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He drove in silence for a few moments, his brain making giant leaps before he took the next left turn. “Well, then, we’ll make it the bar.”
“Haven’t you heard what I’ve said?” she asked, clearly annoyed.
“I’ve heard you. Eleanor is going to think we’re a couple. And maybe it’s not such a bad idea.”
Lindsay looked completely baffled. “You... I ... Don’t be ridiculous! Why on earth would you say that?”
He parked next to the bar. “Mark Taylor left South Africa a week ago with a plane ticket to Bozeman. He was seen at the airport in Bozeman the next day, but since then nobody knows where he is.” And only when he’d finished speaking did he turn to face her.
The lights from the streetlamps outside fell over her, revealing the paleness of her face. Her lips trembled and she put a hand against her mouth. He suppressed the overwhelming urge to take her in his arms and tell her everything would be okay. The two times in his life he’d promised that to someone, things hadn’t turned out as planned.
“Your sister and her husband are in Seattle for a month,” he continued. “Your brother is back in South Africa, settling his affairs before he returns to Alisson, but it could take months. You live alone at the moment. With Taylor around, I don’t think it’s safe for you to be on your own. If we’re a couple...”
––––––––
Lindsay looked downat her clenched fists. She was upset and angry but her heart—and this was driving her crazy—was excitedly bouncing around at the thought of having Blake staying with her.
It was a ridiculous idea. Adamantly, she shook her head. “I don’t need any looking after, thank you very much. And even if... Please note the ‘if’...you stay at the house, there is no reason to pretend we’re a couple. This is the twenty-first century.”
Opening the car door, she jumped out. “I could stay with Eleanor or Brooke. I’m not lying to anyone. Besides, nobody will believe we’re a couple. I don’t even like you.”
He got out quickly and put his hand out to stop her from leaving. “If you stay with other people, you’ll be putting them in danger, as well. Just think about it. You don’t have to like me, but I am going to stay with you until this guy is behind bars, even if I stay out on the porch.”
Shrugging off his arm, she stomped towards the entrance of the bar. After a few steps, she turned around, her eyes narrowing. “How do you know Logan and Charlie are in Seattle and Gavin is in South Africa? Do you keep tabs on my family? But the biggest question is why do you know all these things about my life?”
“Let’s have dinner. Maybe you’ll be in a better mood once you’ve eaten.” And while she was still sputtering, he put a hand behind her back and guided her towards the entrance of the bar.
––––––––
Under his hand, herwhole body was shaking. Blake clenched his teeth. None of the questions she’d just asked weren’t ones he hadn’t asked himself a few hundred times over the past week.
The simple answer was he was worried about her because there seemed to be someone out there, intent on harming her. He’d always protected and served—that had been his job—it was also the way he lived his life.
But the answer to why he felt so protective towards Lindsay Wilson wasn’t one he wanted to think about for too long. The mere thought something could happen to her made him break out in a cold sweat.
So no, there weren’t any logical answers to any of her questions, but he had to do this. It was that simple.
