Page 25 of Trick or Trouble
It didn’t take a genius to read Darcy—she was coiled tight and ready to fight.Defiance bled from every pore, her eyes twin orbs of determination and doubt.But Logan refused to engage in a conflict that neither of them could win, and might drive her further away from him.So, he held his ground with his usual steady authority that she seemed to respond to.
“You’re going to need a partner—because I won’t let you come out here alone.It’s your job, I get that.That’s your hard line—mine is your safety.If you decide to endanger yourself when you don’t need to, don’t be surprised to find yourself over my knee for some alternative choiceinstruction.”
Confusion flickered over her features, softening the rigid set of her jaw.The sharp comeback melted on her tongue as a wash of pink crept up her throat, and her lips parted uncertainly.“You...you would come with me if I asked?”she whispered.
“Where your safety is concerned, yes.”
Suspicion narrowed her eyes, but her voice trembled around the edges.“You can’t be for real.”
“As real as my hand talking to your backside,” he assured her, unflinching.
She seemed to deflate as the fight she’d been ready to launch lost traction.“But that’s...that’s...insane.”
A flicker of light from the window caught his attention. Logan tipped his head toward it, his voice returning to business.“Lights are on, Darcy.Raincheck on this conversation?”
She retreated into professional mode so fast that it made Logan wonder if he’d ever seen her soft and confused.Obviously, her work was an escape route—most people knew that route by heart, so no surprise there.
She picked up her camera and opened the car door, barking orders at him like he was her rookie partner.“The lights will go off in approximately three minutes.They’ll be down in a few after that.I’m at the mouth of the alley I was in last night.Mrs.Beefy didn’t like the shots I took through the window; she wants close-ups.You stay here and guard the car.”
“Darcy—wait—”
But the door shut in his face, and she was gone, striding away like she owned the street.Logan growled under his breath, his muscles tightening.This was dangerous as hell, and every instinct drove him to put her over his shoulder and haul her back to the car like a caveman claiming his woman.There weren’t any trick-or-treaters to blend in; she was open game to predators of the night.
He flicked the ignition and purred forward, slow and quiet, getting a line of sight down the alley.If someone was coming after her, he wanted to know about it, but the alley had its own secrets and shadows.He swore softly, his eyes straining to see movement.
Lights flashed in his rearview mirror, and he cursed softly, his body tensing.Two black cars whipped around him, and when he saw the neon Uber signs on the doors, he blew out a breath of relief—false alarm.It didn’t loosen the knot in his gut, though.There had to be a better way to obtain the pictures she needed without exposing herself in this manner.
The motel doors flew open, and a man and a woman ran out laughing like naughty teenagers who had pulled one over on their parents.Logan could see Darcy adjusting her camera lenses as she snapped shots from the shadows, professional, detached.She was good at it, he grudgingly admitted.
The couple paused at the cars and locked lips in one last dramatic kiss, and then slid into their respective Ubers, and the cars melted into the night.
Logan’s shoulders slumped with relief, and he purred forward to pick Darcy up.Just as she opened the car door, two menacing figures appeared in the alley entrance.His blood ran cold.They didn’t move as Darcy tumbled into the front seat and slammed the door behind her.
“Go,” she hissed.
Logan went, the locks clicking in automatically when he pulled away and sped down the street.“We need to talk,” he grated out between clenched teeth.Adrenaline was racing through his veins, elevating his heart rate.“I didn’t even see those two coming,” he spat out.“Did you know they were there?”
She shot him a disgusted look.“No, I was concentrating on taking the shots I needed.”
“That was too close, Darcy.”
A guarded look slid across her face.“We don’t know that they meant any harm.They could have just been curious as to what a stranger was doing in their neighborhood.”
Logan’s white-knuckled grip on the steering wheel told him he needed to relax.“And I might be the Pope,” he snorted, darting a sharp glance her way.He took a calming breath.“What kind of camera are you using that you have to slink around in alleys to get good shots?Even smartphones have better pixels than most older cameras, unless you have a professional-grade photographer's camera.”
“A lot of the work I do is night surveillance, and I don’t have the best quality on my cellphone,” she replied defensively.“If I use a flash, it would alert my suspects.”She held up her camera.“I can set this for night vision, but again, I need to get closer than down the block to get the picture at night.It’s not professional grade, but it’s all I have at the moment.”
“You can’t get photos of them together during the day?”
Her eyebrows shot up.“Doing what...exactly?Infidelity can be hard to prove.But a sleazy motel, a partner that isn’t your spouse, and cheating kisses are enough to spell out infidelity without catching them in the sexual act,” she drawled.“Besides, tracking cheaters during the daylight hours has its own set of problems.People tend to notice when they're being followed.They are much more careful.”
Logan’s blood had begun to defrost now that they were out of danger, and his nerves were stepping off the edge.He wasn’t just upset with the danger Darcy had been in; he was disgusted with himself—some protection he’d turned out to be.
He couldn’t think of anything to say currently that wouldn’t put Darcy on the defensive, so he changed the subject as he headed for the freeway.“It’s getting late.If you’re ready, I’ll take you home now,” he said, sounding sharper than he meant to.
Darcy folded her arms defensively.“I’m ready,” she snapped, turning her head and staring out the window.
He glanced over at her, sensing that her feelings were hurt.He hadn’t meant to hurt her, but he didn’t trust himself to pursue the subject they were discussing.He needed time to think about it.
