“Then we need to talk, Ms. Paige.”
“Sally, please. And yes, we need to talk. The lead detective on the case wants to see you too. Do you think you can stop by in the next day or so?”
“Sure. Is four o’clock today okay?”
“That would be wonderful. We’ll be waitin’.”
As soon as he hung up, he placed the second call to a sporting goods store. They needed boxing gloves and guards for practice. Putting the phone down, he searched inside the fridge, found a large container of plain yogurt and added some to the oatmeal. He stirred the mixture, tasted it and grinned. Perfect. He turned off the stove.
Amy walked back into the kitchen as he scooped the meal into two bowls.
As usual, she wore shorts, except the material was soft and the edges frilly as though she’d cut off a pair of sweat pants. The neon green color of her tank top added flecks of green to her brilliant blue eyes. The top hugged her generous chest, drawing attention to it.
Eddie shifted uneasily as blood rushed to his groin. The high kitchen counter came to his rescue, but he had a feeling it was too late. Amy watched him with a naughty gleam in her eyes that said she knew how she affected him. Sometimes, he wondered if she deliberately dressed in the bare minimum to drive him nuts.
She cocked her brow. He gave her the pitcher of orange juice. “Go on outside and stay put,” he ordered. “I’ll bring everything.”
Amy chuckled as though she knew he was deliberately kicking her out. The gentle roll of her hips as she walked away shot his imagination into hyper drive.
He needed to get laid. The problem was every time he thought about kissing or bedding a woman, he saw Amy’s face, her body, not Clarissa’s, his current girlfriend. Eddie chuckled. Clarissa would probably laugh if he ever called her his girlfriend. They hooked up every other weekend and that was it.
When was the last time they’d spoken? Not when he was in Montana, or since he arrived in Idaho. He would call her tonight. Maybe hearing her voice might keep the fantasies about Amy at bay.
He could hope.
Eddie sprinkled brown sugar on top of the oatmeal, placed two spoons and glasses on the tray then carried it outside. The look on Amy’s face when he placed the bowl in front of her could only be described as skeptical.
“Looks are not everything, Amy Kincaid. Taste it.”
She took a spoonful and took her time savoring the taste. “Hmm, not bad.
Yogurt?”
“Gives it the creamy texture,” he said.
“Cinnamon…nutmeg…fresh apples…I’m impressed.”
“Good because it’s my family recipe. Wouldn’t want my father to think I’d failed to reproduce the one thing he’d passed down to me.”
“And your mother?”
Eddie’s hand stilled. “What about her?”
“Any recipes?”
He relaxed and chuckled. “No. She wasn’t around much to contribute to the family cookbook.”
Amy frowned. “Sorry to hear that.”
“Nothing to be sorry about. Her loss. I’ve got a question for you. Nothing personal,” he added when she frowned. “How good are you with the Glock?”
She made a face. “So-so. I don’t even like guns.”
“Then why buy it?”
“I didn’t. Lauren loaned it to me. You know, for the break-ins.”
She was determined not to talk about her problem. That was cool. He wasn’t going to push. She would confide in him when she was ready. “Have you thought of a way to defend yourself if the burglars make it inside the house?”
“Point and shoot.”
“Good. Threats don’t scare criminals. Action does. What if you don’t have the gun and they do?”
She grimaced. “Actually, I’m hoping I’d see him coming. I ordered surveillance cameras online a few days ago, which I plan to place near each door. The system is not fancy, but it should record him and give me a heads up, or warn him that he’s being recorded. If he somehow bypasses them, I
will
shoot.”
Did she realize she’d said “he” and “him” several times? Soon he’d know the name of the bastard stalking her and the hunt would begin. Eddie liked her idea of surveillance cameras. However, whatever security system she ordered online would be subpar. He didn’t vocalize his thoughts. Being proactive boosted self-confidence and she had to stop fearing this bastard to beat him. Eddie planned to help her do it, starting with using the latest surveillance gadgets in the market, the kind the average Joe didn’t see coming.
For a moment, there was silence as they ate. Eddie reached for his glass and guzzled half of his orange juice, his eyes not leaving Amy. As usual, watching her eat was mesmerizing.
“Have you thought of taking self-defense lessons?” he asked.
Amy rolled her eyes. “I’m too small to pit my strength against a grown man. The Glock will have to do.”
“When you say a grown man, are you talking about someone my size?”
“Shorter,” Amy said without looking at him, scooped more oatmeal and placed it in her mouth. “And not so perfectly proportional,” she added softly.
Eddie grinned at the veiled compliment. “Are you saying I have a perfect body?”
She threw him a disgusted look. “Perfectly proportional. Not the same thing. And you don’t need compliments from me. I’m sure you hear them all the time. Even Lauren called first dibs when she saw you shirtless.”
He couldn’t have possibly heard that right. “First dibs?”
She shrugged then sipped her orange juice. “Breakfast was great, thank you.”
“The two of you discussed me?” The thought pleased him.
“You were parading half naked in front of the whole lake front community. So why did you bring up self-defense?”
“Because I plan to teach you a few moves. If you can take me down, you can take down anyone. I wasn’t parading.”
“Me? Take you down?”
“Without breaking a sweat.”
She sized him up, her gaze running up his arms, across his chest before returning to his face. Her cheeks reddened for some reason. “I appreciate your confidence in me, but I think I’ll pass. I have my gun. That’s enough for me. And yes, you were strutting your stuff, Fitzgerald. No one removes their T-shirt the way you did, in slow motion. Then you flexed your muscles.” His orange juice went the wrong way and she had the gall to get up and thump his back. “Are you okay?”
“I did not…” Her grin said she was screwing with him.
“Forget it.”
“I wish I could,” she teased, then started gathering their bowls.
“Leave them alone.” He drained his orange juice and got up. “You bring your lovely gun to the garage. I’ll show you a thing or two.”
She eyed him with a slow grin.
“Defense moves,” he added, feeling his face grow hot. A woman had never made him blush in his adult life. “Oh, and wear tennis shoes.”
She pursed her naturally pouty lips then shrugged. “Why not.”
Eddie gathered their breakfast and followed her. “First dibs, huh?”
She rolled her eyes and started for the house.
“What did you tell her?”
“That she is an adult and free to do as she pleased,” she threw the comment over her shoulder. “You do know she’s waiting for you to call her?”
Eddie frowned. Why was she trying to push him into her friend’s arms? On the other hand, Lauren was more his type of woman. Career-minded, confident, not afraid to go after what she wanted. She did talk a lot though, but he could work around that. Yeah, maybe what he needed to give his libido a kick was right here.
“I’ll do that.” He placed the tray next to the sink. “Don’t touch anything. Just go and get the gun. I want us to do this before Raelynn wakes up.”
***
Amy watched him walk toward his bedroom. He wore gray sweatpants that rode low on his hips and a white tank top that hugged every inch of his chest. For three days, she’d tried to ignore him while focusing on her book and reading up on the surveillance gadgets she’d ordered. As if one would ignore a caged panther. She’d reached a point where she wanted to confess everything just so he could stop watching her like she was an escaped convict.
Interestingly enough, Raelynn seemed to be thawing toward him. She’d even asked for his whereabouts twice while he was out of the house. Except for today, Eddie often went for morning runs then spent the rest of the day working on the boat. Every time he fixed something, he always found something else wrong. His hard work finally paid off. He took the boat out yesterday without the engine stalling.
Amy raced to her bedroom to find sneakers and socks. Raelynn was still asleep, so she made sure she didn’t make any noise as she removed the gun from between the mattress and the box springs. She slipped it into the small of her back and carefully closed the door behind her.
Eddie was in the garage eyeing the sole occupant with annoyance. Baron and Kara had shipped out a Honda CV-R and often used it whenever they visited.
“Do you have the key?” Eddie asked.
“Just a second.” Amy retrieved the key from the kitchen drawer and they removed the SUV and parked it next to Eddie’s.
“Where’s the gun?”
She reached behind her and pulled it out. Amy bristled when he eyed the gun in her hand with a frown. “What?”
“Is it loaded?” he asked.
“Maybe.” Amy gripped the weapon with both hands and pointed it at him. She grinned when uncertainty flickered in his eyes. “You really think I’d keep a loaded gun around Raelynn, Fitzgerald?”
“Even the best intentioned parents forget. Where did you learn to handle a gun like that?”
“Shooting range. Lauren took me as soon as I arrived here.” Amy studied her hands. Her right hand gripped the handle tight, her finger on the trigger and the rear end was cradled between her thumb and forefinger, while her left wrapped around the first.
“Your grip is perfect. Now I’m going to show you how easy an intruder can disarm you if he is well-trained.” He raised his hands. “Pretend I’m the intruder. What do you do first?”
She shifted, firmly anchoring her feet on the ground. “Don’t move.”
He grinned
“What’s funny?”
“You’re facing an intruder. I know you can do better than that.”
He wanted ruthless? She held the gun with her right hand, tilted it so the handle was sideways the way inner city gangsters did on TV, then she copped an attitude.
“Get the hell out of my house, homey, before I put a cap in your butt. You know what I’m
sayin
’.” She thumbed her nose then posed.
Eddie’s jaw dropped, then he laughed. Not a chuckle, but the deep, no-holds barred laughter that went on and on until he was out of breath.
“You are completely insane.”
“Thank you.” She saluted Eddie with the gun.
“For future reference, homey is what you call a friend, not an intruder, and it’s ‘put a cap in your ass’,” he corrected.
“I know. I just didn’t want to use the a-word. Okay, let’s do this.” She held the gun with both hands. “One false move and you’re dead,” she snarled.
“Don’t shoot, please,” Eddie faked a plea, shuffling closer. “I have a family.”
“I said… Do. Not. Move!”
He moved as though he was about to drop down on his knees. “Please—”
Then he attacked. Moving to her right, he pushed the hand holding the gun away from him and inwards. In seconds, he had pried the gun from her hand and pushed the magazine release button to disengage the gun.
He stepped back. “You see how I didn’t give you time to think, I just attacked? First, I distracted you with pleas then attacked. I pushed your hand gun away, but in most scenarios I’d strike the hand hard, either forcing you to drop the gun or stun you before prying the gun loose from your hands. If the gun drops, I would kick it out of the way. If not, I release the magazine. Remember, to disarm a person holding a gun, always attack the hand holding the gun, not the supporting hand.”
“Why?”
“Because turning toward the primary hand holding the gun is not as fast as turning toward the support hand.” He demonstrated then handed the gun and the empty magazine back to her.
Amy snapped it in place. “Do it again.”
He rushed her again. This time, he grabbed the gun, pressed the base of her thumb and twisted her wrist up and away. He moved her arm to an awkward angle, forcing Amy to her knees.
“How did you do that?” she asked. “I was expecting the same move you pulled before.”
“Rookie mistake. Watch.”
He looked so sexy demonstrating every move, his muscles rippling with each gesture. Amy forgot why they were in the garage as he moved closer, his hand gripped hers then he pulled her against him. His warmth wrapped around her senses and his musky scent awakened a hunger deep within her. When she sunk to her knees, her face close to his crotch, her imagination went wild.
“Are you focusing?” he snapped.
“Of course.” She got to her feet and prayed her face didn’t give her away. “Can you do it again?”
He showed her the move again. This time she paid attention.
Amy tried it. “Got it.”