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“I found out, too late, I might add, that Grant had a bit of a crush on her. He’s been following her around, or I guess I should use past tense.” Simon shook his head to complete the effect. “If I had known, I might have been able to turn this around before it became a tragedy.”
The deputy pushed off from the chair and stood up straight again. “You mean Grant was stalking her.”
“Nothing on that level. But you can imagine what the news about her dating Hank did to Grant.”
“Did he say he was afraid of Hank?”
A reasonable assumption and Simon stored that information away for later. He could push the thinking in that direction if needed, but for now he wanted the spotlight on Lindsey. All the pressure on her. “More like afraid of Lindsey.”
Frank Jr. nodded, looking every bit in charge and more like his father than ever. “I’ll look into it.”
Simon held up his hands. “That’s all I’m asking.”
Chapter Eight
Hours after the police left and the van took Grant’s body away, Lindsey paced her bedroom. The night had fallen and the house had gone to sleep. It was almost two in the morning and she couldn’t close her eyes without seeing Grant’s limp form. He’d scared her and come at her with a gun, but she hadn’t wished him dead. She just wanted to be left alone.
Right now she needed to research or watch mindless television or do something to fill her head with something other than images of blood and gunshot wounds. Normally she’d wander into her family room and do things to keep her busy. Not tonight. Not with two men sacked out on her couch and floor.
After the awful day and all those questions from the deputy she almost felt bad about shutting down on Holt and asking for a few minutes alone. Those minutes turned into hours and now she hovered on the edge of going stir-crazy.
Her in the room with the big bed. Two big men trapped in her small family room with all her extra pillows and blankets, not that they seemed to care about the cramped quarters or lack of amenities. She thought there was probably a better solution, but she couldn’t figure it out.
Well, that wasn’t true. She knew what she wanted. Holt in here with her.
She thought it and two seconds later she heard a soft knock at her door. After a quick look down at her shorts pajamas, a pink version of the ones Holt had already seen, she reached over and turned the knob. Holt stood there wearing a T-shirt and boxers and nothing else. He had a gun in his hand and stared at her.
“Are you okay?” His voice was filled with concern.
She tried to think back to the past few minutes. She hadn’t knocked anything over. She half wondered if she’d started talking out loud. It wouldn’t be the first time. She considered it more or less a hazard of living alone. “Why?”
“You’re walking around in here.” He made a circle in the air with his finger. “Like, nonstop.”
She glanced at her bare feet and curled her pink toenails under. There was no way she’d made enough noise to bring her armed bodyguards running. “You could hear that?”
His gaze dropped. Bounced down her body, then right back up again. “I’m aware of everything you do.”
“That sounds odd.” But not bad. The tone and words had her body warming from the inside out.
He blew out a long breath. “If you’re okay I’ll go.”
“Stop.” She caught his arm before he could execute the great escape. Without using any force, she had him turned around again. His eyebrows rose, but he didn’t say anything, so she jumped back into talking. “You can stay for a few minutes.”
He looked at the bed, then at her again. “I’m not sure that’s a good idea.”
The sudden need for him overwhelmed her. She craved his presence. But she knew where his mind went. Hers drove there, too, but she mulled the possibilities over and arrived at a different conclusion.
She wanted him in here, with her. Tonight she needed comfort and reassurance, two things she’d blocked from her life for so long.
Dragging anyone else into her mess struck her as unfair. She lived with danger just out of reach but always waiting there to strike. Lately, it had walked right up to her door. The long hours of research and all the secrets. Sharing even a portion of that made anxiety churn deep in her belly.
But with Holt something changed. He knew danger, lived mired in it and didn’t flinch. He would be the type to listen and help her meet her goal...after he lectured her to death about safety. Even with his hotness factor shooting off the charts, he came with some downsides. A stubbornness that matched hers was one.
