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She nodded. “They were a few cars behind me.”
“Convenient,” he scoffed. His jaw was set, and he looked away, at the television. “Why am I not surprised?”
Becca snatched her hands out of his. “What does that mean?”
Hunter wasn’t easily intimidated—he held her eyes and matched her tone. “It means the guy seems to be a magnet for trouble. For you.”
She opened her mouth to protest, but she really didn’t have a leg to stand on.
“Look,” said Hunter. “I don’t even know him. But every time I see him near you, you end up getting hurt.”
Becca took a breath. “It’s ... complicated.”
Hunter leaned in, his voice low and sharp. “I don’t know what’s going on between you and Chris, but that guy on the beach had a gun, Becca. He was firing at you. People shoot guns when they want to kill someone. And now you tell me your car is totaled and Chris was there?”
“It was an accident,” she whispered. Her throat felt tight.
His green eyes were hard. “I don’t believe in accidents.”
She didn’t realize she was crying until tears rolled off her chin.
He swore, then shifted forward to brush the tears away with his thumb. “I’m sorry. God—I’m a jackass. Becca, I’m sorry.”
This couldn’t be more horrifying. She shook her head and swiped at her eyes. “I can’t believe I’m crying.”
“I think you’re allowed.” He stroked a finger across her cheekbone, brushing a stray hair behind her ear. His voice dropped. “If I offer to hold you, are you going to think I’m making a move?”
Was he teasing? She couldn’t tell. She blinked tears off her lashes and looked up at him. “I’m not worried. I know Krav Maga.”
o;Just go,” she said. “I have your phone number. I’ll be fine.”
“All right, Becca. All right.” He turned for the door.
Then he paused. “Here, I want you to take this.”
He was holding out a credit card.
Her own mother had never handed her a credit card. She stared at him. “I just told you—”
“I’m not swooping in, and I’m not solving anything. It doesn’t even have a high limit, so don’t go try to put down a deposit on a Porsche. But this might help you get started until the insurance mess is straightened out.”
The plastic sat between his fingers, but she didn’t reach to take it.
It was hard. Was he buying her off?
She was too tired for this.
“It’s not even a MasterCard,” he whispered. “Totally Visa.”
That made her smile.
He smiled back and set the card on the hall table. “Lock up behind me.”
And then he was gone.
She regretted his absence almost immediately.
Every creak had her imagining the Guide coming after her. The brothers had frightened him off—but how long would that last? Did the Guide still think she was a part of it? She took the fastest shower in history and reconsidered calling Quinn.
