Betrayal of the Dove

Betrayal of the Dove - By Capri Montgomery


Chapter One

“Retired Navy SEAL; special ops, security and weapons expert.” Alyssa looked over Shane Maxwell’s curriculum vitae. “Are you sure you’re in the right place?” This man should have been applying at companies like Lockheed Martin or something like it. The man was amazing—on paper anyway. “Look, you’re…wow…you should be applying for work at some government sponsored company or something. You’re,” she hesitated. “I hated when people would say this to me, but…my God man you’re over qualified.”

He smiled at her and shifted into a more relaxed version of an at ease position. Alyssa had seen her brothers use the same stance enough to know the position. He was getting comfortable, but he was still all business. “When it comes to security there’s no such thing as overqualified,” he said evenly. The deep tone of his voice vibrated through her. “For instance I’ve been in here less than five minutes and I can already tell you that you need to update your camera, it covers the door and about seventy percent of the store, but anything that happens out of that range and there’s nothing to back you up. Your locks are substandard, which isn’t smart for a woman who lives above her store.”

“How did you know I live above my store?” It’s not like she advertised the flat upstairs as being her place to call home. She had even had the windows upstairs fitted with custom blinds and curtains so that she could have privacy. There was a plus to living above the store, but there was also a disadvantage. Her store was on the Row, a very busy, very upscale district in Scottsdale. During the night it calmed down because most things closed by nine, but that didn’t mean she ever really felt as if she had the luxury of privacy. It wasn’t a horrible setup, it just wasn’t ideal. She wanted a house with a really high brick wall fence, and a backyard where she could have a garden, maybe a gazebo with a swing…well, maybe not the gazebo, but a yard would be nice. Privacy would be nice. Unfortunately she worked with what she had and economically speaking this was all she could do for now.

“You’re a one woman show here. You bill all of your jewelry as your own creation, yet the only space you have that’s not attached to the store here is that little room back there. I’m guessing it’s probably about a ten by ten,” he averaged the size because she had the door closed, but he was right. It wasn’t much bigger than that. “You’re not using it for storage; there’s no serious lock on it,” he said. She imagined he must have known she was about to ask how he knew that too. “So I’m guessing it’s where that little camera hooks up to a standard black and white monitor.”

She nodded. Why was this man so deadly accurate? “Go on.” She wanted to know more about what he had figured out within just a few minutes of being in her store, or maybe she just wanted to hear that sexy southwestern drawl he seemed to have.

“So if you’re telling the truth about your jewelry—and I believe you are, then you have to have some place to do the work. Your car is too small, guessing that little bug out there is your car,” she nodded once again. Right now the man was so spot-on accurate that she was speechless.

“It’s too small to cart a store full of supplies so I’d guess since there’s no room down here you work upstairs. You’ve mentioned several times since I’ve been standing here that money is tight, it’s an issue, there’s not a lot of it,” he restated her words. “So I’m guessing you can’t afford payments on two different places, this store and your home. I gather you’re either renting this or you’re buying it; either way, this is all you have.”

She hadn’t realized she had stressed her lack of financial affluence as much as she had, but when she saw his resume she needed him to know that she wasn’t hiring him, not because of his lack of skill in retail security, but because she couldn’t afford him. The man was perfect. He was just what she needed for her store. His security, even though it wasn’t providing basic store security, was amazing and she knew she and her store would be safe with a man like that on the job.

Honestly, when he walked in with his perfectly tailored suit on she thought he was a customer, but he wasn’t just a customer. She couldn’t afford him then, and she couldn’t afford him now—no matter how right he had been with his assessment.

“Wow,” she said. “I don’t know if I should be scared or impressed.”

“Both,” he said. “Impressed that I noticed all of this right off, but scared that your security isn’t enough to keep a rabbit safe. I come in here and I’m fixing everything, starting with that camera system,” he pointed to the little ceiling mounted camera. It was a small, standard black box with a lens; it came with the store when she bought the place. She had done some things cosmetically to the place in order to make it go from baby store décor to a grownup jewelry store. She had a hard time scraping the painted baby giraffes off the wall, and all of the baby bears, but fortunately the décor was one of the reasons she managed to get six thousand knocked off the asking price. She was, after all, the McGregor with the best bargaining skills.

She went to work on the décor the same day she signed the papers. She scraped, she primed, and then she painted, and painted some more. The walls were now a soft spring faux marble yellow. She had hung deep burgundy drapes over the windows and she kept them drawn back during the day. She put in tile floor because tile fit better with the look she was going for, and then she had the glass jewelry cases installed. She liked the natural lighting coming in through the French doors and the two front windows on either side of the door, but she also still needed a good lighting system on the inside. Fortunately, the store came with recessed lighting and not the standard florescent lighting setup so the only thing she had to do was swap out the bulbs for something that would bring a softer ambiance to her store while still providing enough light to show the beauty of her products.

She had sunk every penny she had saved into this place. Eve had helped her out considerably with finances. Just when Alyssa thought she was in over her head; that she had made a big mistake because she couldn’t see her way clear, Eve had dipped into her own bank account to help her. She wished she had known at the time that her sister was using up her savings, but Eve had never told her that. She would never be able to fully repay her for helping her get through the first few months of slow sales and high bill payments. A smarter woman would have opened a store off the Row, but Alyssa had thought this was the best spot. It was one of the safest areas in town. It was the most high traffic shopping area, with an upscale theme where the people who came to shop would drop five grand on a little handbag they only planned to use once. This was the smartest location for what she wanted to do—although maybe not the most cost effective. She had just been so sure it would work out, and it was getting there, a little slower than she wanted. She was still at that point where she didn’t have a lot of extra money to play with. She did have a rainy day savings fund and a three month cushion fund; if something happened and she didn’t sale enough to pay the rent then she would be covered, financially, for a short time. She wanted that three month fund to become a twelve month fund and she was slowly working on it. Some things in life came easy, other things took work. She was a McGregor to the core and she wouldn’t back down. She was going to make this work. That was her promise to herself.

Things were getting there. There had been smooth sailing for a little while, but then a string of break-ins had hit the Row. With the first couple incidents, everybody was on alert, but not scared. It was the third robbery that changed the dynamics on the Row. Store owners who usually walked around with their nose stuck up in the air started speaking to their neighboring store owner. Even if they were competitors they agreed to watch out for each other. And for the first time since she moved in with her, “not so ritzy,” jewelry store, people started speaking with her as well. That third robbery had changed everything because Shatrel Milano had been beaten, raped and left for dead. Her cash register had been cleaned out and her supply of Gucci handbags was gone. She had been closing her store at ten. She stayed open an hour later on Saturday nights because her store was one of the few stores on the Row that actually closed on Sunday. She was on her way out when it happened and she wasn’t found until nearly sunrise the next morning. One of the cops on the Scottsdale PD was driving down the Row, not on a routine drive, not even on his usual route to work, but he drove down that morning. He saw one of the store lights on and he stopped. Thank God he had because the doctors had said another hour and she might not have made it. After that robbery the fear level escalated to extreme heights and nobody felt safe. This was the Row. This was the place where people would bring their kids and take them to the ice cream shop down by the rose garden for the day. This was peace, a little slice of heaven on earth and somebody was hell-bent on ruining it.

She was more afraid because she lived down here. That and the fact that Shatrel’s store was just ten shops and a bistro down from hers. Whether she had the money in her budget for security or not, Alyssa knew she needed somebody on hand at least through close of business. After that she was on her own.

“I can only pay you eighteen an hour. You’re worth more than that.” She tried to hand him back his resume, but he wouldn’t take it. She didn’t want to be that employer who underpaid their workers. She had gone through that herself and she knew how much she hated knowing her skills were worth more, doing the job of five people and being paid less than the job of one. She needed security, but she also wanted to be fair. She couldn’t afford to pay him what he was worth.

“I’ll work for it, and when things pick up you can give me a raise.”

Good Lord the man was underselling himself. She wasn’t sure if she should let him. He would just hate her for it in the end. He would end up being one of those types of employees that grumbled about their underappreciated work because their pay wasn’t on par with their skills. He would quickly move on. She had been there. She had been that employee, and eventually she had moved on. Although she couldn’t really complain. Having a crap job with crap pay was what made her realize she needed to go out there and make her own way. Fortunately, she hadn’t spent years in “going nowhere” jobs before she made the switch.

She liked this guy on paper, and he seemed to know what he was doing, but she couldn’t hire him. She needed somebody with less skill. She shook her head; no, she needed him. She just couldn’t really afford him.

While she was processing the situation a tall lanky man with wire glasses came in with his resume. His blond hair was cut low, almost to the point of being shaved. He was dressed in a suit; that was the first thing she noticed about him because it fit him as if it had been tailored to fit his body and his body only. Given his height she gathered he probably had to buy custom clothes. He looked taller than Thomas, but it could have just seemed that way because he was lanky and lean while Thomas was all muscle. This guy looked like a friggin’ tree and suddenly, even in four-inch stiletto heels, she felt small.

“I’m here about the security position,” he said as he slid his resume onto the counter. She looked at the man already in front of her. She wanted this man—on so many levels, which was actually problematic because if he came to work for her she would have to get over her growing lust for the five foot nine inch muscles to die for, guy standing in front of her. Dark hair, green-blue eyes, oh yeah, she liked. Most women liked taller men, but for Alyssa, his height was perfect. She was only five feet and with four-inch heels on she would still be shorter than he was, but not so much so that she would end up with a pain in her neck from tilting her head back to look up at him all the time. Why was she still thinking in terms of having a relationship with this man? He was hired, and she knew that, even if she hadn’t said as much yet. His new status as her employee meant no romantic entanglements with the guy.

“I’m sorry; the position has just been filled,” she said as she smiled at the man who was dropping off his resume. “I can keep your resume on file.”

He grumbled, snatched the resume off her counter and stomped out the door uttering several curses.

“Well, that was rude,” she said.

“So I have the job?”

“You have the job. When can you start?”

“Right now,” he said.

“Oh, I have to do the background check and verify that you are eligible to work in the U.S. Arizona has some harsh laws for businesses who hire illegal workers and I won’t have my store shut down because you’re not allowed to work here.” He looked at her as if she had two heads. “Don’t think just because you look white that I’m not going to cross all of the t’s and dot all of the i’s.” She tacked her hands to her hips.

“How about I start getting this place brought out of the Dark Ages of security into the twenty-first century and you put me on the books and pay me once you’ve finished all the verifications. They have e-verify you know?”

“I know that,” she said. She also knew it wasn’t cheap. “I guess it’s okay. I mean you did, per your CV, serve our country so you must be okay. I’ll let you start, but if there’s even one red flag I’m kicking you out.”

“I’d expect nothing less from a law abiding citizen.”

“Now,” she pushed her spiraled tresses back behind her shoulder. “About this bringing me into the twenty-first century thing,” she didn’t have the money for that at all. She was going to have to stay in the proverbial Dark Ages of security equipment until she had more money. “I can’t afford that. We’ll have to work with what we have.”

He shook his head no. Did he not realize that she was the boss? Well, maybe she just needed to remind him. “Me boss; you employee,” she said in a Tarzan kind of way. She loved old movies and it wasn’t out of her usual norm to slip into mixing up their quotes.

He laughed. “You boss of store,” he said in the same tone. “Me boss of security.” God he was so serious yet playful that it made her laugh.

“I really can’t afford it.”

“I’ve got it covered.”

“So you’re working for practically free and you’re upgrading my security for free. Wow! You must be desperate for work on the Row.” The Row wasn’t just one long street of shops; it was several blocks. It’s just that her shop was situated in the heart of the district of stores, galleries, and upscale food establishments. She knew, no matter where the vacant store became available, people jumped at the chance to own a spot in this high-class district. She had gotten lucky; or more like her hard work had paid off, because she managed to get her bid in on her spot the same day the store went up for sale. With her preapproval in hand and all required paperwork, she managed to blissfully beat the competition to the punch and at the end of the race for one of the most coveted spots in the shopping district, she was the one who took home the key.

“I couldn’t care less about the status of the Row. No place is safe, but you all walk around here as if the name, the location, and the prestige alone will keep you safe. I guess you all now see that it won’t.”

She nodded. “It was nice while the peacefulness lasted.” She had to admit that. There was so much craziness in the world, and in Arizona too. There was the serial rapist on the loose in Chandler. There had been several apartment shootings in Mesa. Areas of Phoenix were quickly becoming areas to avoid even in the daylight hours and now the Row had been hit. There just never seemed to be any place to go where a person could be safe without fear of the next major attack from some whack job lunatic. She hated that.

“Why are you doing this? Why are you working so cheap and upgrading my security for free?” People didn’t do anything for nothing at all—that’s not how the world worked. He had to want something.

He shrugged. “First, your security is archaic and something better will help me do my job better.”

Okay, he had a point there. “And second?”

“Second,” he looked her over, as if waiting for a reaction…or preparing himself for one. “A friend asked me to help out a friend.”

She felt her face heating with anger. “Thomas!” She growled. She told him to stay out of it.

“I don’t know your brother,” he said.

“Ah ha!” He knew who she was talking about when she said his name so she knew Thomas did have something to do with it, even if he hadn’t sent the guy himself. “Even if you don’t know him, you know of him because you knew he was my brother.”

He laughed. “Yeah, but I’ve never met him.”

“Let me guess, he asked one of the guys to send you here.”

“Nope,” he said. “And since you’ve already hired me, you can’t fire me.”

Yes she could—but she wouldn’t. No matter how his walking into her store came about, she needed him. “So how long will you be here? A day, a week? What is this?” Would he leave right after what the media had dubbed,” The Terror on the Row” ended?

“As long as you need me.”

She sighed and smiled. She was sure Thomas had something to do with this. She could be angry, but she would be a fool if she didn’t thank him for it. “Let me show you around.” Not that there was much to show, but he could at least take a look inside her little box of a security room.

“Aren’t you going to lock the door?” He asked when she walked past him and headed toward the room.

“I hadn’t planned on it,” she said. “This won’t take too long.” He grunted. She was just about to ask him why he had a problem with it when the front door swung open and Officer Craig Davis sauntered in.

“Is there a problem here?” Craig’s usually flirtatious smile was gone and right now he had a dead serious look on his face and his hand on his weapon.

“No,” she said quickly. “Craig this is my new security guy, Shane.” She had the feeling he might not want his last name tossed out there. Most of the military men she knew were generally fairly private and giving his full name to a cop who would probably go back and run a search on him wasn’t exactly in fashion with keeping things private. “Shane, Craig is an officer working out of the Sixth.” She had met Craig a year ago when he and another officer had gone down the Row talking with shop owners about safety and security. It was their routine community awareness walk, but he had been a new addition. Now she couldn’t seem to get rid of him. He hadn’t come in every day, but he had stopped in sporadically to say hello. Since the last robbery he was becoming a more frequent fixture. He had, in not so direct terms, asked her out. He had asked her if she had lunch. She had told him not yet and he had said he hadn’t either. “I’m on my way down to the Bistro,” he had said. She knew an almost invite when she heard one so she quickly said that she still had a lot of work to do, but she had lunch waiting for her upstairs when she had time for her break.

Craig was attractive. He had this caramelized brown skin, gorgeous hazel eyes and short cut black hair. He had a go-tee. She didn’t usually go for facial hair, but it looked really good on him. He was five-eight, athletically fit, but not overtly muscular, and honestly he filled out the uniform rather nicely. She just didn’t feel that connection, the attraction that he seemed to want her to feel. She wasn’t sure he would understand that. Honestly, she didn’t get it herself. He was a nice guy; he was cute and yet she felt nothing—nothing at all. At first she thought she was just still untrusting of men due to the last relationship fiasco. They say they’re not married, but a person never really could tell, and that line of thinking made her turn down every man who walked into her shop thinking they had a chance with her. But then she realized that she wasn’t still dealing with relationship issues. She really did want something stable and good. Being at Thomas’ wedding had reminded her just how much she wanted that connection with somebody too. She just hadn’t found the right somebody yet.

“I could have handled security for your store,” he said so seriously that it almost knocked her over.

“How? You work thirteen hour shifts; there’s no way you could take this on too.”

“I would have given it all up for you.”

She laughed and shook her head. “Then you’d be broke. Trust me; you’re better off where you are.” She needed to change the subject—fast. “So what are you doing down this way?”

“After the last incident down here our department got some pressure from the mayor to make our presence known. Guess the big guy finally got around to putting a couple officers on the watch as requested.” He nearly laughed as he shook his head. “Maybe he realized the mayor was going to call every single day until somebody did as he said.”

“Oh.” She nodded. “So you’ll be patrolling?”

“Yeah, I’ll be patrolling…and another unit as well,” he nodded. “We’re not full-time security here, but we’ll be through, keeping you all safe. And you know I’m going to look out for you, beautiful.”

“Well I should hope you’ll be looking out for all of us.” She really wasn’t sure she liked how his conversational tactics had changed. He had always been subtle with his pursuit, which is why she had always been subtle with her rejection, but if he pushed any harder she was going to have to shut him down McGregor style. She didn’t want to have to do that. She had too many issues to deal with right now and aligning herself on a cop’s bad side wasn’t something she needed to add to all the rest of the chaos.

“I will be. But you have to be more afraid than Petrof down at the Bistro, or Gary at the art shop. You’re a woman,” he said as if she didn’t know that already. Well thank you, Sherlock, for the reminder. “What happened to that woman down at Shatrel’s Spice of Life could happen to you.”

“God forbid,” she said sharply. She didn’t even want to think about anything happening to her. She also couldn’t understand why he would relegate Shatrel to “that woman” status. Maybe it was a cop thing. Maybe everybody was simplified down to just a case number for them.

“It could. You’re here, alone, and you live above the store. What if he breaks in and comes up there to hurt you?”

“Well then I guess the world should feel sorry for him because my brothers would hunt the bastard down and rip his beating heart out of his chest.”

“I’m just saying,” he stepped closer to her. She wouldn’t be intimidated, not by the bastard robbing the Row, and not by the man in uniform before her. “You’re here all alone at night. Something bad could happen to you.”

“That’s what she has me for,” Shane interrupted Craig’s intimidation tactics. “And I can assure you anybody who tries to get to her won’t be getting out of here unless it’s in a body bag.”

His uninhibited admission had knocked Alyssa off balance. He had just, and in front of a cop, said he’d kill the man—well, he hadn’t said it in those exact words, but she hadn’t missed the meaning and she was sure Craig hadn’t either. Shane was like her brothers; maybe worse, she couldn’t tell yet. Good Lord, who had she just hired?

“Yeah,” she nodded and pointed to Shane, “what he said.” She could fight. Gavin had taught her some moves, and she had picked up a few from Thomas. She might not be an expert, but she wouldn’t go down like some deer caught in headlights either. “Anyway, Craig, I have to show Shane around and get him acquainted with the store. I’m sure I’ll see you around.”

He looked her over, one long languid visual inspection that spent far too much time focused on her breasts. She was wearing her aqua blue satin button down blouse with a pair of white slacks that hugged her curves in all the right places. Right now she wished she were wearing full body armor because with just one look the man was practically undressing her where she stood. She cleared her throat, yet he still hadn’t bothered to move.

“In other words,” Shane’s voice was gravely serious. “It’s time for you to go,” he stated with no room for argument. Craig looked at him once, something in his eyes told Alyssa that he was trying to assess just whether or not he could take the man beside her in a fight or not. She didn’t know what he had decided on the matter; she just knew that he stiffened his shoulders before giving her one more offsetting look.

“I’ll be seeing you,” he said to her. His voice was deep and laced with something, she wasn’t sure what, but it was something. He didn’t have that same friendly, confident tone. He seemed determined, maybe even a little angry; she didn’t know which because she barely knew the man. She waited until he was out the door before she turned to Shane and smiled.

“Okay, let’s get on with what we need to do.”

“Is he somebody to you, Alyssa?”

“Craig? No,” she shook her head wondering why he cared. He was security, and he was only there as a favor to whoever had asked him to come and apply for the job. “Not that it should matter to you. Now let’s get on with familiarizing you with the store, shall we;” she stepped around him when he showed no signs of moving out of her way. She walked over to the security room door before turning around and realizing he wasn’t right behind her. “Are you coming?” She heard the hint of annoyance in her own tone and she couldn’t figure out why it was there. He had asked a simple question. Why had it bothered her so much?

“This,” she pushed open the door to her security room, “is where you’ll work. I know it’s not much, but we can get a more comfortable chair in here for you, and um…well…” she looked around trying to figure out what would be the best thing to put in the room with him. The only thing she had factored in when she embarked on this journey to find security for her store was the more comfortable chair aspect, maybe a small desk to replace the one that had come with the building when she bought it; otherwise, there wasn’t much she could think of that a security guard would need.

“I’ll fix it up to my specifications,” he said as if rescuing her from the task of trying to figure out what to do with the room. She had at least painted the room. The color was a soft, yet calming blue. She had once heard that blue was peace inspiring and she thought a security room should be just that. If she had gone for the Stark Raving Mad Red color the sales clerk tried to get her to buy she had envisioned the guard would probably go stark raving mad and shoot up her store. No, blue was a sense of peaceful, calming tranquility to give whoever was stuck in that room all day a little slice of beauty and, with hopes, patience.

“I can add a mini fridge,” she said. “That way you can bring sodas or food and eat in here if you get hungry. Just please clean up behind yourself.” She wasn’t a maid and she didn’t have time to play one.

He stepped completely into the small room, making it feel smaller. He wasn’t an overtly tall man. He wasn’t a guy who physically demanded all the space in the room, but somehow this man was definitely demanding space in this room. She felt crowded, not by his body, but by the man himself. It was as if he walked into the place and he owned it, completely possessing it, controlling it in a way that told anybody in his way to quickly get out of it. That was one of the things she first noticed when he walked into her store. When the door swung open and he walked in she felt the heat of his stare before she even looked up to see him. She had been putting a piece back in the case after giving a customer a closer inspection of the delicate necklace. When she did look up she wished she hadn’t. He was just standing there, taking over the space in the store like he owned it to his core. His low cut hair accented a strong jaw line making it look even stronger. His broad shoulders and narrow waist made her want to strip off that black tailored suit jacket, that powder blue tie and shirt and get to know that sexy body with an up close and personal hands-on inspection. The second he opened his mouth and said, “I’m here about the job,” she kicked the naughty thoughts from her mind. Stripping him and getting to know him better was no longer an option.

He had big hands; she noticed that, too, when he handed her his CV. He didn’t just sit it on the counter and slide it to her like everybody else had done. He made sure he put that high-grade piece of paper in her hand. He made sure she had to look at it, not just pick it up off the counter and add it to the pile of resumes behind the cash register. He stood there, waiting, watching her and every second seemed like torture because she could barely concentrate on what she was doing. He smelled so good, like the desert after a spring rain mixed with a hint of spice. She resisted the instinct to close her eyes and inhale the scent of the walking fantasy in front of her.

“As you can see,” he had said. “I have extensive experience in keeping people, and property, safe.” His voice was low, like a nice alto singer or the bass clef G-string of a cello and she wondered just how smooth that voice would sound in the bedroom. She had mentally kicked herself, telling herself to let it go. It had been too long since she had a serious relationship and that had to be the problem—at least that’s what she told herself anyway. Once she put her mind back on business at hand and actually managed to concentrate on the paper in front of her she saw a man who was qualified, more than qualified for the position he was applying for. She wanted to hire him; he was professional, well put together, respectful and confident. His skills were top notch according to the paper in her hand. She wanted to hire him, but she knew she couldn’t afford him. Maybe what impressed her most was that he didn’t back down. He wanted the job and he went after it. Of course now she knew his reason behind wanting the job. She was just a favor for a friend. Why did that bother her so much?

Well, it had all worked out anyway. He was going to be working for her, which was both good and bad. She was glad she had the best of the best for the security at her store, but not so glad that the sexy man nearly boxing her in the room was now officially off limits.

“So,” she cleared the husky tone from her throat. “This is where you’ll be, and of course you’ve seen the store. That’s all there is to it.”

“There’s a backdoor;” he stated, not asked.

“Yes, um…okay, let me lock the front and we’ll go.” She locked up the front door and flipped the Be Right Back sign to the facing out position. “Come with me,” she went to a door just down from the cash register. “Through here,” she pulled open the door and he followed her. “There’s no dress code really,” she said. “So you can wear whatever you want, just please don’t come in here with your pants hanging down around your thighs,” she shook her head to shake the image from her mind. “Not that you look like the kind of guy who would go for that sloppy, I forgot my belt and my pants are three sizes too big, look.” He was quick to assure her she didn’t need to worry about that look on his body at all. “Down this hall, that door back there is the backdoor for the store.” When they reached the door, she watched him survey the lock as he looked up at the miniature light bulb lighting the hallway. He shook his head. Great, he wasn’t happy with that either. She knew the light wasn’t perfect. It had a tendency to give off that Hollywood horror flick feel, but short of getting an electrician in to rewire the place there was nothing she could do about it.

“This is all you have?”

She sighed an exasperated sigh. “Yeah, that’s all I have,” she nearly snapped. She watched him take a small file from his back pocket and fiddle with the lock for all of two seconds before it easily gave way. He opened the door, looked at her and then closed it back, turning the lock back to close. Yes, she saw the problem now, but that didn’t mean she was going to tell him that. If he kept pointing out everything that was wrong with her store she was going to need a mountain of paper for the list.

“And that’s your place up there,” once again he stated, not asked.

“Yes, that’s the door to my place.” She turned. “Are you ready to go back out front now?”

“No,” he said simply before walking up the stairs without her. If he jimmied the lock to her door she was going to flip the little light bulb he didn’t seem to like to the off position and leave him to find his way out of there on his own.

He looked back down at her before performing the same action on her house door that he had on the backdoor. It gave way and he pushed the door open. “Not even a squeak,” he said. “And this is a flat so there’s nowhere for you to run.”

“The bathroom,” she said without thinking.

“Let’s check it out.”

“No!” She ran up the stairs as she noticed he wasn’t listening to her. She didn’t stop until she caught up with him. He was already inside her bathroom. She felt her cheeks flush and she was sure she was at least five different shades of red. She had washed her underwear, panties, bras and stockings out by hand and they were hanging over her bath and in her shower to dry. She felt so embarrassed knowing her undies were out there for him to survey. Little peach, yellow, rose pink and fire red mixed with midnight blue lace, satin and cotton sweet nothings were just dangling there for him to see.

“I just washed those,” she said. “It doesn’t normally look like this,” she felt the need to explain that she was not a total mess when it came to her place. He just nodded and took one more look at her bathroom before looking at the lock.

“This lock isn’t going to keep anybody out,” he slapped his palm against the door. “Neither is this door. One kick and whoever wants in is getting in.”

“Great,” she mumbled as she tried to take any of the dry pieces of clothing down. She realized now that she was actually drawing attention to her underwear—more attention than she needed to—just by her own actions.

He walked back out into the main area. She had used decorative privacy divider screens to separate areas. She had an office where she balanced the books and paid bills, so she had a deep chocolate wood divider there with decorative lace-like cutouts at the top of the fixture. Then she had an area where she made her jewelry off to the other side of the kitchen area. She put another matching divider there so that her boxes and crates of materials weren’t an eyesore, or a constant reminder that she should be working. Owning Snowflakes in the Desert was wonderful—most times—but she had a bad habit of working seven days a week. When the store wasn’t open she was making new pieces. She needed to find some balance, to get out there and do something more than just work; but if she didn’t work then she didn’t pay the bills and if she didn’t pay the bills then she didn’t have a place to stay. That’s how she rationalized letting everything else fall by the wayside. She was so exhausted come Sundays that she just didn’t feel the need to get out and party. She shrugged, she really was too old for that lifestyle anyway…well, maybe not too old, she admitted to herself.

“I’m curious,” he looked over her place. She would swear he seemed to appreciate what she had done with it. The bedroom was closed off from the kitchen with the same privacy divider, only she had moved it farther away because she liked having more space in the bed area. “Why did you name your store Snowflakes in the Desert? It’s not a very…common name,” he said as if he were looking for the right word.

“No, it’s not. It’s long and not trendy at all, but I thought it was fitting. No two snowflakes are the same and no two of my jewelry pieces are the same. I make everything by hand and everything is different, even if it’s just moderately changed with stones or colors, or a slight fluctuation in the design, no two pieces are the same. They’re as original as snowflakes.” She smiled, very proud of her work. “Now, if you’re finished showing me what’s wrong with my security can we go back downstairs?”

“You want to put your panties away?”

“Pardon me?” She looked at him trying to figure out what he was talking about until he pointed to her hands and she realized she was still holding a few of the lace panties she had taken down from the bathroom. “Oh,” she blushed. She didn’t put them in the drawer she just placed them on the bed before coming back to where he was. “Okay, let’s go.” She ushered him out of her flat and back down the stairs.

“This light is a death trap,” he told her. “If somebody had snuck in here they could hide up in the shadows and wait for you. There’s less light hitting your door area, and that little alcove between the hall and your stairs is the perfect place for an attacker to lie in wait.”

She nodded. “I hadn’t really thought of that.” Maybe she should have. Her brothers were both always talking about safety and security for their sisters, but she had never really thought of her place as being as accessible as Shane had just showed her it was.

“I’m going to go get some locks for this place so I can put them on before you close up tonight. I don’t like how vulnerable you are here.”

Well now that he had pointed everything out she didn’t like it either. “I’ll get you some cash from the register for it. There’s a home store about fifteen minutes away from here.”

“Don’t bother,” he mumbled. “I said I was getting you better security, not some flimsy excuse for a lock from some standard home store. I’ll take care of this. I just have to go back to my place to get what I need.”

She wasn’t going to argue with the man because first of all, she didn’t think it would do any good. He had made up his mind and he was going to do it whether she wanted him to or not. And secondly, she really did suddenly feel as if her place was a robber’s heaven just waiting to be hit. Shane lived in Cave Creek; at least that’s what he said when she asked him since he hadn’t listed his address on his CV. It shouldn’t take him too long to pick up whatever he needed.

“Why is your car on the street and not back in one of the parking spaces behind your building?”

“I like being able to look out and see my car at night. It lets me know it’s still there.” She laughed at her own reasoning. Clearly she didn’t think the Row was as safe as everybody said it was or she wouldn’t have even thought of that.

“It’s not a really good idea,” he assured her. Of course it wasn’t. Her store and home was a stationary security disaster let him tell it. “When you move your car it’s real obvious to anybody that you’re not here, and when it’s there they’ll know you are. It’s too easy to learn your patterns based on the position of your car. You should park in the back. The lot isn’t visible because of the buildings so nobody would be able to easily tell when you’re out of town.”

She nodded. She hadn’t really thought of that either. She never would have guessed this about herself, but she really did hate when people pointed out all the things she hadn’t considered. It made her feel stupid on so many levels. She should have thought of everything Shane had, yet she had let the location lull her into a pseudo sense of security.

“Plus,” he looked at her sternly. “When you go shopping I’m sure you use the back door to come in which means you have to walk down that little alley to get to it. That’s not good either.”

“Of course it isn’t,” she said dryly. “I get it,” she assured him. “I’ll park in the back from now on.”

“Why don’t you go ahead and move your car now. I’ll wait until you’re done before I head out.”

“Where’s your car?” She looked out at the row of parked cars lining the street. Shoppers were busy going from store to store. The tragedy in the area hadn’t deterred shoppers during the daylight hours so that was a good thing for business.

“I’m the F-250 parked behind your building.”

She hadn’t looked out when he opened the backdoor. She didn’t even know there was a vehicle back there. The two parking spaces behind her building belonged to her and not the building next to her so she never really bothered to pay attention to the back lot.

“Go on,” he ushered her toward the door. “I want to get back to my place and pick up the stuff I’ll need to change out those locks before it gets much later.”

She laughed. “I guess you’re not just bringing my video security into the twenty-first century; you’re bringing my locks too.” She laughed again. “Thanks. I feel safer already.” He opened his mouth to say something and then stopped, as if he had thought better of whatever it was. She wondered what he was going to say, but at the same time she wasn’t sure she wanted to know.

“How old are you?” She knew she probably shouldn’t ask. There was probably some legal rule about asking that question, but since he was already hired she didn’t see a problem with the question. He seemed old when it came to wisdom and demeanor, but his features didn’t look old at all.

“Thirty-eight,” he smiled at her.

“No way! Get out,” she said; her shock resonated in her tone. “I thought you were like twenty-nine, thirty at the max.”

He shook his head. “I’m retired military,” he said as if she should have done the math and come up with his exact age. Well, yeah, maybe she should have put it closer, but retired military meant a lot of things. Either he had put in his twenty years plus one day, or he had come out early. Some people didn’t really emphasize the difference when talking. Maybe she should have known he would have. When he said retired he didn’t mean he put in his time and left, he really meant retired military style.

“How old are you?”

“You probably already know that,” she smiled. “But I guess one personal question deserves another. I’m thirty-one. I just had a birthday last week. It feels like yesterday I was twenty-eight,” she laughed. “But time moves on and age moves with it.”

“Happy birthday—belated,” he said.

“Thanks. Gavin’s the oldest. He’s your age actually. Thomas just celebrated thirty-five not that long before his wedding, and Eve’s the baby. She’s twenty-five now. She’s much older in spirit than her years.” She sighed. “Adam’s death changed her—a lot.”

“I heard about that. I’m sorry for your family’s loss.”

“Thanks. It hit Eve hard. I mean I guess it would right; that’s natural. But she just changed so much. I’m talking overnight change here. One day she was my baby sister and the next…it almost feels like she’s older than all of us now. She still looks like a kid, well, maybe just younger than she is anyway, but her attitude, her spirit, the person she is, it’s like she’s a hundred years old. It’s like she’s lived a thousand lives full of pain and heartache and each one broke her. I miss my baby sister, but I have to admit she’s grown into the strong, independent woman she always wanted to be.”

“Death will do that to a person. Some people fall apart, others evade the pain by throwing themselves into something else, and some deal and move forward the best they can. When I joined the Navy I was a kid out of high school with the mentality of a kid out of high school,” he admitted. “I thought I was larger than life, couldn’t be hurt and wasn’t going to die anytime soon. Boot camp aged me, constant training aged me more, and war—watching men fall beside me—it mentally knocked me way past my physical years in age.”

She nodded. “We’re not all really sure where Eve fits in those categories yet. She didn’t fall apart, but she did throw herself into her work. I don’t know if she’s dealing with things and trying to live the best she can, or if she’s avoiding thinking about Adam by taking on every assignment that comes her way.” She shook her head. She didn’t need to be having this conversation with him. “I better go move my car. I’ll be right back.” She briskly walked back over to the register and grabbed her keys from behind the counter before going out the front door. She hadn’t missed the look he gave her when she got her keys. She was sure she was in for another lecture about why leaving her keys behind the register was such a bad idea. She decided that when it came to protection, Shane was definitely going to be worse than her brothers. She didn’t think she would ever meet a man who could be more protective of her than Gavin and Thomas were, but she just had.

Gavin and Thomas were family and so she expected them to smother her with loving protection, even when she made a point of putting enough distance between them so that she didn’t have them breathing down her neck she always knew they were keeping up with her in one fashion or another. But this guy, Shane Maxwell, was not the kind of guy who was going to protect from a distance. He also wasn’t the kind of guy who would let her get away with, or at least let her think she was getting away with, not having him keeping a close watch over her safety. She shrugged as she pulled her little bug in next to his oversized truck. She wanted security; she couldn’t complain now that she had gotten it. “Suck it up, Alyssa,” she told herself. “That man is definitely here to stay—for a little while anyway.” Just until he had fulfilled his promise to whatever friend had hired him. Something about that really bothered her. She wanted him to be there because he wanted to be, not because it was a favor to a friend. She didn’t want to be anybody’s obligation, yet somehow, his words had made her feel as if she was just an obligation, a way of doing a favor for a friend.

She needed to get over her issue with why he was there. In a lot of ways it was good that he wasn’t truly there because of her. She wanted to keep things professional and his feelings of obligations to his friend meant he wouldn’t be thinking of anything more with her. She wanted him to think of more, but she knew it was a bad idea. “Employers do not date employees,” she said as she walked back down the alley to the front door of the store. She took the walk instead of going in through the back because she really needed just a few minutes of breathing room, a few minutes to get her head on straight and not think about all the things she wished she could do with Shane Maxwell.