That was part of the problem. Danni enjoyed playing men. She had the Jenkins brothers, especially Lars, in her crosshairs. It was all a game to her. She was adamant that she didn’t do relationships, only meaningless sex. She enjoyed her life as a single woman making choices. And she had choices in spades. She had a legendary rock star drooling at her heels. But if she wasn’t with Hardy, maybe he had a chance.
“Is this some sort of punk that my brothers put you up to?” His brothers all knew he had a thing for Danni and that she had turned him down so many times he’d lost count. What man wouldn’t want a one-night stand with the gorgeous woman? Two problems, though. One, she was close to his siblings and friends, and he didn’t want to screw up any future interactions. And two, well, Lars refused to dig into the feeling that he wasn’t up for meaningless sex with the woman of his fantasies.
“You can’t tell your brothers.” Reeves ran his hand through his hair. “It’s bad enough that I’m telling you.”
“When Hardy was in Seattle, he had at least three men guarding him. Why does he need Danni?”
“All I know is that Hardy has a stalker who has been sending threatening letters. He asked Danni to be his personal bodyguard.”
Yeah, sure. Like Hardy really needed a beautiful woman to guard him. “Personal” was the part Hardy wanted.
“Danni is taking her role as Hardy’s bodyguard very seriously, which worries me. She has searched the belongings of the band and crew, hoping to find a link between them and the stalker.”
What was the woman’s problem? She couldn’t just go around prying into people’s stuff.
“She’s going to get arrested or get herself killed. Why would Hardy put her in danger?” Lars never liked Hardy, but now he had a good reason to hurt the guy.
“Maybe Hardy wants to keep Danni close by, so he hired her to guard him.” Reeves raised his thick brows.
“Wait, you think Hardy made up a stalker to have Danni in his life?”
Lars could almost sympathize with Hardy for wanting to keep Danni. She was outrageous, loyal to a fault, brilliant, and vulnerable. No matter how hard she tried to sell how tough she was, she was all soft and warm, as he’d discovered during her bedside vigil.
If Lars ever had Danni in his bed, he’d probably be desperate to keep her there too. Another reason he should stay clear of the woman. She was his kryptonite. And he didn’t like how desperate she could make him with her practiced flick of her hair, the sexy way she crossed her legs, and her smart-ass comebacks. She enjoyed tormenting him. Lars fantasized about getting a chance to torment her in the best way possible. And then maybe his need for this one woman would be finished and he could finally move on.
“Can’t you see her wanting to find the stalker and rescue Hardy? You know she has a bleeding heart.”
“Even for you, this is too farfetched. Hardy is a solid guy.” Lars had run a deep security check on Hardy, and the guy was sparkling clean. He donated millions to his refugee program and cared about the environment. The guy was almost too good to be true. Despite his jealousy, Lars had no reason to believe Hardy would manufacture a stalker. Hell, Hardy had passed Richard Dean’s scrutiny when he’d been hanging out with his younger daughter, Sophie. And the software billionaire was notoriously suspicious about anyone who came close to his daughters.
Lars threw back the dregs on the bottom of his glass. He needed another beer, or maybe five. “She drives me nuts. She doesn’t have the skills to be a bodyguard. Dammit, she’s a scientist.”
“Since her kidnapping, she has been focused on learning Krav Maga. And she is now licensed to carry. Nick helped her find the right instructors and made it all happen. She’s considering joining the FBI. With her smarts and scientific background, I’m sure they’ll be interested, at least.”
“What the hell? Nick never told me.” Lars couldn’t possibly be jealous of his oldest brother, could he?
“Why couldn’t she be like other women and just take a damn self-defense class? Not that any of the women my brothers are involved with would ask for a man’s protection. And they’re all friends with Danni.” Dammit, why did he care so much about everything she did?
“Because she is highly capable and driven to succeed at everything she does. She has a lot to live up to. If you met her mother, you’d understand. Both her parents are professors at Harvard, and her brother is an aerospace brain at NASA.”
Lars ran his hand through his hair, not used to the longer length. His military “high and tight” cut had grown out with his medical leave. His mood darkened with the idea he knew nothing about her family and that he had never had a serious conversation with her. Which was weird; since when did he want to have a conversation with a beautiful woman?
“It doesn’t matter how many classes she’s taken; she would have been killed if I hadn’t been there to protect her when the fricking terrorist had her in his sights.”
Lars appreciated how Danni had kept her cool despite the lethal threat and how she had reacted with force. She had proven herself very competent several times in hairy circumstances, but he never wanted her tested again in a shootout. He would never forget that he’d come close to losing her. It didn’t matter how good your skills were; bad things happened even to experienced operators.
“I couldn’t ask her a lot of questions since I didn’t want her to get suspicious about our concerns. And, bottom line, she wasn’t willing to give a lot away, knowing I might tell her besties Jordan or Sophie, and then they might tell Aiden and Finn. If she knew that I was squealing on her… That’s why I need you to go down there and figure it out. You need to stop Danni from getting herself shot at again. Stalkers can be extremely unstable and dangerous.”
“And why is this my problem?”
Reeves rolled his eyes. “Right.”
“Danni will never accept my help.”
“You’re right. She won’t.” Reeves grinned.
And why did Danni’s stubborn resistance make him happy for the first time since she left him?
“That’s why I’ve come up with the perfect cover. You’re having lunch with Sophie tomorrow.”
Jenkins Security’s main client was billionaire Richard Dean and his two daughters, Jordan and Sophie. Richard’s uncle had started the security company when he became guardian to his nephews after his younger brother had been killed in action.
“You can suggest that you both head to LA for the weekend. Sophie is so bored while Finn is deployed, she’ll jump at the chance. And if you don’t get out of the office, I’m going to have to shoot you.”
Lars leaned against the wall. Reeves’s plan had merits…but what if he got down there and found Hardy and Danni were together? He was a spec ops marine—he could handle the pain. And maybe if he saw Danni with Hardy, he’d finally be over the woman. Finally give up on the challenge this woman represented.
“I can’t exactly say, ‘Hey, Soph, want to head to LA to see Danni?’ Soph is no slouch; she’ll know somethings up.”
“If you tell Sophie that you need to interview a new recruit in LA for the business, you could ask her if she would want to tag along since it would give her a chance to spend time with Danni.”