for who went in,” she replied. Genedyne was big on records. The one place they didn’t have security cameras were the locker rooms.
“Let’s not joke about that right now since you almost lost yours.” Hutch had his hands on his hips and looked as prim as a really hot guy could manage.
From what she could tell it hadn’t been all that close. Yes, she’d lost consciousness briefly due to her carotid artery being squeezed, but all of her vitals had been stable and she felt perfectly fine now. Physically, at least. Emotionally she was kind of a mess. “All I’m saying is the keycard would tell you when a person went in, but it doesn’t keep track of people going out. There’s also the possibility that whoever did this was smart enough to enter with another employee. Then his keycard wouldn’t show him going in. And the EMTs said I was all right. I didn’t even need to go to the hospital.”
Hutch had argued with her over that call, but she’d done everything else he’d asked her to do. She’d kept her answers short when she’d talked to the police, who didn’t seem all that interested. She’d stayed close to Hutch, letting him hold her hand while they’d talked to both the cops and security.
She’d told the police she thought someone was trying to steal from the lockers. She didn’t mention any of the other odd happenings because Hutch had explained that he was worried about the police. He was concerned about the guy who sometimes worked the second shift here at her building. He’d freaked out even more when she’d told him Chris had been hired on only a few weeks before.
“It would have been better if we went to the hospital,” Hutch insisted. “It would make things easier when I walk you up to work tomorrow and start getting people used to seeing me around.”
“Or I could take the maneater up on her offer.” Kyle watched Hutch as though trying to figure out exactly how to deal with him. “I could potentially be in that building with a keycard all of my own in a couple of days.”
Hutch shook his head. “I don’t want anyone close to that woman. Especially not you. I saw how she looked at you.”
“Jessica pretty much looks at every hot guy that way, from what I’ve been told.” She’d heard the rumors about Jessica’s men.
Kyle gave her a smooth smile. “Thanks for the compliment.”
“She said Jessica Layne thinks you’re hot. Not that Noelle does,” Hutch complained. “And you shouldn’t view it as a compliment. From what I’ve read, Ms. Layne never keeps a man for long.”
“I mean he’s hot,” she heard herself saying. “In a purely aesthetic way. But Hutch is right. Jessica isn’t like looking for a long-term thing. And Kyle is her type. She likes the all-American beefcake guy. She’s not into…” How did she put this nicely? “I mean she’s really looking for men who don’t work in the tech industry.”
“Or the medical industry or legal,” Hutch continued. “She likes himbos, Kyle. Are you a himbo?”
Kyle shrugged as if he didn’t care whether someone thought he was all abs and no brain or not. “Depends on who you talk to. My brother would definitely say yes. But you two are acting like I’m going to sleep with the woman. I’m not. However, I can use the attraction to get me where we need to be, which is in that building. Noelle, we haven’t talked about why you were attacked. I understand why Hutch wanted you to be careful around the cops. We’re both worried that a DPD officer showed up in your building a few weeks before we think someone screwed up a break-in.”
“But Chris would have my accurate address.” She didn’t understand why a guy working a second job was such a concern. “He knows where I live.”
“I’m not at all saying he would have done the break-in himself.” Hutch stopped in front of the mantel over her fireplace, his eyes seeming to catch on the framed picture of her and her stepmom and dad. It was a graduation photo, and she was in her cap and gown. She was also in her old wheelchair.
“We’re more worried that he’s here to facilitate someone Ms. Layne or someone in her organization might hire.” Kyle crossed one muscular leg over the other. As wound up as Hutch seemed, Kyle was the opposite. “We’ll know more when we talk to some people