Page 4 of No Rings Attached
For the love of God. This was now bordering on ridiculous.
My humor was fading into annoyance and it didn’t matter that when she wasn’t screaming, she had the voice of a sexy angel. I didn’t need this right now. Clearly, someone watched too many episodes of Dateline.
All I wanted to do was go home, relax, grab a beer, and pore over the papers my virtual assistant, Ellie, had sent earlier. I hated to admit that the favorite part of my day was our calls or email exchanges. She had this sweetness about her that contradicted the husky undertone of her voice.
We’d been working together and communicating for three months now and even though we’d never met in person, I felt like I knew her. Mostly. Maybe not her hopes and dreams, but we often found ourselves ending our emails with tiny bits about our lives.
I was ready to finally meet her in person. She was set to arrive tomorrow to tour our facility and become familiar with our Headquarters.
“I’mnota serial killer.” I was one finger swipe away from calling my sister to ask if she’d help.
The woman’s muttered reply was far too low for me to catch, but the intent was clear. She didn’t believe a word I said.
“Prove it.” The brush rustled as she shoved one arm out in front of her. In her hand she held something pointed right at me.
Fuuuuuck. I didn’t have time to deal with getting shot tonight.
And how the hell was I going to prove I wasn’t an asshole out to take advantage of her?
The night sky had grown darker, with the tail end of dusk slipping behind the horizon. The moon, already in the distance, was bright enough that when she tilted her hand in just the right way, the light bounced off the object she held. One that looked less like a gun and more like a … phone?
My lips tipped up into the barest of smiles. Maybe humor would diffuse the situation, and if not, maybe the comment about my family would. “Just here to offer some help. Not have you throw your phone at my head. Although, my sister would tell you that it might be on the losing end since I’m so hard-headed.”
“What? It’s not … ” she shifted, and stumbled.
By the time she caught her footing, only her face was visible from behind the bush, and tall grass.
The view of her robbed any coherent thought in my head.
Never mind just her perfect skin from earlier. This woman was fucking gorgeous. The face of an angel with honey blonde hair swept up into a messy bun, plump cupid’s bow lips, and eyes that summoned like sirens from the deep.
Her sunglasses were perched precariously on top of her head. She bit at her lip, and I had the strangest desire to brush my thumb across the same spot to see if it was as soft as it looked. The urge to get a closer glimpse and determine the color of her eyes and feast my gaze on her curvy body had my cock sitting up to take notice.
This insane feeling that Iknewher settled into the recesses of my mind and into the corners of my soul.
Well, fuck me sideways. What the hell did all this mean?
I was supposed to be rescuing her, not picturing her in a dirty fantasy. But the thought of tracing each dip and curve with the pads of my fingers to see where she liked to be touched caused a tightness in my pants. I wasn’t in some cheesy Hallmark movie where the hero and heroine fall in love at first sight. I was an intelligent man. One who based decisions on facts and figures. I didn’t jump into anything. I planned out my life in excruciating detail.
I cleared my throat and shook my head.
What was wrong with me?
“Let me help you,” I barked. I didn’t mean it to sound harsh, but my body wasn’t listening. And I was beginning to lose my damn mind over a woman I’d just met.
“I’ve seen enough true crime episodes to know how this might end. You could kidnap me and take me to your remote cabin in those woods. And thismightbe my phone.” She shook the object in her hand at me and her head disappeared only to pop back up a few seconds later, “but I have this to defend myself with. So stay back.” The beautiful stranger pointed another object at me, her arm waving out from the tall grass.
“Not a kidnapper.” I deadpanned and gestured to the newest ‘weapon’ she was brandishing. At this point, between the moonlight and our close proximity, I could see her hand clearly enough to know she was full of crap. “What are you going to do, bludgeon me with it?”
She didn’t hide her startled expression fast enough. “I have pepper spray!” she lied as though I hadn’t seen what she was really holding.
“If you’d just put away your attack flashlight or shine it towards the problem with your car, we can both be on our way.”
“It’s not … how do you …” She stopped speaking.“Fine,but Idohave an actual weapon on me.” The mystery woman tossed the flashlight, straightened up, and rattled her keys aggressively. “There’s a sharp, pointy knife on this.”
I doubted she had anything on her that would hurt me, but I understood her hesitation. She was alone with a strange guy on the side of a dark road. She didn’t know my family founded this town or that everyone in it could vouch for me.
I pointed at her car.
