Jasmine stared out the window as Kent started to descend the company jet. They had left Washington at nine AM, but because of the eight hour flight and the five hour time difference it was only eleven AM as they approached Manchester airport.
She’d traveled on this plane many times, but the luxury of it never ceased to amaze her. The touchdown was smooth, but Jasmine could feel the final stomach-clenching moment when she realized this was reality and she would have to face whatever was waiting for her.
The jet engines cut off and the silence around them was immediate. Kent had invited her to sit with him up in the cockpit and she had for a few hours, but as each mile increased her trepidation she had come back to sit in the luxury of soft leather seats and napped as best she could.
“Road traffic is going to be pretty bad at this time of the morning,” Jasmine said as Kent walked toward her.
Kent shrugged his shoulders as he opened the plane’s door. Pressing a switch, he lowered the staircase. “If it’s too bad, we can stop for some breakfast on the way.”
Jasmine nodded. She wasn’t that enthusiastic about going home. The thought of what might be waiting for her made her shiver. As she stood behind him, her booted feet pressed firmly into the plush carpet, she slipped on her royal blue winter coat, fastening the large buttons and lifting the collar. She knew it would be freezing once the door was opened. Slipping her handbag strap over her shoulder, she picked up her small piece of luggage.
“I really need to call in at the shop and see how Sophia is getting on.”
“You just spoke to her last night and she was fine. Honey, it’s Monday morning and the shop has only been open a few hours.”
He was right. She was trying everything not to go home, but she had to face it. She had to be brave…damn it!
Kent took the suitcase from her hand then offered his other hand to help her down the steps, but she refused and made her way down behind him. Their plane was in a different part than the commercial ones, and waiting on the tarmac was a man with dark brown hair. His eyes were deep amber, mesmeric, and she remembered him briefly from when Kent had introduced them before they took their flight. Fireball.
He was ginormous, slightly taller than Kent’s six foot two and a lot more bulkier. He reached out with his hand to guide Jasmine off the plane.
“Good morning, Miz Owen. May I help you over these last few steps? It’s nice to see you again. Kent, where are your manners letting this beautiful young lady come down all on her own.”
His smooth London accent slipped off his tongue, and she smiled at him as Kent murmured something under his breath with a scowl on his face. The man beside her just laughed. She could feel herself blushing, but she almost wanted to laugh out loud when she saw Kent’s face.
“Where’s Geekie?” Kent asked as he took her arm by the elbow and stepped in between her and Fireball.
The look he was giving his friend was totally confusing her, and his possessiveness annoyed her. She tried to pull away from him without success. He was acting as if he had a right to be so…male. It was totally ridiculous. She wasn’t at all interested in the other man, there certainly was no attraction between them, unlike the eruption of flammable elements that burst forth every time her and Kent were within two feet of each other.
“Geekie is keeping the apartment under surveillance, hoping the stalker will show up,” Fireball replied. They shut up the plane and started walking toward the terminal.
“Why do you think he might show up?” Jasmine asked.
They reached customs and passport control and were through within a few minutes. And people say that money isn’t a factor in how you’re treated. She shook her head, momentarily forgetting about what they were discussing until Fireball carried on talking.
“We cut the transmissions on the electronics.”
She frowned.
“The bugs and camera,” Fireball explained.
Jasmine nodded. Walking across the car park, she heard the remote locking on his large Range Rover.
“We did it in such a way that it would look like they were failing.”
“So you’re hoping that will achieve what?” she asked.
“That he’ll think they’re broken and try and replace them,” Kent answered as they arrived at the vehicle. He opened the back passenger door for her to get inside.
Jasmine shivered when she thought what that might mean…no more stalker! But surely it wasn’t going to be that easy? Temporarily sidetracked when Kent reached across her and fastened her seat belt, she looked into his eyes as he stared directly at her.
“Comfy?”
She swallowed. “Yes.”
He stepped back, and she blew out the breath she was holding. He jumped into the front seat as Fireball got into the driver’s side.
“So what else did you find?” he asked as the other man started the car.
“This guy is pretty good with electronics. It’s high-end stuff, so I’m thinking there’s no financial worries. He’s made some modifications that even had Geekie perplexed…for a few seconds.”
“But not for long?”
Fireball nodded. “There’s not much that he can’t do computer wise.”
“What kind of stuff did you find? Was there more than we originally thought?” Jasmine asked as they set out onto the road leading to Chester.
Fireball looked at her in the rearview mirror. She noticed the frown before he spoke. “He had a mini-cam in the living room.”
She’d known there was something but actually being told…freaked her out.
“He’s been watching me?”
“Yes, but only certain parts of the apartment, you have two speakers either side of your television.”
She’d only bought them a short while ago. She frowned. It was about the time she’d started getting emails and text messages. They faced the sofa so he couldn’t see much, but it was where she spent a lot of time when she was home. Damn! She put her hand to her throat as her stomach rolled.
“There were several transmitters dotted around the apartment.”
“What else?” Kent barked out.
Fireball looked at Kent with a sideways glance before looking back to the busy road ahead. “We picked her car up from the airport like you asked. There was a mini-cam on her rearview mirror. It was a minuscule dot which Jasmine wouldn’t have seen. And a transmitter was hidden in the lining of her steering wheel cover.”
God, he knew where I was at all times.
“What about the shop?”
Fireball shook his head. “Nothing at all there.”
Thinking about someone watching her in her apartment made her want to throw up, but if he’d done the same in her shop and violated Sophia’s privacy and that of her customers, it…it would have been the worst thing ever. She forced down the bitter bile that was in her throat, but it wouldn’t stay down.
“Fireball, you need to stop the car now.”
Within minutes he’d pulled the car over to the side of the road. She unbuckled her seat belt, opened the door, and jumped down onto the grass verge. She breathed deeply, trying to stem the sickness in her stomach. But images of what had been going on overtook her mind. The thought of him watching her day after day, night after night... It was impossible to stop the sickness that was inside her.
Suddenly she felt large arms wrap around from behind. Kent turned her around, drawing her into the security of his body. “Relax, honey. It’s going to be okay.”
“He knew where I was every second of the day. He must have followed me, watched me, and tracked me.”
Kent drew her closer and she buried her face into him, drawing in his scent and allowing his warmth to surround her.
“I know…shush…I know it’s a lot to take in.”
His calming voice somehow eased the sickness. She knew that he was the strongest man ever and he’d never fear anything, but she believed he understood how she was feeling. The sickly feeling started to pass, but she didn’t move from the comfort of his arms, unwilling to give up the secure feeling.
“Is she okay?” Fireball asked.
“I’m fine.”
Kent gently lifted her chin. “Are you sure?”
She nodded. Turning to Fireball, she smiled. “Sorry about that. This whole scenario freaked me out a bit.”
The large man stared at her for a second, as if he was checking for himself that she was okay, and then he just said, “You’re a good one.”
Kent narrowed his eyes and pulled her closer to his side as he turned and opened the car door for her. They all got back inside the vehicle, and Fireball pulled onto the road again.
“So have you noticed anything since she’s been away?” Kent asked.
“No, nothing out of the ordinary.”
She assumed that Fireball had been keeping a look out at her place. “Do you think he got fed up?” she asked with hope in her voice.
“I don’t think so, Miz Owen, I’m sorry to say.”
“Call me Jasmine…or Jas, I guess. That’s what everyone else has started calling me.”
“Okay, Jas.” He spoke her name, pronouncing each letter and letting it roll off his tongue. Damn, he was sexy, but she didn’t fancy him. However, she knew he was going to be one of those guys she could talk to as a friend.
“Was there anything that we could trace back to him?” Kent asked after a few minutes of silence.
“No.” Fireball took the turn that would lead to her place. “The stalker bought stuff that anyone can get their hands on. There’s too much of it about for us to trace any individual buyers.”
“Any range on the equipment?”
“We reckon about two to five miles.”
“And because of the built-up area, impossible to trace.”
Fireball nodded. “He could be anywhere.”
“Do you think it’s male or female?”
“Personally I think it’s a female, and we’ve nicknamed her She Devil,” Fireball answered.
“Really?” Jasmine asked. She had assumed it was a man.
Kent undid his seat belt and turned around to her. “So, Jas, which woman have you pissed off enough for her to come after you?”
She thought, but there was no one. She was sure there had been people over the years who didn’t particularly love her, but certainly not enough to go to this extreme.
* * * *
Kent turned to his friend as he switched off the ignition. He wasn’t surprised by the news he’d just heard. Women could be just as powerful as men, and the women he’d met in some of the jobs he’d done were stronger and more intelligent than some men he knew.
“So what have you left in place?” Kent asked.
“We left the mini-cams in the speakers.”
“She Devil can still see me?” Jasmine shrieked.
Kent smiled a little at her use of the nickname Fireball had given the perpetrator.
“We need to try and not make them suspicious that you have professional help. We don’t want to send them hiding. Although my guess is it won’t take long for them to figure it out. Geekie made sure no one knew we were at the apartment, and we rigged the cam so it had a constant picture of an empty place while we were there.”
“We’ll have to take the jerry-rig off when she gets inside.”
Fireball nodded.
“Jerry-rig?”
Kent turned around to her. “It’s a device we use to change things to suit us.”
“Do you think there’s a chance they might break in when they realize there’s something wrong with the electronics?” she asked.
“Too risky, they’ll be careful. We left the transmitter in your phone, computer, and the speakers on your television, but we removed the ones we found in your bedroom.”
She nodded.
“So what’s the deal, Kent? Are you hanging around or are you heading back to DC?”
“I’m not leaving Jas alone.”
“Didn’t think you would, bud, but you do realize that if you’re hanging around the apartment they will find out, which will make it harder for us to catch whoever is stalking her.”
Kent knew he would have to be careful, but he wasn’t leaving her alone in the apartment.
“You’ll have to go covert, especially when she goes to the shop or out shopping, out of sight, and in the apartment you’ll have to stay out of picture.” He pursed his lips as Kent scowled at him. “But I guess I don’t have to tell you that.”
“You think, Fireball?” He spoke sarcastically. Damn, did Fireball think he was an amateur?
“Are you and Geekie staying around as well, or are you returning to London?” Jas asked as she unbuckled her seat belt.
Fireball shook his head as he eyed Jas in the rearview mirror, which had Kent wanting to rip his head off. He was one of those men that women swooned over. He had that English accent and smooth manners… Smart ass!
“We’ve rented an apartment in your building.”
“Did you check to see if there have been any new tenants?” Kent asked.
Fireball nodded. “Yes, we checked, and there haven’t been. We’re the only ones to have taken a vacancy recently. There are only four rented. The rest, including Jasmine’s, are bought.”
Kent opened the door and stepped out, his eyes on the lookout as he reached for the passenger door. He told Fireball, “I’ll walk Jasmine in and be back in a moment.”
Jasmine got out of the car and they went inside the building, not speaking until they reached the top landing outside her door. Before she got her keys out he let his hand touch her arm. Those large green eyes looked at him, and he could see the bewilderment in her expression.
Jesus. It was a lot to take in, not to mention she probably felt totally violated by the intrusion, and she had no idea why it was happening. He would do anything to take away that look of despair, but until they knew what they were dealing with all he could do was protect her the best way he knew how, and that was with every bit of knowledge he had gained over the years.
“Try and not look into the cams unless you’re watching television.”
She nodded.
“Just be yourself, and remember that the phone and computer are still bugged.”
Her hands clasped together, the keys jangling from her fingers.
“You okay?” he asked.
“I want to go to the shop.”
“When I come back. I won’t be long.”
“I can go on my own. I’m not a child.” Her normally confident voice held a tremor, and he understood her defiance. She wasn’t used to being babysat, and in all the shock she was trying to find some normality in her life that had been turned upside down.
“Jasmine, you are not to leave this apartment on your own. Do you understand?” He cupped her jaw and made her look him in the eye. “Jas?” Reverting to her nickname, he narrowed his eyes as he waited for her to answer.
She let out a puff of air and said,. “Okay, okay…I’ll wait for you to return.” Her voice was frustrated.
“Good. Also, you should know that Geekie is in your place so he can deal with the cam and turning it back to live feed. He will be out of sight in the kitchen, working on the computer and setting up the system so we’re able to know the minute She Devil contacts you.”
“Do you think it’s a woman as well?”
“I trust Fireball’s instinct. He doesn’t normally get it wrong.”
He’d worked with him on some government assignments, and he knew that Micah had tried to get him to join them at KGIS but he’d been happy setting up his own business in the UK. Although he’d heard from Jack that they could be merging, this would be better all around.
“I won’t be long.” He set his hands on her shoulders and squeezed, and she nodded before turning to open her door.
* * * *
Jasmine entered her apartment, laying the keys on the little antique table by the door before she took off her coat and hung it on the stand. Keeping hold of her handbag, she realized that she’d left her suitcase in Fireball’s Range Rover.
Although Kent had told her Geekie would be in her place it took her a second to get her heartbeat under control when she saw a large, dark shadow come toward her in the small hallway.
However, she was in no way prepared for the sheer size of the man. He was taller than anyone she’d ever met. His long, dark hair was tied back and his olive colored complexion was tapered with dark growth. His name did not suit his look, that much was for sure. She’d had visions of a small guy with glasses. Boy, she’d been way off with that thought.
She’d thought for some reason he was British, but seeing him, she wondered at his nationality. He had the most amazing bone structure, and his expression was indecipherable.
Jasmine stuck out her hand and tried not to let the shiver she’d just felt show. “Hello, I’m Jasmine. Kent told me you’d be here.”
He didn’t smile. She wasn’t sure if this man had ever smiled or laughed—he looked so serious. He shook her hand and nodded.
“Thank you for helping me. You don’t know how much I appreciate your time.”
“Kent asked us,” he said, releasing her hand. “I’ll switch the cam back to a live feed now that you’re here. Just act as normally as you can.”
He reiterated what Kent had told her, and she followed him into the apartment. Without another word he left her to go into the small kitchen. She would have guessed with him in there the room would be full.
She pottered around, going on her computer to have a look at her website and check what orders had come in and if there were any new lines she had to update the site with. As she sat at the desk in the corner of the living room she felt a creepiness settle at the back of her neck. The cam in the speaker would be facing her back, and she couldn’t help the feeling of dread that slithered down her spine as she tried to concentrate on what she was doing.
She went into the kitchen to make a cup of tea. The guy at her table didn’t even look up, not even when he refused her offer of a drink. Going back to the living room, she sat on the sofa and flicked on the television. She didn’t know what was worse…facing the cam or having her back to it. Damn, she’d never felt so uncomfortable in her life. Knowing that her stalker was watching her made her blood run cold.
She must have fallen asleep, because when she heard Kent come in, the room was dark. Switching on the lamp, she glanced at her watch and was shocked to discover it was almost ten PM. Remembering that she was supposed to appear to be alone for the camera, she didn’t jump up to meet Kent like she wanted to.
It bewildered her somewhat, and she was grateful that she was unable to do what her immediate response would have been without her stalker watching. The film she was half-watching finished without her remembering the story line.
Kent had gone straight to the kitchen, and when she walked in him and Geekie were talking quietly beside Geekie’s electronic equipment.
“You’re doing a good job. I know it’s not easy to pretend to be alone when we’re here,” Kent said as he took off his jacket and hung it on the back of the chair.
“It wasn’t too bad,” she said as she watched Kent’s muscles flex with the movement of reaching over his friend to point to something on the screen. It didn’t matter how many times she scolded herself for it, her heart rate excelled every time she was in his presence.
“He’s not the type to talk a lot.” Kent nodded his head toward Geekie who looked up and scowled at him. “Especially when he’s just spent the last six months stuck in the back of beyond on a job.”
Was it her or had Kent moved closer to her? She leaned back on the tall cupboard and felt the handle digging into the small of her back.
“It takes some time to readjust back into normality,” Kent said with a knowing look.
“Fireball seems a lot friendlier than either of you,” she said, trying to breathe in the air that seemed to be getting somewhat short.
Kent stood in front of her, hands on his hips as he narrowed those azure blue eyes at her. “Don’t be fooled by his smoothness. He’s every bit as lethal as Geekie or I.”
“Geekie is so not what I expected,” she whispered.
Kent leaned down. “He gets that all the time. I think what people are expecting is Clark Kent and what they get is Superman.”
A growl—yes, a growl—echoed around the kitchen, but Kent totally ignored the man behind them.
“Don’t get any ideas about either of them.”
She frowned. “What are you talking about?”
“Bed partners.”
“Who I go to bed with has nothing to do with you,” she spluttered at him, feeling a blush heat up on her face.
“Don’t start thinking of them as romance material like in those books on your shelf in the living room.”
“If I want to I will,” she said defiantly.
She placed her hands on his chest to stop him from getting any closer to her. But he didn’t move except to drop his head lower and press his lips against hers with a short, hard kiss.
“No, you won’t.”
Her knees wobbled, and her fingers spread out over the heat of solid muscle. “Why can’t I? It has nothing to do with you. You’re not my keeper.”
“No, I’m not, but we have some unfinished business between us, and when this is all taken care of…I’m going to show you how much you want me.”
“Of all the conceited, arrogant jerks, you take the biscuit.”
“I take it and eat it in one bite.” His smile was confident, and she almost slid down the cupboard at the look of desire in his eyes.
“Except the crumbs that you leave behind,” she said, remembering the night he just up and left her alone in the bed.
“Just because I left it doesn’t mean the desire isn’t still there,” he said as he pressed his pelvis against her, and she felt the hard length of his want on her stomach. He kissed her again. His breath was warm on her lips as he whispered, “Because it is, always has been and always will.” He stepped back. “It’s late, and you look exhausted. Bed.”
She nodded, not really knowing what to say.
She went to the bathroom and pulled the cord so the water would heat up. Taking off her clothes, she stuffed them in the laundry basket before stepping into the steaming spray of hot water.
It felt good and helped her relax, although she thought a cold one would have been more appropriate considering how Kent had turned her on so much her mind had almost been mush. Damn but he uncoiled her like no other. It wasn’t like her at all.
Stepping out, she dried herself off, taking the time to moisturize her skin. Her fingers traced the strawberry birthmark on her inner thigh. For years she’d taken no notice of it until Kent found her and she’d been reunited with her two sisters and birth mother who all had the same image.
She put on a pair of blue cotton pajamas, because they were comfortable and she enjoyed the texture next to her skin. It made her feel secure, and right now she felt very insecure.
Good grief, she thought as she looked at herself in the mirror. The two bears on her top stared back at her, and there were miniature blue hearts on the bottoms. Seriously, there was no way that they would attract any sort of attention. With that thought she stepped out into the tiny hallway.
Kent was leaning against the kitchen door. Looking behind him, she saw that Geekie had left.
“He’ll be back tomorrow.”
She nodded.
He looked her up and down, and she could feel her face heat up. Clearing her throat, she stuck her hands into the trouser pockets. “The bathroom is all yours.”
Kent pushed off where he was leaning, saying nothing as he brushed past her. She felt the warmth of his touch all the way down to her toes and back. She heard the shower come on before she walked down the hallway to her bedroom.
Taking one of her pillows, she added it to the bedding she’d taken out of her closet. She had no idea where he was going to sleep. He couldn’t go into the living room because of the cameras. She stood there for a minute, stymied as to what she was going to do.
A sound alerted her that he was behind her and she turned around, nearly dropping everything on the floor as she took in his appearance. Black boxers hugged, actually hugged, every part of his…area. Lifting her gaze, she absorbed every indentation that shaped his abs then the dark hair that lightly coated his chest.
He cleared his throat, and she looked up quickly.
“Is that bedding for me?”
She nodded.
“Great.” He came over and relieved her of it.
“Where are you going to sleep? I have no other bedroom.”
“Here,” he said simply.
“Oh. Okay, I’ll take the sofa then, although I’m not that keen to do that with the stalker watching me, and they will wonder why I’m sleeping in my living room.”
“You’ll take the bed.”
“But what about you?”
“I’ll take the floor.”
“But that will mean we’ll be sharing a bedroom.”
“Is that a problem?”
“I’m not sleeping with you.”
“I didn’t ask you to,” he said before laying out the bedding next to her bed.
“You won’t be comfortable. It will be too hard for you.”
He smiled, a knowing look on his face saying that he knew exactly what she was thinking. Keeping her eyes from wondering down was one of the hardest things she’d ever done.
“Your carpet is luxury compared to some of the places I’ve slept.”
She just stood there like a lemon, staring at his butt while he made himself a bed on the floor. God, when had she ever looked at a man’s behind as if it was the most beautifully formed part of anyone’s body she had ever seen?
Quickly, she pulled herself out of her sex-starved trance and drew back the covers on her bed before getting in. Pulling the duvet to her chin, she lay straight and didn’t move.
“I want to go into work tomorrow,” she said as she sank back into the pillows, watching the lamp light dance around the room in a series of shadows as Kent finished what he was doing.
“Okay, we’ll go in after breakfast.”
“We?”
He nodded. “I told you that you’re to go nowhere on your own, and I meant it.”
She knew it was pointless to argue, so she just nodded.
“How long were you in the Navy?”
“Ten years, five of that in the SEALS.”
“So you’ve been in business with Micah and Jack for...”
“Five years.”
“Were the three of you together all that time?”
“Some of it when we joined up, followed by the five years in the SEALS.”
She’d gone from business college to organizing lingerie parties to help with her student loans, and then when that had been very lucrative she opened her shop. Who would have known that sexy underwear would sell so well? Some of her new line was downright erotic, but introducing the line had been a good business decision.
She sighed as she looked down at the king-size bed she was lying in then at Kent lying on the floor.
“You do realize this is a king-size bed?”
“Why, Miz Owen, are you asking me to share?”
“No, I am not,” she spluttered at him. “I’m merely saying that I could sleep on the floor and you could have the bed.”
“No.”
“Be sensible, Kent. This is silly.”
He sat up and looked at the bed then her. “It’s big enough for us to share,” he said with a sexy smile on his face.
“I really don’t think that’s a good idea,” she said, the thought making her tingle in a place that made her want to cross her legs just to squeeze in that feeling. She remembered the dreams that had followed after he’d left her. The repetitions, night after night, of how good they had been together had nearly driven her mad.
Damn him!
“That’s a shame,” he said before laying back down. “Turn the lamp off.”
She reached over and clicked it off, and the darkness prevailed. “Night, Kent.”
“Night, sweetheart.”