“Sure.” My rage swelled as I began to understand the effect this guy had on Briar’s spirit. She’d always been so feisty, so fearless, and that bastard was trying to break her. But I’d break him first.
She pointed to a small ensuite bathroom. “If you want to grab a shower before we turn in there are extra towels in the cabinet and unused toothbrushes in the top drawer.”
“Thanks.” I grabbed her hands. “You okay?”
She drew a deep breath before looking me in the eye. “I am now.” She rolled forward on her toes, pressing a kiss to my lips. “Thank you for doing this for me. I won’t forget it.”
Since it was Friday night, I had two full days to come up with a game plan. I routinely worked on weekends, but this took precedence. Over everything.
ChapterThree
Briar
I curled under the ivory duvet, inhaling deeply. I knew that scent. Rhett. It took a minute before I realized I had him pinned to the mattress with my leg and arm. I’d never had a sleepover with a guy before. I kind of liked it. And we hadn’t even had sex.
I kissed his chest, smiling when he curled his arms tighter around me. He made me feel so safe, so protected. My gaze slid to the gun on my nightstand and a sense of peace washed over me. I was still scared, but with Rhett beside me, it felt like nothing and no one could hurt me. He wouldn’t let them.
I still hadn’t asked for that huge favour. Would he be my roomie, my fake fiancé? Only if he believed my life was in jeopardy, I suspected, and when he saw the evidence of what I’d been dealing with, I knew he’d concur, I was in way over my head.
“Hey,” he whispered, sneaking a peek at me out of the corner of his eye. “How’d you sleep?”
“Amazing. I feel like a new woman.”
He chuckled. “Good, glad to hear it.”
“I’m going to make us some breakfast. You can hit the shower first if you want?”
“I might just shower when I get home. It’s not like I have a change of clothes here.”
Home? Shit. He wanted to go home already? “Um, busy day?”
He smirked. “Yeah, I’ll be busy trying to figure out how to bury the asshole who’s been harassing you.”
“Oh.” I should’ve known Rhett wouldn’t just sit back and wait for Dave to make his move. He was proactive, used to covert missions. Of course he’d have a way of catching Dave off guard, letting him know the threat tohissafety was real if he didn’t back off.
“I think it’s best if we make this our home base, for now. I mean, you could stay at my place, but I’d rather document everything this guy says and does. Every time he shows up here, I want date and time-stamped pictures of him lurking around your house. Video too. Have you been doing that?”
“Um, I’ve been trying.” But this wasn’t my area of expertise, so I was pretty sure I’d let a lot fall through the cracks.
“No problem, we’ll work with what you have and start building our case. The D.A. is a friend of mine—”
“Seriously?” I didn’t know why I was surprised. I suspected he had a lot of friends in law enforcement too, given his line of work.
“Yeah.”
“But the police told me even if he’s convicted he might get probation and a thousand dollar fine. He wouldn’t even go to jail!” There was a possibility he would, depending on the severity of the crime and the judge’s decision, but with no prior criminal record, I was told jail time was unlikely, unless he crossed the line and committed a violent act.
I shuddered just thinking about that possibility.
“We’ll take the necessary steps to build a case,” he said, sounding confident. “But don’t worry, I intend to send a very clear message to this asshole. His days of harassing you are over.”
I wanted to believe that, but I feared Dave was mentally unstable. Would the belief that I’d replaced him with Rhett drive him over the edge?
“Tell me what you’re thinking,” he said, sliding my hair off my face.
His touch was so gentle, his tone so concerned, it did something to me.
I rolled on to my back, pulling the blanket to my chin. I was wearing a tank top and drawstring bottoms, but I was suddenly feeling very exposed.
