everything okay?”
“You tell me.” Going to her couch as if he visited every day,
as if they were somehow old friends instead of brand-new acquaintances, he
dropped into a seat. Cash remained on his lap, a look of rapture on his dark
face.
Given his exceptional good looks, it wasn’t a hardship to study
Rowdy. And in that study, she saw so many emotions. Self-assurance. Even
arrogance.
But she also sensed his troubled thoughts. About what?
Yesterday he’d been in the middle of extreme circumstances. Reese had told her
that Rowdy’s sister had been threatened. How powerless had that made him
feel?
He appeared the overprotective sort. But now his sister was
with Reese’s good friend, Detective Logan Riske. Did that leave Rowdy somehow
displaced? Did he have any other family to turn to?
She had family, and yet, she was still...alone.
“How long are you going to do that?”
Worry for him kept her from embarrassment, and obliterated her
usual reserve. “Not much longer.”
“Good.” He got comfortable, one arm along the back of the
couch. “I don’t mind female attention—”
“I’m sure you’re used to it.”
“—but now it’s getting a little disturbing. Almost like you’re
dissecting me or something.”
“My apologies.” After a moment of hesitation, Alice approached
him, decided to sit close and even reached for his hand.
Wariness sharpened his casual posture.
She ignored his unease, and instead went with her instincts.
“How are you, Rowdy?”
Taken aback, he scowled. “That’s my question for you.”
“I’m not the one who was threatened yesterday.”
He tried to retrieve his hand, but Cash in his lap hampered
him, and she held on. “That wasn’t—”
“A big deal?” Very gently she patted his hand. “Of course it
was. Guns were aimed at you, and that means you could have lost your life at any
moment.”
“I figured we’d get free.”
Or had he resigned himself to death? Since he’d settled in, she
knew she wouldn’t easily get him to leave. Instead of even trying, she held his
hand in both of hers and tried a different tack. “I met your sister yesterday.
Only briefly and of course not under the best circumstances. She’s very
beautiful, and very brave.”
“Yeah, that’s Pepper for you.”
“The two of you are close?”
He stopped straining away and instead scrutinized her.
“Very.”
“I understand that she was threatened, as well.” She tipped her
head and said without inflection, “Human trafficking, correct?”
His jaw locked as he leaned forward. “ Never would have happened. I’d have taken those bastards apart with
my bare hands before letting them—”
“I know.” She squeezed his fingers to soothe him, to let him
know the coarse language hadn’t offended her. His hands were big and rough.
Capable hands—not that it would have mattered. “Good men always feel that way,
and yet, you know that women still get hurt.”
Dark eyes narrowed in a scowl. “What do you know about that,
Alice?”
Poor Rowdy. He hoped to turn the tables on her by deflecting
her concern.
She wouldn’t let him. “I can see your worry, Rowdy. Your
vulnerability.”
“What the fuck?” Indignation wasn’t the only emotion coloring
his laugh. “I am not vulnerable.”
“The language doesn’t shield you. In fact, it gives away your
upset.”
His teeth clenched. “I’m not upset either.”
“Of course you are.” His raised voice was as much an indicator
as the guarded expression in his eyes. “About your future,” she insisted, “about
what to do next and how to proceed.”
“Proceed with what? Sorry,
sweetheart, but you’re not making any sense.”
And now endearments. It was a tactic meant to reduce her
conclusions to insignificance. The little woman spouting nonsense. She shook her
head in pity. Rowdy didn’t know her fortitude, he didn’t understand that it took
a lot more than that to derail her.
“Your sister is in love with a police
“You tell me.” Going to her couch as if he visited every day,
as if they were somehow old friends instead of brand-new acquaintances, he
dropped into a seat. Cash remained on his lap, a look of rapture on his dark
face.
Given his exceptional good looks, it wasn’t a hardship to study
Rowdy. And in that study, she saw so many emotions. Self-assurance. Even
arrogance.
But she also sensed his troubled thoughts. About what?
Yesterday he’d been in the middle of extreme circumstances. Reese had told her
that Rowdy’s sister had been threatened. How powerless had that made him
feel?
He appeared the overprotective sort. But now his sister was
with Reese’s good friend, Detective Logan Riske. Did that leave Rowdy somehow
displaced? Did he have any other family to turn to?
She had family, and yet, she was still...alone.
“How long are you going to do that?”
Worry for him kept her from embarrassment, and obliterated her
usual reserve. “Not much longer.”
“Good.” He got comfortable, one arm along the back of the
couch. “I don’t mind female attention—”
“I’m sure you’re used to it.”
“—but now it’s getting a little disturbing. Almost like you’re
dissecting me or something.”
“My apologies.” After a moment of hesitation, Alice approached
him, decided to sit close and even reached for his hand.
Wariness sharpened his casual posture.
She ignored his unease, and instead went with her instincts.
“How are you, Rowdy?”
Taken aback, he scowled. “That’s my question for you.”
“I’m not the one who was threatened yesterday.”
He tried to retrieve his hand, but Cash in his lap hampered
him, and she held on. “That wasn’t—”
“A big deal?” Very gently she patted his hand. “Of course it
was. Guns were aimed at you, and that means you could have lost your life at any
moment.”
“I figured we’d get free.”
Or had he resigned himself to death? Since he’d settled in, she
knew she wouldn’t easily get him to leave. Instead of even trying, she held his
hand in both of hers and tried a different tack. “I met your sister yesterday.
Only briefly and of course not under the best circumstances. She’s very
beautiful, and very brave.”
“Yeah, that’s Pepper for you.”
“The two of you are close?”
He stopped straining away and instead scrutinized her.
“Very.”
“I understand that she was threatened, as well.” She tipped her
head and said without inflection, “Human trafficking, correct?”
His jaw locked as he leaned forward. “ Never would have happened. I’d have taken those bastards apart with
my bare hands before letting them—”
“I know.” She squeezed his fingers to soothe him, to let him
know the coarse language hadn’t offended her. His hands were big and rough.
Capable hands—not that it would have mattered. “Good men always feel that way,
and yet, you know that women still get hurt.”
Dark eyes narrowed in a scowl. “What do you know about that,
Alice?”
Poor Rowdy. He hoped to turn the tables on her by deflecting
her concern.
She wouldn’t let him. “I can see your worry, Rowdy. Your
vulnerability.”
“What the fuck?” Indignation wasn’t the only emotion coloring
his laugh. “I am not vulnerable.”
“The language doesn’t shield you. In fact, it gives away your
upset.”
His teeth clenched. “I’m not upset either.”
“Of course you are.” His raised voice was as much an indicator
as the guarded expression in his eyes. “About your future,” she insisted, “about
what to do next and how to proceed.”
“Proceed with what? Sorry,
sweetheart, but you’re not making any sense.”
And now endearments. It was a tactic meant to reduce her
conclusions to insignificance. The little woman spouting nonsense. She shook her
head in pity. Rowdy didn’t know her fortitude, he didn’t understand that it took
a lot more than that to derail her.
“Your sister is in love with a police
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