Chapter 7
Chapter Seven
Ian leaned against the doorjamb and watched the slow rise and fall of Becca’s chest. She’d tried to run him off, but he’d taken her demands as more of a suggestion than anything else.
When he’d pulled out his cell to call Quinn, Becca relented, and they’d found a common ground.
He’d stay until they caught the killer, or she’d be having sisterly sleepovers.
Even then, they’d involve her sisters’ husbands because there was no way in hell their husbands would let her sisters walk straight into danger alone.
It was better this way. Better that he was the one to watch out for her instead of a house full of people watching her every move. She was going to be his wife.
Ian turned off the floodlights aimed at her bed. Now that he was more informed of her terrors, he could help her. He lay down in the bed, this time remaining fully clothed.
Ian woke when Becca started, restlessly tossing her head back and forth. He pulled her closer into the warmth of his body, hoping that his presence would help ease her fears. It didn’t.
Becca dug her nails into his stomach. Her words came out jumbled.
“You’re safe,” Ian whispered as he smoothed her hair. “He willnae hurt you.”
“Not me, the redhead,” she whispered into the silent room.
“What redhead?” Ian asked, glancing down at Becca’s face. Her eyes were tightly shut, her eyes moving frantically behind her eyelids.
“The redhead that lives at the green door is where…,” she answered. Her words trailed off.
Becca continued to talk in her sleep. It was odd and unnerving, but she seemed to be somewhat….coherent while in her dream world.
“What street is the green door on?”
“Briar Street,” Becca whispered. “He’s watching from across the street.”
Becca let out a long, relaxed sigh.
“Can you see him, lass? What does he look like?”
“I don’t know.” Her words became a bit panicked. “I can never see his face.”
“It’s okay,” Ian soothed. “We’ll find him and stop him.”
Becca snuggled closer into Ian’s side and quit talking.
The tension in her body eased, as if her dream might have shifted to something else.
He hoped it did. Becca may have drifted off into a better dream place, but Ian was now wide awake.
He glanced at the bedside clock. Three a.m. He slid out from Becca’s hold and grabbed his phone, easing the door closed behind him.
He’d deal with the green door and the redhead after he checked in to the only other woman that knew how to push his buttons.
He dialed the familiar number as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes.
“Hello,” Margarete answered.
“Hey, sis. I was just calling to check on Ma.”
“You wouldnae have to if you were here. Are you done playing with those Americans and ready to come back and handle your responsibilities?”
“Not yet, but I’ll be back soon. I have not convinced her yet.”
Margarete’s laugh grated on Ian’s nerve. “You mean to tell me you’re having trouble with Quinn’s sister? I’m no’ surprised. That woman was horrendous.”
“You’re just sour she landed Collin before you. Lady Menzie would kick your ass if she thought for a minute you were talking foul about her family.”
“Yes, well….” Margaret’s voice turned snippy. “Finish up whatever you’re working on and come home, or I’ll pick your wife. Ma is stable, but she willnae be for long, Ian. You need to work your magic on that American and then get your arse back here.”
“Give Ma a kiss and tell her I’ll be back soon.”
“Donae make a liar out of me, Ian.”
Ian didn’t bother to respond. His sister knew exactly what buttons to push when they talked. She was one of the only women in the world that he’d ever take that type of lip from. Well, their mother and her.
Ian walked into the kitchen and grabbed a bottled water from the fridge before placing his next call. Becca was going to kick his arse when she found out what he had planned, but her sisters would agree.
Harper’s husband, Ryker, answered on the first ring. Thank God they weren’t scheduled to leave for their honeymoon for another week. “What?”
“Sorry to bother you, lad, but this is Ian. I’m going to need your help with Harper’s sister.”
Ryker cleared his throat. “Give me a minute.”
Ian could hear the phone being shifted and Harper’s sleepy voice asking who he was talking to. That type of relationship was the exact one he wanted with Becca.
“What’s up?” Ryker asked.
Ian proceeded to fill Ryker in on Becca’s issues and nightmare. He was the one person who could fly under the radar and help him get things done, kind of like how he’d monitored Harper to keep her safe. Ian needed the same setup for Becca.
“I’ll take care of it in the morning,” Ryker replied.
“What about the door? Can you get me an address for any green doors on Briar Street?”
“Yeah, I’ll hack the surveillance systems for everything on that street. I should have you an address before sunrise. I’ll send it to your phone.”
“Thanks, Ryker,” Ian said and was about to hang up before he stopped. “Oh, one more thing. Can you hack the police department and get everything they have on a woman that was killed the night of the wedding, including the stuff that hasn’t been released to the press.”
“Do you have a name?”
“I think it was Lucy, but Becca’s friend, Danny, came by asking questions. You could start with his computer.”
“That might take a little bit. I’ll see what I can find.”
“Thanks.” Ian clicked the phone off and turned to head back into the bedroom. He found Becca standing in the doorway.
“Who was that?” she asked, not letting on she knew exactly who Ian had called.
She’d overheard the whole damn conversation.
Ian was going to add security cameras to her house.
Her freakin’ house. She kept calm and inhaled a long, deep breath.
She’d let Harper deal with Ryker. The entire family knew how well the whole hidden security had gone over with Harper when Ryker had installed shit in her house without permission.
“Ryker.”
His honest answer confused her.
“This is my house, Ian. You’re a guest, and I’m not your girlfriend.”
Ian turned toward the window over the sink, giving her his back. “You donae hae to be my wife or my girlfriend to care about, lass. I’m out of my element here.” He turned back to meet her gaze. “If this was the castle, I could protect you there.”
Let me take you away from this.
She shook her head. “I’m the only one who can track him. I’m the only one who can help make him stop.”
“Why you? Why no’ some other psychic or cop? Why does it hae to be you?”
Becca crossed the room and laid her palm on his arm. “Because it’s the right thing to do.”
He nodded in understanding. His face even softened, contradicting his words.
“I called Ryker because it’s the right thing to do.
Tomorrow we’ll have an address for the green door, and then we can either check it out or you can call it into your friend at the police department.
Although I’m not sure I’d do that just yet since there hasn’t been a crime.
If there happened to be one, that would make you the prime suspect. ”
“How…”
“You told me in your sleep.”
She shook her head. “I’ve never talked in my sleep. My sisters have tried when I was having nightmares and failed.”
Ian’s lips twitched into a smile. “I’m no’ surprised that you respond to my voice. I cannae wait to see how you respond to my touch. Care to find out?”
“You aren’t touching me.”
Ian glanced down to her warm hand pressed against his arm. She yanked it away and held it against her chest.
“You’re bad,” she hissed. “So very bad.”
“I can be good, Becca. So verra good.” He winked.
The heat in his eyes made her heart race with uncertainty on how much longer she could hold out without giving in.
For an entire year, they’d done this song and dance; she’d easily dodged him before, but that was before he was under her roof, within the same room.
She had to figure out how to get him to leave before she made the ultimate mistake and gave in.
It didn’t matter why she’d been avoiding him all this time.
It didn’t matter that he was slowly breaking down the brick wall she’d built around her heart to keep the playboy out.
In her gut, she knew that the second she gave in, Ian McDougall would be in danger.
Her life would bleed into his. Her nightmares would consume him.
He never dropped his gaze, as if he was the one trying to read her thoughts. She didn’t dare listen into his thoughts for fear of hearing the fantasies playing out in his head.
His phone vibrated on the counter, breaking their connection.
She was the first to look away. “Aren’t you going to get that?”
He shook his head as he stalked closer, closing the distance between them. His warm hand cupped her cheek. “We go down this road together. We’ll see this through to the end.”
She believed his words. She read the conviction in his blue eyes. The way they twinkled when he was being playful, and how they tended to darken with determination. The swirl of dark blue reminded her of the deepest depths of the ocean.
Becca nodded, unable to speak from the energy sizzling between them.
His phone vibrated on the granite counter top again, and he ignored it still.
Lowering his head, he pressed his lips against hers.
Her body swayed of its own accord into his chest. She couldn’t have fought it if she’d tried.
His tongue dueled and danced with hers as she plundered his taste, digging her nails into his arms to try as she might to remain grounded.
Ian McDougall was going to win if she didn’t stop him.
He’d have her agreeing to anything he said, as if she were one of the hussy maids he’d sweet talked into making out in a castle closet.
Becca opened her mind to his and found nothing but tenderness in his thoughts. He confused her more by being the first to break the kiss. This was bad. So very, very bad.
He ran the pad of his thumb over her lips before he took them once more in a quick kiss. He grabbed his phone off the countertop, and his brows dipped. “Looks like we’ve got our first lead for the morning. Why donae you try and get some rest.”
She turned toward the living room and paused. “Aren’t you coming?”
“Nae. I think I need to cool down before getting in bed with you, or I’ll break my own resolve of earning your trust.”
She couldn’t hide the confusion from showing on her face as she went back into the bedroom and lay down on her bed.
Her eyes were open, wide and trained on her ceiling fan.
She hadn’t asked if he was coming to bed so she could seduce him.
She’d asked so she could keep an eye on him.
His warm body was just a bonus. Becca wasn’t sure if she liked this sweet side Ian was showing her.
She could handle his gruff, obnoxious, over-demanding side as if he were a fly to be swatted, but this…
.this was foreign territory that made her heart race while she dug her nails into her palms in frustration. Damn him for getting into her head.