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“Are you sure?”
“Positive.”
I saw her fighting a grin as she took a sip. A small groan of pleasure rumbled through her. “Thank you,” she whispered.
“You can thank Pamela. She’s more thoughtful than me.”
We sat in a strangely comfortable silence as she sipped at her tea before I finally broached a subject that made my insides quake in that same protectiveness I’d felt earlier, though I tried to keep the rage from sounding in the words that scraped from my throat.
“Are you in danger? Running from someone?” The question seemed to clang against the stark-white brick walls.
She laughed a surprised sound and shook her head. “No.”
“Then what were you doing out in that field?”
What are you doing in Time River?
She hesitated, warred, and her attention remained on her lap when she finally mumbled, “I was just trying to save a few bucks until I find a job here. I was driving through on vacation…and I…loved it so much that I decided to stay.”
There was something about the way she said it, the way she stumbled and started before she rushed the explanation at the end that told me there was more to her story than she was letting on.
But still, that suffocating fury loosened inside.
“How long do you plan on being around here?” I asked.
“I don’t know.” Sitting back, she leaned against the white bricks, her words turning into a wistful murmur. “Until I find what I’m looking for.”
“I guess we all are looking for something, aren’t we?”
“Yeah,” she whispered.
Silence covered us for a few beats before the offer was getting free. “I might know of a place that’s hiring.”
Confusion twisted through her features before she seemed to remember what we’d been talking about. “Oh. Really? That’s not necessary.”
“You just said you needed a job.”
Her lips pressed into a thin line. “I don’t want to be a burden.”
“Not a burden. I’ll call in the morning and make sure they’re still hiring. In the meantime, let’s find you a place to sleep.”
A frown knitted her brow. “What do you mean?”
“You didn’t think I was going to cut you loose in the middle of the night when you already didn’t have a place to stay, did you?”
I couldn’t tell if it was relief or distrust that carved through her expression. The way those eyes slipped over me like she was trying to discern my true intention.
The energy she compelled tugged, pulling at a place I couldn’t let it. I pushed to standing to escape it, and I roughed a hand through my hair to chase away the agitation. I strode back for the door. “Come on.”
She hesitated for only a second before she scrambled to her feet, and she followed me out into the main office where Pamela was watching me with all that knowing speculation that she loved to watch me with, and I led Savannah into my personal office.
I gestured to the worn beige couch on the left wall. “It’s not much to look at, but it’s comfortable.”
I went to the cabinet on the opposite wall to pull out a pillow and blanket.
“Wait, you want me to sleep here?”
“Yup.”
“In your office?”
“That’s right.”
“After you took my knife from me? How am I supposed to protect myself?”
I turned around, taking in the woman who stood across the room glaring at me in disbelief and distrust. She was probably too thin beneath the bulky sweatshirt she wore, but there was no missing the strength she radiated.
A fighter.
A survivor.
“And who exactly do you think you’re protecting yourself from?” I asked.
Eyes widening, she waved a hand my direction. “Oh, I don’t know…maybe you.”
I took two steps her direction.
Drawn.
Persuaded.
Unable to stop myself from taking another then another until I was right in front of her.
The air shifted. A sensation pulsing in the space that separated us. A buzz that slipped over the surface of my skin.
“Are you scared of me, Savannah?” It came out too rough. A warning. Maybe it was just a warning for myself.
She stared up at me, the sharp angles of her defined face exposed in the light, her pretty pink lips parted.
“No.”
It was a breath.
A whisper.
And I was too fucking close to her, towering over her slight, tiny frame.
I forced myself to take a step back and cleared my throat. “Good. The only person around here you need to worry about is Pamela since she might find it fit to come in here and gab your ear off, but I can’t be held responsible for that.” I tried to force it into a lightness I wasn’t feeling. “I need to get back out on patrol. You’ll be safe here. I’ll see to it that your car is waiting for you in the morning, and we can talk about that job.”
I tossed the blanket and pillow to the couch, and I headed for the door before I said or did anything more idiotic than I already had.
