No one else seemed surprised by that except Brand.
“You’re going in today?” he asked with disbelief.
Sahara gave all her attention to her employees.
Justice said, “I’ll hang around and reprogram your codes.”
She nodded. “Thank you.”
“And I’m going to call your landscaper to get that tree trimmed,” Miles said, “then I’ll do a general inspection to see if there are any other weaknesses.”
“I appreciate that.”
“I’ll go to the office with you.” Leese leaned back against the counter. “You saw him this time, right? That means we have some work to do.”
Sahara nodded. “I could use your help as I go through all of Scott’s old associates to see if I recognize him among them.”
Irritated with them all, Brand said to Leese, “She needs to sleep.” And then to Miles and Justice, “She can’t stay here even if you do get things buttoned up. The bastard got in once so he might be able to get in again.”
She gave him a long look. “Shouldn’t you be training for a fight?”
“It’s months away.” And despite what he’d told her, he didn’t yet know if he’d be fighting. He had a lot of conflicts to iron out.
“Ah.” Saying nothing more, Sahara paced away from the window.
Brand blocked her. “I think you should stay with me.”
She blinked at him. “With you?”
“Yes.”
Justice coughed. Miles laughed.
Showing some sense, Leese shuffled everyone out of the room.
Soon as they were alone, Brand moved in closer to her. Seeing the exhaustion, the wariness and her confusion, he cupped his hand to her face and gently repeated, “Stay with me.”
She drew in and released a slow breath. After glancing toward the doorway where the others had left, she whispered, “I’m only a little shaken, but I—”
“Shh.” He brushed his thumb over her soft, full lips—and then he replaced it with his mouth. He’d meant to indulge in a single peck, a way to let her know that she didn’t have to explain to him, and then he’d get her agreement.
But Sahara never did anything half-measure.
With a small, hungry sound, she fit her slim body to his, sliding her hands up his chest to his shoulders and then to his neck.
That’s all it took.
Brand gathered her closer, his arms around her, his head tilted to the side so he could deepen the kiss, explore her mouth with his tongue, coax her tongue into his mouth—
“Ahem.”
Shit. It took him a second to get a grip, then he turned so his back was to Justice, effectively hiding Sahara. “We’ll join you in a second, Justice.”
“Only a second, huh? Looked more involved than that to me. Maybe I should start calling you Speedy?”
“Justice,” he warned.
“I wasn’t gone that long. You two must’ve really jumped into it, huh?”
Sahara, being unlike other women, laughed.
No embarrassment for her.
Peeking around Brand, she said, “You’re hilarious, Justice.”
“He has his moments,” Brand agreed. Unfortunately, this wasn’t one of them.
“Yeah, well, I’m sorry to interrupt.” He eyed Brand. “Sort of. Thing is, we all agreed that you should leave at the same time as Leese, so...is that going to be any time soon?”
“Yes, very soon,” Sahara promised. “While I get changed, would you please call Enoch and ask him to have my brother’s suite at the agency cleaned out and prepped? He knows my eating habits, so I’d like for him to arrange groceries as well.”
Brand had no idea what she was up to now. “Why would you—”
“It makes perfect sense for me to stay there,” she said in a rush before he could even finish his question, “but I’d rather not deal with the memories right now.”
“I’ll take care of it,” Justice promised her.
“Scott’s belongings should be put in storage, but the women’s stuff can be donated somewhere.” In dismissal, she added sweetly, “Thank you, Justice.”
“Sure thing.” Cell phone already out to call Enoch, Justice exited the kitchen.
Brand couldn’t hold back the amazement he felt. “Nothing rattles you, does it?” She hadn’t been in the kitchen worrying as he’d thought. Not Sahara. No, she’d taken some quiet time to plot her next step.
He couldn’t imagine anyone ever taking her off guard.
“I’m the woman who raced upstairs in a fury, if you’ll recall. I was plenty rattled.”
Actually, she’d raced away so he wouldn’t see her upset and he felt guilty as hell about it. He knew he’d hurt her feelings when that had never been his intent.
“Rattled, huh?” Giving her the excuse, he smoothed his hand along her thick braid. “I’m surprised you’d admit to it.”
She faked a stern frown to go with her dire warning. “Ever repeat it and we’ll have a problem.”
“Your secrets are safe with me.”
Still kidding around, she flared her eyes wide. “Wow, what a promise. How do you know I won’t unload on you?”
“You could,” he said with sincerity. “I wouldn’t mind.”
She patted his chest. “Yes, well, I refuse to be a wimp, so don’t hold your breath.”
Covering her hand with his, Brand said, “You can trust me, Sahara.” If she’d rather stay at the agency suite, fine, but he’d figure out a way to stay with her.
“Trust you to make me nuts,” she muttered.
“Sahara—”
“I need to change for the office and pack some things for my stay in the suite. Are you still playing guard dog?”
“I am.” Except that he wasn’t playing.
“Excellent.” Putting her small, soft hand in his, her grip firm, Sahara led him out of the kitchen and toward the stairs. To Leese, she said, “I’ll be ready to go in ten minutes.”
“Hey, Speedy,” Justice called after him.
Vexed, Brand glanced back.
“Protect her this time.”
Brand flipped him off, but then also gave a nod. He’d protect her all right.
Today, tonight and for the foreseeable future.
*
BRAND LEFT AFTER she and Leese were in the offices. Sahara wasn’t sure what to think about that, but she pretended to think nothing at all. In front of everyone, he’d kissed her forehead, told her he’d see her again soon, then just walked away.
Soon could be later in the afternoon, later in the week or at the end of the month. She just didn’t know.
Should she have accepted his offer to stay with him?
No. That would smack of being needy, which would undermine her authority in a big way.
She could have invited him to stay with her instead, but again, needy. The thought of spending the night alone in her big house had given her chills. Unfortunately, the idea of being alone in the suite wasn’t much better. At least she knew the agency was protected; no one could get past the 24/7 security.
Except...people once had.
They’d shot her guard, grabbed Enoch and nearly killed him, then gotten to the suite where they’d attacked Leese and Catalina. At the time Catalina wasn’t yet Leese’s wife, but they were already well on their way to being more than a client and her bodyguard.
Thank God, Leese was a lethal, highly trained machine who’d made the attackers regret the decision to intrude.
It’d be best to put that horrid breach in security from her mind. Since then they’d tightened up all entry points. She’d be fine. She believed it, so she just had to find something else to occupy her mind. Given that she was anxious to dig into the files of her brother’s known associates, she had plenty of distractions at hand.
She was at her desk, coffee beside one elbow, the shiv she’d made at the other, painstakingly going through each file and cross-referencing them with any photos she could find, when Enoch opened her door.
“He’s ba-aack.”
Sahara straightened. For one startling second, she thought Enoch meant her kidnapper. Then she caught his smile and, clearing her throat, asked, “Who?”
Sliding into the room and closing the door behind him, Enoch said, “Brand Berry.”
“Oh?” Sooner than she’d expected. “I thought he’d left for the day.”
“Apparently not.” Enoch’s smile turned knowing. “Care to share?”
Actually... She hopped up from her chair and skirted her desk. “What do you think of him?”