Page 35 of Twice as Sexy (The Sexy 2)
She squirmed in her seat. “Yes.”
Across from her, the guys and Faith were silent. She didn’t take that as a good sign that they were on her side.
“And today you received a threatening note in what looked like blood.” Tanner’s eyes turned darker.
She shivered. She’d tried not to think about that part of the note. But he was right. “Again, correct. But for some reason you think this means I need to move in with you?”
“I think you need protection. Will your cop friends help you?” He cocked his head to the side. “Or will they continue to tell you there’s nothing they can do without proof of who’s targeting you?”
She narrowed her gaze, hating that he was right. She was an independent woman who’d been taking care of herself for longer than most people. She held a difficult job that often came with risks. And she’d never been afraid. Until now.
Tanner lowered himself into the seat beside her, moving in closer, bracketing her with his body heat. “I’m going to repeat, you don’t know who you’re dealing with. We do. I already blame myself for not protecting Levi. I couldn’t handle it if anything happened to you because of me.”
She might have been able to fight the first part of his statement. Every defendant she dealt with was dangerous given the right circumstances. But she couldn’t handle the second part of his pronouncement. The emotional part. The self-recrimination and blame he felt were something she understood. She felt them about her brother. The inability to protect the person she loved.
But Tanner didn’t love her. They weren’t even close to being a couple. So why did he feel so protective of her? And why did she feel the same way about him and want to do as he asked so he didn’t punish himself for things that weren’t his fault?
But to move in with him? She glanced at Faith. “How did you do it? How did you just–”
“Move in with a man I didn’t know?” Faith grinned. “Something about him was trustworthy. And he didn’t give me a choice.” She looked at Jason like he was everything she needed in her life.
And a part of Scarlett she hadn’t known existed twisted with jealousy. Not over Jason but over the fact that Faith had someone in her life who meant so much to her … and that she reciprocated those feelings.
Scarlett turned to Tanner and her stomach twisted with an emotion she was too afraid to dissect. “You really think Victor is after me?”
“I know I don’t trust him not to hurt you to get to me. Or to us.” Tanner’s gaze encompassed his partners. “I have no idea what’s going on in that sadistic brain of his.”
“I’m going back to watching Faith twenty-four seven,” Jason said. “If that makes you feel any better.”
Faith grinned when she looked at Jason. “I like you watching my body twenty-four seven.”
He slid a hand up the back of her shirt. “It’s certainly not a hardship, sweetness.”
“Oh, Jesus.” Landon rolled his eyes.
Chuckling, Tanner looked at Scarlett. “So what’s it going to be? I have a house in Queens.”
She blinked in surprise. “A house?”
“Yeah. He didn’t want to be confined in an apartment,” Landon said before Tanner could explain.
“Fuck,” Tanner muttered. “I spent some time behind bars. It was enough for me. I wanted space. So sue me.”
Her heart squeezed inside her chest. Moving in with him seemed extreme … and yet when she thought about Victor’s cold eyes, maybe not. From the moment Tanner had been honest with her about his past, she hadn’t had a chance to truly process her feelings for him. Instead she’d had one hit after another, from Victor being the one who threatened her to the menacing note sent to her office to moving in with him now.
Scarlett prided herself on being rational, and given that fact, she realized Tanner was a good man who’d overcome his past. And that meant he deserved a second chance. And he obviously wanted to take care of her now.
“I have to be at the office on time every morning.” It was her way of letting him know she was agreeing to his demand.
He released a relieved breath. “You will be,” he promised.
“And how long will this be for?” She curled her hand around her purse.
The men glanced at each other.
“Until we find proof against Vic and get him behind bars. We have a private investigator working on it.” Tanner met her gaze, gratitude filling his expression.
He really was worried about her, she realized, her heart softening toward him even more. That same heart told her that when it came to this man, she was in a lot of trouble.
Chapter Eight
After the meeting, Tanner took Scarlett in his Range Rover to her apartment to pack her things. Rain came down heavily as he drove, requiring his concentration. She was silent, so he left her to her thoughts, knowing he’d sprung the move on her and she was coming, if not under duress, then somewhat hesitantly.
