Page 34 of Lone Star Protector

“Oz, alert Ruby,” he said, turning and running back toward the van. “The shooter escaped, heading east on Anderson Road on what I think is a black and silver Harley. Deploy a drone.”

While Oz took care of that, Nash ran back to the van as fast as he could. Because it occurred to him that with the direction the shooter was heading, he or she would be going directly past the road to Nash’s place. The SOB could take the turn and try to go after Caroline again. She was with Slade, who’d protect her, but Nash didn’t want them to face this potential threat without the extra help he could give them.

“Since Oz is still connected to the dash monitor, I heard what you told the app,” Slade said as Nash approached the van.

Obviously, Caroline had heard it, too, because she was sitting up enough for him to see her face. And for him to notice the fresh dread that was there. Nash wanted to make the shooter pay for that look. For the fear she had to be feeling.

“I’m sorry,” Nash told her when he got in the van.

She didn’t have quite the reaction he’d expected. Caroline hooked her hand around the back of his neck and kissed him. Not a gentle one either. It was rather hard and filled with the emotions that he’d seen in her expression.

And more.

Apparently, it had some relief in the mix, too.

Relief and so much pleasure.

That kick of pleasure came, sliding through him as her tongue slid over his mouth. Her taste was an instant balm, soothing. Arousing.

Perfect.

But it didn’t last. Nope. She stopped it as quickly as she’d started it and pulled back to face him.

“Don’t do that again,” Caroline snapped. “Don’t go running off after a killer like that. We could have driven the van closer so you wouldn’t have been out in the open for nearly as long as you were. I want to punch you on the arm right now,” she tacked onto that.

Despite everything they’d just been through, he had to fight a smile. Yeah, she’d been given another mental blow, but she’d taken the punch and had seemingly rolled with it.

“Yeah, this lust thing between you two won’t interfere with anything,” Slade grumbled, throwing the van into gear and turning around to start back toward the house.

The house that might or might not be habitable. Somehow that thought made it through the haze that the kiss had created and into Nash’s mind. So did what Slade had just said.

“This lust thing won’t interfere with me making Caroline’s safety my top priority,” Nash assured him.

Slade made a sound that could have meant anything. Or nothing. “All right, that’s my priority, too, which is why I’m going to insist the two of you stay in the van while I go inside the house and check it out.”

“You could wait for the cops,” Caroline said, and then she looked at Nash. “We heard what you told Oz to do, and since that means Oz and my mother have already alerted the cops. A county deputy or two should be here soon.”

“In theory,” Slade agreed. “But a lot of the county LEOs are tied up with the search for Bodie, so it might take them a while. Especially now since they’ll also be looking for that motorcycle.”

Slade was right. And Nash preferred them out looking for Bodie. The sooner they found him, the sooner Caroline would be out of danger.

The moment that Slade made it back to the garage and opened it, he drove in and immediately shut the door behind them.

“Wait here,” Slade muttered. “And maybe talk or something instead of… hell.” He waved that off. “Go ahead and kiss. You’re obviously both brainless when it comes to each other.”

They were, but Nash knew he was going to do a better job of… He stopped, looked at her and brushed his mouth over hers.

“After this is over, I won’t keep my distance from you,” Nash assured her.

“Progress,” she muttered with her mouth still against his. “And this isn’t a comfort kiss, is it? I mean, this feels like more than that.”

“It is more,” he assured her. “A whole lot more.”

The timing sucked to spell that out, and saying it certainly didn’t solve any of their problems. Just the opposite. But he knew this particular kiss wasn’t going to lead to a heavy make-out session. Or even another kiss. Not when he had to keep an ear out for anything Slade had to report.

There was also that possibility of Bodie or the shooter doubling back.

All of his security measures were still in place, but the shooter had found a way around that. Well, sort of. He or she had triggered the sensors, which had done their job of alerting Nash, but by staying at the far back of the fence, the gunman had managed to stay out of immediate range while still being able to fire what could have been killing blows.

---