The minute my shift is done I head out the back door, and almost walk right smack into the man who’s been on my mind since he left the diner this morning.
My eyes narrow. “I didn’t realize you were a friend of Cole and Kenny’s yesterday. Thanks for helping me out last night. I wasn’t the nicest in the bar.”
Garrett’s blue eyes twinkle. “Why of course, ma’am. You might as well get used to me because Jake Eldridge is no longer your problem. He’s mine.”
I smirk. “Oh, yeah? How’d I get so lucky to have a bodyguard all of my own?” I tease.
He laughs. “Cole’s a great friend and Kenny by extension. I’m going to be in town for a while, so maybe we should get off to a better start. The guys told me a little bit about you.”
“Those two blabber mouths probably told you all my problems.”
Garrett laughs. “They filled me in because they care. I’ll be helping Cole while I’m here and keeping an eye on you, which, by the sounds of it, will be a full-time job on its own.”
I narrow my eyes. “And if I don’t want you showing up everywhere I go?” I ask, although the thought of him anywhere near me causes my skin to tingle with excitement, whether I want it to or not.
“Afraid that’s already been decided. Kenny and Cole are worried about you, and the situation is not going to go away on its own. You know that, and I know that. It’s time to fix it.’’
My eyes roll unintentionally. He doesn’t miss it and narrows his at me. He’s not wrong about the situation with Jake going away. His dad wants what he wants and that’s not going to change. “I won’t turn down the help, but I don’t see any light at the end of this tunnel. That man wants to put a highway and casino strip right through my gramma’s living room. Jake keeps coming round pleading with me to sell, and the more I say no the meaner he gets. His dad is a real bastard, and he’s turning out to be just like him. I had hoped he would turn out different.”
“How long have they been bothering you? Really, how long?”
“It didn’t heat up in earnest until after Kenny healed up from surgery and Cole came to town. Word spread really quick that Carlos Larussio and his family were protecting Kenny and the others on the main strip. Then Eldridge started going after people who owned homes on the other side of town. It was real hush hush for a while. Everyone was scared to say anything about it at first. But you know how small towns are. We started talking quietly and put two and two together. It didn’t take a genius to know that they were going to buy up land and get what they wanted a different way, through us.”
Garrett leans against the brick building. “The Larussios protect what’s theirs, and they’re not going to allow Eldridge and his son to build casinos in this town. Period. Cole and I will make sure of that. But it’s going to take a little time. It may get pretty heated. I want you to stay close to me, understand? That Jake seems pretty persistent. I’ve seen guys like that before.”
I nod, swallowing down my pride in exchange for a chance at safety for me and my dad. “I can do that,” I tell him because this seems like a lifeline that I can’t afford to ignore. Like someone is looking down on me and making sure me and Dad are protected. I’m not about to stand in the way now that I know Kenny is behind some of it. I would trust that man with my life. “I’ll take your help and appreciate it; thank you.”
Garrett gestures to my car. “Where are you headed now?” he asks, glancing at his watch.
“I have enough time to get home and pick up a few things that I forgot to take with me this morning, maybe relax for a bit, and then get back to Kenny’s. I’m on at eight tonight.”
He smirks. “Consider me your tail.”
I roll my eyes because he can’t possibly have any idea what I’m wearing tonight. “I’ll do that, and I am sorry if I treated you bad at first. I didn’t know who you were or why you were interfering. We get a lot of traveling guys through these parts.” I shrug. “Sometimes I get hit on. It’s an occupational hazard.”
“You dancing doesn’t give anybody the right to grab you like he did, understand?”
I nod, unsure what to say at first. “It’s not that I can’t take care of myself, because I can. It’s just Jake’s a different issue. We go back a ways, and he’s never really let go.” I don’t know why I feel compelled to tell Mr. tall, dark, and handsome that, except for this unshakeable attraction that seems to sizzle every time he even looks my way.
His bright eyes meet mine. “I’ll follow you home and wait for you until we go to the club.”
My mind swirls in different directions all the way home, because just being around him makes my blood thrum, and that’s with all of my clothes on. I see Jake’s truck parked on the street. The minute he sees Garrett’s car behind mine, he guns his engine and peels out down the street as we pull into the drive.
I can’t help but smile, because for the first time in a long time, I feel safe. I get out and head to the door, having expected Garrett to stay in his car like he did the last time, but Garrett’s already out the door and walking next to my side. “Let me have your key. I’m going to check the place out and make sure it’s okay to leave you.”
“Jake won’t come in unless I’m here. Whether Patti and Jules think so or not, he really does have some boundaries. He cared about me in his own way, as much as he can care about anyone probably.”
Garrett’s eyes meet mine. He doesn’t seem convinced. “And that relationship is over or still in play?”
I feel mesmerized by the intensity of his gaze. “It was never really a relationship for me, but he doesn’t seem to get the message. Coupled with that, his father wants this house, regardless of the cost, and Jake Eldridge does what daddy says.”
He nods, moving through the small house like a panther stalking its prey.
“Most of the families have been in this town and in their homes for a long time. We don’t want to sell our memories for some highway that brings more business into town and competes with our community shops. The townspeople stick together. We know what they want.”
Garrett walks through the small kitchen, opening and closing cupboards, then walks into the living room. He looks around at the walls. “Nice deer,” he says, gesturing to the atypical mount on the wall surrounded by pictures of a forest and creek above the well-worn brown leather couch. He walks to the gun case in the corner and opens it scowling. “No lock?”
I sigh… “I know there should be, but I want to be able to grab something the minute I need it, you know?”
He doesn’t answer, just takes each out and inspects them. “You have one ready to go at all times?”
Maybe I shouldn’t, but I do. “It’s the only way I can sleep at night. Under my bed and one under the pillow.”
He nods, finishing with his inspection of Granddad’s rifles before he follows me down the hall, past the two spare bedrooms, and into the master bedroom that is now mine. I walk into the lilac-colored room and slide to the floor beside the queen-sized bed with the dark purple and lilac colored quilt with lace edges. I pull out my rifle and hand it to him, barrel pointed away from him, before sitting on my bed while he inspects it.
The minute he opens it up, my heart sinks into my stomach before he says a word. “It’s empty.” I swallow hard and try not to let the tears come because I can handle myself, have been handling this shit myself for a long time, but this… A total invasion of my privacy and left defenseless.
Jake’s been in my house without my permission, found my weapon, and disarmed it. I slide my hand under my pillow and wrap my fingers around the small pistol. It may not be a big gun for a guy, but the man who sold it to me said it would at least stop someone for a hot minute and give me time. And it’s empty too.
Garrett looks at me and shakes his head. “That man has no boundaries, Lacy. Pack your stuff. You’re coming with me.”