Rush by Beth Yarnall Page A

now she sat in the plush interior, driving who knows where with a man who saw more than he should.
    All of her years of careful planning and sacrificing could come crashing down around her with one slip up. She’d be wise to keep her distance from Lucas. He wasn’t going to stop asking questions and seeing more than she wanted to show. Suddenly the big man sitting across the darkened cab who touched her so tenderly, kissed her as though he never wanted to stop, and made her want to bare her soul and turn over her troubles to him seemed a bigger threat than the letters, stalker, and cameras combined.
    How could she reach out for what Lucas offered when her hands were so full with the barely pasted together shards of her life?
     
     

 
    CHAPTER FOUR
     
    Mi hadn’t thought about what she expected Lucas’s home to be like, but if she had she never would have come up with this gleaming tower situated in heart of the Dallas Arts District. How shabby her tiny little house must have seemed to him by comparison. She wondered why a man who lived like this would take a job as a bodyguard. He surely didn’t need the money unless guarding people paid more than she thought. A lot more.
    Lucas pressed a button on the remote hooked to his visor, opening the gate to the underground garage. He rolled the truck through and parked in a reserved space near the glass doors to the lobby. In moments he was ushering Mi into an elevator as he waved to the three doormen manning the security desk. As the elevator door whooshed closed she caught one of the guards eyeing her as though she were a dirty mutt Lucas was smuggling into the building.
    She shouldn’t be here. This was wrong. She should have insisted on a hotel even though she couldn’t afford the expense. She crossed her arms over her chest, catching sight of her reflection in the tinted glass doors. Nervous laughter threatened to bubble up at the mirrored image of her and Lucas standing side by side until she raised her gaze meeting his in their reflection. He was watching her, gauging her reaction. But there was something altogether hot and aching behind his appraisal of her, as though he both longed for and dreaded having her in his home.
    Maybe she shouldn’t have trusted him so much, allowed him to take control. Chills skittered through her and she rubbed her arms, feeling a bit like the fly to his spider.
    Then the doors slid open and the image was gone, replaced by the most plush, modern space she’d ever seen. And beyond that, floor to ceiling glass walls presented a panoramic view of downtown Dallas. Lights twinkled in the distance for miles. Lucas motioned for her to precede him into the apartment… or penthouse. Mi couldn’t be sure, but she had a feeling Lucas wouldn’t have settled for anything less, which made her wonder about his apparent interest in her.
    The thick carpet cushioned their footfalls, creating an eerie hush. Everything was so neat, so polished and new, but impersonal as though anyone could walk into the space and call it their own. Mi wondered how a person could live in a space devoid of personality. A part of her felt sorry for Lucas this beautiful condo was where a person stayed not lived.
    “Are you hungry?” he asked.
    Mi thought Lucas had loomed large in her small house, but here in this vast space he seemed even larger somehow.
    “I don’t have much in the fridge, but there’s an all night deli around the corner that delivers.”
    Mi shook her head, scanning the room, trying to take it all in and make it fit with what she knew of Lucas. Or what little she knew of him.
    As though reading her thoughts, Lucas filled in the missing pieces. “My ex-girlfriend picked out this apartment and furniture. I like it. Or I did.” His gaze roamed the room as hers had. “It’s a lot for one person.” He shrugged. “I didn’t know what to do with it, you know, after.” His eyes met hers and the room seemed to shrink, bringing him