SASSY IN STILETTOS ARe version (16 page)

***

Micha’s alarm clock woke her to a throbbing body,
but still she felt utterly relaxed.  God, she hadn’t felt this good in weeks,
no, make that months. She’d rather not think about exactly how many months that
was. Caleb Atkins did a body good.

On wobbly legs, she thumped around her bedroom, pulling
her running gear out. If she had to be up to train, and he insisted on
shadowing her 24/7, then she could thump around if she wanted. He’d have to get
up eventually, because there was no way she was skipping her run today. Even
doing six miles yesterday instead of twelve was a penance she’d pay. She was
tempted to skip this morning, but there was no way she’d let some psycho freak
scare her any more. Everyone needed to stop treating her with kid gloves. She
was stronger than this. She wasn’t stupid, so she’d be careful, but she wasn’t
going to hide in her apartment and never leave again. And she certainly wasn’t
going to lose another night of sleep.

“No more fear, Micha, girl.” She muttered to
herself like her adopted father had always said to her. “You’re a Bennett. And
Bennetts eat fear for breakfast.”
Except, you’re not really
a Bennett, are you?

Satisfied that she’d donned a sports bra with the
power to hold her breasts in, she threw on the rest of her clothes and made a
very loud exit of her bedroom. She halted when she saw the folded sheets and
blanket on her couch.

Yeah, she’d never be able to sit there again. Or
at least sit there and not think about him. She knocked on the office door,
straining to see if she’d hear the shower in the other room. She didn’t.

Had he actually left her?
Well
shit.
The hurt knocked her in the gut. So much for promises not to
leave. She really should have known better than to trust him. She should have known
better than to fuck him too. But woulda, shoulda, coulda.  

She grabbed her water bottle and a protein bar and
scooped up the keys to the building’s fitness center. She still needed to run,
and she wasn’t going to take a chance that whoever was fucking with her mind
didn’t mean business. She yanked her front door open and stumbled back three
feet. A mammoth of a man waited directly outside her door. Across the hall in a
chair sat a tiny woman with dark hair pulled off her face.

“Good morning, Miss Bennett,” the mammoth said. He
was Caleb’s height but broader. And he had hands the size of meat cleavers. A
fleeting moment of panic set in, and she rolled onto the balls of her feet,
ready to dart around him to the emergency stairs.

“I’m Tom Meyers. And this is Sarah Vincent. We’re
your first detail. Caleb said he would be back in time to take you on your run.
I expect him at any moment. Or if you insist on going now, I will accompany
you.”

Micha held back a little chuckle. Given his size,
she doubted he could keep up with her. The woman maybe, but as bodyguards went,
she wasn’t exactly a deterrent.

“I, um, was going to hit the treadmill downstairs.”

He nodded. “Fine. I’ll walk you down and stand
watch. Sarah will stay here and watch your apartment.”

“There’s no need for that, Tom, I’ll take Micha on
her run,” Caleb said as he sauntered down the hall. He had a large duffle bag
with him and two brown paper bags from Bread and Cie.

Micha fell a little in love with him in that
moment. He hadn’t left her. More importantly, he brought her pastries. At least
she hoped they were pastries.

“What’s in the bag?” she asked.

“I brought another change of clothes and some
stuff I’ll need, like my laptop etc.”

Micha narrowed her eyes. He was being deliberately
obtuse. He handed one of the Bread and Cie bags to Tom and Sarah and thanked
them, then told them to get some rest.

When he led her back into her place, she asked, “Where
did you go?”

“I had some other business I needed to take care
of.”

She let them back into her apartment so he could
drop off his bag. “Early start?”

His eyes coursed over her, scorching her skin. “Yeah,
well, I was already up.” He put both bags down and eyed her. “You ready to go? I
know you didn’t get to finish your run yesterday.”

Oh, so they weren’t going to talk about it. No
mention of the fact that they’d fucked right there on her couch. Well, she wasn’t
one to sweep anything under the carpet. “Uh, so about last night.”

He raised a brow. “What about it?” His gaze was
impassive and contemplative.

He wouldn’t make this easy then. Fine. “I, uh...”
Why was this so hard? She made a point to be brutally honest with herself at
all times, so why couldn’t she have a plain conversation about sex. “It was,
great. And I needed that, so thank you.”

Caleb’s lips tipped up into a grin. “Anything to
make a lady happy.”

She puffed out a breath and tucked a wayward curl
behind her ear. “But it can’t happen anymore. It’s too messy, and it’ll get
ugly later.”

He shrugged. “Your call.”

Whiskey. Tango. Foxtrot. “So just like that, you’re
fine with it. You don’t care.”

His eyes narrowed, and he turned his sharp gaze on
her. “Don’t put words into my mouth, sweetheart.” He cracked his neck. “What is
it, exactly, you want to hear? That I woke up so hard my balls ached? Or that I
can still smell you all over me and it’s driving me nuts? Or that I want to
take you to bed again and have you screaming my name as soon as you’ll allow
it?”

“I—” She shut her mouth. What the hell could she
say to that?

“All true, but I know you by now. You’re strong,
but you’re skittish, and after what you told me last night, I can see why. So
if you need to tell yourself that it’s not going to happen again, feel free. I
can be patient. Because I know you’ll come back to me.  You like how I make you
feel too much not to.”

Her temper simmered under her skin.
Asshole
. Did he really need to be that cocky? “Look, I
needed something, and you were there. It doesn’t have to be a big thing.”

“Twice.”

She took a step back and her ass hit the counter. “What?”

He smirked, “Well, technically three times. Twice
last night and once in the elevator. You needed something from me
three
times.”

“Don’t be a pi—”

Scowling, he stepped directly in front of her and
braced both hands on either side of her against the counter. She met his gaze
with a level one of her own, mentally beating back the surge of lust.

“Let’s not get it twisted, sweetheart. You want
me. And I, well, you can see the evidence of how I feel for yourself.” His dick
pressed against her belly. “But you need time to figure out what you want. And I
need to focus on keeping you safe, so if you want to do the whole this isn’t
ever going to happen again thing to yourself, fine. But let’s make it clear. You
and I will be naked and slick with each other’s sweat soon enough. I’m not
going to pressure you. You take all the time you need. Try to work me out of
your system if you want. But I see you. I’m under your skin just like you’re
under mine.”

Micha’s blood roared in her head, and she panted
as her body went into lust override. “Caleb, I—”

He stepped back and flexed his hands once, then
twice. When he met her gaze again, his good-natured smile was back. “Now how
about that run? No pastries for you until you make up yesterday’s mileage.”

Caleb watched Micha through the glass of her office
while he checked his email and kept an eye on Carlotta. The girl was scared of
something, and if he didn’t figure it out quick, he wouldn’t be able to help
her.

After a grueling run with Micha, he was feeling
every hour of sleep he didn’t get because he’d been too busy screwing her. They
had dance class tonight, so he’d stay with her through the day. He’d have to
leave and check on Carlotta at some point, so he’d have someone else on Micha. Not
how he liked to do things, but whatever.

He’d sent Carlotta’s fingerprints to a friend in
the FBI who would check them discreetly. Something about the way the girl had
fingered the television and stereo had bothered him. She hadn’t been interested,
like someone who’d never known luxuries like that before, but more like she’d
been remembering. He already knew Sabine wasn’t being honest with him. He needed
to figure out what about before the girl slipped from his grasp.

His brain kept telling him not his problem, but
something about the girl spoke to him. She was a kid. Couldn’t be more than twelve.
Sure the clothes she’d had on were supposed to make her look older. More sexed
up, but he recognized her for the kid she was. He
had
to help her.

Helping her won’t bring them
back.
He shook his head to clear the memory. This was a different
situation. Not at all like that protection duty that had gone so terribly
wrong.

 Then why was he still thinking about it?
Because you lost her when you swore you’d protect her.

When his phone buzzed in his pocket, he cursed. “Yeah.
Atkins.”

“Someone’s in a mood.”

“What’s up, Alec?”

“Okay, so that kind of day. You want to talk about
it?”

The last thing he needed was Alec trying to help. Caleb
wanted to keep everyone away from the mess that was Sabine. “No, Oprah, I’m
good. What’s up?”

“I was going to ask you to bring my brother by
after your class tonight. Adele and I have some papers to sign. And if I leave
the office without her, Jaya’s going to go all bloodhound on me and likely ruin
her surprise.”

Alec was right. His bride to be was like a dog
with a bone. When she had her mind set on something, there was no deterring
her. Caleb had never met anyone who liked to plan or organize so much. And who
the hell knew she’d be a good match for Alec? He and Alec had known each other
since they were kids, and he’d never known anything to tie the guy down. Not
even Adele could hold him for long. Jaya changed all that.

“Yeah, sure, I’ll swing Max by. You have any idea
how long it’ll take you? I’m juggling another case and Micha’s as well.”

“Oh, right. You want me to take him to the airport
myself?”

Caleb didn’t want to risk that. “No, it’s cool, I’ll
take him. Micha can visit with Jaya for a minute when we’re there.”

“How’s she holding up?”

“Honestly, man, I don’t know.”

“How can you not know? You’ve been with her,
right?”

Caleb wasn’t going to share what had happened with
Micha. If she chose to tell Jaya fair enough, but he was keeping his mouth
shut. “She acts nice and strong, but I can tell it’s getting to her. She wants
it done with. I don’t have the heart to tell her that it could be a while.”

Micha’s assistant carried coffee in from the cart
downstairs and left it in front of Caleb. He nodded an appreciative thanks. Ryan
smiled, but not before giving him the once over. Interesting. Micha could have
mentioned her date was gay.

Caleb tried to catch up with what Alec was saying.
“Yeah, Micha’s a tough one to crack. She’s pretty badass, but even the most
badass of women need someone at some point.”

“What? Is this love advice from the once untamed
Alec Westhorpe?”

“Ha, ha. I’m a reformed man. And I’ve been
learning a lot about women.”

“Yeah, but the remedial classes Jaya has you in,
most of us have taken those years ago. You need to catch up, buddy.”

Alec snorted. “Is that so? Then why the hell do
you sound so touchy? If you know women so well, that is. Have you told Micha
how you feel about her?”

Caleb scowled. “What would I be telling her,
exactly? Keep in mind that I hold the lock code to every safe at the hotel.”

Alec chuckled. “Easy, buddy. All I’m saying is you
want more than her body, right? I’ve known you since we were kids. It’s not
like you to only want to sleep with a woman. You notice like the rest of us
dirt bags, and you sample your fair share, but you also have a heart.”

Fat load of good it was doing him.”Yeah, whatever.”

“You know, as a requisite, since she’s family, I
have to warn you off. You fuck this up, and Beckett and I will be sent to kill
you.”

Caleb barked out a laugh. “You’ll be sent, will
you? Yeah, sure. I welcome the challenge.”

“Here’s my beautiful bride to be now.” Alec’s
voice became muffled and muted, and a moment later Jaya shouted her hello into
the phone and started in on twenty questions until Alec sent her away.

“If there’s anything we can do to help, you’ll let
us know.”

“Yeah, thanks, man. But I’m on it. If I need you,
I’ll call.”

After he hung up with Alec, he checked on Carlotta.
The cameras in the living room and in the kitchen showed nothing. His heart
hammered. Quietly as he could, he checked the cameras in the bedroom. Still
nothing. The motion sensors he’d set up showed no movement in the whole
apartment. As he’d suspected, Carlotta had flown the coop.

He snatched up his phone and called one of his
guys who was off rotation. “Matt, I need you on the girl. She’s flown the coop.
Activate her GPS.”

The voice on the on the other end was alert. “You
want me to approach?”

“No, not yet. Observe and keep her safe. If you
have to extract, do it, and call me after.”

“Yes, sir.”

He hated not being able to be in more than one
place at a time. He didn’t want to leave Micha, though he knew watching her 24/7
would be out of the question. Besides, her stalker had to think that she was
unprotected for this to work properly. He’d make sure the cameras were all set
by tomorrow and back off. He’d still be the one monitoring her and picking her
up if she had to go somewhere, but he’d give her the illusion of freedom. As
for Carlotta…

He had a plan, he just needed to watch it play
out. For now, even though she’d run, he’d made her as safe as he could.