Leah Braemel - Personal Protection

“You’re gonna walk away? Just like that?” Damn it, the car was pulling into the underground garage already.

“I should never have agreed to this affair in the first place. So I’m going to go back to the way it was before-if that’s possible. And if it’s not…” her teeth tugged on her lower lip as the car rolled to a stop, “…if it’s not, then I guess I’ll be asking for a transfer to Miami or somewhere. I’d appreciate it if you respect my decision.”

Andy opened the limo door. “Home sweet home.”

Sam slumped back as he waited for Rosie to get out. Since Kris had already called the elevator and was holding the doors, they didn’t have to wait. He didn’t take his eyes off Rosie, but he could see in the reflection of the elevator doors that she was studiously avoiding looking at him.

As he was considering just how to gain and keep her attention, she quickly scotched his plans for any further conversation when she said, “Andy, you’re going to be staying in Sam’s place tonight.”

Andy stared at her for a moment then raised a brow at Sam who scowled in return. “You two have a fight or something? Because I don’t want to-”

“It’s all right, Andy,” Sam interrupted, seeing a possibility arise and not wanting to let it slip through his fingers. “Stay at my place tonight.”

Because he wasn’t going to be there anyway. One way or another he was going to be in 1202. With Miss Rosalinda Ramos. Because damned sure he was not letting her get away until she’d listened to him. And listen she would. If he had to tie her up and ball gag her.

Shooting a hesitant glance at Rosie, Andy nodded. “Okay, sure, boss. I guess I’ll be your bunky for the night.”

Maybe it was the fluorescent light that flickered overhead, but Sam could have sworn he saw a look of disappointment in Andy’s expression. Kris, however, looked anything but disappointed-his lips pressed together and his knuckles turned white over the hand bar ringing the elevator.

Aw, crap. Looked like his gonads were taking their own trip to the zoo tomorrow.

The elevator jerked to a stop and the doors slid open. Phillips checked the hall then exited and waved him out. Rosie preceded him while Kris trailed along the hall. As they approached, Scott opened the door to 1202 and nodded. “Evening, folks. All’s quiet here.”

A glance at Rosie showed she still wasn’t meeting his eye, and he knew she wouldn’t change her mind about staying in his apartment that night. Especially when she slipped past Scott and disappeared.

He pulled out his keys and tossed them to Andy. “Here you go, sport. Do your thing.”

While he waited for Andy to unlock the apartment, Sam cornered Kris.

“You want to tell me what the hell went on downstairs while I was in the meeting? What did Lee-Anne Bennett say to Rosie?”

“Shoot, I don’t know, boss.” Kris turned bright red. “All I know is they spoke for a couple minutes then Rosie headed for the can. You came down right after that.”

“All clear,” Andy called.

Leaving Kris standing in the hall, Sam headed for the privacy of his apartment. Once inside, he tugged loose his tie and tossed it on the couch. It slithered along the leather and fell on the floor. “Andy, I’ve got a job for you.”

Andy grinned. “Does it involve getting you in to see Rosie? If it does I’m in, but I don’t work cheap.”

“I need you to tweak the alarms both here and in 1202. Call Scott and bribe him if you have to.”

He laid out his plans.

“That’s insane!” Andy rubbed the latest tattoo on his arm. “There has to be an easier way. Why not just go down the hall and knock on the door? Scott’ll let you in.”

“Because Kris is there. And he’s designated himself Rosie’s protector. He’d never let me near her. I have to get her where she can’t appeal to him for help.”

After some discussion, Andy agreed to help him-though it cost him.

While Andy reprogrammed the security settings, Sam headed to the bedroom.

Why was he chasing after Rosie? Or was it just ego that she’d walked away first?

Because she’d brought laughter back to the apartment. Light. And now he’d had a taste of her, he couldn’t bear the thought of being alone.

But that look on her face, the hurt in her eyes, because she thought he didn’t respect her had him cringing. How could she not see how great an operative she was? How the other members, not only of her team, but of Hauberk, listened to her when she voiced an opinion?

If he did nothing else, he had to convince her he trusted her judgment, respected her abilities.

He changed from his suit to a pair of cargo pants and a T-shirt. Less than five minutes later, he stuck his bare feet into a pair of Nikes, and rifled through his desk to find his toolkit. Tucking his cell phone into his pocket, he opened the bedroom door to the balcony. He paused, then went back and grabbed a handful of condoms, which he stuck in his pocket and headed back outside. Though there was a good chance they’d not be needed, it didn’t hurt to be prepared. His daddy hadn’t helped him get his Boy Scout’s badges for nothing.

Luck sure needed to be on his side for this harebrained scheme, but damned if that woman hadn’t crawled into his system until he needed her like a scuba diver needed an oxygen tank.

He took a breath and swung himself onto the ten-inch-wide concrete ledge between his apartment and Rosie’s fortress. Despite the buffeting wind’s attempts to shove him into a twelve-storey swan dive, Sam quickly traversed the twenty feet and jumped down onto his neighbor’s balcony.

No alarms shrieked. The motion sensors didn’t klieg-light him. Scott didn’t come running, gun drawn, neither did Kris. Guess Andy had earned that five grand he’d promised him for temporarily disabling the security system.

Of course there was some chance that someone on the ground had seen him and called the police to report a burglary in progress or a possible suicide. And there was still a chance Kris might come in, guns blazing. Or Kris had taken over the bedroom Rosie had first used and he’d find himself in the middle of a knock-down drag out. But he wasn’t about to let little Miss Rosalinda Ramos slip away.

He paused outside the door to the bedroom she’d used before she’d moved in with him. The drapes had been drawn but there was only a glimmer of light leaking from the centre. Either she’d left the door open to the living room and was sitting out in the living room with Scott and Kris or she was already in bed. The image of her lying in bed, her hair tumbling over a pillow, or better yet draping over his chest, her lips slightly parted as she breathed, had his cock hardening.

Praying she wouldn’t scream bloody murder when he entered-well, at least not when he entered the room, he thought with a grin-he slowly turned the latch. Locked. Good thing he’d brought his cell phone along with his lock-picking set. After ensuring Scott had taken down the security system for 1202, he set to work. It took him a few minutes before the lock clicked open.

To his disappointment, the bed was empty. But the bathroom light spilled down the hall and he heard a shower running and a woman muttering in Spanish. Even though she was cursing him, the sultry alto voice sent shivers down his spine and made his balls draw closer to his body. He shucked off his T-shirt and stepped out of his cargo pants. He reached down and grabbed a condom, then tossed his pants on a chair before he opened the bathroom door.

Rosie dug her fingers into her scalp as she spread the shampoo through her hair. The showerheads surrounding her pounded her skin in an erotic caress-reminding her of just what she’d abandoned.