Page 31 of Who's Afraid of the Big, Bad World

“Because if anything happens, I need to get to your side as quickly as possible.”

“It takes barely seconds to open the door,” she pointed out.

“Yes, but if the door’s closed, I can’t tell if someone’s in the panic room with you. We added soundproofing after that debacle with the gang attack. They could hear every sound coming from inside the room.”

“Okay, I get that you hated my panic room, but why on earth would anybody be in there with me now?” Her eyebrows shot up. “Are you worried I plan to jump one of your teammates?”

Noah seemed stunned, but she carried on regardless.

“I know everybody thinks that because I’ve not left this warehouse for years, I don’t see anyone. But I do. I socialize. My friends visit, and I’ve had relationships. I’m not desperate. I wouldn’t seduce one of your team members just because they were convenient. Proximity isn’t one of the qualities I’m looking for in a life partner.”

His smile was sensually wicked as his eyes twinkled with amusement. “I was talking about making sure the Demon Brothers don’t sneak in to finish the job rather than any seduction you might have planned.”

“Oh.” Her whole face was on fire now. “Well, that’s mortifying.”

“Good to know you aren’t lacking for company, though,” he teased.

Great. Now it sounded like there was a revolving door on her bedroom. “I don’t just call up a date for the night, if that’s what you mean. I’m picky. Not that I haven’t been dating. I date. I date all the time.”

“Understood.” He nodded solemnly. “You’re just used to sleeping alone.”

“Yes. No! I’ve had sleepovers. With men.” She waved a hand, trying to look casual and worldly and knowing she’d failed miserably. “Not a lot of men. Enough. Not enough as in I’ve had my fill. Just a normal amount of men.” She paused.This wasn’t going well. “Okay, the number is two… plus one in college. So three in total. But two men have come to my loft and spent the night.” Argh, that made it sound like she hired male escorts. “I mean, while I was in a relationship with them. Each of them separately and consecutively. Not together. It wasn’t a threesome or anything like that. And it wasn’t every night.”

It was as though he’d handed her a shovel and told her to dig a hole under herself. The words kept coming, and the hole just grew bigger. Annabelle glanced longingly at the door to the panic room, the urge to lock herself inside and never come out again was strong.

“Why are we talking about this?” she asked with a touch of desperation.

To his credit, Noah was clearly fighting the urge to laugh. “I think you’re trying to tell me that you don’t want to sleep with the panic room door open.”

“Yes! I like privacy when I sleep.” Why hadn’t she just said that right at the start?

“You’ve slept in the same room as me for the past few nights. It didn’t seem to bother you.”

“I was unconscious!”

“More like sound asleep,” he said, ignoring her protest. “And happy to have me nearby. You kept waking up, smiling at me, and saying ‘my bulldog’ before falling back to sleep. Definitely no sign of a problem sleeping around me.”

My bulldog??????

Annabelle’s mouth opened and closed a few times, although nothing came out. Mainly because she had no idea what to say other thankill me now. She was tempted to call the Demon gang and ask them to come back and finish the job. It would be a whole lot better than dying a slow death from humiliation.

“Don’t worry,” Noah said as he strode past her, through the panic room, and into the loft. “Your bulldoghas your back.”

Fortunately, a man she hadn’t met strode into the room, saving her from saying anything else she’d instantly regret.

“Lunch is ready,” he announced in a crisp English accent.

Annabelle wasn’t sure if it was the suit or the way he moved, but the man reminded her of James Bond.

“Annabelle,” Noah said. “Meet the final member of our team, Abasi Otieno.”

“Pleasure.” Abasi nodded.

They headed downstairs to the office area, where the triplets were dividing food onto paper plates. As Annabelle watched Abasi join his team, an oldSesame Streetsong entered her head:One of these things is not like the others…

“Predator,” she whispered, used to talking to herself.

Only this time, there was somebody else to listen and reply. “Everyone in this room can be deadly when necessary,” Noah said.