Guardian Ranger (Shadow Agents 2)

Chapter Four

“Why isn’t anyone else here?”

Veronica jumped and spun around, her heart racing. Jasper stood in the kitchen doorway, wearing a pair of faded jeans that clung low on his waist.

And nothing else.

His chest rippled with muscles. His shoulders filled that doorway, and Veronica had to yank her jaw off the floor.

“Veronica? Why’s the ranch deserted?”

“B-because it’s not a working ranch.” Not yet. But Cale had talked about changing that. “Cale and I—we bought it for the privacy.” The isolation. “We have a few horses, and someone comes in to tend to them, but...”

But it was just her.

Alone with Jasper.

“Where do you work?” he asked as his gaze swept over her.

Like him, she was dressed in old jeans, but she also had on a T-shirt. He needed a shirt. Her gaze kept falling to his chest. “My office is down the hallway. Third door.”

“You do all your work from the ranch?”

She nodded. “I’ve got a satellite connection for the internet—that connection is all I need.” She built websites for doctors, lawyers, schools, writers. Anyone who needed the sites designed and maintained.

And she did it without having to rush to the city or having to face off with clients.

She had a partner in Dallas who took care of the PR and marketing end of things. Kelly booked the clients, found out just what they needed, and Veronica did the building and website coding part of the business.

It was a deal that worked well for them both.

“You shouldn’t be out here alone.” Now Jasper sounded angry.

“I’ve got a security system.” One that she would not be forgetting to activate ever again. “I’m perfectly safe.”

“Out here by yourself? In the middle of nowhere? If you needed help, who would get to you before you were dead?”

Now, that was a brutal jab she hadn’t seen coming.

He stalked toward her. “Who would get to you,” he demanded, voice lowering, “if you needed help right now?”

Her hands were behind her. Curling around the counter. “I’m not as defenseless as you seem to think.” He was trying to scare her. She got that.

“Aren’t you?” Jasper pressed.

She grabbed the knife that she’d just used and yanked it in front of her. “No, I’m not.”

He smiled, and she had the impression that she’d actually surprised him.

She doubted that much surprised Jasper.

But then the crazy man grabbed the knife. No, he grabbed her hand as it held the knife’s handle. “Having a weapon and being willing to use it are two different things.” His breath blew lightly over her. “Would you be willing to kill?”

No. “I’m not looking to kill anyone.”

“What if someone wants to kill you?” He lifted her hand to the counter. She dropped the knife. “Gunner called me,” Jasper told her. “He can’t reveal everything about the case, but those two men who were shot last night? They were hired thugs. Their prints came back and matched to a Billy Ferrell and Chuck Trout. They’ve got a dozen charges on them in Dallas. B and E, assault...”

“Kidnapping?”