A confident statement if she’d ever made one.
“What makes you so sure?” Cassie sounded unconvinced.
“I told you.” Ellie slowly swung her legs around, so she was in a seated position. “That’s not how he works.”
Stalk. Kidnap. Torture. Kill.
That was George Ray Harvey’s modis operandi. Not randomly shooting into a crowd in hopes of hitting his target.
Was I the shooter’s target, or was it someone else?
“Thank you.” Cassie slid from her fiancé’s embrace and walked toward Ellie. “I’ll feel so much better knowing you’ll be under Lucky’s watchful eye tonight. I’d offer to stay myself, but he’s a bit more qualified than I am in the bodyguard department.”
Ellie smiled back at her sweet friend. “You’ve already been down that road, Cass. And you almost didn’t survive.” She could still see Cassie lying unconscious in that hospital bed. “I couldn’t live with myself if something else happened to you because of me.”
“That’s what I told her you’d say.” Archer sidled up next to his woman, his arm wrapping gingerly around Cassie’s small waist.
Lucky pushed himself back up to his feet and sighed. “Then it’s settled.” He rested his strong, masculine hands low on his hips. “You two can sleep well knowing I’m keeping watch over our girl.”
Our girl?
“Uh…” Ellie’s lips parted to inquire about his choice of words, but Cassie chose that exact same moment to go in for a hug.
“Thank you.” Her friend wrapped her arms tightly around her and squeezed. “I feel so much better with him here.”
That makes one of us.
Ellie hugged Cassie back. “I’ll call you tomorrow.”
“Not if I don’t call you first,” the other woman teased. Pulling back, she added, “I’ll call Nat on the way home and give her an update. I know she’ll be as relieved as I am to know you have someone looking out for you.”
She still felt like this whole thing was overkill. But since she’d already agreed…
“Thanks, Cass.”
After another quick hug, Ellie watched from her place on the couch as Lucky walked Cassie and Archer to the door. Seconds later, she was alone in her apartment with the one man on the face of the planet she couldn’t seem to shake.
Five Eagle’s Nest operatives andthiswas the one she’d agreed to let stay?
I must be a closet masochist. That has to be it. It’s the only explanation that makes sense.
She watched as Lucky secured the locks on her apartment door. Turning around, he looked at her, and damn, but if she didn’t nearly forget to breathe.
The man was seriously gorgeous, she had to give him that. Between his dark hair, strong, chiseled features, a body made for sin, and eyes she could easily get lost in…
I could strip him down and feast on him for days.
“You hungry?”
Ellie blinked, and for a moment, she was terrified he’d somehow read her mind. But then…
“I could make some sandwiches or something. Or I can order us some takeout. I’m not a picky eater, so whatever sounds good to you is—”
“Sleep.” The blurted the word came out much louder than she’d intended. “Uh…I mean…it’s been a long day, and I’m really tired. I think I should probably go lie down for a while.”
With any luck, I’ll be out until morning, and then it will be time for him to go.
“You could be right about Harvey.” Sincerity shone brightly in the blues of his stare as he slowly strode toward her from across the room. “In fact, you probably are. If the asshole is as smart as they say, the guy’s most likely halfway to Mexico by now.”