Chris took a step forward, an obvious aggression. He was sexually frustrated and wouldn’t mind taking it out on Kyle. “I’d like to see you try.”
Cara put herself between them, one hand going to Chris’s chest. “No. He didn’t do anything I didn’t ask him to do. Please. I’m sorry. I’m embarrassed to get caught. I was down here and we fooled around. After we were done, I felt bad and we got in an argument. Please forget you heard anything. Like I said. I’m not proud of myself, but I’ve been lonely.”
“It’s okay.” Noelle moved toward her friend, empathy plain on her face. “I can understand. I didn’t know you knew him. You acted like you didn’t.”
Cara’s jaw tightened, and she wouldn’t quite meet Noelle’s eyes. “I didn’t want anyone to know. We were engaged at one point in time, and it blew up pretty badly. I don’t like to talk about it.”
“You blew it up, Cara. Put the blame where it belongs. I was perfectly happy. You were the one who let me know I wasn’t enough for you.” Chris took a long breath and backed off. “I’m going to do my job before you blow this up for me, too. Ms. LaVigne, I assure you I won’t let her affect my performance again. I hope you have a good night.”
He turned and stalked back into the small security office.
Cara’s eyes were bright with unshed tears. “I’m sorry you saw that.”
“Do you want to talk?” Noelle offered.
Damn it. He could see his whole perfect night turning into a long session where Cara cried and Noelle held her hand.
Cara shook her head. “No. I’m going to do what I should have done. I’m going to bed and when I wake up in the morning, I’m going to make better choices. I’ll see you then.”
She practically ran to the stairwell, eschewing the elevator that would likely have had them all going up together.
“What the hell was that?” Kyle whispered the question.
Hutch shook his head. “Not now. Cameras.”
“I think it was obvious. Cara’s sleeping with the security guard, and they have some kind of history.” Noelle’s eyes were still wide. “I’m so surprised. She mentioned an ex, but I didn’t imagine he worked here. I’ve never seen her this upset.”
“Well, now we know she’s human.” Hutch leaned over and kissed her, his voice going low. “Let’s go upstairs to talk about this.”
She nodded and followed when he started for the elevator.
“Like we needed more drama tonight,” Kyle complained, sounding tired. He yawned. “First, I had to watch the two of you make out all night, and now I’ve got an image of Cara and the guard in my head. I need to find my own place and fast.”
Good. Kyle was good. He’d moved into his role with no effort at all. He’d given no signs that he believed that fight they’d overheard was anything but a lover’s quarrel. His face was bland, and that was all the camera would see. He didn’t give up the fact that it was a lot of coincidence to think Cara had a connection to the man who might be watching Noelle.
Kyle was a pro.
It was easy to forget the secondary mission. Kyle was unassuming. He did his job, played around on his computer, talked to his brother most nights. He’d called his mom twice and made plans to have dinner at her place as soon as he could get free. He was a working guy. Nothing more.
Which was exactly what he should be if he was spying on all of them.
Still, Hutch took the cue because Chris could be monitoring them from that station of his. “Buck it up, brother. I’ve got the prettiest girlfriend in the world, and you just have to deal with it.”
When the elevator doors opened, he walked inside and gave Chris something to watch. He backed Noelle to the corner and kissed her all the way up to the fifth floor. She’d been briefly surprised, but then her lips had opened and she’d seemed to forget about everything but softening for him.
Kyle simply groaned and grumbled the entire time.
Before too long the doors opened and he escorted Noelle to her apartment, no sign of Cara. Kyle shut the door and turned the lock.
“I don’t think I’m hungry,” Hutch announced. He wanted to get her into bed as soon as possible. They could talk in the morning. For now, he wanted to spend time with Noelle and when she