Hold Me by Betsy Horvath Page B

Within moments they were speeding down the highway, and Luc seemed confident that he knew where they were going. A part of her brain marveled at that. Amazing.
    “I really think this is a mistake,” he grumbled.
    “Yeah, you’ve made that pretty clear.”
    Silence. Katie held herself rigid, trying not to touch him in the tight space of the car.
    “Don’t blame me if we run into trouble.”
    “I won’t.”
    Silence. Longer this time. He could have been a rock sitting next to her, except that she could feel his heat and smell the scent of soap, sweat and man. “We’re just going to get in and out. No fooling around,” Luc said.
    “Okay.”
    The car hummed on the road. His hands clenched and relaxed on the wheel. “I’m sorry,” he said.
    Katie looked at him in surprise. She could see more of his face now in the reflected lights of the highway.
    “I shouldn’t have yelled at you.” Luc sounded uncomfortable, but he kept talking. “I don’t know why I did. I guess I’m…geared up too. I know you’re scared.”
    Katie didn’t answer. The words were nice, but they didn’t change anything, did they? She stared out the window at the cars flashing by. She knew where they were now—they were getting closer to her apartment complex. Funny how he had found it with so little effort.
    “Katie?”
    She glanced over at him again and saw him watching her out of the corner of his eye. His shadowed face looked concerned and tired, and he appeared to be a man who’d had a very bad day.
    She stifled a sigh. Well, what choice did she have anyway? Being angry and upset about this situation might be normal, but slapping at him wasn’t going to help her. He was, when everything was said and done, going out of his way to do what he considered the right thing. He might have gotten her into this mess, but at least he hadn’t left her there alone to deal with it. He seemed to believe that he was her protector. And he probably was.
    “I’m just tired,” she said finally, extending an olive branch of her own. It was true enough. She was mortally tired. “Thanks for bringing me to my apartment.”
    Now it was his turn to be quiet.
    “We’re almost there,” he said after a minute.
    “I know.” She smiled a little. “I actually recognized some of the houses.”
    “Oh. Sure.”
    “You don’t know me well enough to realize what a miracle that is.”
    She was rewarded with a grin. They were back in town so she could see his face pretty clearly now. She also saw the road that led to her apartment complex.
    “Make a right here.”
    Luc’s smile faded. “I’m going to drive past it to make sure everything’s okay first.”
    The apartment complex was relatively small, just a few buildings with some parking lots and a little pond in a stand of trees management had put in so they could justify raising the rent. Luc drove slowly down the road, his whole body stiff, broadcasting his alertness.
    “I’m in C,” Katie told him, her voice tight. His tension was rubbing off on her.
    He nodded. They drove by her building. Everything appeared to be in order. The appropriate cars were in the appropriate places. Everyone always seemed to take the same spots. The floodlight was blinking off and on like it usually did. A few old crabapple trees grew around the dumpster on the far side of the biggest parking lot.
    Katie glanced at them and froze. “Luc.” She grabbed his arm and pointed. “Look there.” The front end of a dark car was just barely visible next to the dumpster.
    “That’s not normal?”
    “No.” She was whispering, but she didn’t know why. “Nobody ever parks there. The birds like to sit in the trees and stuff gets all over your car. Besides, there are plenty of other spaces open. Why park so far away?”
    Luc cursed. “I’m sorry, Katie. We can’t stop. We can’t take the chance.”
    “You think it’s—”
    “Lay down on the seat again. Quick, before they see us. We’ll just keep driving and hope