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I turn to look at Sara, and I am entirely caught off-guard by what I see. She stands in the arched window, snuggling the brown rabbit in her arms, stroking its ears, and talking to it softly. The light from the window haloes around her as she smiles at the creature with so much affection it makes me aware of the empty crater inside my chest.
The front pocket of her denim overalls is stuffed full of something that looks like fluffy green carrot tops, and the rabbit strains to get to it. Sara giggles and hitches the rabbit up to her chest. The rodent begins munching the green carrot tops, which disappear into its tiny mouth in seconds. Huh. I’m sure the wild rabbits in my backyard look just as adorable when they demolish my vegetables
“You’re a hungry girl. I know you are. Eat up, baby; you’re eating for two now,” Sara murmurs to the rabbit.
And despite my lack of love for rabbits, I could stare at Sara for hours, her light brown hair spilling down her back, her soft cardigan hanging off her shoulders, and breasts pressing against the straps of her oversized overalls.
I must have let out a noise because Sara looks up at me and smiles.
“She used to do nothing but cower in her crate when I first got her. But then I started putting snacks in my front pocket to get her to trust me. Now she lunges at my boobs.”
Sara laughs, and I bite back a groan.
“Pack what you need. You’re not staying here,” I say, my throat raspy. Damn, I could use a seltzer.
Sara looks up at me in surprise. “What? Where do you think you’re taking me?”
I hadn’t thought that far ahead, but the safest place I know is my house. I don’t want to freak her out, so I tell her, “Somewhere safe.”
Sara looks at me like I’m insane. “I’m not an FBI witness. Who am I hiding from?”
I take a step toward her. “Look. I don’t mean to scare you, but…your uncle has it on good authority that you’re in danger.”
She scoffs and smooths down the rabbit’s ears. “I’m not going anywhere with you.”
If I was dealing with anyone else, I’d simply say they had no choice. But with Sara…
“Please. You’re in danger. I think.”
She bats her eyelashes in a way that could make me fall for her if we were on a date. Which we are not.
“My uncle hired you to keep an eye on me. Why do I have to leave?”
“First, because your uncle is an idiot for letting you live here.”
Her eyes widen. “Nice thing to say about the man paying your wages. Anyway, Uncle Logan doesn’t have a say in where I live. He just wants to make sure I don’t sully the family image. That’s all you need to worry about.”
I then tell her the thing I shouldn’t. “Second of all, I have a feeling that there’s more to it than that. My boss at Sentinel is interested in you, and I don’t know why. Maybe she’s just nervous because it’s my first special assignment and a high-profile case. But she’s been asking lots of questions about where you go and who you meet with. What your plans are. I shouldn’t be telling you all this, but now you know.”
I wait as Sara assesses me coolly, but her throat bobbing gives away her fear. Good. She’s taking this seriously.
She expels a slow, controlled exhale like she’s internally trying to process something.
“Give me five minutes to grab my things,” she says.
CHAPTER4
Sara
“Absolutely not.”
This man, Gunther, thinks I’m going anywhere without my rabbit, Chutney.
He has a simmering energy about him that I would be deeply attracted to if he wasn’t trying to hurry me.
“I can’t just leave her,” I explain.
“Don’t you have a neighbor or someone to watch it?”
