“I don’t regret what I did,” Bebe replies tersely.
“Why would you?” I ask with a smile. “It was the right thing to do.”
I cock an eyebrow at Dr. Ellery. “Do I offer her the job?”
“Yes,” she replies with a firm nod of her head. “I do believe you should.”
The smile I bestow on Bebe is genuine. “How would you like to get out of prison today and come to work for me?”CHAPTER 8JoslynI stare at Kynan as he sits in the sleek, leather captain’s chair on a private Leer jet after just having walked out of a federal maximum-security prison with one of the actual prisoners by his side.
My review of him is critical, searching for signs of some type of holiness because right now, I’m thinking he has some super powers I knew nothing about.
I mean… who in the hell has the ability to walk into a prison and come out with a prisoner?
“What’s his deal?” the woman who is sitting beside me asks.
My neck twists slowly, and I tilt my head at Bebe Grimshaw. She hasn’t said a word to me since the jet took off almost two and a half hours ago. We parted ways with Dr. Ellery, and she flew back to God knows where she was from. Kynan didn’t bother saying, and I didn’t ask.
I was afraid to ask him anything. Frankly, because I’ve so deified him since his miracle of springing Bebe from jail that I’m not sure I want to hear anything he has to say.
My gaze goes to Kynan, who is doing a good job ignoring us as he works on his laptop with headphones on.
“I have no clue,” I drawl in confusion. “I mean… I thought I knew. He does security and protection work. I hired him to protect me.”
“And yet, he has some pretty powerful connections,” Bebe muses. “He had my release from prison already pre-arranged. That only comes from extremely high up in the government, and I’m sure it’s off the books.”
“I almost feel sorry for my stalker,” I say in awe as I continue to stare at Kynan.
Bebe snorts. “What’s the deal with this stalker of yours?”
That direct question snaps me out of my thrall, and I turn in my seat to face her. The jet we’re on has four rows, two large captain’s chairs on either side. The first two rows face the rear of the plane and the second face forward. It’s how I’m able to stare at Kynan—in the first row—in miraculous wonder.
“A few years ago, someone started sending me creepy letters and gifts. When it escalated, I moved a few times trying to hide, but he always found me. Three days ago, he managed to break into my house and tried to strangle me, but the police got there before he could finish the job. I hired Kynan the next day.”
Bebe’s brow furrows. “No offense… but why would a man who has the power to spring a national security risk from prison help you? It’s sort of small potatoes.”
“No offense taken,” I reply with a smile. “We have a history together.”
Her face brightens in understanding. “I kind of got the sense something was there.”
“Oh no,” I insist, bringing both my hands up in denial. “Nothing there. We dated for about three seconds like twelve years ago.”
Bebe purses her lips. “It’s more than that.”
And she’s right. We had more than that. We were more than just a blip of time. But I don’t want to say that out loud because over the years, I’d been able to minimize my heart break. Time does indeed dull the pain. While I’ve never let go of the truth that Kynan was most definitely the love of my life, I have been able to let go of the fact we missed our chance.
“Doesn’t matter,” I say dismissively. “It was a long time ago, but I’m very grateful he’s taken my case.”
“Just as I’m grateful he sprang me from prison,” she murmurs thoughtfully.
“And gave you a job,” I add. I had sat there quietly while Kynan offered her an incredible salary to be his own personal hacker—the white-hat variety, of course—back at the Jameson offices in Pittsburgh. This put her in close proximity to her son and mother. Kynan promised to help set them all up in a house together if she wanted that. Bebe, who seems like an incredibly tough woman to have survived in prison for seven years, had started weeping.
Kynan is bringing Bebe to California with us since he wants her to help set up a new security system at my house and do an audit of my own computer and internet system.
“I’ve got some clothes you can wear when we get to my house,” I offer Bebe, and she blinks in surprise. “I think we’re about the same size, although you’re a few inches taller than me.”