Page 9 of Heartbreak Hero

Max turned away from the laptop and gave him his full attention. “What’s got you so chatty this morning?”

“Nothin.” Levi scowled and rubbed behind the silky ears of his eleven-month-old dog, Bella. She proceeded to place her head in his lap and give kisses to his hand.

“Look, I know you wanted to bring Sara home, but at least you found her and she did call Lily.”

“Yeah,” Levi grunted and turned back to his laptop.

That had been a month ago, and Levi was getting antsy.

Beyond that, though, was his own guilt. He should have at least offered to use protection that night. He knew she was on birth control pills. When he’d been guarding Sara’s Seattle home against a stalker, he had noticed a half-empty pack of pills on the bathroom counter. The pack had listed her name and an OB/GYN’s name.

Sara was sensible that way. And he was thankful for it. God knows protection had been the last thing on his mind.

He continued searching on his computer. Shortly after returning to Seattle, he had put out feelers in San Francisco, but finding a Sara Jones in the area was like looking for a needle in a haystack. There were ninety Sara Jones’ listed and four times that many for S. Jones. Not to mention, she could be renting a room that wasn’t under her name.

He was only one guy, but he was working his way through the list. A few of the names seemed like possibilities, but he would need to make a trip back to California to check it out for sure.

When his cell phone rang, Levi shoved away from his desk and walked out of the office. He didn’t stop until he was in the parking lot.

“Huxley,” he said, answering the phone and leaning against his black SUV.

“Mr. Huxley, it’s Tom Markem.”

“What can I do for you, Mr. Markem?” Levi asked the Jones family attorney.

“We’re wondering how the search for Sara is going?”

“She is safe and sound in Northern California.”

“Like I told you over a month ago, I need her address,” Markem said.

“Sorry, but I lost her trail. Didn’t get an address,” he said, glaring at nothing across the parking lot.

“So, you’re still in Washington?”

He was, but he wasn’t going to tell this jack off shit. He didn’t answer to them. Nor did he answer to the mighty Jones family. They had hired him to do a job.

Find Sara.

He’d done that. She was fine. He wasn’t obligated to give them her address even if he did know it. Which he didn’t.

Something about this whole thing stank, and he was sorry he’d taken their money.

“Listen, tell Mr. Jones I’ll return the money since I’m not doing the job to his satisfaction,” Levi said.

“That won’t be necessary, but we would appreciate it if you could get her address.”

“Sara is an adult. If she wants her family to know where she is, then she’ll tell them.”

“She’s worth millions, Mr. Huxley. I’m sure I don’t need to remind you of that.”

“So, she’s just a dollar sign to them?”

“Sara has a very important event to attend,” Markem said snidely.

Sara.

Just thinking of her made his pulse hum. Kissing her lips had been heaven. He was obsessed with her mouth. Okay, he was fixated on the whole package. She was fiery and smart and sexy. From what he knew of her, she was a successful business owner who took no shit from anyone. Of course, he could never forget that she was off limits.

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