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Her heart lifted. “Really?”
“I’ve been drifting since Carrie died. Nothing seemed to matter.” He blew out a long breath. “So I’ve been meaning to thank you for your company, as well.”
It wasn’t exactly what she’d expected him to say—something about her being wonderful,charmingcompany would have been nice. But after knowing each other for just nine days, at least they’d proven to be compatible travel buddies.
And that’s all she should expect. She’d hardly come here looking for romance.
She stepped out of the SUV before he could bother to come around and open her door, hung the strap of her purse over her shoulder, and reached into the backseat for Sniper. “Are we still on for snorkeling at Hanauma Bay tomorrow morn—”
Something—someone—powerful slammed into her, sending searing pain through her left shoulder and knocking her sideways against the open door.
Something silver glittered as he clenched a meaty, tattooed fist, drew it back, and aimed at her face—then jerked away when Sniper erupted into furious barking, his sharp teeth flashing.
“Hey!” Nick shouted as he launched out of the SUV.
But the stranger was faster. He grabbed her other arm and wrenched it to snag her shoulder purse. Then he took off running.
Before she could collapse into a puddle on the street, Nick was there to catch her fall.
“It—it all happened so fast,” she moaned. “Whowasthat?”
“Too dark out to tell, and he was here and gone in the blink of an eye.” He eased her to the sidewalk curb. “Are you okay?”
She gingerly hunched her shoulder. “I...I...think so.”
“What about your other arm?”
She cautiously lifted it a few inches. “Right now, everything hurts. But—” Panic raced through her as she searched the concrete around her and then lifted her chin to peer into the backseat of the SUV. “He stole mypurse!”
Nick punched 911 into his phone and spoke to someone at length, then shoved it into his back pocket. “Someone will be here within five or ten minutes. You stay right where you are until the paramedics arrive.”
“I’m okay, really. I’d rather sit in your SUV if I can get up there.”
She managed to get her feet underneath her and tried to rise, but dropped back down in frustration. “Can you help me? Both of my shoulders hurt right now, but I don’t think anything is broken.”
“I think you should wait.”
“Please?”
He hesitated, then shook his head. “Did anyone ever tell you that you might be a bit stubborn?”
She managed a weak smile. “Of course not.”
“Let’s see if this works. Tell me the second that you have any pain.”
He crouched next to her, looped an arm under her knees and the other arm behind her back, then slowly, gently lifted her until she was cradled against his chest as if she were made of the most precious, fragile glass.
She could feel his strong heart beating against her as he stood and carefully settled her in the front seat. “Did anyone ever tell you that you are incredibly strong?”
“Nope. It must be all the adrenaline. If only I could have reached that guy sooner—”
“He was so fast even I barely had time to react.”
A silent patrol car eased down the shadowy street toward them, the bright blue light bar on its roof cutting through the darkness.
The officer parked at a distance, probably running Nick’s plates, then climbed out of his car and strode forward. “Nick Jackson?”
Nick nodded. “And this is Lucy Brookes. She’s staying in the building behind us while on vacation. I was just dropping her off when some guy came out of the darkness, assaulted her, and stole her purse.”
