SEALs Love Curves Book 8: Future

“I want everything put into that house. There is a credible threat to her life, and we’re not going to let her down,” Dex said to English and Jack. They’d been assigned the task of installing Taylor’s security system, and Dex wasn’t taking any chances.

“We’ll load it up. I think I have everything here that we would need for a house that size. I’ll use what’s in place and reroute the feeds, but we’ll add more, too,” English told him.

“Good. If you can do a perimeter alarm, that would be good, too. Better to know if he’s getting close before he tries to break into the house. Her cuts weren’t deep, but they wouldn’t have happened at all if her original system had worked.”

“Any idea how he bypassed it?” Jack asked.

“No. I tried to look last night, but it was too dark to see much of anything. This morning I didn’t go outside except to leave. It was still armed, as far as I could tell, but he came in the slider so he did something to it.”

“Damn,” Jack said. “Glad you were there to help her out.”

“Yeah. I’m not sure how much sleep she got, but knowing her alarm wouldn’t go off, I couldn’t leave her.” Dex scrubbed a hand over his face to wipe away the exhaustion.

“Are you going to stay with her again? I can trade off with you if you need me to,” English offered. “Or you can bring her back to our house so we’re both there.”

Dex shook his head. “Nah, I got it.”

The snicker from Jack was his first indication that his friends were messing with him. Dex looked up at them with a glare. “What?”

Jack crossed his arms and assessed Dex. “Just curious that you’re so invested in this case.”

“I owe Braden. He saved my ass. His sister is important to him. I’m not going to let anything happen to her.”

Jack jerked his head toward English. “And you think he’s going to?”

“I didn’t say that,” Dex growled.

Jack and English exchanged an all-knowing, shit-eating smirk. “Didn’t have to,” Jack said. “We’ll take care of your woman’s house. You watch out for your woman.”

“She’s not mine,” Dex said as the other two left his office, laughing.

Dex let them walk away. It didn’t matter what they thought. He was doing Braden a favor. Sure, they would have taken Taylor’s case if she’d asked them to, but they weren’t above doing favors for family and friends either. Dex wanted to figure out who was after Taylor, and he would, but his primary concern was keeping her safe.

He finished up what he needed to do at the office and packed up his computer to take with him to Birds of a Feather. He had his assignment for a few days and would focus on what he could without being on site. With any luck, he’d also get some sleep.

Dex went home and took a quick shower. His headache pounded behind his eyes, threatening to take over if he didn’t find some way to alleviate the pain. He lay down on his bed, naked and damp from the shower, and let the cool air of his ceiling fan dry his body and soothe his mind.

The alarm on his phone snapped him awake thirty minutes later. Not nearly enough of a nap, but it was all he could give himself. He considered taking his muscle relaxants with him, but they knocked him out and he couldn’t afford that when he was on a job. Ibuprofen would have to work well enough.

Dex dressed and packed a bag. He added a few extra weapons, just in case, and drove back to Birds of a Feather. He parked in the spot assigned to Taylor, then walked through the front door. Steven was still there, watching as Dex scanned himself through. The elevator whisked him up to the third floor and opened out into a busy space.

On his first visit there, Dex didn’t pay attention to the noise or the brightness. He was there for a job and didn’t care about the rest of it. When he arrived that morning with Taylor, the place was silent and grew louder slowly enough that he didn’t notice it. But now? The noise and the lights and the entire place made his head pulse with tension and his body hum with anxiety.

So much for that ibuprofen he took.

Dex worked his way past employees to the large office in the corner that Taylor occupied. He could see her inside on her phone, not looking happy. When her eyes widened and she drew back, he picked up his pace to get to her and make sure she was okay.

“Mr. Hamilton!” he heard before he could open Taylor’s office door.

With his hand on the handle, he spun to meet the gaze of Taylor’s assistant. “Jessica. What’s going on? Is she okay?”

Jessica looked past him to Taylor, her shoulders tight to her ears. “There’s a minor issue, but she’s handling it. She asked not to be disturbed.”

Jessica’s pointed look had Dex pulling back. He looked at Taylor once more, her glare telling him not to enter. She was a strong, successful businesswoman. He wasn’t there to fix all her problems. His job was to keep her safe so she could do her job and fix her own problems.

“Taylor said there was someplace I could work?”

Jessica rose from her seat and crooked her finger for him to follow. “She assumed you’d want a spot where you could see pretty much everything.” Jessica walked around the edge of her partition and back toward the elevator. She stopped at a corner cubicle with a desk facing the center of the room. From that position, Dex could see the whole floor from the elevator to Taylor’s office in one quick glance. “Will this work?”

Dex set his computer bag on the desk. “Yep, it’s great. Thanks.”

Jessica pulled open the top drawer. “Here’s our Wi-Fi password. And that’s the number for the IT person, just in case there’s something you need from her. If you need anything at all, this is my extension and direct line. I can get you her schedule or contacts or anything you need.” She looked up at Dex, and her smile faltered. “I love working here. For Taylor. She’s a great boss and I believe in what we’re doing. It might not seem like much, but it’s important. She told me what happened. Thank you for helping her.”

Dex nodded, believing even more in Taylor. “What you’re doing here is very important. It’s huge for a lot of women. Don’t diminish that.”

Jessica beamed at him, then skipped back to her desk.

Dex settled into his space and pulled out his computer. He connected to the internet without any issues and started to dig. There were two dangerous men out there, and he needed to find them both.

* * *

Taylor

Taylor felt like all she had was meetings all day. She was tired and hungry and cranky. And it was barely noon.

When Jessica walked in with a bag of food, she nearly fell at the woman’s feet and worshipped her. “Thank you so much.”

Jessica didn’t falter at Taylor’s overly excited appreciation. “Of course. I ordered in so we wouldn’t have to leave the office. Dex said that was okay.”

“Oh, crap. I forgot about him. Is he back?”

Jessica opened the bag and handed over Taylor’s food. “He is. I set him up at his desk and he’s working, I guess. I ordered him a sandwich, too.” Jessica unwrapped her sub and took a bite. After a minute, she met Taylor’s gaze with a smile that said she knew the answer before she asked the question. “Are you okay? Really?”

Taylor shrugged. It was the best she could do. The truth was, she was far from okay. Her home had been violated. Her company. Herself. She was under attack from someone who thought she caused them harm, and she had no idea who he was. But she couldn’t tell Jessica that. She didn’t want her to worry, and Taylor knew she would. “I will be. Or at least, I hope I will be. Right now, I’m trying to push it all out of my head and focus on work. I’m not willing to let this guy ruin what we’ve been building. We’ve worked way too hard on this.”

“I agree. But I don’t want you to feel like you’re alone. If you need someone to vent to, I’m here.”

Taylor appreciated the gesture, but they both knew she wouldn’t take Jessica up on the offer to talk. Jessica was kind and excellent at her job and someone Taylor would call a friend, if she had friends, but Taylor was her boss, and that made it impossible for them to be friends. Taylor needed those lines and descriptors between her and the people around her. She needed to know where she stood with everyone. It made her feel safe to put people in boxes.

“Thanks,” Taylor said, not offering anything else. She wasn’t ready to vent, and she wasn’t willing to vent to Jessica. She wasn’t sure who she could vent to. Maybe a bottle of wine would listen. It definitely wouldn’t interrupt her.

“Do you have any idea who the guy could be?” Jessica asked.

“No. I’ve been trying to think. I made that list for the police, but it was tough to come up with that many people. I don’t think of myself as having enemies.”

“And I can’t imagine you stepping on anyone else to get ahead. You’ve always been willing to bring people up the ladder with you. Even from when we first met. You didn’t have to make me your assistant, let alone keep me on when you started Birds.” Jessica’s gratitude was apparent in her smile, but it was the sincerity in her words that warmed Taylor.

“You’re excellent at your job, and I couldn’t have done all of this without you. For me, that also means knowing that I’m going to have to find a new assistant one day because you might want to move on. And I will support you doing that, whether it’s here or somewhere else.” Taylor meant every word, even though she hated the idea of not having Jessica working side-by-side with her.

“I… I don’t want another job,” Jessica said.

“Good, but if you do one day, I hope you’ll talk to me about it so I can help you.”

Jessica smiled absently as though filing the thought away for later. “Thank you. I… This is why I don’t understand someone thinking you pushed him out of the way for your own advancement. It’s insane.”

Taylor had been trying to figure out the same thing. “We’re all the heroes of our own life. I guess he feels I wronged him.”

“Men.”

Taylor laughed. She couldn’t argue with that.

When they finished lunch, Taylor had more meetings all afternoon with the launch team. Everything was in place. They’d sent out pieces to influencers and were already receiving positive feedback from a few of them. It was the one piece of the puzzle Taylor was unsure of, but her team had pushed for it.

She was happy to be wrong, as long as she was actually wrong.

“Do we have any negative reviews?” Taylor asked.

“So far, not one,” Sharon said. She flashed her proud mama smile at Taylor. She’d done amazing work getting the word out about Birds of a Feather. Sharon was the kind of person who could talk to anyone and make them feel comfortable. She wouldn’t take shit, but she was subtle and smooth about it, slapping you with her words in a way that made you grateful for it.

The team Taylor created worked like a team who’d been together for years. They bounced ideas around and played off each other’s. There was no competition among them, only cooperation, something that made Taylor very proud. She had confidence the company would succeed because of the team she had around her.

Taylor asked a few more questions and issued a few directives, then turned the conversation to other things happening in the office she needed to share.

“I want you all aware of what’s been going on with me lately,” she began.

No one spoke, but they all shifted in their seats and gave Taylor their full attention.

“I think everyone knows about the bird.” She met the gazes of her team as they each nodded. “The man who sent the bird also called me, and last night he was in my home.”

A collective gasp went around the room, followed by questions of her safety.

“I’m okay. Mostly shaken up. He had a knife and got a few slashes in. It was terrifying, to put it bluntly. The man sitting in the corner is a friend of my brother’s, and he’s going to be here until we find out who is behind this and take care of him. His name is Ryker Hamilton, or you can call him Dex. Jessica and Sharon have already met him. If he asks you anything, please help him out. His organization helps people. I think. I’m not really sure, but he’s here to help all of us, so if you need him to walk you to your car or you notice anything strange or whatever, he’s here to keep us all safe.” Taylor again met the gazes of her team and tried to reassure them with a full-of-shit-but-pretending-to-be-confident smile. The worried looks that met hers said she might have missed the mark.

“I don’t want anyone to worry. I just want you all aware.”

“Are we in danger?” Emily, the head of design, asked.

Taylor knew she had to reassure her employees without making them think it was business as usual. “I have no reason to believe that. He seems to be targeting me. And he’s made it sound personal, although I don’t know who he is.”

“Are you okay?” Sharon asked.

Taylor forced a smile for her team. “I’m as good as I can be.”

“Well, I’m all for the eye candy around the office, so I’m not complaining,” Megan, the social media manager, said with a not-so-subtle peek at Dex.

The others in the room murmured their agreement, and Taylor laughed. Dex was better than eye candy, but she wasn’t going to talk to them about how sexy he looked when he was protecting her, or the way his rough morning voice skittered up her spine and made every inch of her tingle. Nope. She was keeping those things to herself.

“Okay, I think we can adjourn our meeting. Thank you, everyone.”

Taylor cleaned up the conference room as they filtered out, stealing glances at Dex on their way to their desks and offices. She definitely didn’t blame them.

Over the next two hours, her entire staff headed home. Dex sat quietly at his desk, watching the floor and working. Taylor wondered if he was as exhausted as she was and assumed he had to be since he got even less sleep than she did the night before.

She finished up a few things on her computer and packed up to head home. Her stomach growled at her, reminding her she needed to eat something before she went to bed. Maybe Dex would be willing to stop for takeout on their way back to her house.

“Are you ready to go?” he asked from her doorway. His messenger bag was thrown over his shoulder like he knew she was leaving soon.

Taylor glanced around her office once more, accepting that she was done for the day. She slid her phone into her purse and slung it over her shoulder. “I am. I have a tendency to work long hours. I’m sorry if I kept you.”

Dex shook his head. “You are my priority, Taylor.”

She liked the way that sounded. It would be even better if he meant it in a way that said she was more than a job to her, but she knew that wasn’t the case. He was a sexy badass who kicked ass for a living. She was an overweight business owner who made clothes. They didn’t match in any way possible.

But when she looked up and met his gaze, she wondered if she was wrong. His stare was intense and made every nerve in her body notice. If she hadn’t been looking at him, she still would have known he was looking at her. Assessing her.

“Thank you,” Taylor finally replied.

He held her gaze as if he was unable to look away. “Should we pick up dinner on the way to your place?”

“I was thinking that, too. Is there anything you don’t like?”

Did she imagine his gaze sliding down her body? He rubbed his jaw and shook his head, breaking the connection that left Taylor dizzy. “No.”

“There’s a great Vietnamese place not far from here. Is that okay with you?”

Dex nodded. No words, just a nod.

They ordered food and went by to pick it up. Back at her house, they sat at the breakfast bar to eat.

“Do you need a drink? Or any sauces?” Taylor asked, feeling uncomfortable with him in her home. Her home had never belonged to anyone but her. She worked hard for it, and when she bought it, she moved in with the belief she would always live alone.

“I’m good. Sit and eat,” Dex ordered.

Having a man like Dex in her space was unnerving. He acted like he belonged there, like he was meant to be there. It was temporary, only until she felt safe in her space again. But he was there. He was filling up her small home with his bigness and his warmth. He was making her feel like he should be there. Like she needed him for more than just protection.

Taylor finally sat and finished her dinner. With her stomach full, she felt better. There hadn’t been any threats, no surprise visits or packages. It was almost like a normal day.

Except for the beautiful, dangerous man in her home.

Taylor could feel her anxiety ramping up with each passing second. Darkness had settled outside her house, and with Dex in her living room, she had a physical reminder of what happened the night before. He was there to protect her, but she knew the man who was after her was smart. He could take out Dex and leave Taylor exposed.

Her heart pounded, and her palms dampened. She wanted to run and hide. To leave behind whatever pain she caused and forget about it all. She wasn’t strong enough to fight the man who was after her. She needed a break. A release. A way to forget.

“Are you okay?” Dex asked. He stopped in front of her, studying her face with narrowed eyes.

Taylor had stopped in the middle of the room. She felt frozen. She looked up at the man in her home, the man who’d rushed to her side with one phone call. The man her brother trusted to make sure she was safe.

She shook her head. Braden was the last person she wanted on her mind at that moment.

“You’re not okay?” Dex asked, misinterpreting her head shake.

“No, but I know how I can be,” Taylor said. She drew a breath and held all her courage inside and threw herself at the strong, sexy, stoic man who’d been by her side for twenty-four hours.

And she knew he would catch her.