Page 28 of The Secret of Emerald Cottage

He whirled around with eyes blazing. “Yeah? Well, I just don’t want to see you get hurt, Stewart, so sue me!”

And boy, oh boy, how she’d like to! Because the man had a real knack for inflicting guilt, making her feel like dirt whenever he demonstrated his caring in the face of her irritation. She halted, lowering her voice to a whisper edged with apology. “I’m sorry, Brec, but you need to realize I’m a big girl who can take care of herself.” She moved forward to give his arm a gentle touch. “So, did you see or hear anything?”

Slashing fingers through his hair, he huffed out a weary sigh. “Not a peep, even with my super-sonic ears. No rustling brush, no sticks breaking, no dogs barking—nothing to indicate anyone was still there.” He braced his palms on her shoulders, the sober look in his eyes telling her he took this as seriously as she after all that had gone on. “You’re sure you saw someone? It couldn’t have just been tree limbs bobbing in the breeze?”

“No, I’m sure.” She gave a jerky nod as she clutched her arms to her waist, the thought of someone stalking and spying on them causing another chill to shiver her body.

“Come here,” he said softly as he enveloped her in a comforting hug that helped chase the chills away.

At least the cold ones.

He pulled back to study her while he gently buffed her arms. “You sure you don’t want to watch the movie with me? Because a little stompin’ might get the blood flowing again and warm you up, you know.”

She peeked up, his caring manner already doing way too much warming as it was, and the caress of his palms definitely getting her blood flowing. “I don’t know,” she said with a nibble of her lip, well aware that at the moment, sitting on a couch with Brec could end up being far more dangerous than any shadow in the woods. “I’m pretty beat …”

“Look.” Palm to the small of her back, he gently prodded her toward the steps. “This has been a bit of jolt for both of us, Molly, and neither of us will probably be able to sleep for a while anyway, right? So watch the movie with me, eh? Who knows? Going to bed upset might even trigger one of those awful nightmares you’re so prone to, you know? So why don’t you just go upstairs, brush your teeth, get your comfy-cozy jammies on, then come back down and unwind by doing a little stompin’. And I’ll have popcorn made by the time you come back, okay?”

Comfy-cozy jammies? Her stomach did a loop. On a couch next to a player? But the pleading look in his eyes appeared to be doin’ a little ‘stompin’ of it’s own—on her resistance.Huffing out a noisy sigh, she dodged him with a U-turn, making a beeline for the pantry to get the popcorn before tossing it into the microwave, annoyed that he was right. “No, I’ll make the buttered popcorn and you restart the movie.”

“Good girl,” he said with a wink, and Molly refused to make eye contact while she carefully laid her Glock on the counter.

Yep, “good girl” for sure,” she thought as she pulled a stick of butter out of the fridge.

And I plan to stay that way too.