Page 59 of Temptation
“Preston?” Hushed.
Preston’s head turned back to Joshua.
“You’re not really leaving, are you? Right after someone tried to shoot you?”
Like he’d let a little shooting stop him from bringing down the jerk. “I have a team of bodyguards who will be keeping an eye on me.” Frankie would be driving him for the foreseeable future. But Frankie wasn’t his only protection. Preston had arranged for Noble Garrison to come in from Charlotte. Noble would be watching from the shadows. Close, but unobtrusive. Both men had been on his payroll for a while. He just hadn’t anticipated needing them on his trip home to Cashiers.
His mistake.
Preston did not intend to make any additional mistakes.
He’d put in the orders for both men to assume guard detail when he’d been in the hospital last night. It had taken a bit of time for the men to arrive in town, but they were present now. From this point forward, they would be searching for threats.
“Maybe you should just, you know, stay in for a while, Lie low, ” Joshua advised. Sweat beaded his forehead.
Not happening. “Not my style.”
Sloane had reached the landing. “Ah, we meet again.” Her focus seemed to be on his assistant.
Joshua took a step back.
Sloane advanced on Joshua as she held out her hand. “How about we start over? I won’t rage at you for getting me tossed into the back of a sheriff’s car. You won’t conduct unauthorized searches of my belongings ever again. Deal?” Her fingers wiggled.
Joshua stared at her fingers the way he’d probably stare at a snake that he thought would strike him.
“I know Debra Tooni is your aunt.” Sloane kept her fingers outstretched. “I know you’ve been Preston’s personal assistant for the last year. I know that you are very loyal, Joshua.”
She knew plenty. Because of her research.
“I like loyalty. I get that you were trying to protect your boss. That’s good.” She did not drop her hand. “And I do expect that you won’t turn on me again. Because I’m fine with one reset.” Her head turned. Her gaze landed on Preston. “But I draw the line at two.”
Yep, message received. Those words weren’t just for Joshua. Preston understood that they were for him, too. His head inclined toward her. No additional resets necessary.
Joshua took her hand. A fast shake and then he let her go. “I-I just want to protect him.”
“Of course.” Her head had angled back toward Joshua. “That’s what I want, as well. To protect Preston. Look at that, would you? We have the same goal.”
Joshua did not appear convinced that they had anything at all in common. He darted his way to the front door. Paused near the threshold and called back to Preston. “If you need me, you know I’ll be close.”
Joshua should have been on vacation. The whole visit to Cashiers should have been a break for them both. But things weren’t working out that way.
The door clicked closed behind Joshua. Preston threw the lock into place. With his back to Sloane, he said, “Got the message. One reset for me.” Preston glanced over his shoulder. “If I screw up again?—”
That beaming smile of hers flashed. “I have faith that you won’t.”
He didn’t let her smile blind him. He focused on her eyes as he faced her fully. “Why would you have any faith in me?” Especially after he’d let her gorgeous ass get taken from him. Won’t happen again. Will not.
A man could learn some very important lessons when bullets started flying. Lessons like…
I couldn’t get to her fast enough. Couldn’t block her with my body fast enough.
He’d been ready to take a bullet for her. So that meant something—it means I want to protect her, keep her with me, no matter what she may have done.
“Why do I have faith in you? So many reasons.”
Uh, huh. “Let’s start with one reason, angel.”
Her nose crinkled. “I’m not an angel. Pretty sure we’ve covered that before.”
