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“Remember what I said.” He slammed the door and stared at her over the top of the car.
“Don’t wander, stay out of Frank’s grabbing range and listen to you.” Even she heard her dry tone. “Got it.”
“This isn’t a game.” Shane came around the hood of the car and slipped his hand under her elbow. He didn’t grab on, but his fingers didn’t just skim her skin, either.
She didn’t love it when this side of his personality came out. Protective and a bit controlling? Fine, she could handle those. Talking down to her? No. That was never going to be okay, and he hovered right on the line right now. It had to do with wanting her safe and worrying about her. She got that, but still.
“You think I don’t know that?”
“This guy, Frank, pretended to be something he wasn’t.” Shane guided her through the parked cars and past the group of preteen boys debating which one of them possessed the better bike. “You can see where I might not believe his sudden change and claims of regret.”
“You could try meeting him before judging him.” Seemed obvious enough to her.
He stopped walking and brought her with him. There, under the lush canopy of trees with kids squealing in the distance, he stared her down. “I’ve met guys like Frank before. They rarely change.”
The stiffness in his tone and stance bugged her. She refused to back down. Shane might bark and scare other people, but not her. She’d been standing up to him from the moment they met. He said he liked that about her. Well, they would see.
“What is your problem?” When he threw her a blank expression, she widened her eyes and stared right back with an I’m waiting look.
He glanced around, his gaze scanning the entire area before hesitating on a picnic table off to her left and then traveling back to her. “You are in danger and it makes me nuts.”
No way could she hold on to her anger after that. “Oh.”
His expression morphed from blank to frustrated. “Oh? That’s your response?”
“Yeah. It’s sweet.” She knew she’d said the wrong thing as soon as the words slipped out.
“You’re driving me...” He shook his head as the words cut off.
From the way he kept grinding his teeth together, she guessed the last word wasn’t going to be good. She almost felt sorry for him. Almost, but not really, because he’d just admitted how much he cared. She knew he had a she’s-my-friend’s-sister loyalty, but this went deeper. The way he’d held her and kissed her, the way he protected her and reined in his temper even when he could have blown. It all told her she mattered. He might fight hard and play hard, but with her he took his time, and she wanted that to mean something important.
“Where is he?” Shane asked.
The question hit her from out of nowhere. She’d been thinking about him and them and what could be if he unclenched about the Holt issue and trusted her enough to believe in them together...and his mind was on the job. That summed up their relationship. Rarely on the same page except when kissing or in bed. Apparently talking was their issue.
“Frank.” Shane nodded in the direction of the nearby picnic table, the one near the parking lot and about thirty feet away. “Is that him?”
She followed his gaze. Frank sat there wearing blue jeans and a baseball cap pulled low. “Yes.”
Shane frowned but didn’t start walking again. “He looks young.”
“He is.”
His hand slipped to her back. “Give me the details before we get over there.”
She wanted to point out that they should have had this conversation in the car on the way over, but Shane didn’t look open to discussing his decision-making, so she just answered, “Twenty-six. An all-American Midwestern-boy type. He was an army supply clerk who injured his back in a locker room but claimed to have fought on the front lines in Afghanistan.”
Shane swore under his breath. “How did he get caught in the lie?”
“An anonymous tip to the website started me checking on his history. His claims all over social media didn’t match up with the reports from anyone he served with.” She remembered how easy his case had been. Her third and the one she celebrated the hardest because she’d done it alone. “His story unraveled from there and his hometown newspaper did a story.”
Shane exhaled. “How do these guys think they can get away with it?”
“Some of them do.” She lowered his voice. “Or they do unless the site or someone else exposes them.”
They walked a few more steps in silence. They’d almost hit the edge of the table when he whispered one more thing. “You do good work.”
