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Time to wake up.” Lynch was kneeling beside her, and Kendra was vaguely aware he smelled of soap and shampoo and spicy aftershave. “I’ve got to go. I was thinking about letting you sleep but that’s not going to work. I blew that about two in the morning.”
“What are you talking about?” Kendra yawned. “Blew what?”
“My chance for a graceful exit. I’ve got to scoot Tricia out of Olivia’s condo, and I doubt if I can keep Olivia from calling you and asking for explanations the minute Tricia’s out of the building. I had problems with her during the night.”
“Problems?” Kendra was suddenly wide awake. She went stiff and sat upright. “What problems? Why didn’t you tell me? Problems with Olivia?”
“Well, more trouble with Harley. You know how sensitive that dog can be. He heard Sam talking to me in the hall, and then the two men Griffin sent arrived. He started to make a typical Harley uproar. Olivia heard it and came out to check with Sam.”
“What did you tell her?”
“That there had been trouble, but it had been taken care of. That you’d talk to her in the morning about it and we’d prefer not to mention it to Tricia until she’d finished her training for the day.”
“And Olivia accepted that? I can’t believe it.”
“Neither could I, but she said Tricia was already settled in the guest room and there was no use disturbing her.” His lips tightened grimly. “But I’ll bet Olivia will give you the third degree the minute she sees you, so be prepared.”
“No bet. She ordinarily would have marched up and demanded to know what was happening.”
“She isn’t shy about doing that with me,” Lynch said. “I was expecting it. I did say you were tired and might be sleeping.”
“Who knows why?” Kendra asked. “All I know is that it’s going to be a very difficult conversation with both of them.”
“And I didn’t help.”
“You did all you could. What could you say? Just take care of Tricia today.”
“I will. At least I made sure the aquatic center is safe.” He paused. “I’ve told Sam he’s to assign one of those men Griffin sent him to you today. Don’t argue, Kendra.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. I will argue. It’s Tricia we have to concentrate on. Milo might hate me, but he seemed to prefer going after anyone close to me. Like you, Lynch. Or he might not know about my mother yet, but he could find out. Then there’s Olivia. How many guards are you going to have to assign to keep everyone around me safe?”
“As many as necessary. But I’ll settle for you at the moment. I tend to be selfish that way.” He headed for the door. “Though I’ll give Griffin a call and tell him I want surveillance on your mother and Olivia, too. It won’t be too difficult. All I have to do is pull the strings. He wants me to owe him. I’ll see you this evening and we’ll discuss anyone else on your list. Lock the door behind me.”
Kendra’s hands clenched as she watched the door shut behind him. She’d never seen Lynch this determined. He’d always listened to her. He could be madly annoying at times and managed to get his own way more often than not. But it always ended with both of them working together until they found a strategy to merge and succeed.
Merge.
And the merging had often been physical as well as mental. Passion as well as laughter. It was when she’d realized she was growing toneedhim that she’d panicked, because she didn’t want to be that dependent on anyone. She’d thought she was safe with a man as independent and self-sufficient as Lynch, but what if that wasn’t the truth? She’d taken a step back, but she always seemed to move toward him again.
Or Lynch moved toward her.
As he had this time.
He’d been careful and moved with slow deliberation. But she knew how powerful he could be when he decided to go for something he wanted. Now he wanted to protect her, and he would pull out all the stops until he got his way.
Her phone rang.
It was Olivia. “Lynch just took Tricia,” she said curtly. “Are you coming here, or should I come to you?”
“I’ll come to you. I’ll shower and be down in thirty minutes.”
“Good.” She ended the call.
Kendra flinched and immediately headed for the bathroom. Olivia’s tone had been definitely cool, and she had a right to be irritated. Kendra should have found a way to contact her and tell her what had happened last night. She’d been upset but Olivia was her friend, and she was as concerned about Tricia as Kendra. It didn’t matter that she hadn’t wanted to worry Olivia by telling her that Milo had turned his venom toward her. She deserved honesty, not an apology.
But when Olivia opened the door to her knock, after greeting Harley, she found herself quickly apologizing. “You have a right to be pissed off. I don’t know why you were so kind to Lynch last night, but you deserved to hear the truth from both of us. He was trying to organize a defensive action and he knew I was upset. I didn’t know about it until this morning when he woke me.”
“You were asleep? He said you were, but I thought he was lying.”
