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But Eleanor had finally found her voice again. She clapped her hands. “What is going on here? Brooke, can you feel the sparks? Please tell me the two of you are together? What did I tell you, Brooke? They were absolutely made for each other. I swear, I can literally feel the vibes around the two of you whenever you’re—”
“No!” Lindsay called out, frantic to stop Eleanor’s excitement. “We’re...we’re not a couple. There is absolutely nothing going on between us, and there is certainly no need for Blake to stay with me.”
Eleanor’s eyebrows rose as her gaze flitted between Blake and Lindsay. “If you say so, my dear. I’m just calling it as I see it.” She grinned. “You two together are just pure magic.”
“Mark Taylor caught a flight to Bozeman and he arrived in Montana yesterday,” Blake said, wiping the smile from Eleanor’s face.
Eleanor and Brooke exclaimed in horror, but Lindsay tuned out. The bright lights of the green car coming towards her flashed in front of eyes again. Earlier that year, after she’d received the initial threatening email from Mark, there had been a similar incident where a car had tried to run her down, and Charlie had been injured—the incident Blake had referred to earlier.
After she’d told Mark it was over between them, he’d warned her he wasn’t letting her go so easily but never in her wildest dreams did she think he would stoop to trying to hurt her, or something even worse. She bit her lip. It hadn’t been something she’d wanted to believe, but after two similar incidents, it was becoming clear he was even more of a threat to her than she’d thought. Charlie had been hurt in the first incident and just now, if it hadn’t been for Blake... She shuddered.
“Well, anyway, I think it would be a wonderful idea if Blake can stay with you while Charlie and Logan are in Seattle and Gavin has left for South Africa,” Eleanor continued. “Charlie was so worried about leaving you here on your own, and Gavin phones daily to find out whether you’re still okay. It’ll be such a comfort to them to know that Blake is back and that he’ll be staying with you. It really is such a relief, sweetie; I can’t tell you how worried we’ve all been.”
Lindsay had opened her mouth to state again that she’d been living on her own for quite some time now, but she swallowed her words. The last thing she wanted was for Charlie and Gavin to worry about her.
Charlie had married the love of her life in September and was so obviously happy, Lindsay didn’t want her to have to return earlier to Alisson because of her. And Gavin, their brother who’d been living in South Africa, had flown out to see them after Lindsay had received the first message from Mark. Since then, he’d decided he was going to also relocate to Alisson, but he’d needed a few months to settle his affairs in South Africa. And she knew if he thought she was in danger, he’d catch the next plane to Bozeman.
So she was more or less forced to let Blake stay with her. It would reassure both Charlie and Gavin to know someone they knew was staying with Lindsay. In theory, it made sense.
The reality of sharing a house with the seriously sexy Blake, though, was something completely different. Every time she came near him, her hormones went ballistic.
“Okay, then it’s settled,” Blake was saying. “We’ll swing by my place to pick up a bag and then I’ll take Lindsay home—”
“No need, I can go with Eleanor and Brooke,” Lindsay interrupted. She desperately needed a few minutes away from his brooding and unsettling presence.
“I’d prefer...” Blake began, but Lindsay smiled and caught Brooke’s arm.
She lifted her chin. “If you are going to be around me, you’ll have to learn you’re not always going to get your way.”
Again, something flashed in his eyes, but without saying anything else, he turned around, and taking his phone out, continued to walk towards his car.
Eleanor waved a hand in front of herself. “Wow, sweetie, I know you’ve said there isn’t anything between the two of you, but those hot vibes going around are threatening to scorch everyone in sight!”
“No vibes, Eleanor, just irritation. For some reason or another, he feels he has to protect me, but neither of us is very pleased about the idea.”
“Well, my dear”—Eleanor grinned—“it’s nearly Christmas. You never know. There’s magic in the air, haven’t you noticed? So come on, let’s go and order something to eat while we wait.”
“How are you feeling, Lindsay?” Brooke asked. “You’re still very pale. Don’t you think we should phone the doctor?”
“I’m totally fine, thanks, Brooke. Just hungry,” Lindsay said, but she caught the look between Eleanor and her daughter. She wasn’t fooling anyone, it seemed.
––––––––
Half an hour later, Blake parked his car next to Lindsay’s house. He got out and walked back towards the street. It was quiet. Some owners had already put up Christmas decorations, he noticed, as he looked up and down the rows of houses. All were brightly lit, the streetlights were on; things seemed perfectly ordinary.
But he was on edge. Someone was lurking around, intent on harming Lindsay. The attacks were escalating, something that was freaking him out. Whoever had been behind the wheel of the green car was clearly out of control. His gut was telling him it was probably Taylor. And the mere thought that someone could hurt her made him want to break things.
She was so fragile at the moment. He grimaced. Not something he’d mention in front of her, though. He could already imagine those blue eyes shooting darts in his direction.
With a last glance down the street, he walked back to his car and took out his bag. Eleanor’s car was still in front of the house, he was glad to see. He didn’t want Lindsay to be alone for any length of time.
When he’d received the call a few days before from an informant he’d been paying to keep an eye on Mark Taylor’s movements, he’d caught the first flight from Reagan Airport in Washington, DC.
Taylor was on his way to Alisson, he was told. Fortunately, the case he’d been helping the FBI with had been solved, and the agent-in-charge had given him the go-ahead to return to Alisson. His former employers had wanted him to stay and help them with another ongoing investigation into an elusive gang of bank robbers, and he’d promised to join them later, when he could. But first he had to make sure Lindsay was safe. For the moment, she was his priority.
Ever since he’d first seen her that first night in the bar, his protective instincts had kicked in, and that had been before he knew about the threatening message from her ex. There was a haunted look in her eyes and a wariness in her movements that was urging him on—against his better judgment—to safeguard her.
Why he was here was something he didn’t want to think about too much. What he did know was that he was nobody’s damn hero—the very dead body of his last partner, Will Miller, had made that abundantly clear.
