Chapter 11 #2
“Gwen and Draven stocked the place up before we got here the other night. You were in the bathroom when they called, so I took a guess and said chocolate.”
“Well that was a bit of a risk,” she continued to flirt. “What if I hated chocolate?”
She couldn’t seem to help herself, despite her conviction to focus on Amy and his cut-and-dry declaration that they needed to keep things professional.
Pretty sure he’s flirting, too.
Her focus should be on finding Amy’s killer and the man who’d attacked her in her hotel room. But since neither of those things were going to happen in the next few hours, Janie figured why not live a little while she still had the chance?
The train of thought completely contradicted those she’d had previously, and this wasn’t exactly the appropriate time or place. Not to mention it was beyond some super-cheesy cliché, what with the whole bodyguard-slash-damsel in distress situation they had going on at the moment.
Only Janie didn’t see herself as a damsel in distress.
It was true Emmett had pretty much become her bodyguard for hire.
But after the week she’d had, yesterday’s news about Amy’s death, and the clandestine meeting with Dr. O’Neill last night, doing something that made her feel alive sounded pretty damn good.
Even if it was just a little harmless flirting.
“A risk, huh?” Emmett set the spoon he’d licked clean on the counter on his way to the freezer. “I mean, it is right there, in my employer’s name.”
It took her a beat to understood what he meant.
Risky because he works for R.I.S.C.
“Funny.” She leaned a hip against the counter to her left.
“I have my moments.”
Emmett closed the freezer door and looked back up at her. Their eyes locked, and the room fell into an awkward silence. One filled with uncertainty and an unprecedented desire that kept pulling her in.
When he didn’t say anything or make a single move letting her know he felt the same way, Janie immediately began to question whether he’d actually been flirting, or if she’d imagined the whole thing.
Rather than going down a road leading to utter embarrassment, she chose to put herself out of her misery instead.
She was stronger than this, and she definitely wasn’t a woman who let her emotions—or overactive hormones, for that matter—dictate the choices she made.
“I guess we should probably call it a night,” she whispered to him softly.
“You’re probably right,” Emmett agreed, though neither one of them moved so much as an inch.
They didn’t blink. She wasn’t even sure her lungs had pulled in so much as an ounce of air. Instead they stood feet from each other, his blackened gaze burning into hers. And when she couldn’t take it any longer, Janie finally spoke up. Or, at least . . . she tried to.
“Emmett, I—”
“Janie, we—”
They began to talk at the very same time.
A nervous chuckle shook her shoulders. Emmett began walking in her direction.
“Look at me.”
The rumbled order left her heart racing and her body aching with need as he stopped a few inches away. She did as he’d asked and brought her focus back to him.
He reached up, his strong, masculine hand slowly making its way to her face, and Janie sucked in a breath when she felt the spark of his touch. Emmett’s fingers gently tucked some hair behind her ear in a heartwarming gesture.
Janie felt herself lifting up onto her toes. His gaze fell to her lips which had just parted with a stuttering breath.
Her heart was pounding, her head beginning to spin. The sensation almost became too much. In an attempt to keep herself from losing her balance, she put a palm to the counter beside her.
Emmett’s mouth drew nearer. Janie tilted her chin to bring her lips closer to his. Her fingertips came into contact with the previously discarded spoon. It clambered loudly as it fell from the counter and hit the hardwood floor.
Crap!
They both blinked, the beautiful moment effectively ruined by her clumsy move. They both moved simultaneously, each of them bending over to retrieve the fallen utensil.
And that’s when all hell broke loose.
A shot rang out. Glass from the window on the wall several feet behind Emmett shattered. Janie let out a small cry of surprise as her protector threw himself over her body.
“Stay down!” he shouted, pulling a gun from the back of his waistband.
He’s had a gun with him this whole time?
She’d been so busy checking out his ass in those sweats, she hadn’t even noticed it tucked beneath the hem of his shirt.
Another gunshot rang out, the bullet striking the cabinet beside them.
“Don’t move,” Emmett commanded as he risked a glance around the cabinet’s edge.
Janie covered her ears when he fired his weapon. The blood in her veins turned to ice.
Please don’t let us die.
The house grew eerily quiet, which was almost as bad as the barrage of gunfire.
“Come on.” Emmett stood, using his free hand to pull her to her feet. “Stay right behind me, and don’t make a sound.”
She wasn’t about to argue and put their lives in further danger. Janie kept her front so close to the back of his body she could feel his masculine heat. Fear left her ears filled with the sound of her frantic heartbeat, but she pushed it away and focused on Emmett and their shadowed surroundings.
Her assumption was, they’d make their way into the garage before jumping in the car and escaping to safety. But you know what they say about those who assume.
Emmett opened the door to the mansion’s den, not far from the massive home’s entrance. With his pistol held steady in his strong, unwavering grip, he cleared the room in seconds.
“Stay here,” he whispered, pointing to the far-right corner of the room. “Lock the door behind me and take cover behind the desk.”
He was leaving her here? Alone?
“Emmett, I—”
“There’s no time to argue. Just do as I say. Lock the door, and do not open it for anyone else but me.”
She wanted to argue. Janie wanted to refuse the staunch order and stay by his side. But this was his wheelhouse. Situations like the one they were in . . . It’s what he and his team did.
“Okay.” Her head bobbed with a jerky nod.
Emmett looked back at her with an unreadable expression before his parting, whispered words.
“It’s going to be okay.” He cupped one side of her face with the hand not holding the gun. “I’ll will come back for you, but I need to know you’re safe while I handle this.” He leaned in and pressed his lips to the center of her forehead.
And with her next breath, Emmett was gone.
Janie rushed to the door, her fingers trembling as she hurriedly secured the lock on the knob. As far as security went, it was minimal at best. But it was something, and for now, it was all she had.
She spun on her heels and ran across the carpeted room. Her pulse raced, and her mind whirled with endless worst-case-scenario possibilities.
Emmett could get hurt. He could get shot. The man she’d put in this position could die.
Tears rushed to the surface, but Janie refused to let them fall. Crying now wouldn’t accomplish anything, and it certainly wouldn’t help.
The only thing she could do now was follow the orders she’d been given. She rolled the wheeled chair from the desk far enough to give her room to fit through. She dropped to her knees, crawled under the desk, and pulled the chair back into place to help conceal her presence.
And there, beneath her mahogany shield, Janie began to pray.
Please, God. Please, keep Emmett safe.
The unspoken plea had barely left her thoughts when the sound of muffled gunfire came from somewhere within the home’s walls.
Janie leaned her head on her knees, hugging her legs tightly as she forced several slow, deep breaths. Another shot rang out, and after that, there was nothing.
No shooting. No yelling. No footsteps heading her way.
The silence was deafening, and she felt more terrified than ever before. Had the shooting stopped because Emmett had taken out the bad guy? Or did it mean her time was up and Emmett was no longer shooting because he was—
A loud pounding came from the door. “Janie, it’s me. You can come out now.”
Emmett!
Janie scrambled to climb her way out from beneath the desk. Her toe caught the edge of one of the chair’s legs, causing her to trip, and she came close to falling back down.
Ignoring the pain in her stubbed toe, she sprinted across the room in record time. She unlocked the door and swung it open.
It was the first time since the gunfire had started that she felt she could truly breathe.
“Emmett!” Janie threw herself into his arms. “Are you okay? You weren’t hurt, were you?”
“I’m good.” His strong arms held her close. “There was only one of them, and he’s been handled.”
Handled.
She didn’t have to ask him to elaborate, because she already knew what he meant. The man who’d come to kill her was dead.
Janie hated knowing Emmett had been forced to take a life on her behalf. But she was also profoundly grateful he had because it meant his life had also been spared.
“Thank you,” she whispered against his broad shoulder.
He didn’t say anything but gave another comforting squeeze before letting his hands fall back to his sides.
“The team’s on their way. They’ll process the scene and get what they can from the body. But in the meantime, we need to get out of here. Now.”
The body.
She couldn’t think for the multitude of thoughts whirling through her mind.
They’d been shot at. They both could have easily been killed. Emmett did kill a man. There was a dead body lying somewhere in this very house. And he was saying things like “processing the scene” and how they needed to—
“Janie!”
His sharp tone as he said her name was the slap in the face she needed.
“Sorry.” A quick shake of her head. “I-I’ll go change and be right down.”
“Make it quick, and don’t worry about bringing your stuff. I’ll make sure you get everything later. For now, we just need to focus on getting away from here as quickly as possible, okay?”
“Quick.” She gave her head a nod. “Got it. Don’t worry. I’ll hurry.”
“I’ll be here waiting.”
She started to walk past, but he stopped her with a gentle hand on her wrist. When her gaze lifted to his, the concern she found there nearly brought her to tears.
“You okay?”
“Mmm hmm.” Janie smiled.
A man was dead, and she was smiling. So maybe she wasn’t exactly okay. But they were both still breathing, so at least, there was that. For tonight, that was enough.
What about the next time an assassin comes calling?
Janie stepped out of his reach, breaking free from his careful hold.
“I’ll hurry,” she repeated the soft promise and turned away, heading for the stairs.
When Emmett said her name again, the concern in his voice so heartbreakingly clear, she pretended not to hear.