Spirited Away. Angela Campbell
pocket tools her dad insisted she keep with her made their way into her other pocket, just in case. He’d also given her a little stun gun to attach to her keychain—not that she had done it. What the heck had she done with it? No time to search. On the way out, she risked a glance in the mirror and paused. One side of her head boasted a tangled poof while the other looked as though she’d stuck her finger in a socket. Oh, geez. Had she really opened the door to someone with her hair looking like that? She ran a brush through it real quick, scooped the cat up and paced down the hall.
“If he tries anything, claw his eyes out,” she whispered to Abbott, who growled back a response she hoped meant “Consider it done.”
Noah glanced around the house he’d only been inside once, when he came over to introduce himself to his new neighbours, and whistled. For a guy who’d grown up in a trailer park, this sure seemed a nice place for a couple with no kids.
He’d found its previous sale listing online and memorized some of its stats during his initial research into Collins. Single-level updated traditional ranch with a little over three-thousand-square-feet, four bedrooms, three baths, a side-garage, and a sizable fenced backyard. That was on paper. In person, the home seemed even grander with its 10-foot ceilings, open floor plan, modern appliances and warm decor.
He’d been amazed to see a home across the street up for rent at a shockingly affordable price. The Buckhead community of Atlanta was where the wealthy lived, and Noah certainly wasn’t wealthy enough to afford even this neighbourhood, which was on the lower end of the pricey scale. But he’d grasped the opportunity and had considered staying in the two-storey fixer-upper after his assignment was done because he’d gotten such a great deal on it.
But maybe not, considering the crap he’d been dealing with since he moved in and the probable reality that his neighbours were going to hate his guts when they returned home. He picked up a framed photo of Zachary Collins and his bride posing with their wedding party. Their perky house sitter stood in a blue dress beside a smoking-hot blonde and attractive black woman on the other side of Hannah. His gaze skirted over the other women and stopped on the young redhead.
Anything wedding-related always gave him the creeps, but looking at this picture stirred an unfamiliar feeling in his chest. Was it guilt? Or envy? Sleep deprivation must be making him crazier than he’d realized.
“I had that picture framed as a surprise for when they get back,” Emma said, catching him by surprise.
Some of the tension left his shoulders after seeing she’d covered up. She was even more distracting today than he remembered – and he’d remembered a lot. Hell if he knew why, but she’d been on his mind more than seemed reasonable for someone he’d just met. On second thought, her impressive chest pushed against a Captain America shield now. The woman was blessed. Maybe that’s why he couldn’t stop thinking about her. The West men had always had a weakness for well-endowed women.
Feline grumbling came from the black and white cat she held, giving him a good excuse to look at something other than her. The creature eyed him with an unnerving stare. How many animals did Zachary and Hannah Collins own?
“This is Abbott,” she said. “I can’t remember if I introduced you to the dogs, but that chubby little guy is Costello and the one who keeps trying to escape is Charlie.”
He glanced at the stout mutt. “That one is a boy? I thought he was a she.”
“People always think that because he’s so pretty.”
“Are any of them yours?”
“Nope. Just pet-sitting.” She stroked the top of the cat’s head. “So… have you called the cops?”
His heart skipped a beat. “About what?”
“The mystery woman inside your house last night.”
Oh. Right. He shrugged. “Nothing was taken. They probably wouldn’t believe me.”
He’d used the so-called mystery woman as an excuse to come over and break the ice with her. Find out more about her and her relationship to Zachary and Hannah Collins.
Find out more about her.
Noah’s gaze strayed down the hall toward the bedroom she’d directed him to earlier. Her descriptions had been a little… spooky. That had been almost a play-by-play of what he’d experienced a couple of weeks ago when things had started happening at his new house.
He cleared his throat. “And you’re sure you didn’t see anyone earlier?”
She fidgeted with the squirming cat. “Well, I thought I saw—” She stopped herself. Shook her head. “No, I didn’t.”
“What did you think you saw?”
She reluctantly lowered the cat to the floor. “When the sheet was wafting through the air, I thought it was covering a person. You know, like I saw the form of a person underneath the sheet? But I was probably dreaming. It was only a second or two.”
The walls seemed to shift and move around him as he struggled to remain steady on his feet. Exact same thing had happened to him a week ago. “Did you have your house alarm on?”
“Yep.”
She probably had been dreaming, but…
Damn. What were the chances?
He noticed the laptop on the coffee table. “What time do you get off work?” Her eyes widened, so he clarified, “So, I can keep an eye out, make sure you get into the house okay.”
“I’m actually working from home while I’m here. I doubt I’ll be in and out very much.” Her eyes widened again. “Except, you know, my boyfriend comes over a lot. Yeah. And friends. I’m hardly ever here alone. Lots of people would miss me.”
“Miss you?” Hell, she had a boyfriend. That blew.
She flicked her hand and laughed. “You know. If I weren’t here.”
“And how long will you be house-sitting?”
“Why?”
“So I can keep an eye out. Maybe check in every so often and make sure everything is okay. I’m sure you were dreaming, but you can never be too careful these days.” He pushed back the urge to ask about her boyfriend and if it was the guy he’d seen stop by last night. He knew when to keep his cards close to his chest.
“Well, Zach and Hannah are taking a long honeymoon. Three weeks. That’s how long I’ll be here.” She winced and murmured “You idiot” so soft he almost didn’t catch it.
Interesting. She didn’t want him to know. Why?
“Three-week honeymoon? Must be nice.” He forced a smile. Three weeks was going to make his job very difficult. “You must be really good friends with them for them to trust you with their house and pets that long.”
“Zach is my boss, so he knows I’m dependable, I think.”
Her boss.
Noah tried not to grin. Maybe he had a legitimate excuse to get to know Emma better.
“I didn’t ask what Zach did for a living.” Of course he already knew, but she didn’t know that.
“Private security.” She gestured to her laptop. “My specialty is cyber security. Easy enough to do from home.”
“Sounds exciting.” He had dossiers on all of Collins’ employees, but he didn’t remember hers. Either he was getting rusty, or there hadn’t been anything in her file to interest him.
He was definitely interested now.
She shrugged and crossed her arms. “So what do you do, Noah?”
“Photography.” He pulled out his wallet and retrieved one of his new business cards. “I’m starting a job teaching part-time at the art institute for the summer semester. That’s why I moved