15. Fisher
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
fisher
My vision blurs as I stare at the cursor blinking inside the black box on the screen.
My fingers should be moving over the keyboard.
I should be creating the code I need to slip through the bank’s firewall.
Instead, I’m humming the tune to that damn Dave Matthews song again.
The lyrics—hell, the damn moment—have been on repeat since Libby rested her head on my chest.
The warmth of her body against mine in the cool night. The satin of her skin beneath the pad of my thumb. The way she shivered—and not because of the cold or a spider.
What would it have felt like if I had slipped my hand beneath her thin shirt? Pressed my palm to her bare skin. Tucked her closer. Her hair tickling my neck, her heart pounding against mine. She’d look up at me, and I’d lean down, closing the space.
I blink. Jesus. I should be working. Instead, I’m turning myself on thinking about a fucking dance.
I yank my headphones off and slump back in my chair. Focus is my superpower. Slipping into the world of code, where everything is black and white and controllable, that’s what I live for.
Yet right now, I can’t do anything but imagine what it would be like to kiss her. To press my lips to hers and finally taste her. Swallow her moan and make her crave me the way I crave her.
Head dropped back, I groan. The move gets Bing’s attention. He perks up, eyes on me.
“I know. Looks like I’m not getting anything done tonight.
” I straighten and switch one of my monitors over from PowerShell to the cameras set up around my house.
Do I feel guilty about changing the angle of the camera by my front door to point at Libby’s?
Not in the least. Brad Fedder is harassing her, and I have no idea how far the famous actor will go.
A quick phone ping tells me his Apple ID is still in LA, but that doesn’t mean he didn’t pay someone to harass Libby.
If not for the respect I have for her privacy, I would have gone through every email between them in search of clues about what the fucker did to her on the set of their show.
When the white house next door appears on screen, I scowl.
When I made the donation to the charity from his account, I hadn’t even considered that he’d suspect Libby.
Not a single string leads back to her or me.
Or this island. A person with the skill set to track me would think I was overseas.
From the look of things, the guy is just being an ass.
Even so, I want to make sure nothing happens to her.
It’s after eleven, but there are a couple of lights on inside. I’ve just zoomed in on her blurry figure standing in the kitchen when she jerks back. Through my open window, her scream is audible half a second later.
My heart stops for one beat. Then I’m on my feet.
I stand, sending my chair clattering to the floor, and fly out of the room.
“Stay with Sutton.” I eye Bing as I point to my niece’s door.
Once he’s lying in her doorway, focus fixed on me, I step into my boots and take off at a sprint. As I race through the grass separating our lawns, my heart pounds in my ears.
I tell myself it could be another spider. Or a shadow. But my gut is screaming that’s not the case.
“Libby!” I bellow as I throw open the front door. Fuck. Please let her be okay.
Hands to her chest, she spins to face me. She blinks several times, her full lips parted in shock, either because of the original scare or because of my sudden appearance. Regardless, she’s here and breathing.
“Are you okay?” Though my nerves settle slightly, I’m still shaking as I eat up the distance from the door to her kitchen, inspecting her for injury. She’s wearing an oversized white crewneck, and she’s barefoot. The tiniest shorts I’ve ever seen highlight her toned legs.
I have to fight a groan. Because she doesn’t just look fine, she looks fucking gorgeous. “You screamed.”
With another blink, she points to the shattered window that faces my house.
“You broke the window?” Jesus, I thought she’d been attacked.
“I didn’t,” she growls. “It shattered out of the blue. One minute, it was fine. The house was quiet. And the next, glass was flying.”
Huffing, I take a step closer to the damage. If not for the tightness in her features, I’d be sure she’s fucking with me. Windows don’t just shatter.
“It scared me,” she whispers.
Heart aching in the strangest way, I cup the back of her neck and pull her against me.
She comes without argument, instantly burrowing into my chest and sighing.
The move causes that ache to morph into a deeper pang.
I shouldn’t love that she scares easily, but I can’t deny that I treasure once again getting to hold this woman in my arms.
I drop my head and press my lips to her crown. “It’s okay, Princess. I’ll figure out what happened.”
She clears her throat and pulls back, shoulders tightening. Damn, she looks cute putting on a brave face. “It just broke. Maybe one of the million birds that won’t leave me alone flew into it.”
I cock my head to the side. “You feed the birds every day.”
She throws her hands up with a huff. “I know, and yet instead of leaving when they’re satisfied, they keep begging for more.”
My eye twitches. Is she fucking with me?
By the way she frowns and shrugs helplessly, I don’t think so.
Crossing my arms, I rock back on my heels. “I don’t think you understand birds.”
“That’s definitely true.” With a nod, she steps around me toward the window.
I catch her arm. “What are you doing?” God dammit. She’s barefoot and she’s trying to get closer to the broken glass? Does she have any sense of self-preservation at all?
Brow furrowed, she lifts her chin. “I’m going to check out what happened and clean it up.”
“No you’re not.” I loop an arm around her stomach and pick her up, then back away.
“Why are you always carrying me?” she huffs.
“Because someone needs to take care of you.” And I’ll be damned if it’s anyone but me.
She glares. “I’m perfectly capable of cleaning up a mess, and I’m perfectly capable of taking care of myself.” She stomps over to the closet, her hips swaying in the teeny-tiny pink shorts that are going to haunt me for days.
I turn away and mentally recite lines of code to keep my body from reacting.
As I step closer to the window, glass cracks under my boots.
A bird didn’t do this. Half the window is lying in shards on the floor.
Hands on my hips, I study the jagged pieces still attached to the frame, then scour the floor.
My heart lurches when I see it.
Fuck.
Crouching, I pick up the softball-size rock. This is exactly what I was afraid of. “Didn’t break itself, Princess.” I stand to my full height and heft the weapon used to shatter the window.
Across the room, her eyes drift closed. Her lip trembles and she curls in on herself, but only for an instant. She swallows audibly and pulls her shoulders back, and when she opens her eyes, they’re clear of any inkling of fear.
“Kids and their pranks.” Despite her bravado, her voice cracks on the word pranks .
I move across the room, dropping the rock on her blue Formica countertop as I go. Every part of me wants to offer her another hug. Give her some sense of safety.
But she steps back as I approach, making it clear she doesn’t want me to touch her. Message received. I will, however, do everything I can to make sure she feels safe.
I take the broom from her and turn to get started on the mess. She doesn’t say anything, but her attention on me is palpable as I sweep up the glass. Once I’ve dumped it into the trash, I zero in on her. “Get your shit.”
“What?” she crosses her arms.
“I’m not leaving you here, and Sutton’s alone next door. Get your shit. You’re coming to my house.”
She opens her mouth to argue, but I cut her off.
“I will carry you out of here if I need to, but I will not leave you here alone when someone is clearly fucking with you. If you want anything for the night, get it,” I growl.
“You’re so bossy,” she snaps as she spins around and stomps off. In less than a minute, she’s back, wearing flip-flops, with her phone in her hand.
When we’re out in the cool night air, I pull the front door shut behind me and engage the cheap lock. Looks like I’ll need to borrow Cank’s boat again so I can install deadbolts on all her doors. Not to mention get a few more cameras.
“Why are you up?”
Her voice is quiet, but in the dark silence, it startles me. Maybe I should hedge around the question, but after tonight, after what I did to her costar, I have a feeling I’ll need to give her some truths I don’t share with anyone.
“I’m breaking into a bank.”
With an adorable snort, she shakes her head. “Sure you are. Very sheriffy of you.”
Exactly. I have no law enforcement qualifications. I didn’t even think to put on a pair of gloves before I picked up that rock. I’m such a dumbass. The only thing I know is code.
Unsure of how to respond, I guide her across the yard silently.
As we step into my house, I nod at the stairs. “You can stay in my room.”
Her blue eyes narrow, and she takes a half a step away.
I bite back a chuckle. “I’ll be on the couch.”
“Your house only has two bedrooms?” She scans the main living area. She’s been in here before. She knows this house and hers have the same footprint.
“My office,” I mutter as I herd her toward the stairs.
“Is there a Mrs. Fisher I should be worried about?”
My muscles go taut, and though I shouldn’t be upset that she’d think so little of me, there’s no denying the anger that ripples through my body.
I pull in a breath through my nose and turn back to her.
“Do you think I’m the type of man who would dance with a woman, then offer her my bed if I was married ? ”
Jesus. I may not possess the social skills most people do, but I’m not oblivious to what’s appropriate and what’s not, and I’m not an asshole.
Lips pressed together, she focuses on a picture of Sutton and Marissa on the mantel.
That’s when it all clicks.
“That’s my sister-in-law.” I scratch at the back of my neck, willing the unease creeping through me to abate. “She and my brother died a few years ago.”
Libby’s breath hitches, but rather than respond, she silently surveys the room.
“So,” I say, eager to move on, “this way?”
At the top of the stairs, she turns toward my open office door. My gut sinks. Shit. Will she be upset about the camera I have pointed at her house?
A relieved breath escapes me when I peek into the room behind her and discover the screen protectors have kicked on. All she can see is the white ball bouncing around the black screen, and without my fingerprint, the computer can’t be unlocked.
That little scare should encourage me to mention the cameras I plan to install, but it’s late, and after the stress of the last thirty minutes, I figure it can wait until morning.
Bing slinks down the hall, and after a quick pat to his back, I tiptoe to Sutton’s room. Everything settles inside me when I find her curled up and sleeping soundly under her pink quilt.
“That’s a lot of screens,” Libby says as I step back into my office.
Again, I decide not to lie. “When working through multiple firewalls, it’s easier to have multiple portals open.”
She licks her lips, her attention darting away from me. “What do you do exactly?”
I shrug. “Fuck with people and make their days miserable.”
Her lips part, but before she can respond, a yawn cuts her off.
“Come on, Princess. Let’s get you into bed.” I lead her to my bedroom and pull back the comforter.
She’s frozen in the doorway, her eyes bouncing from the watercolors on the walls, to the thick blue plaid bedding, to the matching drapes.
That’s all there is to see here. The space looks exactly like it did when it was a guest room.
The only difference is the closet and dressers are now full of my clothes.
“There’s an extra blanket on the rack.” I tip my head to the navy quilt.
Bing jumps up onto the bed, ready to make himself at home.
“Down.”
“No,” Libby says, taking a hesitant step forward. “He can stay.”
“Be aware,” I warn, “he’s a bed hog.”
She giggles. “I don’t mind.” She plops onto the mattress next to my dog, who buries his nose in her abdomen.
Fuck. How pathetic is it to be jealous of a damn dog?
I turn, hands in my pockets, and shuffle toward the door.
“ Fisher. ”
Pulling up short, I spin and meet her eyes. They’re sparkling, but not in the dreamy, wondrous way I’ve seen so many times since she arrived. No, this is an overwhelmed sparkle. Her wide eyes are wet like she might cry if I don’t leave the room.
She swallows audibly, hands buried in Bing’s fur. “Thank you.”
Her voice is so soft and she looks so lost. Fuck. If I don’t get out of the room now, I’ll be in trouble. So I simply nod and head for my office.
Once I’m situated behind my desk again, I get back to work quickly, this time leaving my headphones on the table rather than covering my ears. Just in case she needs me. I expect my focus to still be shit, but oddly enough, knowing Libby is just down the hall settles me.
In less than two hours, my job is done. I push to my feet, stretching. The move rouses Bing, who watches me from his spot on the floor. I hadn’t even heard him come in.
Before heading down to the couch, I stop at my open bedroom door.
Libby’s blond hair is bright against my dark pillow. She’s on her side, facing the door, with her hands tucked under her cheek. Before I can stop myself, I’m at her side, pressing my lips to her forehead.
“Sleep well, Princess.” I straighten and back away. And damn if leaving the room might be the hardest thing I’ve done in a long time.