“Listen, when’s your letter to Cady’s ex supposed to go out?” Striker says, breaking into my thoughts. It doesn’t escape my notice that he’s changed the subject.
“It’ll be sent in tomorrow’s mail.”
He tilts his head, suddenly all business. “Okay. That’s when we start keeping watch on you twenty-four-seven. Either me or someone else from the club will have eyes on you all the time.” He turns to me. “Even so, I mean it. Start locking your door. All the time. Especially when you’re in the house by yourself. You got that?”
I roll my eyes. “Striker…”
“Look, sweetheart,” he interrupts me. “this ain’t a request. It’s an order.”
I freeze. My breath stills in my chest.
There’s almost nothing worse he could have said to me.
6
Striker
“No one orders me around!” December rounds on me in a fury. Her eyes flash in the darkness like a lit fuse. “You got that, Striker? No one!”
The raw rasp in her voice signals a complete break in her composure. Buttoned-up December Wells is hissing at me like a wildcat.
“Whoa, whoa!” I take a step back, hoping maybe it will calm her ass down. “Hold up…”
She points a sharp finger at me. “I mean it! I am not your damn property! You do not tell me what to do!”
“Hey, that ain’t what I’m saying!” I raise my hands in surrender. “I’m trying to protect you, okay? Not order you around. But you gotta work with me on this.”
“I do not have to do any such thing!” she cries.
“Look…” I try, but she’s already turned away from me. Next to her, Bert looks up at her with a low whine of concern.
“No, no…” Ember mutters. “I can’t do this.”
“Can’t do what?”
At my words, she blinks, then turns back to me. She pulls herself up to her full height, straightening her shoulders.
“I’m going to call Tank and Cady in the morning,” she announces. “To tell them I’m dropping them as clients.”
“What?”
“You heard me,” she says, a smile playing on her lips. “As of right now, I’m no longer their lawyer. So, we’re done here. You can go home.”
Shit. Fuck. No.
“No,” I groan.
“What do you mean, no? It wasn’t a question, Striker.” She toggles her finger between us. “This? This ends here.”
Jesus, she can’t do this. “Look, don’t ditch them, December. Don’t do that to them.”
I don’t know what she expected me to say, but I guess that’s not it. She blinks at me in surprise.
“It won’t work,” she says throatily. “I can’t have someone following me around like this, giving me orders. I refuse to do it. But I’m not the only lawyer around who can handle Tank and Cady’s cases. This is nothing any competent family law attorney can’t handle.”
But I’m already shaking my head.
“Look, don’t do that.” Fuck, I’m actually pleading with her. “Tank and Cady, they’ve been through a lot. Tank told me Cady likes you. She trusts you. You can’t do that to them.”
I fucking hate begging. I feel like a jackass doing it. But I can’t fucking stand the idea of Tank and Cady getting fired by their lawyer because of me. I don’t want to be the one who lets my best friend down. Not again.
“I don’t want a bodyguard, Striker,” December says softly. “I don’t want protection. I value my freedom too much. This isn’t about Cady and Tank. And it’s not about you, exactly. It’s just…” She turns away, so I can’t see her expression. “I can take care of myself,” she finishes, almost to herself.
“December. Come on.”
I mirror my quieter tone to hers. Before I know what I’m doing, I’ve lifted my hand, put a finger under her chin to tilt her face upward.
Her dark eyes reluctantly meet mine. Her lips part in surprise. Her breath hitches.
Fuck, I don’t know how it happened but all of a sudden I’m inches away from her mouth and I have to stop myself from leaning down to taste her.
I clear my throat, ignoring that my cock is stirring in my jeans.
“This bodyguard thing isn’t gonna be permanent, okay?” I murmur, moving back a couple inches. “Just long enough for them to gauge how Cady’s husband’s gonna react to the divorce thing.” I hesitate. “I’ll try to give you your space, as much as I can.”
December stands in silence for a second, looking up at me. “How are you going to give me my space while simultaneously being all up in my business?” she asks, arching a brow.
Her lips are still parted, her breathing shallow. I almost decide to go for it and just kiss her, but somehow the one non-fucked-up part of my brain stops me in time by reminding me that Tank’s counting on me not to screw this up.
I drop my hand, take a step back. Off-limits. “That’s my problem to worry about. But I’ll figure it out. Do it for them, not for me. Okay?”
She lets out a soft sigh. “Fine. If you can keep your distance, I’ll keep them as clients.”
Relief floods my veins. “Good. Thanks.”
“But you have to keep your end of the bargain,” she repeats. “I don’t take orders.”
“I’ll back off as much as I possibly can.”
“Okay.” She gives me a pointed stare. “I’m going in now. And you’re going to go home, because I don’t need a security guard standing sentry outside my house overnight.”
“Like I said, twenty-four-seven doesn’t start until tomorrow.” I reach down, give the dog a pat on the head. “You and Bert sleep tight, now.”
“Oh, and one more thing,” she adds. “You should call me Ember. It’s what my friends call me.”
“Am I your friend?” I risk.
“Far from it,” she laughs. “But it feels weird having you call me December, so…”
“Okay. Noted.”
She looks down at the dog. “Come on B,” she says to him. “Let’s go in.”
I watch as she turns and starts toward her house.
“Hey, Ember?” I say, trying out the name on my tongue.
“Yes?” She glances back at me over her shoulder.
I give her a crooked grin. “Lock your damn door.”
The hot lawyer chick rolls her eyes at me, but this time she’s smiling a little. I watch as she and the dog head up the walk and toward the illuminated front porch light.
Jesus Christ, that girl’s got a fine ass on her. Those yoga pants give me an eyeful, even in the half-light. Hair all up and messy, tendrils of it falling around her face, just begging to be messed up some more… She looks fresh and sexy. Fucking beddable.
Fuck. I stifle a groan. Just like that, I’m hard. Good goddamn thing it’s dark.
In another life, in different circumstances, Ember Wells would feel like one hell of a challenge. A game with myself to see how long it would take for Miss Buttoned-Up to get down and dirty with me. Hell, no wonder Tank warned me off her.