Chapter 5
M aya woke up as Dougie started barking.
She sat up in bed and then heard a car take off.
Shit. Shit. Shit.
Getting up, she put on her worn bathrobe and rushed out of the bedroom. Dougie was at the door, scratching against it. Gummy was standing with him, adding her own high-pitched barks.
“Shh,” she said to them both. “Hush, Dougie, Gummy, or we’ll wake up all the neighbors.”
Not that they ever cared about waking her up at all hours of the night. But she definitely didn’t want to give them any reason to come over here.
They weren’t the sort of people that you invited over for a Sunday barbeque.
She grabbed the baseball bat by the back door and a flashlight and rushed outside, shutting the door behind her.
She headed out toward the garage, peering around.
Maybe Dougie and Gummy had been barking about nothing. Everything seemed okay.
Ouch.
She winced as she stood on something sharp. She should have put some shoes on first.
Then she turned and stared, astounded.
That fucking bastard.
In spray paint across the garage door were the words: Frigid Bitch.
Was he psycho? What did he think to gain?
Seriously.
He was a cop and he thought it was a good idea to go around defacing property? And what was he? Fifteen? This was ridiculous.
Anger filled her.
And then it faded as she realized that Vince had been at her place. That he’d come here to be vindictive.
What if he’d hurt the girls?
She had to do something about this, but she had no idea what. Maya turned on her outside lights. Only one actually worked. Then she checked that every window and door was locked.
Lastly, she made a pot of coffee and sat with her bat and phone on the sofa.
Because there was no way she could go back to sleep after this.
Maya stared up at the building. It didn’t look like much. A pretty boring building in an industrial area of the city.
But she’d done some research. These guys were meant to be the best in the business.
Which also meant the most expensive, most likely.
However, she needed some help. It was Tuesday morning and she hadn’t slept since the moment she’d discovered that some asshole, aka Vince, had spray-painted the front of her garage.
She’d thought about going to Reeves, but she couldn’t risk it. There was no way she could fully trust Reeves. And she didn’t want Vince to turn on him for helping her.
Nope. Like usual, she’d have to take care of this herself.
And she’d decided her best course of action was to come here to Callahan Security and get them to put in an expensive security system that she really couldn’t afford.
What else could she do? It wasn’t like her baseball bat was going to provide much protection if Vince came back armed with more than just spray paint.
Fear slid up her spine at the thought.
Her babies relied on her to protect them. Vince could basically do anything and what could she do in retaliation?
Nothing.
But maybe he’d hesitate if she had a camera and an alarm.
Her phone buzzed in her pocket and she drew it out with a groan.
Great. Her dad. Again.
She groaned. She knew there were worse fathers out there than hers.
He’d never raised a hand to her. Sure, he could get angry. Really angry. Another shudder ran through her. But she’d never gone hungry. Never gone without anything.
Except a father who put her first.
Or believed in her.
So now all you have to do is go inside and ask to speak to someone.
Right.
Only her legs didn’t seem to want to move.
Just go in there. It’s for your babies.
She managed to walk up the stairs to the door. Then she stopped.
Shoot.
“Are you going inside?”
Maya jumped and turned to look at the man standing behind her.
Wow.
He was gorgeous. Dark hair, tanned skin, and tall. Although everyone was tall to her since she was only five foot one.
He wore a dark shirt and jeans. But on him they appeared almost elegant.
“Are you all right? Are you lost or something?” A concerned look filled his face.
She shook her head and opened her mouth.
Then she closed it.
Open. Close. Open. Close.
Great. He probably thought she was an idiot. First, she’d been standing there, staring at the door, and now she was completely speechless.
“Can I call someone for you?” he asked.
Get it together, Maya.
She tried to reach for her shield. But it refused to form. There was something about this man that made her forget her mind.
Finally, she managed to make her brain work. “No.”
“No?” He raised an eyebrow.
There was something slightly off about his accent. Almost like he didn’t have one. It was odd and made her wonder if he wasn’t from here.
Get out of here, Maya!
“Gotta go. Bye.” She ran past him, almost tripping over her own feet. He reached out and grasped hold of her arm, steadying her. Unfortunately, he managed to grab where Vince had and she let out a hiss of pain, flinching away.
“Whoa, there.” He let her go and held up his hands. “My apologies for touching you, I just didn’t want you to fall.”
Great. Now he thought she was upset because he’d touched her, when he could touch her whenever and however he wanted.
Easy, Maya.
Don’t get carried away. You just saw this man, you cannot jump him like you’re Jack and he’s a beanstalk.
Hmm. She wondered what his beanstalk might look like.
Oh. God.
Stop.
Naughty Maya was out in full force.
“It . . . it’s . . . o-okay.” She took another step, but her foot only partially landed on solid ground and she started to fall.
Again.
She had never been this clumsy in her life!
Panic filled her. She was going to land on her ass. In front of this beautiful, sexy man.
Why? Why her?
But he suddenly grasped her around the waist, steadying her.
“I’m sorry again,” he apologized.
Why did he keep apologizing to her? She was the one who kept making an absolute idiot of herself.
“Maybe I should escort you down the stairs,” he said in a soft voice.
What would it be like to wake up to that voice? To have him wrap his arms around her? To have him smile at her?
A girl could only dream of that kind of life. It wasn’t a life for Maya, unfortunately.
She knew her limitations all too well. Maya wasn’t the sort of girl that got a guy like this.
Anyway, she didn’t care. She had her babies and they were more than enough for her.
To her embarrassment, he walked down the stairs with her. As though he thought she wasn’t capable of doing that on her own.
Well, she couldn’t blame him for that.
“Are you sure you’re all right?” he asked.
She nodded. “Th-thanks.” Turning around, she fled on foot. As she turned the corner, she leaned back against the building.
Idiot.
What had she been thinking?
Not only had she just made a complete fool of herself in front of the sexiest, most gorgeous man she’d ever seen in her life, but she hadn’t even made it through the door of Callahan Security.
Idiot.
Why was that guy there?
Oh God. He didn’t work there, did he?
She slapped the palm of her hand against her forehead. Knowing her luck he did.
Deep breath in. Then out.
She had to go talk to someone at Callahan Security.
But not right now. Not while he was in there. She’d wait until tomorrow.
It just meant that she’d have to stay up all night and keep watch for Vince.
Awesome.
She headed toward her car, her head down as she muttered to herself.
Idiot. Fool. Couldn’t even find your voice.
“Watch out!” someone cried.
“Lady, watch out!” a smaller voice yelled.
She glanced up to see who they were calling out to and came to an abrupt stop as a power pole appeared out of nowhere.
Where the heck had that come from?
“Whoa, lady,” a young voice said. “You nearly ran right into that pole.”
Maya glanced over to find an elegant, stunning blonde woman standing there, gaping at her. She was holding the hand of a cute, dark-haired girl wearing an oversized jersey with a sports team on it. Her hair was in two pigtails and she was shaking her head at Maya.
“Um . . . I . . . y-yes,” Maya said.
Great. Why was she still stumbling over her words?
Get it together, Maya.
“Are you all right?” the woman asked in concern.
“Yes, I’m fine.” She forced herself to smile. “Thanks.”
“You might want to watch where you’re walking,” the child advised. “You wouldn’t look so good with a broken nose.”
“It’s true,” the woman said. “You don’t want to hurt yourself.”
“Yes, thanks. I’ll make sure I watch where I’m going from now on.”
Could her humiliation get any worse?
“That’s good. Bye! Come on, Mama. We have to get going.”
The woman gave her a smile as the little girl tugged at her hand. They didn’t look like they were related at all.
“Have a good day,” the woman said. “I hope whatever was on your mind just now gets resolved quickly.”
Yeah. Her too.