Shadow: A Linear Tactical Romantic Suspense Standalone, page 6
While at the same time very much wanting to lead her on. All the way back to her place, where they could spend the entire night forgetting about janitors and nanotechnology and investigations.
But that wasn’t in the cards.
Gathering intel in this sort of social setting was Heath’s forte. He knew people. Knew how to talk to them and, more importantly, how to listen to them. He knew how to read lips as well as body language, and his mind was filtering multiple conversations around them.
He’d used innocent people before to get what he needed. But doing it with Lyn left a bad taste in his mouth. He had to force himself to ignore it. Even as he couldn’t seem to force himself to stop touching her.
But as the evening drew to a close and everyone got up to leave, Heath knew he was going to have to let her go. He wanted to follow Professor Hudson—see if he really went home or if he was meeting up with the conspicuously missing Troy. Was Troy at the lab right now? The video footage would show that. And Heath had put a tracker on Veronica’s car. He’d be able to follow that once he got to his laptop.
Damn it, once again, he needed a team. His attention was split in too many directions—he was bound to miss something.
He scrubbed a hand across his face, tamping down the murmurings growing louder in his head. He didn’t have time for them now.
“Are you okay?” Lyn asked softly.
She was worried about him. Of course she was. Because she was way too gentle and kind for the world he operated in.
He forced a smile. “Yeah. I’m fine.”
“Then I guess I’ll see you around campus.” She barely looked up from her shoes as they walked out the door.
Everyone else was certainly looking at them, some discreetly, others less so. Like the tall brunette—Heath thought she was from the math department—who had been trying to get his attention all evening. She had pressed a note into his hand as he’d walked by a few moments ago.
Call me later if you decide mousy bookworms aren’t your type.
It was already crumpled and bound for the trash.
Lyn might be quiet and a little bookish, but Heath didn’t need an advanced degree to figure out she was beautiful in all the ways that mattered, inside and out. Reserved, maybe, but beautiful. And there wasn’t a damn thing wrong with her soft curves.
She was still studying her shoes, obviously aware that they were the center of attention. “I’m glad you came out with us tonight. I hope you had fun.”
He wanted to protect her from her colleague’s prying eyes. Wanted to sweep her up in an embrace that would put to rest all doubt that he was legitimately here with her. A kiss that would burn that crumpled note in his pocket to ash.
Fuck it.
He pulled Lyn against him, tilted her chin back by threading his fingers through her hair, and kissed her as if he wanted her more than his next breath.
Which was pretty much true.
She was surprised but didn’t pull away. After a moment, her soft lips parted under his, and she gave herself over to the kiss, wrapping her arms around his waist.
Mousy bookworm his ass.
His thumb brushed along the silky softness of her jaw, and he wanted to devour her, nosy colleagues be damned. His tongue traced her bottom lip, then slipped inside.
After a few heated moments he forced himself to pull away, the action much harder than he’d expected. But he had to. Not only did they have an audience, but he was undercover.
Undercover, Kavanaugh, remember that.
He put his forehead against hers. “Okay, we’re obviously going to need to talk, but not here. And as much as I want to, I can’t do it right now.”
“O-Okay.” Her bottomless brown eyes shone in the streetlamp’s soft glow.
“I’ll see you tomorrow on campus, okay? Are you safe getting home?”
She nodded. “Yes, I only live a couple of blocks from here.” She mumbled an address.
Heath didn’t want to let her go alone. He didn’t like the thought of her walking by herself even that short distance.
“Where’s your phone?” he asked.
She dug it out of her bag and handed it to him. He programmed his number into it. “Text me as soon as you get home so I know you’re okay. If I don’t hear from you in fifteen minutes, I’m coming to search.”
“Do you have to go back to work?”
Heath looked over at Veronica and Professor Hudson, who—now that the show was over—were saying their goodbyes.
“Yeah, I’ve got to get back to work.” He knew she meant his custodial duties back on campus, but he didn’t correct her.
“Thanks for coming tonight. I know you said you couldn’t, so I really appreciate that you did.” With that she turned away and walked down the street.
Heath was torn. He wanted to go with her, stay with her, bask in the blistering heat that kiss had started. But he couldn’t. Even if this entire situation had left her bewildered. Especially because of that.
He made his way to the parking garage along with some of the others, now focused on the job. It was getting late, after eleven. Maybe Hudson was the perp and would make a move tonight.
Now Heath had more than one incentive to finish his undercover work.
Hudson had worked as a professor at the university for more than a dozen years, first as an assistant professor, then as an associate after a few years. But even with tenure, maybe he felt like he wasn’t being adequately compensated for his work and had decided to make extra cash by selling parts of the technology the government had commissioned him to design.
Tailing anybody from the department would be trickier now. He’d done it before but had been sure they wouldn’t recognize him. He no longer had those assurances since he’d spent time socializing with them.
He waved as he drove by Veronica and Hudson in the garage and they waved back. He watched in the rearview mirror as he made his way toward the exit.
And wasn’t that interesting? Hudson pulled Veronica toward him in an embrace before they both got into his car together. They were having an affair.
That could explain some of their odd behavior—calls that were suddenly disconnected when Heath had walked by in the hallway, suspicious looks over their shoulders. They were trying to hide a relationship that the university would frown upon.
Were they trying to hide more?
Heath pulled out of the parking garage, stopped his car on a curve half a block away, and turned out the lights. He knew where both Hudson and Veronica lived. He would bet they were going to Hudson’s house. It was much nicer.
He hoped they would meet someone or that someone would join them there. Anything that might clue Heath in that they were the ones trying to sell the nanotechnology.
But nothing. He followed them to Hudson’s house and sat in his car the rest of the night, watching the house for anyone else. Nobody came, nobody left. The highlight of the night was Lyn’s text letting him know she’d made it home safely.
Another day finished, and Heath had nothing to show for it but gritty eyes.
The sun was coming up when his phone buzzed on the seat beside him.
“Yeah, this is Heath.” Only Craig or someone from Linear would be calling on this phone.
“Hey sunshine, hope I didn’t wake you. It’s Gavin.”
“Nah, sweetheart, I’m already awake. Wishing I was in bed, but I’m camped out in front of a suspect’s house.”
“Anything interesting happening there?” Gavin asked.
“If you consider the fact that my professor suspect brought his pretty young graduate assistant home with him and she hasn’t left all night interesting, then yeah.”
“Aw, jealous that you don’t have a graduate assistant of your own, Shadow?”
Lyn’s soft smile came to mind, her lips parting under his. He had to shift in the seat to get comfortable. “No, Hudson can have this one. I’ve always been more into languages than engineering.”
“You holding up okay?”
He couldn’t hold back a yawn. It was going to be a long day after this all-nighter. “I’ll be honest. This is more than a one-person job.”
“Craig and I were talking a few minutes ago. He filled me in on the elevator situation. He says you need help but still isn’t sure who to trust from his office. I thought I might call my cousin Noah and see if he could spare a few days away from the ranch to help you.”
Heath had only met Noah a couple times but knew he’d been in the Special Forces with some of the Linear guys. And honestly, at this point, Heath would take anyone who was trustworthy and had a pulse. “I could definitely use the help.”
“Okay, consider it done. He’ll have to be careful not to run into Jackie, but—”
Heath scrubbed a hand across his face. “Shit, Gav. I know you asked me to check on her, but I haven’t had a chance.”
“Don’t worry. I talked to her yesterday. All is well in the world of hospitality academics. Like Craig said, her building is on the opposite side of campus. And you’ve got your hands full.”
“I’ll be glad to have Noah here.”
“Craig also wanted me to pass along some info about a graduate assistant you’re looking into. A Troy Powell.”
That woke Heath up. “Yeah? What about him?”
“Powell’s name came across Craig’s desk from a hospital report. He was beaten pretty severely sometime in the past few hours and is in a coma.”
Different ramifications floated around in Heath’s mind. “That’s pretty damn interesting given what happened with the elevator yesterday. Maybe that malfunction was meant for Powell. Things are definitely escalating.”
Gavin whistled through his teeth. “Something’s going down, that’s for sure. I’ll get Noah to you immediately. You might need more help than just him.”
“Maybe. I’ll keep you posted if anything changes.”
“Heath,” Gavin said. “Be careful. It’s getting crazy around there. It can turn ugly quick.”
Heath thought of his scorching kiss with Lyn.
Yeah, things were definitely getting crazy.
CHAPTER SEVEN
The next morning, Lyn was still trying to process everything that had happened the night before.
She’d been kissed.
By two different men.
In the same evening.
That had never happened in her entire life.
Although she’d wanted it, she hadn’t been expecting Heath’s kiss any more than she had expected Troy’s. Heath had seemed to be having a fine time with her university colleagues. And they’d certainly been having a fine time with him—especially the women.
But . . . somehow it had all felt so clinical. Like the whole situation was some sort of science experiment to Heath.
But who was she to talk? She regularly drifted out of social exchanges in order to study the linguistic patterns.
And maybe Heath had just been nervous. Although, good lord, he hadn’t seemed so. He’d talked so easily with everyone. More like a CEO than a janitor. Someone totally comfortable interacting with people. He’d been attentive to her, and okay, yeah, she’d been thrilled with how he always seemed to be touching her: his knee brushing hers, his hand on the small of her back, poking her in the ribs with his finger when she said something vaguely entertaining.
But it was everyone else he’d been studying. Almost like The Brothers whenever they went out somewhere—looking for danger or potential threats or whatever. Nothing awkward. Just observant. A little suspicious even.
To think Heath was acting the same way just proved she was crazy.
By the end of the evening, she’d been ready to shake his hand and tell him she’d see him around. It was obvious that the two of them were too many worlds apart to ever be a couple. She could feel everyone around them watching.
Was someone as masculine, as handsome, as sexy as Heath really on a date with Lyn, the plump, dowdy, librarian type?
Not that Lyn didn’t know what she brought to the table. She was smart, focused, hardworking. Just not the type to attract someone like Heath.
She wouldn’t have been surprised if her colleagues had been taking bets on how the evening would end. Handshake? Hug? Either of those were what would Lyn would’ve bet on.
The kiss had surprised her. Had curled her toes and scorched through her, but also surprised her.
And if she weren’t mistaken, it had surprised him too. Maybe the heat between them? Heath had looked as shaken as she’d felt.
Which was kind of hot, if she were honest.
She brought her fingers up to her lips. She wasn’t sure where this situation—because she certainly couldn’t call it a relationship—with Heath was going. There was so much about him she didn’t know. Not that she judged career choices, but there had to be a reason a man of Heath’s caliber chose to be a custodian. She was pretty certain that if he put his mind to it, he could be anything he wanted.
She drove into campus and parked. Normally she would’ve stopped by her office, had another cup a coffee, been more prepared for her day, but she was late.
Might have been the late night. Might have been staying up the rest of the night remembering what Heath’s lips had felt like on hers. Might have been plotting ways of avoiding Troy altogether. Whichever it was, it still stunk that she was low man on the totem pole and had to teach an eight-a.m. class on a Friday.
As far as freshman sections went, it actually wasn’t too bad. The only difficulty was that it only met once a week, so it was nearly three hours long. And today it seemed to drag. By the time it was over—she finally gave up the fight and let them out an hour early, much to their joy—she hoped her students hadn’t realized how scattered she was.
That was unacceptable. No matter what was going on, she had to keep focused on her studies and work. Not on Heath’s lips.
Not on Heath’s lips, damn it, and when she would see them—him—again.
She climbed the stairs slowly—her least favorite physical activity, but she still wasn’t quite ready to take the elevator—the three floors up from the classrooms to her office. At her door, she slipped her key in the lock, hoping it wouldn’t give her a hard time today. The door slid open before she’d even turned the key.
Why was her office door unlocked?
Lyn walked cautiously into the space. “Hello?”
Her office, like those of most graduate assistants, was small, maybe twelve feet square. There was barely room for her desk, a bookshelf, and another small worktable.
Nobody could be hiding in here unless they were under her desk. She walked quickly around to look.
Nothing.
Of course nothing. She was letting the fact that she hadn’t gotten a decent night’s sleep take another toll on her. She’d just left her office unlocked. It happened.
Okay, she didn’t ever remember doing that before, but it could’ve happened.
She set her two bags full of books and class materials down on her desk and shrugged off her sweater. She needed some coffee and something to eat to combat her overactive imagination. She could find both in the break room down the hall.
It was her favorite place on this floor, and she’d been delighted when she’d found it a couple of weeks ago. Yes, because of the microwave and fancy coffee maker. But mostly because of the stacks of books everywhere. There were bookshelves in rows, almost like it was its own library. The large, freestanding shelves were haphazardly placed all over the room, almost creating a maze.
People put all of the books they couldn’t fit in their offices here. And they were everywhere: on shelves, floors, tables, windowsills.
She’d always loved books, and she loved these, even if most of them had to do with biomedical engineering. The books gave the room character, so hanging out here was never a problem.
She made her froufrou coffee, scalding her tongue when she couldn’t wait to take a sip, warmed up leftovers, and headed back to her office, still trying to shake her spooked feeling. But between what had happened in the elevator and the lack of sleep last night, she just couldn’t get rid of it. Normally, she loved that no one was around on Fridays. Today it made her nervous.
She’d eat her lunch then go home. Forget about her posted office hours. Students never came by during office hours anyway. And this way, she wouldn’t have to worry about running into Heath or Troy.
Walking faster with her new plan in mind, she turned the corner to find her office door cracked open.
She knew she had closed it when she’d left for the break room.
“Hello?”
She pushed the door open all the way. There was a man standing behind her desk. All her desk drawers were open and the textbooks she had brought up from the classroom were spread out all over.
She kept herself close to the door so she could run if needed but relaxed marginally when the man had the same green coveralls Heath normally wore.
“Can I help you?” she asked. She set her lunch and coffee on the filing cabinet.
The man moved behind her desk slightly. “I’m with maintenance. Just a routine search of offices for any pests or rodents.”
“Oh. I didn’t know you guys did stuff like that.” Or know why he would be looking through her drawers for them. “You’re not the normal guy who works this floor.”
The man’s eyes narrowed. “No, I’m not normally on this floor.”
She studied the guy for a long minute. Why did he look familiar?
“Yeah, Patrick usually works here. Where’s he today?” She prayed there was no actual Patrick who worked here, but she’d never seen anyone but Heath working on this floor. Lyn didn’t know why she’d lied. All she knew was that this guy was lying too.
He shrugged. “I talked to Patrick a few minutes ago. He’ll be up here to help with some of the other offices in a second.”
She needed to get out of here, to call security to figure out what was going on, but her cell phone was in her cardigan pocket, hanging on her chair. Right next to scary dude.
She smiled as best she could. “I’ll go work somewhere else. Get out of your hair so you can do your job. Can you toss me my sweater?”
