I grabbed for his arm and hit rock hard muscle on his bicep. “I asked you a question,” I said, annoyed at being ignored.
He stopped taking photos and focused those gorgeous eyes on me. There was a flicker of something there; I wasn’t sure what though. It was like an untamed energy; something definitely swirled beneath the surface of this man and it unsettled me while at the same time unleashed butterflies in the pit of my stomach. And damn, for the first time in a very long time, I was unsure of myself.
“I’m Liam,” he stated as if that answered any and all questions I might have.
I raised my eyebrows. “Care to elaborate?”
His eyes shifted between mine, and it appeared that he was carefully scrutinising everything in front of him; the shop, the mess and me. Most definitely me. And it unnerved me even more than he already had. Eventually, he spoke, “Zane sent me to help you with your security issues.”
I threw my hands up in the air. “And who the hell is Zane?”
His phone rang at that moment. “Yeah,” he answered it. He listened to whatever the person on the other end said and then he replied, “I’ve got Roxie in front of me and they’ve smashed her windows again. I’m just about to take a look inside.” He listened some more and then said, “Later, man.” His phone was shoved back in his jeans and then he stepped around me and entered my shop through the broken window.
I swivelled around to see what he was doing. My patience was wearing thin; who the hell did he think he was just waltzing in like this without giving me any answers as to who he was? Stepping through the window, I followed him and repeated my question, “Who is Zane?”
He didn’t answer; instead he turned his head to look at me, gestured at the inside of the shop and instructed, “Don’t touch anything before I take some more photos of the inside.” He then turned back around and kept walking.
“For the love of God, tell me who the hell Zane is!” I yelled, having reached the end of my tether.
He came to a halt and laid his gaze on me again. His energy rippled through the air and filled the room. It hit me hard and caused that fluttery sensation in my stomach again. Damn. That was the last thing I wanted to feel for this exasperating man.
“Zane is my boss. He runs Stone Security and we were called in on this job by Scott Cole. Any other questions you have while we’re at it?”
“Those bloody bikers,” I muttered under my breath.
He stood still, assessing me and waiting to see if I had anything else to say. When I didn’t say anything else, he continued, “We’re good to go?”
Oh hell no, we were so far from good to go it wasn’t funny. “No, we’re not. I never asked for you to be given this job so you can just leave now before we go any further.” I crossed my arms in front of me and waited for him to go.
He quirked a brow at me. “So you’re going to just keep letting this shit happen then? This is what, your fourth break in this month? Seems to me that you could do with the help, sweetheart.”
There was that damn energy of his again, radiating out from him. It was confusing my senses and I couldn’t think straight.
Before I could say anything he spoke again, “I hate to break it to you but this doesn’t look like a random break in to me. Given that it keeps happening and that they aren’t stealing anything. And that graffiti? That’s the first time they’ve done that, isn’t it?”
I hesitated for a moment. I really didn’t want to admit my suspicions to him. “Yes, that’s the first time they’ve graffitied the building.”
He nodded. “Right, so this is escalating and I’m taking over the investigation. No ifs or buts because this shit can quickly turn nasty from here on out.”
He resumed poking around while I stood like a stunned idiot and just let him take over. I decided I needed coffee to deal with this; he could go jump if he thought I wasn’t touching the kettle. It was way too early for this shit and I needed sustenance.
––––––––
Chapter 2
Roxie
“Holy shit on a stick, your girl Madison is well connected,” Bobby said as he gazed lustfully at Liam. He’d arrived at work ten minutes ago and had hardly taken his eyes off the man ever since.
I thrust the broom at him. “Stop eye fucking him and go and make yourself useful. We’ve got glass that needs to be swept up.”
A devious grin spread across his face as he took the broom from me. “Yes ma’am.”
I watched him go, wondering what the hell he was up to. Bobby operated from one angle only; do anything and everything to get the guy in bed. The look he’d just given me told me he was up to no good. Oh well, it was Liam’s problem now, not mine. And maybe, if Bobby annoyed the shit out of him, he would pack up and leave.
My other hairdresser, Tahlia, breezed in just as Bobby began his little performance for Liam. She gawked at him as she walked through the shop and managed to hold in her laughter until she reached the back room where I was.