Just This Once, Contemporary Romance (Last Frontier Lodge #3) (6 page)

Jo nodded. “Good to hear. Speaking of the courthouse, Dale said he wanted me to buzz him when you got here. Ready for him to see you?”

“I’ll go see him. No need to send him my way.”

“I’ll let him know you’re headed his direction,” Jo said as Aidan started to walk past her desk to the door that led into the rest of the lower floor, which was mostly offices, in addition to an in-house gym. Aidan worked out daily with weights and alternated with running, biking and swimming. He wanted his security staff in tip-top shape, so he made it easy for them by offering the gym on site. It was busy morning and evening.

He passed his own office and headed down a short hall to Dale Cooper’s office. As soon as he tapped his knuckles on the door, Dale’s voice filtered through. “Come on in!”

Aidan stepped inside and shut the door before leaning his hip against Dale’s desk. “Jo said you wanted to check in. What’s up?”

Dale finished typing something on his keyboard and swiveled his chair to face Aidan. Dale was an ex-Marine and looked the part. He kept his brown hair close-cropped and dressed in identical clothes daily. In the world of private security, that meant a black suit. His brown eyes were serious when he met Aidan’s gaze. “Right. Remember a while back when we heard about that perp who was threatening attorneys and making life hell for his ex after she didn’t back down from an assault charge?”

Aidan nodded slowly, concern weaving into his thoughts. He’d warned Becca about this same guy at the time because she was the prosecuting attorney. Though she’d gotten annoyed with him at first, she’d later called him to check in and had tolerated him adding an extra security guy at the courthouse to keep an eye on her office and monitor her apartment building after hours. “Did something change? Last we heard, his girlfriend dropped the charges and that was that.”

Dale leaned back in his chair and idly tossed a tennis ball he kept on his desk. “That was the latest status. He got arrested again this weekend and is making all kinds of noise about going after the current attorney handling it.”

“Can’t be Becca. She was out of town this weekend.”

Dale shook his head. “Nope. Lloyd Russell’s dealing with the new charges. Unlucky draw. Anyway, thought you’d want to check in with the district attorney again.”

“I’m handling the courthouse security this week, so I’ll stop in today.”

Dale arched a brow, his brown eyes holding a question. Aidan’s company had been covering security for several years at the courthouse, yet he almost never covered it himself, as Dale well knew. Dale was one of several who usually covered it, so he would notice when it wasn’t on his rotation. This had been a deliberate choice on Aidan’s part because he’d needed to keep a clear distance from Becca to hold his feelings at bay. And then the other night happened. Now, all he could think was maybe, just maybe, he had a chance with her. Though it might be half-crazy on his part, he intended to make sure his path crossed with Becca’s as often as possible. Things had been left unsettled after her request the other night. He’d purposefully not mentioned it on the drive back to Seattle yesterday and figured he needed to leave it to her to take the next step.

A tennis ball flew past Aidan’s head and bounced against the wall. Dale deftly caught it and bounced it again. Aidan watched its path before he met Dale’s gaze again. “It’s been too long since I covered that rotation. It’s good for me to have eyes on our regular jobs here and there.”

Dale nodded. “Right. Timing’s good this week then.”

Aidan’s eyes tracked the tennis ball for another moment before he nodded and stood. “That it is. If I need any extras after I talk to the DA, I’ll call.”

Dale caught the ball one last time and set it down on his desk. “Catch you later,” he said as he turned back to his computer.

Aidan headed to his own office and plowed through emails and reviewed a few reports Jo had prepared for him. His mind wasn’t as focused as he’d like with Becca peeking in and out every few minutes. He couldn’t help but wonder if he was about to make the biggest mistake of his life. He’d been quite successful at shutting down his desire for Becca. His years of military discipline had served him well in that vein. He needed to prepare himself for the reality that Becca might want nothing more than one night with him. He’d so thoroughly shut down any hope for more, he thought perhaps he could live with that. Yet, in the back of his mind, he couldn’t help but hope for more.

***

Becca walked briskly through the bustling waiting area at her office, flashed her badge at the scanner and pushed through the door when it buzzed her clear. Once the door clicked shut, the sounds from the waiting room were muffled. She leaned against the door with a sigh and closed her eyes.

“Long day in court?”

Aidan’s voice was unmistakable. It was as if a bell rang inside of her, her body instantly on notice. Her pulse quickened. She forced herself to take a breath before she opened her eyes. He stood at an angle from her, his shoulder against the wall, his hand tucked in his pocket with his suit jacket nudged out of the way. His blue gaze was steady and sharp. It was early evening and somehow Aidan managed to look as put together as he probably did first thing in the morning. On the other hand, she felt tired and rumpled and probably looked as such.

She pushed away from the door and shrugged. “No more so than most days. What brings you here today?”

She adjusted the armful of files she held when Aidan swiftly took two strides and deftly removed them before she had a chance to object. She opened her mouth to tell him not to, but she stopped herself. She didn’t feel like having a petty argument at the moment. When she glanced up, she caught the glint in his eyes. She shook her head and turned to walk down the hall toward her office, gesturing for him to follow.

“Thank you. I keep meaning to get one of those file box carts, but I never get around to it.”

She felt him shrug as he walked alongside her. Once they entered her office, he carefully set the stack of files on her desk.

“Have a seat,” she said with a wave toward a small round table in the corner.

He tugged a chair out and sat while she stepped to the bookshelf and prepped a coffee in the single cup server she kept. “Coffee?” she asked over her shoulder.

“Just had a cup, but thanks for asking.”

Moments later, she joined him at the table, cupping her hands around the paper cup of coffee. “You never said why you were here.”

Aidan’s brows hitched. “Oh right. I’m covering this assignment for a bit.”

Becca’s pulse jumped again, and she immediately tried to quell it. If Aidan were covering the courthouse, that meant she’d see him every day. Part of her thrilled to that, while another part of her dreaded it. Seeing him daily would mean she had to either shore up her defenses, or get over herself and follow through with her crazy proposal. She strove for a casual tone. “Oh. Anything going on I should know about?”

“Not really, unless you count that Morris Connor got arrested again over the weekend, and he’s already back at it with his threats. Your colleague, Lloyd Russell, drew the lucky card. I gave your boss an update earlier. We’re beefing up the team here until further notice.” Aidan paused, his eyes assessing. He appeared to be considering his words. “If we hear any word about threats against you again, are you gonna be okay if I station someone to monitor your apartment building after office hours?”

Becca recalled how annoyed she’d been with him when this came up before. Then, she’d heard a bit more about Morris’s history, which included attacking a prosecutor in court once upon a time in another state. She might be stubbornly independent at times, but she wasn’t stupid. She met Aidan’s gaze with a rueful smile. “I’ll be just fine. Do whatever you think needs to be done. How’s Lloyd handling all of it?”

Aidan rolled his shoulders and leaned back in his chair. “You know Lloyd. He’s matter of fact about it. Said it comes with the territory. For now, Morris is only succeeding at getting himself in more trouble.”

Their conversation moved on to lighter matters. Becca’s tension eased from her busy day between the cup of coffee and Aidan’s company. She’d never allowed herself to think much about the spark of attraction with Aidan. Because it was too uncomfortable and bumped up against the defenses she’d built around her heart. Sitting with him in her office, chatting casually about her day was…nice. Regardless of the disconcerting sizzle he set to life inside of her, Aidan was easy to be around. She could see why he was such a good friend of Gage’s. He was smart, observant, funny and engaging with that ever-present, protective quality.

Her chin resting in her hand, she bantered with him about sports and politics. She spun her coffee cup in her hand and took the last swallow before standing. “This coffee helped, but I’ve got to head out and scrounge up some dinner before I pass out. I haven’t eaten since first thing this morning.”

He pushed his chair back and stood. “How about we grab a bite next door at the Thai place? I could use some dinner myself.”

Becca found herself nodding before she could think. Her brain, the well-trained snarky part of her brain, started to howl its disagreement. She batted the voice back. Because maybe she wasn’t ever going to let a man into her heart again, but she didn’t have to be cranky and refuse to have a nice dinner with a friend. The very friend she’d decided would be the man to erase the memory of Kyle as her last lover. She might be crazy, but it might be fun. What was she getting out of keeping herself at a distance from everyone? Aside from get-togethers with her family and a few close friends, she spent most evenings and weekends on her own. While she was an independent sort, she used to be more social. Dinner with Aidan could be a good thing. Maybe she could find a way to wash her desire out of her system for once and for all, and just be friends after that.

Chapter 7

Becca could hardly keep her eyes off of Aidan as he walked across the restaurant toward her. He’d stepped away from the table to greet a business associate. Thus far, she’d managed to keep her body under control and actually enjoyed dinner. Aside from the fact that she was starving and she loved Thai food, Aidan was plain good company. A few moments ago when he stood to walk away, her eyes tracked the flex of his shoulders under his shirt. Just like that, the embers inside flashed into flame.

He simply kept walking. He’d removed his suit jacket and tie sometime during dinner. As he sat across from her, she ached to flick her fingers under the buttons of his shirt, just a few more, so she could see the planes of his chest that she’d only felt in the darkness the two times they’d kissed. His eyes caught hers and the air snapped and crackled between them. At that moment, their waitress passed by and quickly cleared the table, leaving the check before she walked away.

Aidan arched a brow. “Need a ride home?”

She started to shake her head and then made an abrupt decision. If she kept thinking, she’d lose her chance. She might as well face her desire head on. Maybe then, this wild burning he set loose inside of her would be contained. She nodded. “It’s either that, or a cab. You said my car won’t be ready until the end of the week, right?”

He nodded. “That’s what they said. I asked them to get it taken care of as quick as they could, but they said the parts can only get there so fast.”

“Right. I suppose you’ve got it all worked out to pick it up for me?” She couldn’t help but tease.

His eyes crinkled with his wry smile. “Of course. Same thing I’d do for any friend.”

 
She chuckled and shook her head. She couldn’t help but appreciate his thorough helpfulness. “I know. That’s the only reason I’m not fussing at you about it.” She stood and draped her jacket over her arm. “Ready?”

***

Aidan steered the car carefully through the rainy night. It hadn’t been raining when they went into the restaurant, but the rain fell steadily now. When he came to a stoplight, he glanced over at Becca. Her hair was damp from their dash to his car. She was twirling a lock of it around her finger, a habit she’d had as long as he’d known her. He thought he’d done a damn good job at keeping the tone light during dinner. In some ways, it was easy because Becca was easy to be around. She was bright, funny and loved to debate just about any issue. Her idealistic heart tended to ride on her sleeve for all the world to see. He still recalled how Gage had described her before Aidan had met her. Gage spoke of his family often when they were on missions. Becca was the sibling he spoke of when tension ran high on the team. “Becca and her bleeding heart never back down, so we won’t either.” That was a statement Aidan heard time and again.

Then, he’d met Becca and though he was almost knocked sideways by his attraction to her, he saw why Gage thought of her at difficult moments. She was the kind of person who kept fighting for what she thought was right no matter what. At the moment, her passion was working in the rather thankless job of a public prosecutor on the cases that rarely got much attention.

In the shadowed light in the car, his eyes traced her profile—the arch of her delicate brow, the angle of her cheekbone and its curve down to her full, sensuous lips. Lust jolted through him, and he took a sharp breath. Becca’s head whipped in his direction, her eyes slamming into his. In the quiet, his heart pounded so hard, it wouldn’t have surprised him if she could hear it. Her pulse fluttered in her neck. He was startled out of the thick of the moment when a car horn blared at him from behind.

Becca jumped in her seat. “Oh!”

Even that little moment endeared her to him. He had to get a grip. He swung his eyes back to the road and drove through the intersection. The remaining moments on the way to her apartment were quiet. Heavy desire pounded through his veins. Ever since her proposal over the weekend, he’d told himself over and over and over again that he had to let her drive this. Because if he took charge…all bets were off. He knew, without a doubt, if he came on too strong with Becca, he’d scare her off. It was hard enough to navigate his physical desire, but holding the reins on his emotions was the bigger challenge.