The cheering died down. Tazer descended the stairs, her brow furrowing. “What do you mean you don’t want the job?”
“I don’t. Mr. Stratford obviously doesn’t think a woman will suffice. I’ve fought my share of gender discrimination. I’m done.” She started toward the rental car, wondering how long her savings would last after she paid Fontaine back for the flight and the car rental.
Before she’d gone four steps, a leg shot out and swept her off her feet. She landed hard on her back, the air knocked from her lungs.
Stratford straddled her hips, grabbed her wrists and yanked them above her head, pinning them to the dirt. “Sorry I messed up your hair and smudged your makeup, but you can’t quit until I fire you.”
Dix gasped, her lungs remembering how to inhale. “I’m not wearing makeup. And it’s too late. I already quit.”
He shook his head. “I don’t accept your resignation.”
“You don’t have to.” She shoved at him and lifted her leg sharply, attempting to knee him in the back. “It’s not negotiable.” She grunted.
“I need someone to protect my family.” He scooted back on her thighs, trapping her legs on the ground. “Despite your bad temper, I want you to do it.”
She opened her mouth to protest.
He released one of her wrists and pressed a finger to her lips. “I don’t have anyone else. I need someone temporarily until I can hire a full-time replacement. At least give me that.”
“I’m not your man,” she bit out.
“Call me crazy.” For the first time since she’d met the man, his lips twitched in something akin to a smile. “I don’t want a man. I want you.”
Andrew wasn’t sure what made him tackle the female. Not only had he pinned her to the ground, he’d insisted she take the job. He told himself it was her stubborn determination to prove herself that had pushed him past his concerns. The heat of her thighs straddling his hips and the way she’d pressed her breasts against his back had nothing whatsoever to do with his decision. Though his skin still tingled and the warmth of her breath on the side of his neck lingered in the cool night air.
The plain facts were that he needed someone to keep track of Leigha and keep her safe from whoever was trying to hurt him. What worried him more was the secret friend Leigha went on and on about. Should the person actually exist, he had no business hanging around a six-year-old without her father’s permission. Until Andrew had a permanent fix for the situation, Dix Reeves would have to do.
And even if she were as attractive as she was tough, he wouldn’t hold that against her. He rose to his feet and extended his hand to the woman on the ground.
She shoved it aside, easily rolled to her feet and brushed the dust from her jeans. She moved like an athlete, with a spring in her step. Fast and strong, the woman could be an asset. At the very least, she’d be a good temporary solution to his needs. Tomorrow he’d log on to the internet and search for reputable bodyguard services. “If you’re ready to leave, I need to get home. As I mentioned, Leigha isn’t feeling well and I don’t like leaving her for very long with only Mrs. Purdy to protect her.”
Dix crossed her arms over her chest. “What part of ‘no thanks’ did you not understand?”
Ignoring her refusal, he walked to his SUV and climbed in. “Follow me. The road can be hard to find in the dark. And by the looks of it, the Devil’s Shroud is moving in.”
Dix shot a glance from Andrew to Tazer. “What’s he talking about?”
Tazer nodded. “He’s right. By the time you get back to his place, the Devil’s Shroud will make it very difficult to find your way.” Her lips twisted. “The folks around here have a flair for the dramatic. The Devil’s Shroud is what they call a thicker-than-pea-soup fog that blinds anyone trying to find their way through it. If you live here long enough, you will undoubtedly experience it firsthand. Probably tonight.”
Molly stepped forward. “They say that when the Devil’s Shroud rolls in, you can count on evil coming along with it.”
Dix snorted. “Well, I should be able to find my way to town and a hotel before it gets that thick.”
With a shrug, Molly glanced toward Andrew. “You might try saying ‘please.’”
Andrew pressed his lips together. As one of the most powerful traders on Wall Street, he’d been used to giving orders and having people follow them without question. Since the accident, he’d left that world behind. But that world hadn’t completely left him. He swallowed the desire to tell everyone to go to hell and forced out, “Please.”
Dix’s brows puckered and a smile curled the corners of her mouth. “Wow. That’s the best you can do?”
He growled before he could stop himself. “Take it or leave it.”
She hesitated, her gaze sweeping him from head to toe. As he expected, her perusal slowed on the scars he’d acquired in the accident.
Andrew fought the urge to turn his face away as well as to hide his hand from her all-seeing eyes. But he stood fast, refusing to back down. She’d see the scars on a daily basis; she might as well get used to them now.
When her gaze reached his toes, she looked up and nodded curtly. “I’ll take it. But only on a temporary basis.” She pointed a finger at him. “And not for you, but for your daughter. Hopefully she doesn’t have her father’s bad temper.”
Andrew slipped into the SUV without saying another word. He didn’t wait to see if she would follow, but pulled out of the gravel driveway and onto the paved highway.
Lights shone into his rearview mirror.
He let go of the breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding and focused on driving through the increasingly thick fog along the curvy coastal highway leading toward his estate.
When she got too far behind, he slowed and waited. By the time he reached the turnoff to his driveway, the fog had completely taken over. Andrew waited for Dix to turn in behind him before he hit the button to activate the automatic gate opener. The gate remained open long enough for both cars to pass through. Then he was leading the way along the twisting drive to Stratford House, the mansion his grandfather had left to him.
Not until he was right in front of the structure could he see the lights glowing a hazy yellow from the main living room and one of the upstairs bedrooms. The rest of the house lay in shrouded darkness.
In the fog, the house resembled one of those Gothic buildings in a horror movie. Andrew wondered what Dix was thinking. Would she turn around and leave? Or would she accept the challenge, creepy house and all?
He got out and waited for her rental car to pull to a stop next to his SUV.
Dix climbed out of the vehicle and stared up at the three-story mansion. “This is where you live?” she asked. Her gaze shot to him.
“It’s my home,” he said.
“It’s big enough to be a hotel. No wonder you need help keeping track of your daughter. Someone could easily get lost in that house.”
“It was my grandfather’s,” he said, surprised at the defensiveness in his tone.
“Did he have a large, extended family, aunts, uncles and cousins who moved in with him?”
A smile pulled at the corners of Andrew’s lips. “No. He built it for his wife, whom he loved dearly.”
Dix shook her head. “Why?”