Craving Her (Keeping Her Series Book 4) by Kelly Lucille Page B

perfectly
able to handle whatever comes at her.”
    Again the growl and an
impressive gnashing of teeth.  Miley rolled her eyes and removed her hand from
his grip.  “I’m going to go stop Ian before Cleo tries to kill him, again.”
    So much for Lucas Gibbs’
legendary intimidation , Shawn thought.  His mate was not
impressed.  If the situation was half as serious, he would have laughed at the
disgruntled look on his leader’s face.  But it was that serious.  “Where do we
go with this?”
    Lucas blew out a
frustrated breath.  “Damned if I know.  Eli, do what you can with the phones
and the wiped security hard drive.  I want to know every scrap you can get us.” 
Then he turned to Shawn.  “I need your eyes on Cleo tonight.  Not in the
apartment; I’m putting Ian with Cleo, but close enough to respond if they don’t
take the time to lick their wounds.”
    Shawn blinked.  “You called
Ian in?  For security?”
    “My mate thinks I don’t
know, but I am well aware that Cleo is her own security.  Ian is here for loud
and obnoxious backup that can handle weapons and shifts to a 700-pound apex
predator.  You are here to let us know if they have visitors, and to apprehend
any that survive the mauling. This time I want someone to question who actually
knows something.”
    As a plan it was a good
one.  So, how did he explain that he would prefer to be about a thousand miles
away from the man’s sweet smelling, too young, and way too beautiful daughter? 
The answer was he didn’t .  And the truth was he wouldn’t if he could . 
Until they ended this threat to Cleo, he wasn’t going anywhere.
    ***
    “So, again with
the kidnapping.  You’re starting to resemble one of those helpless female
heroines in the romance novels that waits to be rescued by the big tough man,
and is always swooning.”
    Cleo tilted her head, and
pretended her brother could not still push all her buttons.  “Familiar with
those are you?  And here I believed you when I found that bodice ripper in your
room, and you said it was left by one of your flames by mistake.”  She widened
her eyes and he started to look uncomfortable.  She feigned deep concern.  “Ian,
are you a closet romance reader?”
    He sputtered, looking
from her to Logan who was drinking his beer and looking uber masculine while he
leaned against her bar.  Come to think of it, give him a six shooter for his
hip and he could have starred in one of those books.  Ian stood up straighter and
glared at her.  “That was left by someone else.”
    “Sure it was,” she said
dismissively and patted him on the arm, an arm she was dismayed to admit was
rock hard and way too big for a freaking teenage boy. 
    He growled at her tone
and shook her off.
    “The question is,” Logan
interjected in his warm drawl, “do you still have the book?”
    Ian opened his mouth and
then closed it with a snap, his eyes flashing between the two of them.  “You
can’t just throw someone’s book away,” he growled.
    Cleo sputtered out a laugh,
finally enjoying herself.  “Why not?  You throw away everything else, including
the women, I might add.”
    He growled again, his
eyes flashing at her, reminding her so much of her father when he was irritated
it was almost scary.  “It’s a book .  You don’t just throw away a book . 
And I do not throw women away.  They just get irritated and leave.”  For Ian
that was probably true.  A bigger pain in the ass there never will be, a
totally irreverent prankster and teenage man-whore to boot, who weirdly enough
loved to read.  It was just something he did in his few quiet moments.  It was
just hard to catch him at it.  He was a stealth reader that one.
    “At least answer me this,”
she said, trying not to laugh outright.  In his face.  “Was it a good romance
novel, at least?”
    He gnashed his teeth,
then narrowing his eyes as he came off the defensive, “Why, you need a few
pointers?  Come to think of it, I