Final Surrender (3 page)

“I can handle this,” she whispered. “I’ve already started looking into companies for events.”

“That’s what you said last time,” he drawled in his not-so-concealed Texan accent. “Look what that got you. Months of no sleep. The last time you were attacked, they broke how many bones? You had a concussion. Jesus. I wouldn’t have known any of that if it were up to you. Did my own sister call and tell me she needed me? Oh, no. Your fucking assistant called to tell me what was going on. And this was on top of all the creepy shit showing up at your building, not to mention the phone calls. Nights lying afraid in bed, and to this day, no answers as to who or why. Except that everything stopped. Magically.” His voice laced with bitter sarcasm.

When she didn’t readily deny it, he pushed onward. “You said if they came at you again you would take precautions. Sounds like the time is now, sweetheart.”

Her pride was already raising the hackles on the back of her neck. “Don’t call me sweetheart, you know it irritates me.”

She rubbed her temples in the vain attempt to stave off the migraine pounding against her skull.

She didn’t want security. She wanted her privacy and the calm surrender she had in her solitary life. She didn’t want to have to trust someone else with her safety, much less her life.

He relayed more information before she could start with all the reasons she could handle it. “It’s a firm from Texas that works only with high-profile clients. The head of C&C Security has recently become available and he’s willing to take you on, at my request. Then, only for special occasions and big events two agents will be here. I trust them implicitly, Ang. I would never suggest this if I didn’t.”

Angela searched for anything that could get her out of the trap she now found herself in.

“The police thought the attacks were random. Just some guys with too much time on their hands. Maybe a little obsessed,” she added in a rush as she could see Mark preparing to argue.

“Put yourself in my shoes, for just a moment,” Mark pleaded. “What would you do?”

Angela recognized the first blow of defeat as she stared into her brother’s concerned face. He wasn’t smug, or needling her just for the hell of it. He was scared and she knew it. It was what she saw in the mirror every time she was stupid enough to look.

She hated it when he spoke logic to her. Admittedly, if she were standing in his shoes now, she would have put her foot down last year and demanded he get security.

The last thing she wanted was someone sticking their nose into her business, but if the truth be told, depending on someone else with her safety. It simply left her feeling scared. What if she got them hurt? Or worse? She couldn’t live with that.

“Angie? Will you at least meet with him and give them a chance?” Mark asked after she failed to say a word.

She blew out the breath she had been holding and her bangs flew off her forehead for a second.

“Okay,” she finally agreed. “I’ll meet with him. When and where, since I’m sure you already have all of that planned?”

“Of course I do. Did you think I would come unprepared? He’ll be flying in tomorrow morning and I have him scheduled to meet us at your showroom at noon. Is that acceptable?” he asked with a smug smile of success.

She chuckled and shook her head. “I guess so.” Trying to regain her composure, she reached for the bill, which Mark snatched from under her palm.

“This one’s on me. Consider it a thank-you for finally listening to what we’ve all been saying for months. You’ll be happy you did.”

Mark stood and helped Angela to her feet as she grabbed her purse.

“If you ask me, I think it’s a bribe, but I’ll take it nonetheless. Thanks,” she said with a smile. She knew they all meant well, but this was going to take some getting used to.

As they walked to the front, Angela finally thought to ask, “Who is this person you have so much confidence in?”

Mark laid the bill on the counter with his credit card and said, “Oh, you know him, too, sort of. It’s Clay Waters, my best friend from high school. After high school, he…”

All of the blood rushed to her head and drowned out the rest of what Mark so animatedly talked about.

The smile she plastered on her face hid the shock and horror eating away at her insides.

She had to get out of this agreement she’d just made.

Bargain with anything she had.

Anyone else could do the job.

Not him.

Not Clay.

Angela forced herself to take a breath and heard Mark say, “…so he’ll be perfect for the job. Hey, Ang?” He waved a hand in front of her face. “You all right?”

She shook away the shock threatening to knock her to her knees. “Yeah, sorry, just kind of zoned out there.”

Mark rolled his eyes as he tugged her out of the spot she stood rooted to, and she silently continued to freak out as he hailed a cab.

After they got in and Mark had given the cabbie the address back to Angela’s studio, she asked, “Why Clay again? Wasn’t he military?”

“Hello, did you miss everything I just said?” he asked sarcastically. “He was active military for more than five years, but then decided he could do more in the private sector in security. His business partner Campbell just finished a really big contract on some foreign guy visiting the States and is going to keep everything else going in Texas so Clay can come here. Isn’t that something?”

Angela was so shocked, she barely heard herself mumble, “Yeah, something…”

Mark continued talking as Angela thought,
What is Clay doing? Why did he ever agree to this? How do I get out of it now?

Angela turned to face Mark and opened her mouth to tell him the truth, as he said, “I trust him with you, Angie. I trust him to keep you safe and protect you. I don’t know anyone else that I could say that for. He is a good man and a great friend. I just know this is going to work out.”

Angela shut her mouth with a snap.

Damn!

She made a promise to Clay many years ago, never to tell a soul of their one-night stand.

Her brother’s face was so filled with happiness, relaxing with the notion of her finally being protected. She couldn’t bear the thought of ruining it for him. If she told him the truth, everything he thought of his best friend would come into question.

“We’ll see how it goes tomorrow,” she stated as they got out at her studio.

Tomorrow
, her mind screamed, as she tried to unlock the door with shaking hands.

Oh, God. What have I done?

Angela picked at her food during dinner. Mark didn’t seem to notice, she didn’t think. He just chatted on about life in general and some of the buildings he’d worked on, plus a public library project coming up. Any other day his excitement would’ve been palpable.

She tried to listen and ask intelligent questions, but in the back of her mind all she could think was,
Oh God, Oh God
, as her nerves kicked in. Tidal waves of panic threatened to drown her.

After dinner they watched a funny B movie on cable. Earlier than usual, she hit the sack, complaining of being tired.

Rest was a hard commodity that night. Tears were always close to the surface and a couple times spilled over. Angela cried for what she lost and what she thought could have been if Clay had been anyone but Mark’s best friend.

The past played behind swollen eyes when her mind finally succumbed to sleep.
Chapter Four

Twelve Years Prior

Angela sat in the dark movie theater with Rebecca Brown, her best friend. At fifteen they could have passed for sisters with their similar slender bodies and facial features. The only difference was Angela’s hair lay midway down her back and a shade lighter then Becca’s shorter layered do. It was about the only way people could tell them apart.

Rebecca relished the attention she got from guys and she used her
assets
to her advantage on a regular basis. Angela, on the other hand, was content with her books, athletic pastimes, and almost nightly dreams of a guy she shouldn’t want.

Angela didn’t pay much attention to the movie. It was some shoot-’em-up sci-fi thriller that just really wasn’t doing it for her. She did enjoy looking around the theater though, watching the other moviegoers. A lot of them from her sophomore class.

Groups of guys threw popcorn at other customers to get attention from groups of giggling girls. Angela also saw couples sitting in the dark corners of the theater, using the movie as a great excuse to make out for two hours.

She chuckled at how most of them looked like bunnies jockeying for position. It looked so spastic and clumsy. That wasn’t the kind of affection she was after. She wanted to feel the arms of a guy holding her who knew what he was doing.

She wanted to be so lost in his touch she forgot her own name. Angela knew that feeling could come from only one guy.

She nearly fell out of her seat when Rebecca nudged her arm.

Her fantasy faded as she regained focus on the movie theater and realized Becca had been talking to her for some time.

“Sorry, sorry, start over. I missed the first part,” Angela whispered with a good shake of her head to clear it.

Rebecca fully turned to face her and sighed. “Angie, I’ve been trying to tell you that Nick has been watching you for almost the entire movie. Don’t look, but he’s looking right now.”

Not one to play games, Angela glanced down the aisle about ten people and Rebecca had been right. Nick stared directly at her, his lips tilting a bit higher when he caught her staring.

“I told you not to look!” Rebecca scolded. She then smirked in the darkness, quite pleased with herself. Rebecca was bound and determined to find her a date to the next dance. They were both cheerleaders and Becca decided they needed to
support
the school.

Angela raised her hand, waved and smiled a dazzling smile in Nick’s direction.

Nick grinned back and nodded towards her. He then leaned over to his friend, Jacob, who everyone knew had the hots for Becca and talked to him in a whisper behind his hand. Nick never took his eyes off Angela and her cheeks flushed slightly at his attention.

Jacob and Nick were sophomores too, varsity football players, and both recently single according to the rumor mill around school.

“I bet they’re talking about us,” said Rebecca.

“I have no doubt,” replied Angela nonchalantly as she returned her focus to the front of the theater.

“So what do you want to do after the movie? Want to come back to my house and spend the night?” Becca asked.

“I’d love to, but I can’t. I promised Mom I’d help her bright and early tomorrow with some chores she needed to get done. Since Mark left for college she needs a bit more help around the house, plus I think she really just misses him. I hate to admit it but I do too. It’s odd being the only kid in the house.”

Rebecca tried to hide her disappointment. “Maybe next weekend. Hey, do you want to at least get ice cream afterwards? Everybody’s going. The two very tasty morsels down the way will definitely be there.”

Angela laughed at her best friend’s verbiage. “Sure, I could go for some sugar.”

She was dedicated to forgetting about Clay and move on to someone she had a shot with. Nick was easy on the eyes and her stomach did a tiny somersault at the thought of being near him later.

The movie was thankfully soon over and after the last big bloodbath the lights came up low in the theater.

Rebecca and Angela stood slowly and stretched after being cooped up in a one-and-a-half foot square for a couple hours.

They made their way slowly to the end of the aisle, which was right in the middle of the theater, and Rebecca entered the throng of people. Angela realized she had forgotten her purse and told Rebecca, “I’ll meet you outside, I forgot something.”

Becca gave her the thumbs up while being corralled towards the door with the rest of the crowd.

Angela turned back, retrieved her purse, and froze, feeling eyes watching her, stalking her every move. The hair on the back of her neck stood up and a shiver ran down the length of her body in the slightly too-warm space.

She stood and peeked around at all the remaining moviegoers but couldn’t find the source of her nervousness. After making her way to the aisle exit again, she waited for an opening in the sea of people moving before her.

Since she wasn’t in that big of a hurry, she decided waiting was better than pushing and shoving her way through.

She still had the creepy feeling of being watched, but tried to shake it off as a big strong hand reached toward her, dragging her into the aisle in front of him. Angela realized immediately who it was.

Clay.

He kept his warm hands on her hips as they waited behind the huge group. Her throat went dry and her mouth was paralyzed as she tried to form a single word.

Angela could feel the heat of his fingers on her waist and leaned back to enjoy his chest. She was very glad she’d worn an off-the-shoulder shirt. The blue color of it matched her eyes perfectly and the guy’s behind her even better if the truth was told.

Her eyelids closed automatically and she could feel his breath on her neck and shoulder as he spoke.

With a strained voice she hardly recognized he growled, “One of these days you’re just going to have to shove everybody else out of the way to get what you want.”

With the way all of the blood in her body heated up she was quite glad Clay hung on to her. “Listen to the advice, coming from the person who won’t follow it himself,” she threw back at him over her shoulder.

She’d grown up since the last time they spoke on her parents’ front porch. It was days before her sixteenth birthday and she was certain he needed to remember she wasn’t a baby anymore.

To make sure he got the message Angela turned her head and dared a glance up at him behind her hooded lashes, as they started moving again.

Loud and clear apparently, since his body went almost rigid with need and the always-present strain between them was evident on his face.

His mouth was so close to hers that she licked her lips in anticipation.