McDonald_SS_GEN_Nov2014 (3 page)

A knock on his door had him exiting his morbid thoughts and swinging to face his visitor.

“Come in,” he yelled, snorting as he did so. He wished Leah would just escort people with appointments in to see him. The older woman insisted on maintaining the same casual approach to visitors his father had always used.

His body relaxed and his hand came out of his pocket when his college roommate, and current protector, vaulted through the door tight as a coiled spring. David’s body vibrated with constrained energy all the time. He often got a contact jolt just being near the man.

“Hello, Dr. North. Sorry to be running behind,” David said, grinning as he watched Nicolas sag in relief after seeing it was him. “How the hell do you make it through the day, Bro? You obviously hate this business shit.”

“Yes. I do. But somebody’s got to run this place so all the people who work here can eat.”

Nicolas answered while accepting David’s man hug, his hand lingering around his shoulder. David was one of the few people whose touch felt genuinely affectionate. They were an odd pair with not much in common, but they had remained good friends for a lot of years.

“Dude, I hear you. You’re a good man for feeling that way,” David said softly, then froze when he felt Nicolas tense against his arm. He followed his friend’s gaze to the doorway where his clueless baby sister stood looking around. “About time you got here, Megan. What did you do? Jog over instead of drive?”

“Stop whining, David. I got caught in traffic. Wow, St. Nick. This is a
very
nice office you have here.” Megan’s reluctant gaze finally swung to the man she’d accidentally seen hugging her brother moments before. Now she could see why her mother had been compelled to warn her about his changes. The man she had jokingly nicknamed St. Nick as a teenager had become a lean, well-dressed businessman with more poise than she’d imagined possible for him.

About three seconds into their gazes locking, Megan realized Nicolas still had the same turquoise gaze she’d fantasized about for years. Yet, like the geek she knew he was under the fancy clothes, his confused stare further revealed he had no idea how much his intense scrutiny unnerved her. Her relief to have the maturity edge today—faked or not—was enormous.

“I guess you ended up getting that doctorate you always talked about.”

Unable to stop staring at the grown-up version of Megan, Nicolas walked away from David as he answered. “This was my father’s office. I merely inherited it. I can’t take any credit for the ambiance, but I haven’t changed it much. And yes. . .I did finally get my doctorate.”

His body moved toward the woman across the room like a magnet slides toward metal without any control over the reaction. And a woman was definitely what Megan Lynx was now. Though still tall and lean, her body curved in womanly places and filled out the simple clothes she wore. Her eyes told stories of her experiences. Who knew what she had done and seen during the time they’d been apart? Her life had been a lot more exciting than his.

“It’s good to see you moving around so well. David told me your injury was healing. I kept wondering how you were doing.”

Megan shrugged in reply. “I’m fine. Good enough to get by, but a lame leg would have been a problem if I’d stayed in the Corps. Like the others who were shot when I was, I decided to cut my losses and get out. I miss the Marines, but it’s. . .well it’s just one of those things.”

All the reasons he’d allowed distance between them over the years—both the logistical and the emotional kind—had slowly disintegrated in the past one. Though continents apart, people had ended up shooting at both of them. Now Megan was home and close, and he could finally see the truth of his emotions for what they were. He’d simply been giving her time to grow up—mostly out of guilt—a guilt he still hadn’t quite let go of.

Seeing Megan again brought back the longing he’d always had for her. Seeing her looking healthy and whole sent relief washing through him like a wave.

“David’s been keeping me updated. I hope you don’t mind.”

Megan snorted and glanced at her brother who was shaking his head over Nicolas’s politeness. “Why would I mind?”

She didn’t know what to think when he laughed and looked a little embarrassed.

“Maybe that was a stupid thing to say.”

Megan smiled patiently. Nicolas looked different, but he still acted pretty much the same.

“It’s good to see you, Megan,” he said, letting the truth slip out.

Her answer was a nod, but he could see he was making her nervous. He’d actually always enjoyed the fact he could.

The gunshot wound prompting her exit from the military had banished the worst of his shame over lusting for her. Megan’s potential death had hit him almost as hard as his father’s had. The stalker now shooting at him had obliterated the rest of the emotional walls he’d erected.

Attraction strong enough to survive their years apart compelled him now to put his mouth on Megan’s. Unfortunately, the urge came with bad timing in more ways than he could count.

Yet before some stalker bullet changed his fate, he badly needed to know what time apart from the woman in front of him hadn’t shown him. Why had no other female’s kiss ever compared to the one he’d shared with the least feminine female he’d ever known when she was no more than a child?

And he needed to know before his life ended if there was a chance. . .any chance at all. . .of the two of them. . .
What?
His mind always trailed off when he got to that point. He hadn’t managed to answer that question in a decade. What the hell did he want from Megan Lynx—besides the obvious—which probably wasn’t a good idea given his friendship with her family?

Nicolas stepped a tiny bit closer to where she stood and his heartbeat instantly sped up. In her presence, he morphed from a logical minded man to attracted animal in only a few seconds. Being near the woman in front of him had always caused the same reaction and had done so long before it had been legal for him to feel that way about her.

“David says you’ve signed on to be my bodyguard for the parade. Someone’s taken a few shots at me and missed so far, but odds are they’re going to actually get lucky sooner or later. You’re still recovering. Are you sure you want to take a chance on getting shot again?”

Megan drew in a deep breath intending to vent her opinion of his lack of faith in her. But Nicolas had moved within her personal space and she was stuck inhaling his woodsy cologne. The protest died as her lungs filled with his scent. She told herself her lack of rebuttal had nothing to do with the way the man was looking at her like she was the only person in the room other than him.

“I took a bad hit, but the sniper didn’t walk away clean. He lost a hand. . .at the very least.”

Megan didn’t know what to think when Nicolas stepped fully into her and hugged her hard against him. Her mind started spinning with awareness. . .strong grip. . .nice body. . .hips lining up perfectly with hers. Her eyes started to drift closed to better enjoy the moment before she caught herself. Her hands came up to grip his arms. . . nice arms. . .very strong arms. . .even through his jacket. God, what kind of cologne was he wearing? She wanted to stay close and sniff him all day.

“I hope to God you killed the sonofabitch.”

The softly whispered, but vicious words uttered with such heartfelt sincerity in her ear sent tremors of reaction sliding through her. Before, during, and after the shooting—she’d never once melted down from what had happened. Yet the urge to cry hit full-on and hard in a split second because of Nicolas hugging her.
What the hell?
She hadn’t seen the man in years.

Megan blinked against the threatening flood and backed up, forcing the man holding her to let her go. His frown and glare over her withdrawal was more confusing than the hug had been. Resistance at having to release her was etching lines in his face.

They stared at each other for a couple million minutes, which Megan hoped were only a few seconds in actual reality. Her startling epiphany about how much Nicolas cared for her, as well as how much she liked knowing it, was happening in bullet time.

She was watching it—what she couldn’t do was figure it out what she wanted to do about it.

And as if their hug wasn’t strange enough for her to process, her brother was probably going to spend the rest of the day grilling her about her shared grope with his best friend. A friend who was also at the moment a client in need of their protection and she couldn’t forget that.

So—no. Not only no—but hell no. She was definitely not having any personal conversation about hugging Nicolas with her brother, David. She’d just pretend she didn’t know what was going on and think about it later—when she had time in private to do so.

“It’s nice to see you again too. While David goes over the finer details of what he’s planned for your protection, I’m going to go talk to your office manager. I’ve read all the intel David has gathered so far, but I have a couple more angles I want to investigate. Do you think Leah will remember me after all this time?”

Nicolas shoved both hands in his pockets to keep from reaching for her again. The urge was almost too strong to fight, even with David watching. “I’m sure Leah will remember. You’re pretty unforgettable.”

Her embarrassed gaze over the compliment flew across the room to her brother who did nothing but stare at her with one eyebrow raised in the same manner their mother did when she got curious. She saw her own stunned reaction over what Nicolas had said mirrored back to her in David’s twisted mouth and surprised gaze.

Needing to find some space where the smell of Nicolas’s cologne wasn’t able to affect her, she turned and started to walk away. After two steps, she called herself stupid and more stupid, then turned around, and walked right back to him. She stopped two feet from his chest and took a deep breath, praying for immunity as she pulled the smell of him deep inside.

She wanted to say something to rid herself of her current embarrassment. Nothing remotely related would come out of her mouth. Being subdued around Nicolas was probably the price she was going to pay for indulging in all those sexual fantasies about him over the years.

“Before I irrevocably commit to doing this job, we should probably get a couple things straight between us. You’re going to wear level 4 body armor under your Santa costume, whether you want to or not. The damn vest is heavy, but it can take a powerful hit from many bullets and still keep you alive. It’s not optional, so get used to the idea. David can bring it by so you can practice functioning in it. That’s the first thing. . .”

Megan reached out a hand, and even though it was shaking slightly, she put it in the middle of his chest to make sure Nicolas didn’t move forward. Then she pulled her new Colt Defender from the holster tucked into her jeans and pointed it in the air, finger along the slide and off the trigger. Against public displays of her weapon, she pulled it now only to make a point with Nicolas because she needed to be sure he understood how serious she was.

“See this gun, St. Nick? It’s loaded now and will stay loaded until your stalker is stopped. I will shoot someone on your behalf if I need to. No one is going to take you down on my watch. You have my word.”

Nicolas leaned against her hand, moving his body until he knew Megan had to feel his heart thumping erratically beneath her fingers. “I believe you would shoot someone to protect me and I’m not questioning your skills. It was bad enough hearing you got shot while on duty. I don’t want to be the reason you get hurt again.”

“I don’t want you to be either.”

Megan shook her head and holstered her weapon before she dropped her hand from his chest. It confused her that she immediately missed the physical contact.

“The sniper who hit me got a lucky shot off and took down several other MPs before I got my turn. The shot I returned to him that connected wasn’t just lucky though—it was deliberate—and accurate. David didn’t take me on in his business because I was his sister. He took me on because I have skills as good or better than others on his team.”

Nicolas nodded. He lowered his gaze to the floor and brought it back up her body slowly. She was an arousing blend of bravado and sexy determination. The woman never dropped her stare under his perusal. He wondered why her competence turned him on so much, but it always had. That’s why he’d caved to her demand to kiss her all those years ago. He’d do the same damn thing today if she ordered him to.

“I completely believe you are capable of doing anything you say you’re going to do,” he said with the most serious tone he possessed.

Megan nodded, unnerved by his satisfied gaze way more than his comment. Why would her marksmanship proficiency make Nicolas so happy? He was a strange, strange man.

“Good. Let’s hope Santa’s Elves catch your tormentor before Mrs. Santa has to prove her marksmanship skills in front of you. In the meantime, I’ve agreed to wear your slutty Mrs. Santa suit, but I may get David to bill you double for my loss of dignity.”

Nicolas tilted his head and wrinkled his forehead. “What slutty Mrs. Santa suit? David told me you were wearing a red dress specially made for easy access to your gun. Is there something I need to know about your parade costume?”

Megan looked at the stark confusion on Nicolas’s face before shooting a death glare across the room. When her weasel of a brother found a sudden fascination in the ceiling, she snorted as she looked back at Nicolas. She was relieved and yet disappointed it hadn’t been St. Nick’s idea to dress her so scantily. But she should have known better.

“David obviously wants to draw a giant target on my ample ass to distract your stalker. Well, fine. I’m fine with being a target. I say, bring on the crazy shooter. I’m eager to get this stalking shit over with anyway.”

Megan turned to her brother, giving him a look he would understand meant retribution for his duplicity was now on her agenda. “After we catch the bad guy, you and I are going to have a little chat about my work uniforms—
Boss
.”

Nicolas rounded on his friend. “What’s Megan so riled up about, David? What kind of outfit are you trying to make her wear?”