home. Only an ice-cold shower before bed had helped enough for him to fall asleep.

He hoped he got a chance to touch her ass again and maybe find out if it was a smooth as the skin on her back and arms. The woman must bath in baby oil or something. He’d never felt skin so smooth. Without a doubt, he could’ve stood in her townhouse all night and just ran his hands up and down her back.

Get your head on straight.
He stood a better chance of getting hit in the head with a puck at the hockey game than he did of getting his hands on Allison’s ass or anywhere else tonight. He’d met and dated enough women to know she wasn’t the type to sleep with a guy she barely knew.

Turning off the car vacuum, Rock hung the hose back up on the wall. He had another hour to kill before he headed toward Alexandria. It wouldn’t take him long to shower and dress, but he didn’t really have enough time to do anything else right now either. He might as well go home.

One of his favorite 80’s rock songs came on, and he cranked up the volume as he tried a new route back. He’d lived in the area for eleven months now, and until last week, the bridge near the carwash had been closed for construction. The guy in the apartment next door claimed it was a better route with fewer traffic lights. Now seemed as good a time as any to give it a try.

He turned the music up another notch as one of his all-time favorite guitar solos started, the very one that had sent him begging his parents to let him take guitar lessons. It had taken him a solid month to convince them, but eventually they gave in. He hadn’t stopped playing since, although he still couldn’t do this solo justice.

In the parking lot behind his building, he killed the engine and heard his phone beep.

Call me before you go out tonight
, the message read.

It was from Addie; that confirmed his suspicion. Allison had called her before planning out their evening. He still had time on his hands. A convo with his little sister, although she wasn’t looking too little these days, would shave some more minutes off the clock. Crossing the lot, he pulled up his sister number. She answered before he opened his building’s front door.

“I didn’t think you’d call me back,” she said in lieu of a greeting.

“Don’t say it.”

“Say what? I was right.”

He glanced toward the ceiling as he unlocked his apartment door. His sister could be insufferable sometimes. “There’s a first for everything.” He loved pushing his sister’s buttons, probably more than she enjoyed doing it to him. “Enjoy it while you can.”

“After that insult, I need to reconsider asking you to be the baby’s godfather.”

Her comment left him without a good comeback. Addie got along well with all of them; however, she’d always been closer to him than their older brothers. Despite that, he’d assumed when the time came, Addie and her husband would pick one of Trent’s brother’s to be the baby’s godfather. If anyone could provide for their son or daughter, it was one of them.