would also put a target on Mercy’s back. “I don’t do renovations for a living.” Ford looked around to make sure no one was listening.
He spotted Roger coming from the barn, and the two men who’d been hired the same day as Ford were following him. Lincoln was in the corral with a horse on a tether. No one was looking their way.
Ford pulled his attention back to Mercy. “I’m on assignment to track down a wanted vampire. He was last seen heading this way.”
“To the ranch?” Mercy whipped his head around as if Vladimir would jump from a shadow and grab him.
“No, not the ranch,” he said. “Heading to town. I was paid to kill him.” Ford ran his hand over his nape. “I’d appreciate it if you kept that between us.”
Mercy’s hand fluttered to his throat. “What did he do?”
“I don’t want to get into that.” Not if Ford could avoid talking about the Rankle family. “That’s why it would be best if I stayed in the apartment above the shop.”
He knew he’d said the wrong thing the moment the words had left his lips.
Mercy glared at him. “Is that why you’re doing this for me, so you’ll have some place closer to town to stay?”
“Will you stop being suspicious of me?” Ford asked. “It’s not like that. If I’d wanted someplace in town, I would’ve just rented one.”
Mercy crossed his arms. “So why didn’t you?”
“Because I needed a cover story for why I was here, and hanging out in town doing nothing would’ve drawn suspicion.”
Jeez. Ford was not making a good case for himself. No matter what he said, it looked as if he was using Mercy.
“So working on my bakery is the perfect cover story?”
Ford knew of only one way to shut Mercy down, though he still wasn’t sure it was the right thing to do. “I want to work on your bakery because I want to make my mate happy.”
Jesus fucking Christ on a moldy cracker. Mercy had made this unnecessarily hard. The truth about Vladimir should have been enough to appease the guy, but Mercy was relentless. Ford would’ve had less of a headache if he’d walked over to the oak tree and whacked his head against it.
“I knew it!” Mercy smiled victoriously. “My instincts were right again.” Then his smile slipped. “I hear Lincoln calling me.”
Ford looked toward the corral. Lincoln wasn’t paying them any attention. When he turned back around, Mercy was already heading up the front steps.
Nope. Ford wasn’t letting Mercy get away that easily. He hurried to catch the human and grabbed his wrist seconds before Mercy had made it into the house. “Now it’s your turn to tell me the truth.”
“Don’t grab me like that!” Mercy yanked his hand, and Ford let him go. He took a step back at the frightened look on Mercy’s face.
“Mercy, I’d never hurt you.”
Red walked onto the porch, looking between them. Then he stepped out, placing his body between Ford and Mercy. “Maybe you two need to cool off.”
“It’s not him,” Mercy said from behind Red. “It’s me. Ford didn’t do anything wrong. I swear.” His mate moved away from Red. “Maybe it is time we talked.”
“Are you sure you don’t need me here?” Red asked Mercy but glared at Ford.
“No.” Mercy shook his head. “I don’t need you ruining his credit score.”
Ford had no idea what that meant.
“Jeez, I threaten to do that one time,” Red said.
Mercy placed a hand on Red’s arm. “Seriously, I’m okay. I need to talk to Ford in private.”
Ford waved to the chairs on the porch. Red hesitated for a brief moment before he went back inside. Ford’s bear was whimpering to get to Mercy, but he kept still, waiting for Mercy to take a seat and tell him what was going on.
“That jerk waiter,” Mercy said as he sat. He cleared his throat several times and looked down at his lap, refusing to glance Ford’s way. “His name is Lloyd. He’s my ex, and he wasn’t…isn’t a nice man. He left town when we broke up, and I thought I’d never see him again. But surprise, he’s resurfaced like an unwanted disease.”
Ford absorbed everything Mercy was saying to him, though now his suspicions had been confirmed. If he caught Lloyd anywhere near Mercy, Ford would make sure the guy regretted it.
“And now you’re afraid every guy is like that?”
“No, just the men I’m interested in,” Mercy said. “I know, that sounds stupid, but—”
“Not at all.” Ford