Page 90 of Once a Killer

“I did. Now let’s clean up and talk about how things are going to go down tonight.”

Fifteen minutes later, the dishes done, they sat at the kitchen table. Bree reached for his hands. Twined her fingers with his. His hands were steady. Strong. Just like Jameson.

“I’ll have my gun with me,” she said, “but whoever shows up isn’t going to see it. Our thief may or may not have a gun. If he or she does, don’t freak out.” She squeezed his hands, her heart jumping when he squeezed back. “Follow my lead, Jameson. I know that goes against everything you are, that you want to protect me, but you need to let me do my job. I’ve been trained for these kinds of situations. I know how to handle myself, and, more important, I know how to handle someone trying to hurt me or my principal. Let me do my thing, okay?”

He stared at her for a long moment, and she was afraid he was going to say no. Going to tell her that he would protect her at all costs.

If he did, she’d have to kick his ass.

Finally he nodded. A curt dip of the head.

She had to get through to him somehow. “Remember the first night I was here? When you thought I was too small and too weak to take on a big guy like you?”

“Yeah, I remember.” One side of his mouth curled up until he almost smiled. “Hottest thing I’d ever seen.”

Ignoring the way his words made her shiver, she leaned closer. “I was taking it easy on you that night. I didn’t want to hurt you. I only wanted you to realize I knew what I was doing.”

She slid her hands up his arms. Touched his face. “Whoever is trying to steal your program? Idowant to hurt them. I want to take them down. Disable them. Stop them from running away. I know how to do it, and I won’t hesitate.”

“What if they have a gun?” he said. “What then?”

“I’ll have a gun, too. And I can handle an opponent’s gun. This is my job, Jameson. I practice for these kinds of scenarios constantly.” She touched his lips, smiling when his eyes darkened. “You need to trust me. Whatever happens, I’ll have it under control. They won’t get away.”

“So what’s my role in this?” he asked.

“While I’m engaging with him or her, I want you to call the police. Get them here as fast as possible. I don’t want to have to shoot our perp. I will if I have to, but I’d rather not. I want him or her to go to jail, for a very long time.”

He held her gaze, unblinking. “You know this goes against everything inside me,” he finally said. “Standing back and letting a woman fight my battles.”

“That’s your mistake right there,” she said. “You hired a bodyguard. Not a girlfriend, not a lover. Tonight, you can’t think of me in those roles. You think of me as your bodyguard. The person you hired to protect you from whoever’s trying to steal your program.”

She let him go but continued to stare at him. “This is why we’re not supposed to get involved with our principal,” she muttered. “For this very reason. I shouldn’t have let myself fall for you. I should have stayed detached. Not let emotions become part of the equation.”

“But they did,” Jameson said. “Which is why, when I think of you, you’re my lover. The woman I…”

“Yeah, J, I know,” she said softly, cutting off the words she wasn’t ready to hear. Might never be ready to hear. “I look at you as my lover, too. Here. In your apartment. Outside this building? Tonight? For this confrontation? You need to put that thinking aside, and so do I. Tonight, I’m not your lover. I’m your bodyguard, and you need to let me do the job you’re paying me to do.”

After a long moment, he swiveled to face her. “I don’t like it. At all. But I get it. I understand. You’re the expert. I promise I’ll let you handle any confrontations.”

“Thank you, Jameson,” she said, leaning over to brush her mouth over his. When he tried to deepen the kiss, she eased away. “After our thief is locked up,thenI’m your lover. But, until he or she is behind bars, I’m your bodyguard, and I’ll run this operation. Are you good with that?”

After a long moment, he sighed. Nodded. “Yeah. I’m good with that.”

“You promise? You’re not just shining me on? You’re going to let me do my job the way I need to do it?”

“I’d be pretty stupid if I didn’t agree to that, wouldn’t I?” he said.

Her mouth twitched, but she refused to smile. “Yeah, you’d be stupid. But that kind of stupid is embedded in the male chromosome.”

He rolled his eyes, but his shoulders relaxed as he smiled. “I promise to let you handle things.”

She glanced out the window, saw that twilight was approaching. “Let’s get dressed and get back to the lab. I don’t think our perp will show up for a while, but I’d rather not worry about it.”

“Agreed. And I have a few things I want to do before he or she shows up.” He stood up and reached out his hand to pull her off the couch. “I’m assuming that black is the dress code for tonight’s event?”

“Yes. You have any black ski masks?”

“I should. We can stop somewhere and buy a couple if I got rid of them.”

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