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“Or he turned his headlights off?”
“He’d hit a cow.”
“What if he’s a crazy man, huh? And he didn’t hit a cow… because sadists have a lot of luck, you know! Or he could’ve come while we were at church and just stood outside the window all day spying on us? I saw a True Crime once where this guy stalked this girl after they broke up. He found her every time she moved. And you know what she found out? He was like on the Most Wanted list, a mass murderer, and they used to go out country dancing all the time! They were always alone before–before…”
“Shh.” Eva was creeping him out. He brought her closer to his chest. Her heart was beating like a wild thing against his. “It’s okay. I’ve got you.”
“Yeah, there’s no way I’m sleeping alone tonight. It’s not like you see me as anything more than a sister anyway,” she seemed to be talking to herself now. “I’m not exactly tempting anybody in these PJs.”
Was she kidding? This Nashville beauty had been driving him crazy all night with those cute silky shorts, and if she meant for him to stay in her room all night? Well, she had a much better opinion of his self-control than he had. “Come with me,” he said. “Bring your pillow and your blanket.”
She dragged his momma’s quilt off her bed, stuffing a pillow under her arm to follow him out to his room. He gave a hard laugh. Yeah, being alone in his room wasn’t any better than hers, but he had to grab his blanket… and after her True Crime story, his gun.
Her eyes widened at the shiny barrel. “Oh good. Yes. A gun. Good.”
“Yeah, unless I turn out to be the murderer, then it won’t be good.”
She let out a giggle, fed mostly on hysteria. “Shut up.”
Eva leaned against his side, and he immediately herded her out of his room where she had no business being. He could barely repress his wandering eyes. “Believe it or not, Eva,” he said, “you’re…” How did he admit to her that he was hopelessly drawn to her in every way without scaring her off forever? “You’re uh… we need some space.” He led her back into the living room. “Take the couch. I’ve got the floor here.” He found the remote. Maybe they could watch something that might calm her down. “How about a nice Disney movie about a mouse?”
She scrambled off the couch to sit by him. Lizardman took her other side. He groaned and collected the remnants of his scattered brain while she burrowed into his side. “I just want to hear you tell me a story,” she said. “Something from your childhood, about you and West.”
“Not happening.” He flipped on the TV, trying to find something boring, but not so boring that it couldn’t distract him from all that soft hair currently tickling the side of his neck.
Praying for strength, he flipped through the trailers. This was absolutely useless. Nothing was sinking into his brain, except thoughts of her. He found a documentary on dogs. At least that would keep Lizardman entertained. She let out a small shivering breath that only made him want to tug her closer. She was still so scared. He turned to her. “Eva… I don’t know how to say this politely.”
Her eyes got wide. “Yeah?”
“You’re…” He cleared his throat. He lost his nerve. “You’re crushing my knee,” he said. He pointed to his leg.
She let out an amused breath and inched away. “Sorry, sorry. This is no way to treat my hero.”
He noticed she trembled, and immediately Cole forgot his own selfish desires in his desperation to comfort her. Groaning, he dragged her against his side. “Are you okay?”
“No.” She buried her face in her hands. “I should’ve said something earlier. It’s just that I thought I had it handled. If I told West about that stalker then he’d tattle on me to my daddy. Then I’d be under lock and key.”
Even Devlin Trout’s own daughter feared him. Cole still couldn’t believe that his brother had turned into his flunky. He bristled. “I’ve heard about your old man.”
Her eyes widened. “No, no! No matter what you’ve heard, it’s not true. He’s a hard businessman, sure, and he gets into a few… disagreements, I suppose…” she trailed off. She bit her lip as if caught between her loyalty and sudden distress. “…but–but he’s honest.”
“He is, huh?”
“Yeah, he says it as it is. You’d love him.”
If her daddy wasn’t so bad, like her momma wasn’t and West wasn’t, well… Cole wasn’t sure if he believed her.
“I can’t blame Daddy for being worried,” she said, “but if he thought I was in danger, he’d never let me out of the house again. And why is that fair? I get attacked and I’m the one who has to hide out from the world?”
She was right. Even if it was realistic to call in her bodyguards, it wasn’t fair. “I’d never let that happen,” he said.
Her head tilted. “How?”
“I don’t know… maybe we’ll get you a gun or something.” He quirked a smile at her. “I know you’re a far better aim than you let on.”
“Nonsense.”
But he had her smiling now.
