Page 11 of Securing His Heart

Yet the doors remained closed, and he cursed himself for even thinking anything romantic about the situation he now found himself in.

Last night had been a glitch in his well-ordered life. Chris had people to save. Missions to work.

He swiveled around, heading back to his hotel, ignoring the longing and the feeling he’d left a little bit of him behind.

Chapter

Five

Chris looked out his hotel window, not seeing the view, as he waited for his call to Steve to connect. He kept his back firmly off the sight of the rumpled bed. If he didn’t, he’d be tempted to walk over there, scoop up the pillow that Lindy’s head had rested against and breathe deeply, hoping to catch the lingering scent of her musky perfume—an exotic smell that reminded him of the markets in Morocco.

The whole time he’d walked back to his hotel, he’d lectured himself on letting his need to protect Lindy go. Yet the second he walked in, he’d known that he couldn’t pack up and leave. As inane as it was, Chris didn’t want to get on the plane in a couple of days. He wanted to stay and, yes, he wanted to explore the feelings developing between him and Lindy. If they were one-sided, so be it, at least he’d taken the risk and had gotten his answer. If he left, he would always wonder.

“Chris, you’re calling early. You at the airport?” Steve’s rough voice sounded in his ear.

“Nah, my flight wasn’t due to leave until Sunday.” After making the decision to say, he’d called the airline to change his ticket to an open-ended one. It had cost him a lot to do it, but as it had always only been him, and he hadn’t had much reason to spend the money he earned, he had healthy savings and investment accounts to give him the freedom to do things like extend his stay.

“Wasn’t due to leave? What’s changed?” His associate’s voice seemed a little more alert now, and Chris wasn’t surprised the man had picked up on his words. Those observations made him a good security specialist and team leader.

“I changed my ticket to an open-ended one.”

“Why?”

Again, he wasn’t surprised at Steve’s question, his friend knew he wouldn’t change a ticket on a whim—which he kind of had, but he’d also had a reason.

“I was out last night, and saw a woman get her bag snatched. Something about it seemed odd.” The explanation was vague, at best, and had more holes in it than a target after he’d shot it up a few dozen times.

“You expect me to believe that explanation? What aren’t you telling me, Swanson?”

Chris could understand Steve’s frustration, in all the time they’d worked together—and it had been on many missions—he’d been nothing but straight forward, down the line direct.

No bullshit. No wishy-washy explanations.

Those types of things had the potential to put missions in danger, and that was the last thing either of them wanted or needed.

This time, though, it had become personal for him, and he didn’t know how to deal with that. However, if he wanted Steve’s help—and he did—he needed to tell him everything.

“Okay, you’re right, here’s the low-down.” He spent the next five minutes explaining what’d happened and his gut feeling that there was something more to it.

Steve whistled low when he finished. “That’s quite the story. If someone other than you were involved, I’d tell them to stop thinking with their dick, a bag had been snatched end of story. But this is you, and you wouldn’t be giving it a third and fourth thought if it was nothing. Plus, it’s Lindy Jones, she’s not a nobody around here.”

Bursts of jealousy burned through him like hot lava, had Steve slept with Lindy. Chris clutched his phone tighter, resisting the urge to pound his fist against the wall. “You know Lindy?”

How he managed to get the words to sound normal surprised the hell out of him.

“Settle down, Swanson, it’s not like that. Everyone in Perth knows Lindy because she’s the richest woman in the whole country. Her father was a mining magnate. Ran the biggest mining company in Australia. He was killed in a drunk driving accident a few months ago and Lindy is now running it all. She inherited her father’s shares.”

Chris digested the information, his mind turning over and over. “How much money are we talking?”

“Billions.”

His internal instincts had switched on and were flashing red danger signs at him. “Was her father’s accident really an accident?”

Silence greeted his question, and if he had to hazard a guess, Steve hadn’t considered that Lindy’s father’s death was anything but a tragic event. Maybe it had been, but he wasn’t going to dismiss it, not now that Lindy had had her bag snatched. Although, that incident was minor in comparison to a fatal car crash.

“As far as we know it was, the driver had a high blood alcohol reading, and it wasn’t his first DUI. I don’t think it could’ve been planned for him to be on the road at the same time as Samuel Jones. Not to mention the exact location.”

While Steve may have relayed the words with confidence, instinct told Chris his friend had been giving it some consideration.