Chapter 9
9
K nocking on her office door startled her. Cate put down the report she’d been reading and glanced at the time. It was only four and she breathed a sigh of relief.
Honestly, she’d been on edge all day ever since encountering Ethan in the kitchen this morning.
He’d defended her.
He’d been worried about her cutting her feet.
He’d lifted her onto the counter.
Those sorts of things just didn’t happen in her world. Every man she knew would have fallen over their own feet trying to please Samantha. Especially when she was wearing a bikini.
Ethan hadn’t even really glanced at her.
Oh. Maybe he wasn’t into women. Shoot. She was an idiot. Why hadn’t she thought of that?
Well, that was embarrassing. Had she been getting hot and bothered over a man who was gay?
She’d been very short-sighted. Did she owe him an apology?
Drat. She wasn’t sure. And this didn’t seem like the sort of thing she could ask someone else. Maybe she should apologize just to be on the safe side.
Reaching for the hair tie on her wrist, she flicked it. The slight pain cleared her head.
“Cate, I know you’re in there,” her brother said through the door.
“Come in,” she called out.
Turning in her chair, she studied her brother. He was a good-looking man. Charismatic, smart, and a great actor.
But he also looked kind of miserable.
She didn’t know why, but she wished she could fix it for him.
She’d do anything for Rhodes. He was her protector, her confidante, her best friend.
Cate knew she didn’t deserve him.
Samantha enjoyed pointing out all the ways she was a burden to him without coming right out and saying it.
But she wasn’t very subtle, because even Cate could get the subtext. There weren’t many men his age who would want their sister to live with them.
“You’re leaving soon?” she asked.
“Yeah. Samantha needs to get to her place early to let the caterers in and supervise the set-up.”
“Sounds like a big party.”
“Yep.” He frowned slightly.
“You don’t want to go?” she asked.
“Not really.”
“Then why go?” she asked. “Why not stay here?”
“Because Samantha wants me there, and sometimes, you have to do things you don’t like because it matters to the person you care about.”
While she didn’t understand how her kind and caring brother could have feelings for Samantha, she did understand what he was saying.
“Samantha wants me to stay at her place tonight, but I’m not happy about leaving you alone.”
A burst of worry unfurled. She’d pushed the memory of that night from her mind, but it came rushing back.
Cate had been utterly terrified. Out of her mind. She’d panicked, something she was ashamed of. In most situations, she kept her calm. She didn’t let emotion rule her.
But not that night. Ever since then, Rhodes had spent every night here. However, he couldn’t continue to babysit her. She had to get over this.
“I’ll be fine. I’ll turn the security system on. Brody has improved it a lot. And the person who attempted to get into the house hasn’t been back. There’s no reason to suspect they’d try to get into the house again tonight.”
She hoped.
She slid her hands under her thighs to hide their trembling.
Although whether she was hiding them from Rhodes or herself, she was unsure.
“That’s true,” he admitted, still looking reluctant. “But if you need me to be here, I’ll come back.”
Cate shook her head. “I’ll be all right. But you need to be safe,” she said to him. “I take it that Ethan and Seth are going with you to Samantha’s? Does she have a decent security system?”
“I’ll be fine. Her apartment has a good security system. There will be lots of her friends there. Some will stay the night. It would be difficult to get to me there. And Seth will be with us. But Ethan will be staying here.”
Wait. What?
“Oh, that’s not necessary,” she said quickly.
Rhodes raised an eyebrow. “I’m worried about you.”
Why did he just change the subject? “Why are you worried about me? I’m not the one with a crazy stalker after me.”
Nothing could happen to Rhodes. She didn’t know what she would do without him. Just the thought of not having him made her ill.
“You’ve barely been out of your office or room since Ethan and Seth got here.”
“That’s not true. I’ve gone to the kitchen to get food and coffee.”
Rhodes sat across from her and leaned forward. “I know it’s hard having strangers in the house. Is it too much? Do you want me to get rid of them?”
What? What was he talking about?
“I don’t want you getting stressed,” he added in a soft tone.
Right. Because bad things happened when she got stressed. Her stomach tightened into a knot. She didn’t want to think about that.
About what she’d done . . .
“I’m not stressed.”
“Cate,” he said warningly. “This is me you’re talking to. And you promised to be honest with me about when you were stressed. I know you’re finding it hard having them here. I need to know if you’re having any negative thoughts. If you’re thinking about hurting yourself.”
She was tempted to touch her wrist. To flick the hair tie. But then Rhodes would know her secret.
And he couldn’t know about it. It wasn’t like she was actually harming herself. It was just a bit of pain to keep her mind on track and clear.
“I will admit that it’s taking me some time to get used to strangers being in the house. But I’m not that stressed. I promise.”
Rhodes just stared at her for a long moment. “I believe you. And though I’m not happy with how you’ve retreated, I know you need time. I wonder if there are other ways we can help you feel more at ease with Ethan and Seth.”
Like what?
“I asked them to stay in the background as much as possible, but now I’m wondering if that was the wrong decision. You won’t be comfortable with them if you don’t know them.”
“I’m hoping they won’t be here that long.” Although she wasn’t sure how long it would take to figure out who the stalker was.
“So am I. But there’s no way of knowing how long they will be need to be here. Brody has been unable to trace the owner of the blog, so we still don’t know if there is any connection between them and the stalker. The stalker has been quiet lately. Perhaps they’ve been scared off.”
Or they were waiting until the heat went off . . . until Rhodes got rid of the bodyguards and then they would strike again. She swallowed heavily.
“I’m just wondering if you’d feel more at ease if you spent some time with Ethan and Seth. Then they wouldn’t be strangers. You got used to Samantha being around.”
If by ‘got used’ he meant that she barely tolerated that woman, then sure.
“Did Ethan say something to you?” she asked.
“Say something to me? What would he say to me?”
“Nothing,” she said quickly.
“Cate.”
She sighed. “He seemed to think that if he’s going to guard me, I need to trust him. And to trust him, I need to spend time with him.”
“He’s a good man, Cate. They both are. Don’t be scared to interact with them. Please.”
She wanted to refuse him. But Rhodes rarely asked her to do anything. And he did everything he could to make life easier for her.
When no one else believed in her, cared for her, he’d always been there.
So this is something small you can do for him.
“I just don’t want you hiding in your room for however long they’re here. It’s not good for you, and I miss my sister.”
There was no way she could tell him no now.
“I will attempt to come out of my room more often. And speak to Seth and Ethan occasionally.” That was all she could offer right now.
“Thank you. Call me if you need me, understand?”
“I’ll be fine.” She wouldn’t call him unless it was an emergency. If she did, she knew that Samantha would never let her hear the end of it.
Walking over to her, he kissed the top of her head. “You need to stop working. Do something fun. Okay?”
“Sure.”
“Promise me.”
“I promise. Now, go. You’ll be late.”
“I’ll be back around midday tomorrow. Be good.”
“I’m always good,” she told him.
“Hmm. You’re right. You know what . . . be bad.”
She shook her head as he left.
Be bad. What did he expect her to do?
Is kissing your bodyguard bad?
Cate had a feeling that wasn’t what Rhodes meant.