Page 32 of The Agent
“Of course,” she said, feeling like an idiot. He had a high-powered position. He couldn’t spend all his time with her. “I completely understand.”
“No, you don’t.” His voice was deep and resonant. “I want to spend the night making love to you—first fast, then slow, then somewhere in between. I want to wake up to see your hair all messy from sex and sleep.” He released a belt loop to take a lock of her hair and tuck it behind her ear, his fingertips tracing the whorls so she shivered. “I want to peel the sheet back from your beautiful breasts and suck them to make you wet before I slide into you first thing in the morning.”
“Tully!” She was getting wet without his mouth being anywhere near her breasts. She grabbed his biceps to keep her shaky knees from folding.
“There’s something about morning sex that makes it different from every other time of day. It’s low key and sleepy and slow.” He skimmed his fingers down her neck and over the outline of her now-hard nipples. “Which is why I intend to spend tomorrow night here.” His smile was a seduction and a question. “If I’m invited.”
“Consider this an invitation,” she said as she stood on her toes to lick the indentation at the base of his throat. She flattened her palms over his nipples, rubbing in tiny circles. She wasn’t going to be the only one who went to bed frustrated tonight.
“Here’s my RSVP.” He tilted her head up so he could slant his lips over her mouth, teasing the seam with his tongue until she opened to him. When he broke the kiss, it made her feel a little better that he was breathing hard too.
“Back to work.” He set her away from him. “Before I forget what I need to do.”
She copied his methodology and hooked one finger in his belt loop to hold him there. “Before Pam arrives, I’d like to ask you something. When I’m at the salon with customers, is there any reason for Pam to be there? I mean, the stalker isn’t going to walk in with all those people there, is he?”
Tully frowned. “I’d feel a lot better if she was there.”
“But is it necessary?” She felt like a bodyguard was overkill when she was surrounded by staff and clients. “She can come with me to open and return just before closing.”
“Your stalker might be one of your customers,” Tully said. “Or even one of your employees.”
“Not one of my employees.” Every member of her staff had been with her for at least two years. She trusted them because she didn’t continue to employ anyone who didn’t live up to her standards. “They have a vested interest in keeping me happy and healthy.”
He shook his head. “I don’t like it.”
She crossed her arms. “I don’t like wasting Pam’s time.” And she felt like she was taking advantage of what was now a personal relationship with Tully.
“As long as there are no more messages from the stalker, I’ll allow it for tomorrow.” He pinned her with his gaze. “But you have to swear to tell me if you receive anything new.”
She raised her eyebrows at his wording but decided not to argue since he’d agreed to “allow” it. “Of course I will.”
He grazed her cheek with his fingertip. “Camera three isn’t going to reposition itself.”
Chapter 10
When Tully dropped into a chair in his partner’s computer room after a long night without Natalie, Leland swiveled around, looking surprised. “I didn’t expect you in so early this morning. Didn’t you have a training session with the Hazelton family?”
“Yeah, and they’re a smart bunch. They won’t make stupid mistakes in a bad situation.” Tully yawned. “But I’ve got a call to make today, so I need you to give me some leverage on Natalie’s rat bastard of an ex-husband.” He couldn’t wait to put the fear of God into the man. Ferreting out if he was her stalker was almost secondary. “He’s my prime suspect as of now.”
“Because?” Leland did that thing where he touched his fingertips together without looking ridiculous.
“Because a high percentage of stalkers are exes of some kind. And he’s manipulative and narcissistic. Right up there on the stalker-personality charts.”
“I haven’t seen anything to indicate changes in his financial or professional status. God knows I’ve looked.”
“If you’ve looked, then there’s nothing to find on the grid.” But that didn’t mean the slime bucket was innocent. He’d just been clever enough to keep whatever might have triggered him off the radar.
“Are you still going to see him?”
Tully stood up. “Damn straight. I’m going to use my old FBI strategy of getting in his face and seeing how he reacts.”
“You no longer have a badge to flash at him, so it would seem less effective,” Leland observed.
“But I still have a gun.” Tully bared his teeth in a feral smile.
Two hours later, he walked up the steps to Matt Stevens’s office, located two towns over from Cofferwood but in a Victorian house much like Natalie’s salon. The building sported fresh gray paint with crisp white trim. Prosperous and solid—a good look for an insurance agency.
Tully adjusted the shoulder holster under his charcoal suit jacket. He would make sure Stevens saw it when he sat down.
