Chapter 2
Tyler
After thirty minutes of talking to that pompous asshole, I’m already dreading this assignment.
Joe Bassham, an uber-wealthy businessman, contacted the company I work for because he felt he was being followed. After a few meetings, he decided to hire us.
I was incredibly thankful to my cousin, Jack, for giving me the opportunity to be the lead on this assignment.
He, along with his two friends, Nate and Ian, owns Nash Security, and I’ve busted my ass to learn everything I could from them.
There’s no doubt this will be a great experience for me, coming after nearly six years with their company.
Two interactions later, I’m convinced that, while beneficial to my future with the company, this is going to be a long assignment.
Regardless of my concern and frustration, I have to suck it up and do everything I can to be successful. I may have gotten this job because Jack is my cousin, but I’ve been determined every day to prove I deserve to be here.
When I was twenty-three, I wasn’t in a good place.
I was angry. At myself, my mom, and the world.
I’d fallen into the wrong crowd and was making some foolish, immature choices.
Nothing my mom or stepdad said was getting through to me.
Jack had just moved here and started Nash, and he forced me to come work for him.
He spent hours mentoring me. His belief in me made me want to work even harder to become a man he and my mom would be proud of.
Even if there’s still a part of me that wonders if my dad would be proud if he’d bothered to stick around...
Shaking off the direction my thoughts have taken, I turn left into the parking lot and pull into a spot toward the back. I kill the engine and climb out, stretching my back. I may be only twenty-nine, but sometimes my body makes me feel much older.
It must be all the old guys I hang out with.
With a smirk, I cross the parking lot and open the door to the coffee shop. Movement behind me has me pausing before stepping all the way inside. My jaw drops a little when I see what caught my attention.
Goddamn.
The woman walking toward me is breathtaking. Her reddish-brown hair is curly, framing her face in angelic waves, and her body is curvy perfection. I love a woman with some meat on her bones. It makes me feel like I won’t break her. Especially since I’m not a small man myself.
She’s looking away from me, even as she draws closer. I tell her telepathically to turn my way so I can see her face.
“Excuse me.”
A deep voice forces my gaze away from the woman. A man stands to the side, giving me an annoyed glare. I step back and open the door wider to allow the man to pass. “Sorry about that.”
He grunts in acceptance as he walks inside. Grateful for the excuse to linger by the door, I let my eyes stray to the woman who’s now about a foot from me. A smile pulls at my lips as I take in her features.
She’s stunning. Her face. Her curves. The confident way she carries herself.
The slight blush to her perfectly round cheeks.
All of it does something to me that has me holding my breath as she passes by.
When she glances in my direction with a small smile, my stomach flips, even as she averts her eyes quickly.
“Thank you.”
Her voice lodges in my chest, and my heart falters. Stepping into the coffee shop behind her, I inhale her sweet scent. She moves off to the side and seems to be reading the menu. Before I can work up the courage to go talk to her, Maggie, Ian’s wife, steps up to the counter and calls to me.
“Tyler! It’s so good to see you! It’s been a whole twenty-four hours.”
I glance over at the woman. Her eyes shift between me and Maggie, curiosity bright behind their captivating dark color. Disappointed I can’t talk to her now that Maggie has spotted me, I approach the counter. The next opportunity I get, I’m going to talk to her. I’ll regret it if I don’t.
“Hey, Maggie. Pretty sure it’s been, like, eighteen.”
She and Ian dragged me to trivia with them last night. Maggie is shockingly good at it, and both of them couldn’t keep their hands and mouths off each other, so I was a very uncomfortable third wheel.
Maggie shrugs with a smile. “Whatever. What can I get for you?”
“Just the usual. And can I get whatever your husband usually drinks? He told me that you would know and that I should tell you he loves you.”
Her smile widens. “I love that man so much. Tell him I said so.”
I roll my eyes. “Can you just tell him yourself?”
She laughs. “I already told him I love him today. Multiple times. But it’s more fun to make you do it. $12.37 is your total.”
I hand her my card and shift my stare over my shoulder. The woman’s no longer standing where she was a moment ago. Taking back my card, I turn away from Maggie and step back from the counter to allow the person behind me to order as I scan the rest of the shop.
Disappointment floods me when she’s nowhere to be found.
With a sigh, I face the counter to wait for the drinks, cursing myself for letting her slip through my fingers.
I guess it wasn’t meant to be.
I walk into Ian’s office and set his drink on his desk. “Here you go.”
He glances up from his computer screen. “Thanks, man. Did you tell Mags my message?”
Sighing, I say, “Yes, you dick. She says she loves you a lot.”
Ian’s usually serious face splits into the same goofy grin that Maggie got when I told her Ian’s message. Suddenly, I’m not as annoyed at having to be their love note messenger. If anyone deserves to be happy and in love, it’s Ian.
He takes a long drink, then asks, “How’d the meeting go?”
I roll my neck out as I take a seat across from him. “Fine, I guess. This guy is kind of an asshole.”
“Can’t argue with you there.” Ian gives me a sympathetic look.
Hesitant to say what’s been bothering me, I lean forward with my elbows on the armrests. Ian can sense I have more to say and gives me a questioning look.
“Something odd did happen. There was a moment when I got the feeling I was being watched when I was standing in his backyard.”
His eyebrows shoot up. “Really? Did you see anything out of the ordinary?”
I shake my head, cataloging my memories to make sure I didn’t, in fact, see anything. “No, it was just a feeling I got. I thought I heard something in the bushes, but that could’ve been a squirrel or a bird. I’m probably just losing it.”
He nods thoughtfully. “Personally, I think this guy is full of shit and no one is actually after him, but hell, maybe I’m wrong. He’s certainly pissed enough people off in this city. Keep your guard up, just in case.”
“I will,” I assure him.
At my firm tone, he levels his assessing stare on me. “This is your first lead on a job. If you need anything, let me know.”
“Trust me, I don’t want to fuck this up. I want to prove to you guys I deserve to be here as much as anyone else.”
That has him rearing back in surprise. “Tyler, I don’t think you understand. You wouldn’t be the lead on this if you hadn’t already proved yourself time after time.”
Pride drums through my veins. These men are the ones I look up to the most, besides my stepdad. There’s nothing I want more than to be half the men they are.
All I can hope is that I continue to live up to their expectations of me.