Securing His Destiny (Power Security #2)

Chapter 8

Chapter

Eight

T abitha was exhausted and exhilarated all at the same time. From the second she’d walked into the café, she’d been swamped with customers asking after her well-being. It had been so unexpected.

Now everyone had drifted off after they’d finished their lunch. She’d told her assistant she could leave, thanking her profusely for all she’d done over the past couple of days. Lauren had assured Tabitha it had been no hardship, but she was glad to see the boss was back.

As Steve had predicted, the moment she’d returned to her little slice of heaven, everything had fallen into place. There had been a moment of panic when she’d stood behind the counter and looked at the front door, but she’d seen Steve standing there, a silent sentry watching over everyone, and the panic had disappeared.

How quickly she’d fallen into her role of taking orders and chatting to everyone. That wasn’t what she’d expected to happen when she walked back in.

Firstly, she hadn’t been expecting the welcome back or the fact that the eating area was full. But secondly, she thought she’d walk in, talk to Lauren, then leave with Steve so he could get back to work.

Now two hours had passed, and it was just the two of them left. The doors were shut and firmly locked. Steve was sweeping the floor while she was wiping down the counter.

“Thank you for everything,” she said as she threw the cloth she’d been using into the bucket. Tabitha walked around the counter so she was leaning against it while watching him.

“Didn’t do anything out of the ordinary.”

“You may think that, but you did. You made me come here. You made me face everything that I was scared of.” She smiled.

Steve propped the broom against a table and came to where she stood, cupping her face.

Tabitha melted at the sweetness of the gesture

“It wasn’t me. It was you. You were the one who did it all. I was just here to provide support should you need it. Which you didn’t, and I knew you wouldn’t.”

His total faith in her abilities blew her mind. What would she have done if it had been someone else who’d come upon her unconscious and not Steve?

What would’ve happened then? Would they’ve been where they were now, or would he still be that closed-off customer she admired from afar?

“What if someone else had found me?” She blurted her thoughts. “What would you have done then?”

“I would’ve come to see you in the hospital.”

Steve’s quick response should’ve appeased her, but it didn’t. “Why? We’d never talked much, apart from surface level things. Why would you have come to see me?”

He pulled her close, nudging her chin with his finger so she had to look up at him. “Because the second I heard you’d been hurt, I would’ve dropped everything to be by your side. I said it before. I’ve admired you for a long time. Wanted you, but I held myself back. The second I saw you on the ground, unconscious, my heart stopped, and I regretted every moment I hadn’t spent with you. So, yes, if I hadn’t found you, I would’ve come because I know I would’ve felt the same way hearing that you’d been hurt.”

Words lodged in her throat. The way he studied her so intently proved what he said was the truth. His eyes were wide open to his soul.

She might have only spent a short amount of time with him, where his attention was fully on her, but he wouldn’t bullshit her. Or try to sweet talk her into giving up her business.

“I believe you,” Tabitha finally said.

There was no chance for her to say more, as Steve’s lips crashed down on hers.

His kiss was intense, and she gave herself over to it. She dug her fingers into his back as need and want consumed her.

Why did they have to be in her café? Why couldn’t they have been at her place? Or his?

Tabitha pulled away, breathing heavily. “Why do we always start these things where we can’t finish them?”

“I don’t know, but I’m thinking the quicker we clean this up, the quicker we can get out of here.” Steve panted.

“I like the way you think.” She collected the cleaning equipment and headed to the kitchen.

Fifteen minutes later, the display case glass was sparkling. Tables shone, and the floor was freshly mopped.

“Definitely gets done quicker when there are four hands doing the work instead of two,” she said, as she checked that the ovens were off. They were, but after almost getting caught one day by leaving one on, she checked them many times to ensure the mistake didn’t happen again.

“Are you always alone at the end of the day? Doesn’t Lauren stay and help you?”

“Lauren has a young daughter that she has to collect from school. I can’t ask her to stay and pay for after school care, which she had to do while she was covering for me.”

Steve studied her, and she wanted to know what was going on behind his eyes.

“Right. I get that, but still, if you get it done quicker with help, you should consider it.”

“Maybe.” Tabitha collected up her bag and headed to the door, pausing when she spotted someone loitering in her outdoor eating area.

He had his back to them and was on the phone.

She didn’t need him to turn around, she was well versed with the back view of him. “Why is he here?” she muttered.

“Who is he?” A hard edge entered Steve’s voice, and the affable man he’d been seconds ago had gone. His place was the security expert. His body was tense. His hands hung loosely at his sides, his fingers flexing as though he was ready to reach for something.

“He’s nothing but a pain in my ass.”

“Doesn’t answer my question, Tabitha. Who. Is. He? And why is he hanging around? Does he do this often? Was he here the day of your attack? Do you know him well?”

Steve fired the questions off so quickly she had trouble knowing which one to answer first.

“Whoa, slow down.”

Elton Quinn turned at that moment, preventing her from saying anything else. His eyes widened when he saw that she wasn’t alone. He also took half a step back.

She didn’t need to look at Steve to know he was probably glaring daggers at the man.

“Looks like he expected you to be alone,” Steve murmured.

“Yes. When he makes his visits, he tends to make them around this time. Always trying to catch me at the end of the day, hoping I’m tired enough to give into his demands to let the corporation he’s representing have my café.”

Elton knocked on the door, his previous shock and surprise at seeing Steve obviously gone.

Tabitha tried to move toward it, but Steve laid a hand on her arm.

“I’ve got this. But before I do, answer the door. Does he harass any of the other tenants, or is it just you?”

“As far as I can tell, just me. I only know a couple of the others, but I haven’t seen him visit them after he knocks on my door. He always walks away and goes back to his car.”

“Right.” Steve strode toward the door, unlocking it and opening it a little. “Can I help you?”

“Good afternoon. I’m here to speak to Ms. Newton.”

She had to admire Elton’s bravado. Misplaced as it was because there was no way Steve was going to move out of the way to let that happen.

“Tabitha doesn’t want to see you. So why don’t you go back from where you came from so everyone will be happy?”

“I don’t know who you are, but Tabitha and I are friends. I want to check on her. I heard she’s been hurt.”

She covered her shocked laughter with a cough. There was no way on God’s green earth that she and Elton were friends. They were anything but. He was a nuisance and a pest. The fact he refused to take no for an answer was enough for her to avoid him. Him being worried for her—yeah, did she just see a pig flying past?

“Really? That’s not what I heard,” Steve tossed back. “Now, if that’s all, I suggest you leave and take any ideas you have of forcing Tabitha out of her premises with you.”

He closed the door, exaggerating the motion of locking it.

Elton stared through the glass for a few more seconds, his eyes narrowed and his lips a firm thin line.

If he thought she was going to be intimidated by him, she wasn’t. He was a bully, and no way was he going to push her out of her business.

Finally, he turned on his heel and marched away.

“Gonna need a little more information here, Tabby. What’s the story with him and the name of the corporation he represents? Why do they want your café?”

Tabitha sighed and sat down at the table closest to her. “I honestly don’t know.” She quickly explained the letter she’d received from Linex Corporation and what her initial thoughts had been about their over-the-top offer. How Elton had started knocking on her door at least once a week, about a month after she’d gotten the initial letter.

With every word she spoke, Steve’s frown deepened, and his posture grew tenser. “Do you still have the letter? How long ago did you receive it?” he asked when she finished.

“I threw it away. The letter arrived about five months ago.” At the time, she truly believed their offer wasn’t real. The amount was so ridiculous she’d laughed when she’d read it. Of course, when Elton turned up, she kicked herself for tossing it.

“And they haven’t tried to communicate again via a letter or email?”

“No, everything since then has been relayed via Elton.” Tabitha recalled that fleeting thought she’d had after waking up in the hospital, that somehow, her attack was tied to this corporation and their bid to force her out of business.

Fear lanced her soul. She had to be wrong.

There was no way a company would resort to violence to get what they wanted. That only happened in movies and books and not real life.

Didn’t it?