Her Guardians: Her Guardians Trilogy Book 1 (34 page)

“Remember to call me on Friday, won’t you?” Lisa-Marie
said, smiling.

“Of course
. It was really nice to meet you, Catherine.”

“It was a pleasure to meet you
, too. I hope all goes well for you this week.”

“Thank you. I’ll be in touch.”
I gave them both a kiss on the cheek and went back home.

As I
get closer, I realised there was someone at my door. “Stephen, what are you doing here?”

“Have you not checked your phone?
I’ve been trying to reach you, and when you never answered, I started to panic. So I headed straight down here.”

“Well
, as you can see, I’m fine. What is it you want?”

“Can I come in first?
It’s freezing out here.”

I didn’t think it was a good idea
, but I couldn’t have Stephen standing out here in the cold. Lord knows how long he’d been waiting.

As soon as we
get in, I grabbed a couple of mugs and started warming up some milk. I saw Stephen watching me with interest. “What’s that you’re doing?”

“Hot chocolate.
Just the ticket for a cold night like this.”

“Hot chocolate
? I can’t say I’ve had that before.”

“You are kidding me
, right?” I was astounded. Who could not have tried hot chocolate?

Stephen pursed his cute lips and shook his head.
“Nope, never had it.”

“Well
, I can guarantee you’ll never look back once you try one of these bad boys. I do a mean hot chocolate.”

“Well
, if it’s a bad boy, it’s probably right up my alley.”

L
ooking at him, I wondered if he was being serious. I was going to say something, but saw that cheeky grin I love curve up on one side of his face.

“Michael’s not here,” he observed, all remnants of his grin
gone.

“No
. He’s gone home.”

“Look, I came
because I found out there are officers staking out this address on Bronsart Road. They said it has something to do with Mark Richards. You wouldn’t know anything about that, would you?”

I looked away
. “I told the Chief Super. He didn’t believe me at first, but I think he does now.”

“Cassie
, that wasn’t a good idea.”

I winced slightly
. I knew the lecture was coming, but I felt I had to defend myself a little. “And what? Sleeping with your brother’s girlfriend was?” I knew that sounded angrier than it should have, and I immediately regretted it.

Stephen cringed and that made me feel even worse
. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean that.”

“You should mean it
. I deserve every bit of that. I’m actually surprised you let me in your flat.”

P
ouring the milk into the chocolate mixture, I added a spoonful of sugar and started stirring. “I’m not angry with you, Stephen. Just a little disappointed. I didn’t think you could do something like that. Not only that, neither of you mentioned to me that you were brothers.”

“I think he is ashamed of me.
I wouldn’t blame him. It happened a long time ago, but the wounds are still fresh.”

I hand
ed him his mug and he took a sip. I watched as his eyes widened. “Oh, man. Where has this been all my life?”

I chuckle
d. “I told you it would be good.”

“Good?
This is the best hot drink I’ve ever tasted.”

“I’m glad you like it.”

In an instant, we found our eyes locked together. Too many of these moments were happening between us lately. A kind of stare that said it all without us actually saying a word.

Stephen cleared his throat and averted his eyes.
“Back to this thing with you and the Super.”

“Yes?”
I paused and took a sip of my drink.

“I don’t want you in danger, Cassie.
I care too much to let anything happen to you.”

“I know you do, Stephen.
I think I’ll be okay. I’m actually going to be out with him tomorrow.”

I saw his posture
straighten. “Where are you going?”

“Around Cheltenham
. We have some inquiries to make up there.”

“How does
that involve you?”

“It’s personal—to the
Chief.” I saw Stephen’s suffering and knew he was having a hard time adjusting to this.

“I want to come with you.”

“Don’t be silly. I’ll be with the Chief. Do you really think he’s going to let anything happen to me?”

“If it’s to do with police work
, you’ll be in danger, Cassie.”

Thinking how weird he sounded all of a sudden made me realise something about him.
“Do you know that you only ever call me Cassie when you’re angry with me?”

“I’m not angry with you
. I’m worried about you. There is a difference. Besides, you didn’t want me calling you…that other name anymore.”

I saw
the sadness in his eyes and I very nearly went to him.

“I miss it.”
My eyes wandered a little, embarrassed.

“Miss what?”

“You calling me Twinkles.” I chuckled a little. “I never thought I’d say that.”

I see th
e cheeky grin again and it made my heart flutter.

“How are
Billy and Chris?”

It was that instant I knew my suspicions of someone watching me
were correct. “So I
was
being followed.”

“Only so I knew you’d be ok
ay. I followed you to your uncle’s place, then I bumped into Callum from work. He told me all about the surveillance on Bronsart Road and I had to come and speak with you about it. I kept trying to call you, but you weren’t picking up. I started to freak a little.”

“Well
, I’m fine. And I will be tomorrow also. Don’t you have a home to go to?” I knew I was being cheeky now.

“I feel my home is here with you.
It feels as if it is my destiny to protect you. I know that’s Michael’s job, but I don’t have a switch. I can’t just turn it off when I want to. Not that I ever would.”

I didn’t know what to say.
I was starting to panic a little because if I told him how I felt, it would break his heart. Knowing I felt for him the same way I did Michael would just rub salt into the wounds. It was hard, though…so hard. The pain of not telling him was tearing at me.

When I fail
ed to say anything, Stephen just sipped his hot chocolate. “This is really good. I may have to come around for more of this one day.”

“Ok
ay,” I smiled meekly. That was the only bit of me I could give him right now. I felt like a piece of shit because of it. I hated myself for being a coward, but I also knew that what I was hiding was only protecting him, as well as myself.

He smiled
, showing that little bit of hope in his eyes from my eagerness to let him back into my life. It seemed strange. I was so mad at both of them earlier and wanted to take a break from the pain of it all. But just having those few hours away from them had me doubling over with pain at the thought. It would seem I couldn’t live with them
or
without them. Everything was just so messed up.

“I’m going to go and let you get to bed.
It’s getting really late.”

Placing
his mug down in the sink, Stephen came over to kiss me lightly on the forehead. He lingered there a moment, giving me the opportunity to inhale his sweet scent. I didn’t want to, but I couldn’t help it. I breathed it in like he was a Christmas dinner waiting to be devoured on that one and only day you get it. He smelled as heavenly as always, making it that much harder to let him go. I had this urge to pull him to me, ask him to make love to me. The feeling was shocking beyond words.

Like always
, though, I let him go. He pulled away, stroked my cheek, and went towards the door. That one moment in my life…lost forever.

Chapter 16

My alarm woke me at seven and I got up, heading to the shower. I didn’t know how Simon wanted me to dress, so I thought smart-casual would be best. I could get away with just a black pair of trousers, a blue V-necked jumper, and a pair of ankle boots.

I was soon ready and munching on a piece of toast when a text arrived.
Be there in five minutes.

I knew it was
Simon. He was going to be ten minutes early. I could understand his impatience, though. I would be exactly the same if it were me.

I quickly ate
the rest of my toast and took a couple more gulps of my coffee before I grabbed my stuff and walked outside.

I was
only waiting a minute or so when a black Porsche Cayenne pulled up in front of me. That didn’t surprise me at all. However, what
did
surprise me was his passenger. Stephen.

I look
ed at Simon, but all he did was shrug. I got in, scowling at Stephen, but he just smiled that cheeky smile that he does.

“Good morning, Cassie.
I trust we’re feeling better now?” Simon said as he pulled away from the kerb.

“Yes, thank you.”

Simon briefly looked at me in his mirror. “As you can see, we have a passenger with us.”

“Yes
. How did he manage that?” I completely ignored Stephen.

“He rang me last night
, and had a very compelling argument.”

“
I
didn’t tell him anything.” My tone was defensive. I didn’t want Simon thinking I may have told Stephen about his sister.

“I know you didn’t.
I did. Your boyfriend cares a lot about you and wants to make sure you’re safe. I can totally understand that. He said I could be putting you in danger and that I needed an extra person, just in case. I think he was about to call the cops on me himself if I hadn’t agreed to this little venture.” He laughed and looked at Stephen.

Just as
I was about to correct Simon on his assumption that Stephen and I were together, I decided that it wasn’t worth it.

“Yo
u know it makes sense, Twinkles.” His cheeky, infectious grin was back.

I beam
ed back at him, any anger I did have was completely erased. He could see I had forgiven him so he smiled and turned back to stare at the road ahead.

“How long do you think it
will take to get there?” I wanted to change the subject.

“About an hour, hour
-and-a-half. As long as the traffic is good, of course.”

“Did you tell
Sharice about this?” I was more than a little intrigued as to whether he had.

“Yes
, and she thinks I’m nuttier than a fruitcake.”

“I thought fruitcakes only had raisins and sultanas in
them,” interrupted Stephen.

I laughed a little
, thinking it did sound a little strange. “I think you’ll find there are nuts in them, Stephen. Although, I can see from where you’re coming.” I paused for a moment, then carried on, “Tell your wife that she needs to stop worrying. The more she puts it off, the worse it’s going to get. It’s completely unfounded.”

“What?”
Simon sounded a little concerned. “Is there something wrong with her?”

“No, no.
Sorry, not at all. On the contrary…” It was hard to hide the grin on my face.

“Does this have somethi
ng to do with the rock candy?” He smiled into the rear-view mirror.

“I think I have
said enough already.” I looked away so I didn’t have to see Simon’s face. I think I would have lost it and completely given the game away.