Deadly Intentions (Hardy Brothers Security Book 1) Read online

  “They’re all long weeks,” Sheryl countered. “Something tells me this has something to do with a man, though.”

  “No,” Mandy said hurriedly. “There are no men in my life.” Not now, anyway.

  “Oh, okay,” Sheryl said breezily. “I’m assuming that whatever is wrong has nothing to do with the man sitting at the bar watching us then.”

  Mandy swung around, her gaze landing on Grady almost immediately.

  Grady froze when their eyes met. Crap.

  Mandy turned back to Sheryl, her lips tightly stretched as she swallowed the string of curses on the tip of her tongue. “Will you excuse me for a second?”

  Sheryl nodded, watching Mandy with a knowing smile as she stalked in the direction of the bar. Ah, young love.

  Mandy’s was furious by the time she made it to Grady. “What are you doing?”

  “Having a drink?” Grady inclined his head toward the half-empty margarita. “What a coincidence, running into you here and all.”

  Mandy caught sight of the two women watching Grady from the other end of the bar and rolled her eyes. Good grief. Did the Hardy men emit some sort of musk whenever they were around the opposite gender? “Are you following me?”

  “No.”

  Mandy reached over and pinched Grady’s forearm viciously. “Are you following me?”

  “Ow!” Grady jerked his arm away. “Fine. I’m following you.”

  “Why?”

  Grady lowered his voice. “Because someone has tried to kill you twice.”

  “And yet your brother did more damage,” Mandy mused, immediately hating how pathetic she sounded. “I’m fine.”

  “I promised James I would watch over you.”

  “Why would he even care? He certainly didn’t care this morning.” Mandy felt guilty for unloading on Grady, but the real target of her anger had stolen away in the dead of night and was now hiding like a frightened child.

  Grady’s eyes softened. “I think the problem is that he cares too much,” he admitted. “He’s just all caught up in himself right now. Give him a little … .”

  “Time,” Mandy finished for him. “You’ve already said that. I’m not giving him time. I’m done with him. I think he’s made me look like enough of a fool, don’t you?”

  Grady couldn’t argue with her. If he was in her position, he didn’t know what he would do. He certainly wouldn’t open himself up to more hurt. “I’m sorry.”

  Mandy blew out a heavy sigh. “You haven’t done anything to be sorry about.”

  “I’m still sorry.”

  “Don’t be,” Mandy replied. “I’m a grown woman. I’ll be fine.”

  Grady was silent. He didn’t know what else to say.

  “Now, go to your brother and tell him I’m fine and that my world didn’t suddenly cease turning because he walked out on me.”

  Grady opened his mouth to argue.

  “I’m not joking,” Mandy pressed.

  Grady reluctantly got to his feet, dropping a ten on the counter to cover the margarita. “I don’t feel right about leaving you.”

  “I’m fine,” Mandy said. “I’m going straight home after this. No one will get me between the restaurant and the apartment. I’ll be home way before dark.”

  Grady still wasn’t convinced.

  “Go,” Mandy pushed him. “And you might want to see if one of those women will give you their number. They’ve been eyeing you since I walked over here. You might get lucky. Heck, you might get lucky with both of them.”

  Grady slid a glance at the women, shaking his head. “They’re not my type.”

  “No,” Mandy agreed. “Probably not.”

  Thirteen

  James looked up from his laptop, minimizing the Internet window he’d been looking at for the past half hour, when he heard Grady’s loud entrance.

  “So?”

  Grady threw himself in one of the office’s open chairs and sighed dramatically. “So? So, you’re a douche.”

  James frowned. “That’s not what I was asking.”

  “What were you asking?”

  James swallowed the lump in his throat. “How is she?”

  “Oh, she’s pissed.”

  James had no doubt. “Other than pissed, is she all right?”

  “Well, let’s see,” Grady said, twiddling his thumbs in an effort to drive James crazy. “She opened the door and her eyes were all swollen from crying. She then yelled at me and told me to go home. Instead of doing what she asked, I followed her to Don Pablo’s like a good little boy. So, where is my cookie?”

  “Why was she at Don Pablo’s?” James ignored Grady’s needling.

  Grady narrowed his eyes. “She had a lunch date.”

  James clenched his fists. “She had a date? With who? Did you recognize him?”

  Grady hid his smile. “I didn’t recognize her date.”

  “What did he look like?” James practically growled. “She didn’t mention anything about being involved with anyone.”

  Grady swallowed his upper lip with his lower one and shrugged. “You’ll have to ask her.”

  James was incensed. How could she sleep with him and then go out to lunch with another man the day after? Did their night together mean absolutely nothing to her?

  Grady was enjoying torturing James but, if the look on James’ face was any indication, his brother was about to go out and beat up any guy he thought Mandy might possibly be attracted to in a fit of rage if he didn’t end this now. “She had lunch with her stepmother.”

  James opened his mouth incredulously. “What?”

  “She had lunch with her stepmother,” Grady repeated. “Not that she ate anything.”

  James worked his jaw back and forth, trying to rein in his anger. He had a sudden urge to punch Grady in the face. Then the rest of Grady’s statement sunk in. “What do you mean she didn’t eat?”

  “Dude, she’s upset,” Grady said. “She pushed some lettuce around her plate and then let the waiter take it away.”

  Guilt roiled through James’ chest. “How do you know she was upset?”

  “I already told you, her eyes were all puffy from crying and she yelled at me.”

  “What exactly did she say?”

  “She said you’re an ass.”

  James had no idea why that simple statement bothered him so much – but it did. “What did you tell her?”

  “I told her you had a prior engagement and that’s why you sent me.”

  “Did she believe that?”

  “Not even close,” Grady replied. He wasn’t going to sugarcoat things so James could feel better. “She knew why you weren’t there and she feels like an idiot for letting you use her.”

  “I didn’t use her,” James shot back.

  “Well, she feels like you did,” Grady said. “And, if you look at it from her perspective, there’s really no other way to look at it.”

  James wanted to argue, but Grady was right. He deserved Mandy’s ire. “She’s home safe now, though, right?”

  “Um, no,” Grady replied, suddenly fascinated with his fingernails.

  “What do you mean no?”

  “Well, unfortunately, she caught me spying on her at the restaurant and she ordered me to go home,” Grady said. “I didn’t want to make a scene at the restaurant so I gave in.”

  “So you left her out there alone?” James was on his feet, although he wasn’t moving from behind the desk because he wasn’t sure where he should go.

  “She said she was going home right after lunch,” Grady said. “I have a feeling that the only thing she’s going to do tonight is go to bed and cry some more – and, yes, I hope you feel bad for it. If you’re lucky, maybe she’ll put pins in a voodoo doll that looks like you to get her aggression out because I would hate for her to deal with it in the same way I would deal with it.”

  “How would you deal with it?” James asked, sinking back down in his chair.

  “I would go to a bar and find someone else to tak
e my mind off it,” Grady replied, not missing the muscle that twitched in James’ jaw when he said the words. “I don’t think Mandy is that type of girl.”

  “What type of girl is she?”

  Grady’s eyes softened in the face of his brother’s obvious misery. “She’s the type of girl that thought she was going to wake up next to someone this morning and who was obviously crushed when that didn’t happen.”

  James dropped his head into his hands. “I totally screwed this up.”

  “Yes, you did,” Grady agreed. “The good news for you is, if you grovel enough, I have a feeling she might forgive you. I would bring some roses, candy and maybe even some cash to get your foot in the front door, because she feels like a real idiot right now.”

  “I didn’t mean for any of this to happen.”

  “I know,” Grady said. “I think the problem is that you spent so much time fighting all of this that you couldn’t quite help yourself, and now you’ve made a real clusterfuck of the whole thing.”

  James rubbed the side of his jaw tiredly. He hadn’t slept at all the night before. Instead, he’d spent his night tossing and turning, trying to find an ounce of comfort in his bed that he could cling to long enough for sleep to claim him. He had a sinking suspicion that the only comfort he was going to find was in a bed across town – and that thought terrified him.

  “I can’t be with her,” James said.

  “Why?”

  “Because she’s a kid.”

  Grady raised his eyebrows. “She’s not a kid.”

  “She was when I met her,” James shot back.

  “And that’s why you didn’t date her when she was fourteen and you were eighteen,” Grady replied. “I admit, that would have been frowned upon – even in Barker Creek, a town where the English teacher married not one but two of his former students. You’re twenty-nine, though, and she’s almost twenty-five. Those rules don’t apply anymore. What’s really bothering you?”

  “I already told you.”

  “Well, I’m going to tell you what I think the problem is,” Grady said. “I think the problem is that, when you look at her, you see a lot more than just a few rolls in the hay and a forced goodbye in a few weeks.”

  “Meaning?”

  “Meaning that you see more with her,” Grady finished. “Maybe even a future.”

  “That’s ridiculous.”

  Grady sent James a challenging look as he got to his feet. He moved around the desk, swatting James’ hand away when he tried to stop him from opening up the Internet window he’d just minimized. For his part, Grady wasn’t surprised to see Ally’s Facebook page pop up – or the fact that James had been looking at a selfie of her and Mandy from their lunch together.

  “I’m wrong, huh?” Grady glanced down at James’ reddening face. “Get it together man. You’re going to drive yourself crazy if you keep doing this, and you’re going to lose her if you don’t get over there and apologize.”

  James didn’t get a chance to respond because Finn was suddenly in the office, and he looked like armed assassins were on his tail.

  “What’s wrong?” James was on his feet.

  “I’m sorry,” Finn gritted out, moving to the side so James could get a better look at the person standing behind him.

  James’ stomach immediately dropped to his feet. What was she doing here?

  “Hello, James.”

  James gritted his teeth before finding an acceptable answer. “Hello, Ann. It’s nice to see you.”

  “That’s funny,” Ann said, flouncing further into the office. “I was here the other day. Didn’t Grady tell you?”

  “I’ve been busy.”

  “Too busy for me?” Ann purred, sidling up to James while using her hips to clear Grady out of the way. “That doesn’t sound like you.”

  James took an involuntary step back. Since the space behind the desk was at a premium, and Ann was cutting off his only avenue of escape, he didn’t have many places he could run.

  “You look good,” Ann said, running her hand down James’ chest appreciatively. “What about me? Don’t I look good?”

  She looked like the devil, and not in a good way. “You look great,” he choked out.

  “I know I do,” she replied. “Since you look good, and I look good, why don’t you take me out to dinner so we can look good together? I can take the opportunity to tell you about the case I have for you and we can catch up.”

  “I have plans,” James replied.

  Ann narrowed her dark eyes dangerously. “What plans?” She glanced down at the open laptop. “It looks like you’re looking at your sister’s Facebook page. I’m sure that can wait.”

  James glanced over at Finn, sending out a mental SOS as he wracked his brain for a way out of this situation. Finn merely shrugged.

  “I have work.” James tried a different tactic. “It’s going to keep me busy for weeks. We really can’t take on any other clients right now. You should try a private investigator. I’m sure you can find someone with an immediate opening.”

  “I don’t want anyone else,” Ann said, fluttering her eyelashes seductively. “I just want you.”

  James didn’t think the situation could get any worse. He was wrong.

  “You’ve got to be kidding me!”

  James snapped his head up when he heard Mandy’s voice. He couldn’t stop the immediate jolt of excitement that accompanied his first glimpse of her – even if she did look a little whipped from the emotional turmoil he’d obviously caused. Instead of telling her that, he searched for something that wouldn’t make him look like a complete and total idiot.

  “What are you doing here?”

  That wasn’t what he had in mind.

  Mandy strode into the room and placed her hands on her hips. James ran his eyes up and down her body hungrily. Now that he knew what was underneath those tight jeans and simple T-shirt, he couldn’t think of anything but seeing it again for himself. Dammit!

  Ann took a step away from James and focused on Mandy. “Hey, I know you.”

  “I should hope so, we grew up in the same town,” Mandy snapped back.

  “What are you doing here?” Ann moved from behind the desk and took another few steps in Mandy’s direction.

  “I came to talk to James,” Mandy replied, her eyes hard. “I’ve hired him to do a job and I need to unhire him.”

  “You’re not unhiring us,” James challenged. “I don’t care how mad you are.”

  “Why would she be mad?” Ann asked.

  “Yeah, James,” Grady teased. “Tell Ann why Mandy might be mad. I think we all want to hear this.”

  “Shut up, Grady.”

  Ann was busy looking Mandy up and down. James saw the flare of competition ignite in her eyes and swallowed hard. This won’t be good.

  “Well, you grew up pretty much like I thought you would,” Ann said.

  Mandy rolled her eyes, ignoring Ann. “You can’t tell me that I can’t fire you. It’s my right to fire you.”

  “You’re not paying us,” James reminded her. “You can’t fire us if you’re not paying us.”

  Mandy faltered. She hadn’t even considered that. I’m such an idiot. “Oh, let me guess how I was paying you.”

  James felt a surge of anger course through him. “Don’t say that!”

  “Don’t say what?” Ann pressed.

  Mandy’s eyes grew wide. “Why? It’s the truth, isn’t it?”

  “No,” James shot back. “It’s not the truth.”

  “Whatever.”

  “Am I missing something?” Ann asked.

  “Yes,” Grady and Finn answered in unison.

  “No,” James and Mandy replied at the same time.

  Ann knew something was going on, but she had no idea what. “Well, if nothing is going on, I’m sure you can talk to James tomorrow or something. If you’re not paying him, you’re really not a high priority. Not that you ever were. We were about to go to dinner and catch up. He can handle your
little problem some other time.”

  Mandy’s eyes flashed with something other than anger. James recognized it as astonished hurt before she managed to hide her obvious distress.

  “Well, enjoy your dinner,” Mandy rasped out. “Finn, Grady, it was great to see the two of you again.”

  Mandy turned on her heel, stalking out of the office. James didn’t allow himself a moment to breathe until he heard the front door of the office slam shut.

  “Shit.”

  “Shit is right,” Grady agreed. “You better just buy the whole flower shop now.”

  “I’d go with jewelry,” Finn interjected.

  “So, where do you want to go for dinner?” Ann asked, her eyes bright.

  James pushed Ann out of the way, moving toward the door Mandy had just disappeared through.

  “Where are you going?” Grady asked, although he already knew the answer.

  James sighed. “After the blonde,” he said. “I’m going after the blonde. Are you happy?”

  Grady smirked. “Just don’t forget to buy her a gift before you start groveling. She’s really pissed.”

  James shook his head as he started moving again.

  “Hey, what about me?” Ann asked. “What about dinner?”

  James shot a look in Finn’s direction. “Get rid of her.”

  “You got it.”

  Fourteen

  James pulled into Mandy’s parking lot seconds after she climbed out of her car. She should have been surprised to see him, but she wasn’t.

  “What do you want?”

  James cringed when he saw that she’d been crying during the drive between his office and her apartment, the smeared makeup under her eyes serving as an obvious hint. “I want to talk to you.”

  “Well, I don’t want to talk to you.”

  James followed Mandy worriedly. Maybe he should have stopped and bought her a gift after all? Of course, that would’ve just given her something to throw at him when he knocked on her door. If he moved quickly enough, he would be able to force himself into her apartment before she could shut the door in his face.

  “Go,” Mandy ordered, shoving the door open and trying to slip inside before James could follow.

  James’ arm shot out to catch the door before she could close it. He used all of his upper body strength to push it open, only letting her slam it shut when he was safely inside.