Make Me, Sir (Doms of Decadence 5)

Tara’s words seemed to work where nothing else had because Reagan sighed and nodded. “Fine, I agreed to let him take a look at my security so he can take a look around. I’ll let him do his job.” She pointed at him. “I’ll be watching you, though. Don’t mess up.”

He wouldn’t dare.

Reagan stared over at the so-called security expert distrustfully. He just smiled at her.

“Do you want tea or coffee?” she suddenly asked, remembering her manners. But he wasn’t exactly a visitor, was he? What sort of category did he fall into? She looked over at Tara, who smiled at her. All right, that must have been the correct approach.

“No. Thank you.”

He looked a bit like a thug in her opinion. But that probably helped in his profession.

“Can I do a walk-through?”

She nodded, following him as he walked around, testing windows and taking notes. By hand. Very old-fashioned. He tested the window in her bedroom.

“I don’t think this person is coming in via the bedroom. I’m on the third floor. And how would they disarm the alarm before it went off if they came through the bedroom?” she asked.

“Reagan, why don’t you let him do his job?” Tara asked from the doorway.

She hadn’t been aware she was getting in the way of him doing his job.

“It’s okay.” Tiny nodded at her. “It’s unlikely.”

She waited for him to say more then realized he was finished. “Don’t say much, do you?”

He just smiled. Her heartbeat quickened. When he smiled, it changed his expression. He wasn’t a handsome man, not even close. His features were just a bit too hard, and the scar running down the side of his face made him look slightly menacing. But when he smiled his whole face lightened, and he became almost mesmerizing.

She found herself wanting to see him smile again.

“Umm, Reagan, you okay?”

She turned to look at Tara. “Yes. Fine. Excuse me.” She left the bedroom. Coffee. She needed coffee. She walked into the kitchen and turned on the coffee maker then grabbed some cups from the cupboard. The tension slowly ebbed from her shoulders as she poured out the coffee. Routine soothed her. Helped her find some control. Some normalcy. And there had been little of that lately. She opened a packet of cookies. Placing them on a plate, she set everything out on a tray and carried it into the living room where Alex, Tara, and Tiny stood talking. Well, Alex and Tara were talking. Tiny mostly nodded and made notes.

He turned as she walked in.

“Well?” she asked as she poured out coffee.

“White with one.”

She startled. What? He pointed at the coffee and smiled slightly. Oh, the coffee. She let out a deep breath. She was more rattled than she’d thought. Well, at least no one else would know, she was very good at emotions in check.

He thought she looked ready to bolt. He made an effort to keep his voice low and soothing to put her at ease.

“Yes, here you go.” She poured out the coffee and handed it to him. His fingers brushed against hers, and she stared up at him, wide-eyed.

“Thank you,” he told her, stepping back before he did something completely unprofessional like pull her into his arms and tell her everything would be okay.

“What’s your assessment of the security?” Alex asked then, interrupting them. “Are you going to put some cameras up?”

“Pretty good. But I’ll install cameras.”

“They’ll be recording?” she asked.

“Yes. Hopefully, we can catch this person. The live feed won’t be monitored. Unless you want that?”

“No. I don’t.” She shuddered at the thought. It would be like living in a fish bowl. “Where will you put them?”

“One in each room. In the foyer and outside the building. Just visual no audio.”