Page 15 of Clay

She shrugged. “It pays the bills. Plus, I like dogs.”

It was hard to argue with a woman who liked dogs. Or cats for that matter.

He stood, strode to the sink and washed out his cup, acutely aware of how close he was standing to her. The heat from her body seemed to throb off of her. All he wanted to do was soak himself in the scent of her, in the vitality that radiated from her even as she was waking up.

But he didn’t because he had a job to do. He pulled out his phone and texted her. “This is my personal cell, so you won’t be forwarded through HQ to get me. If anyone calls you or texts you, or if any stranger comes to the door, you contact me.” He looked her dead in the eye as he hit send. “I mean it, Ivy.”

She studied him, took another sip of coffee, and nodded. “Okay. You’re the pro. But before you go, we need to talk about payment. There was so much going on I didn’t even think about it.”

“That won’t be an issue,” he assured her. When she would have protested, he stopped her. “SMS is charitable more often than it isn’t. You only need to pay what you can afford. No matter what happens.”

She scrutinized him for a long moment, then shrugged. “That’s the worst business plan I’ve ever heard of, but I’m not going to argue.”

He took the offered key giving her a long look promising dire retribution if she left the building and headed to Katie McAlister’s apartment.

~

Ivy fanned herself the second Clay closed the door behind him.

The man was a menace to her hormones.

Oh, she knew she should be concerned with her own welfare, and she was, but having a bodyguard like that?Whew.

She still wasn’t sure that she was buying the whole pro-bono bit. It wasn’t that she didn’t believe him, the whole concept was just a bit too fantastical to believe. Not in today’s day and age.

When it came to sitting tight, though, she’d been honest. She had more than enough work to keep her busy until his return, and she wasn’t keen on letting anyone into her home right now.

Seeing the best in people was her default perspective, but until they found Katie and figured out who’d called her, she was just fine with being anti-social.

When a private number flashed on her phone display an hour later as she was finishing up the portrait she hesitated. It could be the heavy breather again. Or it could be Katie. Or even a client.

She answered with pure trepidation, feeling foolish and then angry when it turned out to be someone trying to sign her up for an extended warranty for a car she’d sold five years ago.

The call had snapped her out of her creative vibe, so she put together a quick salad and adjourned to the roof to eat her lunch beneath the sunshade.

It was already hot, the summer sun pounding down on the desert city.

But she loved it like this, preferred the oven to ice and snow. She always had, even as they moved around the world for her father’s job. She’d loved to immerse herself in the culture of each country they’d lived in, but when they’d arrived here for his last assignment, Vegas had immediately felt like home. Like the place she needed to be.

The crisp salad was just right along with the iced hibiscus tea she’d switched to right after Clay left.

Clay.

The name fit him. One syllable, sounded like it got shit done. A bit biblical. A lot hot.

As she absorbed the heat of the day, she thought about their kiss last night.

Vegas in the height of summer had nothing on that kiss. He’d scorched her with every touch of that sculpted mouth. Had made her hotter than she’d ever felt before.

She sampled enough of the dating pool to know that their chemistry was something extraordinary, but she also knew enough about men to know he’d pulled back big time, not because of the fact she’d been a willing partner and he’d been turned off by the fact she wasn’t leading him on a chase. No, he’d pulled away reluctantly, because she was a job.

She could be offended by that but wasn’t. She got it.

Putting things in neat little boxes was important to some people. She’d be happy to let Clay compartmentalize for now, because they were in the middle of trying to find Katie. But after they found her friend? She was going to taste Clay Andrews again and see if there was more to their attraction than chemistry.

~~~

He lowered his binoculars, staring at the two-story building the artist called home. Her security was good enough that he wouldn't be attempting B&E as recon, it was just too dicey. Plus, she had a man hanging around.

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