Page 16 of Sweet Temptation
Boyfriend of the homeowner? Or maybe her bodyguard? I knew Jude often hired his MC brothers to work his security crew.
But Maddox didn’t offer up that information.
“Did VPD make an arrest?” I asked him.
“Oh, yeah. Summer said the police dog tore a real strip off the guy. They hauled him out of here pretty quick.”
“Did he get into the house?”
“Nope. Tried, I guess…” He lowered his voice as Summer headed over.
She was off her phone, and I extended my hand to her. “Ronan Sterling. I’m an associate of Brody Mason.”
She slipped her soft hand into mine as our eyes locked. She was a beautiful woman, but it wasn’t even her features, exactly, that I noticed first. It was the way she walked, or something.
Then I really saw her face.
No makeup… tired, pale-blue eyes. Amazing cheekbones. And the world’s sexiest pair of lips smiled softly at me. The smile didn’t reach her eyes, though.
“Summer Sorensen,” she said softy.
I shook her hand firmly but gently. Then she folded her arms at her waist.
“Brody called me in,” I informed her, in case she hadn’t caught any of my brief conversation with Maddox. She seemed tense, guarded, which wasn’t surprising. She’d just experienced a security violation, and Andre and I were large, male strangers now standing in her home in the middle of the night. So I spoke to her in my most soothing and non-intimidating tone of voice, the one I generally saved for old ladies when I helped them load groceries into their car. “I’m a private security professional with Sentinel Security Group. This is one of my employees, Andre.”
“Nice to meet you, ma’am,” Andre said, doing his best impression of a sober version of himself, as Summer shook his hand.
“I spoke with Brody just a few minutes ago,” I told her. “He’s driving here right now. I’ll wait with you until he arrives, if that’s alright with you.”
“Sure,” she said. But she just stood there.
“I was just gonna take a look around the house,” Maddox said. “Make sure the doors and windows are secure.”
Summer nodded distractedly. “Thank you.”
Maddox headed off down a hall.
“Why don’t we sit down,” I offered, when Summer just looked at me.
“Right,” she said. “How about in the kitchen? I was just going to make some tea.” She turned to lead the way… and my eyes drifted down, over her curves in the silk robe.
So sue me, she was gorgeous. And it was my job to notice… well, everything.
“Dibs,” Andre muttered behind me.
I turned and leveled him with a hard look. “Inappropriate.”
He tore his gaze from Summer’s ass and met my eyes. And whatever he saw on my face made him smirk.
“Go check out the yard,” I growled, quietly. “Make sure everything looks secure out there.”
“Right. Sorry, it’s the whiskey.” He reached for the door.
“And, Andre? If you don’t find anything… just stay out there until I say otherwise.”
The smirk spread. “Sure, boss.” He pulled up the flashlight app on his phone and beamed it out into the dark as he went outside.
I locked the door behind him.