“What’s happening?” Roman asked. “Is it a case we’re involved in?”
Maddox shook his head. “No, at least not yet. Might need y’all down the line though. A female vet was kidnapped from her office.”
I grabbed Maddox’s arm. “Do you have a name?”
My heartbeat accelerated and every muscle up my back and neck and along my arms tensed. Caroline’s face with blushing cheeks and twitching lips as she tried to stop herself from smiling at me popped into my mind. It couldn’t be her.
“Being sent that info right now,” Maddox said with an arched eyebrow. “Why?”
“The woman you sent to us with the hacker is a vet. And someone I kind of know from my past.”
Maddox’s phone beeped. I glanced down at the table as it lit up with a new message. The air in my lungs stalled as I waited for him to give me a name. “It’s not the woman I sent to you,” he finally said.
I slowly nodded and released his arm from my grip. My eyes met Roman’s across the table as he stared at me. I could tell he was trying to read me and find out more information. I’d briefed him about Caroline as a new client. I’d left out that I knew her, and the reaction I’d just had was setting off alarm bells in his mind. I shook my head and cut my gaze off from him. “Let us know if we can help, Mad. I’ll keep my phone on.”
“Appreciate it.” He flicked his fingers to wave goodbye before turning and striding out the door. My heartbeat slowly returned to normal. I picked up the glass of whiskey Owen had dropped off while I was distracted and tossed the liquid to the back of my throat.
“What?” I asked as I set it back on the table. I felt the gaze of each person at the table. Outside of work, I had one mood—happy-go-fuckin’-lucky. Even at work, I was focused. Panic? Never. Each person at this table knew that, and I didn’t like their eyes on me, waiting for answers that I didn’t want to give them.
“You knew our new client?”
I licked my lips and met Roman’s stare again. “Sort of. She’s Pepper Jack’s vet and trainer.”
“She going to train him not to pee in my office? Not that it matters, that dog isn’t coming back to the office.”
I shrugged again, but more lightly this time, as the tension eased from my shoulders. “We’ll see.”
“Is that all?” Harper asked. My eyes cut to hers. She was smiling, with an arm wrapped around one of Roman’s.
“We went to high school together, but I didn’t know her back then.”
“Is she pretty?” Ava asked. Hudson’s arm was wrapped around her shoulders. Ava’s gaze was darting among all the women at the table. They’d been trying to set me up for a long time.
Roman scoffed. “That doesn’t matter. She’s a client.”
Harper laughed. “I was too. Didn’t stop you.”
“You were never a client. You were something else and that’s different.”
Harper rolled her eyes.
“Is she pretty?” Ava asked again. Hudson chuckled and kissed the top of Ava’s head.
“Yeah,” I said. “She’s a client. That’s a line I won’t cross. She needs my help. And she’s Pepper Jack’s vet, so I’m her client. And I’m guessing that’s a line she won’t cross.”
I turned my attention toward the bar and froze. I’d been coming to this bar for years, often multiple times a week. I’d sat at this table with my friends often, and I knew this was a first. Caroline was sitting on a barstool looking at the drink menu in front of her. If she had been here before, I would’ve noticed her. “Going to grab another drink.” I stood and walked toward the bar. Caroline was the center of my focus. Every single one of her curves was on display. Her dress was tight, cinched in on her narrow waist and flaring out at her hips. Her long, smooth legs were crossed and dangling as she sat on the stool. The Edison bulb above her seat was casting a glow on her dark chocolate hair. She was playing with a necklace sitting at the base of her throat as she read the menu in front of her. My gaze coasted up and down her body, to her face, to the slender column of her neck. Each perusal caused my thoughts to become dirtier and dirtier.
Within the last few steps of my approach, as if she heard me and my thoughts, her head popped up and her gaze swung in my direction. Her cheeks instantly filled with color. “Kiernan.”
I bit back the groan. My name from her lips, in a breathy whisper, was almost too much with the thoughts that were flying through my head. As much as I was trying to keep her inside the client box in my mind, she was becoming so much more. And it was becoming harder to contain my thoughts. “Can I buy you a drink, Caroline?”
She swallowed and laid the charm on the necklace she’d been fiddling with on her chest. “I’m waiting for my friend.”
“I can keep you company until she gets here.”
Caroline licked her lips and slowly nodded. “Okay.”
Owen was behind the bar grabbing a few drinks. I motioned him over and waited for Caroline to order before ordering another drink for myself. I lowered my voice, leaning toward her, and raised my brows. “I have a confession.”
She bit her lip to stop the smile. I wanted to pull her lip from her teeth and beg her not to stop any smile of hers.
Client.
Client.
Client.
I reminded myself over and over again. And not only was she a client. She’d come to our office for help because some fucking creep had been getting off on watching
