Chapter 5
Knock. Knock. Knock.
Nahla stirred but kept her eyes closed. She sensed that she might have just heard a knock at her door, but her exhaustion wanted that to be false, so she remained in bed, cocooned perfectly in her plush comforter and many pillows.
Knock.
Knock.
Knock.
This time, she groaned. She definitely wasn’t imagining it, because the pounding was louder this time. She mindlessly grabbed her phone from the wireless charger on her nightstand before opening her eyes and checking the time.
Seven fourteen a.m.
Who the hell was knocking on her door at this hour?
She didn’t get home until after one in the morning, and it took her almost an hour to fall asleep, so she was not trying to leave her bed for her very persistent visitor.
Instead of throwing back her covers and standing, she opened the security app on her phone and checked the footage from her front door camera.
What she saw made her turn up her lip even more than it had been.
Whoever was at the door was so tall that the only thing in her view was the person’s neck and below.
What the hell?
Feeling a slight tingle of nervousness run through her, Nahla slowly grabbed the taser from her nightstand drawer.
She slid out of bed, put on her robe and slippers, then quietly tiptoed to the front of her home.
She stopped at the door. When she looked through the peephole, she thought she’d faint.
Standing at her door, looking just as calm and stoic as he did the night before, was her knight in the black hoodie.
The nervousness was immediately replaced with recognition, curiosity, and something else she couldn’t quite place.
Putting the hand holding the taser behind her back, she slowly opened the door.
“What are you doing here?” she asked, intentionally blocking his entry.
His eyes traveled across her entire body, gradually. Since he was taking a minute to ogle her, she decided to do the same. Now that they were inches apart, she had a much better view of him, and she was not disappointed.
She allowed her eyes to slowly sweep across every inch of his caramel-colored skin.
As she admired him, she was especially drawn to his hands.
The same hands that hemmed up two decent-sized men without much effort the night before.
She noticed scarring on his knuckles that looked several years old, and felt a stirring in her lower region.
Today, he wore a gray crewneck and matching sweats.
The way they fit him should have been illegal because, as loose as they fit, she still was able to make out what he had to offer underneath them.
Her eyes trailed up to his chin, which was covered in a neatly shaven goatee that connected all the way around to the mustache across his top lip.
Speaking of his lips, they were pink and full.
She could tell that he had recently put lip balm on them because of how moist they looked, and that had her biting her own lip, because she loved a man who cared about not having a crusty mouth.
He also smelled amazing, and the downturned shape of his eyes only added to the beautiful specimen that he was.
Now that she had made it to his eyes, she realized they were on hers, and her cheeks heated instantly.
She hadn’t intended for him to finish admiring her before she was done checking him out, but that was precisely what had happened.
Now that their eyes were locked on each other’s, she could see the cocky smirk dancing in his, although it didn’t quite reach his lips.
Nahla shrugged. This man knew he was fine, and she couldn’t have been the first woman to get caught up in that upon their first meeting. She refused to be embarrassed for doing what any woman with eyes would have done in her position.
“Good morning, Nahla. You gon’ let me in?”
She ignored the fluttering in her stomach upon hearing her name fall from his lips.
Shaking her head, she said, “Not until you tell me what you’re doing here.”
He shook his head. “That shouldn’t be your first question. You’re a journalist. I thought you knew better than that.”
Removing her hand from the door, she crossed her arms and shifted her weight to one side.
“What should my first question have been?”
Taking advantage of the fact that she was no longer holding the door, Cannon pushed the door open wider, dipped his head so that he could fit within the doorframe, and took a step forward.
Nahla didn’t budge. Instead, she tilted her head to the side, silently daring him to move her out of the way. Cannon chuckled.
Wrapping an arm around Nahla’s waist, he lifted her from the ground as if she weighed nothing before stepping into the house and placing her back on her feet.
The whole ordeal had Nahla wishing she had put on underwear before coming to the door and praying that the evidence of her attraction to this man didn’t manifest in liquid form.
He then shut and locked her door before walking deeper into the home. Nahla was right on his heels.
“Hello? I asked what my first question should have been.”
Cannon glanced around the room before focusing on her again. “You should have asked who the hell I am.”
Nahla rolled her eyes. “I already know who you are.”
Taking a step toward her, Cannon smirked. It was the first time she had seen him do anything close to smile, and the dimple that appeared in his right cheek almost made her pass out.
Somebody get this fine ass man out of my house before I have a heart attack.
“Who am I, Nahla?”
She rolled her eyes again. “The man from last night. Duh.” With that, she turned on her heels and headed to her living room.
As she sat on her sofa, she realized how bizarre this encounter was.
She knew she should have been more concerned about how the same man who came out of nowhere to save her in another city was now in her home, but she just . . . wasn’t.
She watched as he observed her entryway and living room before he sat in the lounge chair adjacent to the sofa.
“My name is Cannon Porter. You can call me Cane.”
Nahla scoffed. “And why are you here, Cannon?”
Instead of answering her question, he returned with one of his own.
“Why would you choose to drive home in the middle of the night? You saw what happened.”
“Why do you want to know?”
“Because it was a dumb ass thing to do. I wanna hear you justify it.”
She grabbed the taupe throw cover from the arm of her sofa. She draped it across her lower body before crossing her legs, since her robe was short. Once she was comfortable, she replied.
“I saw what happened, but I also saw you handle it.” She shrugged. “I figured I was good.”
His expression shifted momentarily. It wasn’t exactly a smile, but there was a warmth there that she noticed just before he looked away.
“Can you tell me why you were there? And why you’re here now?”
“Your editor-in-chief hired me.”
Nahla frowned. “Mr. Hill?”
He didn’t answer, which earned him another eyeroll.
“Hired you to do what?”
Cannon stood and began walking around, observing everything he passed as he replied.
“To keep an eye on you for the weekend. I run a security firm, and he seemed to think that you might be in danger while in Lyle.”
Of course he did. Nahla didn’t know why she was acting shocked. She should have figured Mr. Hill would pull something like this the second she refused to take one of the male writers or editors with her.
She supposed she owed Mr. Hill and Cannon a thank you for that.
“Well, thanks for your help, but the weekend is over. You still haven’t explained why you’re here now.”
He stopped walking when he got to her patio door. It was a glass sliding door with curtains on either side. At the moment, they were pulled open. As he gazed outside, he said, “Are you done writing about the corruption in Lyle?”
She frowned. “Hell no. I’m just getting started.”
He nodded. “I’ll be here till you wrap it up.”
Nahla immediately began shaking her head. “No, thank you. I don’t need a babysitter.”
He glanced at her. “Good, ’cause I ain’t one.”
She replied quickly. “I don’t need a protector, either.”
Just as fast, he said, “You do. And you got one, in me.”
Nahla sighed. “You’re saying all this like I don’t have a choice. I know the newspaper isn’t going to pay to keep you on for as long as it takes me to finish this story.”
“I’m doin’ it pro bono.”
Nahla squinted her eyes. “Pro bono? You’re a security professional, not a lawyer.”
Ignoring her comment, he responded to her previous one. “You don’t have a choice. You got people on ya head right now, and I’ma make sure they don’t touch you. That’s it.”
He turned and started down her hallway, and she followed right behind him.
“What are you doing?”
“Assessing?”
“Why? You’re not staying.”
Again, he ignored her statement as he continued snooping around her house.
Once he made it back to the front, he observed her door.
After jiggling the knob a few times, he said, “Aye, you piss people off for a living. You ain’t got no business having shitty locks.
Is the camera at your front door the only one you have? ”
She kissed her teeth. “Yes.”
He nodded. “I’m installin’ better ones.”
Nahla sighed and shook her head. “I don’t like this.”
He chuckled. “You like breathin’?”
“It’s really not that serious. I’ve covered stories riskier than this, and I did so safely. Without your protection.”
“Did you notice them dudes followin’ you around the city all day yesterday?”
The shock on her face told him all he needed to know.
“You’re underestimating Lyle because of its square footage, when the fact that it’s a small town is exactly why you should be more worried than you were in Atlanta. Look, this is happening, and it’s not something I’m willing to keep debating with you.”
His words were harsh, leaving her momentarily speechless. That was okay, though, because he continued.
“So, moving forward, I need you to understand how this works.”