Page 334 of The Trouble With Bad Boys

“No wife. No kids. No girlfriend.” He arched a lordly eyebrow. “Like it or not, you’re coming home with me, where I can keep you safe.”

Tempting as that sounded, she knew she needed to give some kind of statement to the police. To keep everything above board and keep herself safe. “If my boss is evading the law, I need to abide by it. I have to talk to the authorities.”

“Agreed.” He sighed. “But not here, where dozens of onlookers will identify you. Let’s head to the police station to give your statement.”

With a tight swallow, she nodded.

Dominic tapped the nearest police station into his GPS. Once he shifted the car into drive, he reached out to gently cup her hand in his. As if he had every right to hold her hand, making her feel safe and secure, like it was them against the world, and they’d come out on top.

Then the edge of his long forefinger swept across her knee, caressing the bare inches between the top of her boot and the line of her skirt. Startled by the intimate gesture, she felt a rush of heat fill her veins and warm her cheeks. She glanced at him, but he stared straight ahead without acknowledging the bold contact.

She cleared her throat. “Why didn’t you ask if I had a boyfriend or a husband…or kids?”

He lifted a broad shoulder. “Isaac was the first person you called for help.” He grazed the tip of his thumb over her bare ring finger. “No diamond ring on your hand. And if you had kids, you wouldn’t have stopped at a bar on your way home from work after a life-changing day or snuck into a strip mall phone store wisely seeking anonymity. You would’ve instantly called your kids’ sitter and mentioned them the second I walked in the door.”

Faultless logic, she admitted. Sherlock Holmes would have approved. “What have you done for a living these past twelve years?”

“Joined the military. Then leveraged that into a career with the military police.”

“The bad boy avenger,” she said with a smile in her voice. “Like Batman.”

That dragged a laugh from him. “I might be that noble, but I’m not that rich. Sorry, honey.”

“I had no expectations,” she assured with an appreciative sigh. “I’m just so glad you’re here.”

His hold firmed on her hand before he threaded his fingers through hers. They arrived at the town’s small police station minutes later.

As he opened his car door, he realized she hadn’t moved. He turned to her. “What’s on your mind, honey?”

“It’s the dumbest thing.” Her face crumpled as she stared at her hands clenched in her lap. “I can’t help thinking about the keepsake from my recent trip to Hawaii. This little hula girl on my dashboard. I adored her. And she…she’s gone. My whole life is just gone.”

Dominic climbed out and came around to her side. He pulled open the door and lifted her from the passenger seat, waiting until her feet met solid ground.

Then he wrapped her in his arms and just held her.

Her whimpers turned to sobs that crushed him. He tightened his grasp. All he could do was stand there and let her fall apart in his arms.

Closing his eyes, he could’ve held onto her forever.

When her breathing regulated, he pressed his lips to her tear-streaked temple. “Remember that time we took shop class together in high school? You squeezed into a senior-level class, even as a freshman, because you convinced the teacher your dad had taught you so much.”

She gave a watery laugh. “My dad wasn’t even in the picture then. I just wanted to learn how to be handy, to fix stuff for my mom around the house when it broke. I didn’t know I’d whittle wood to make some stupid, useless clock.”

“I’d hardly call that whittling,” he said dryly. “You used power tools that at first intimidated you. By the end of the semester, you showed up half the guys in class with your skills.”

At least he’d dragged a smile from her, before she asked, “What’s your point?”

“You’re not easily intimidated. You were the only girl in the whole class, and you held your own. I know you,” he said. “You’re strong, you accept challenges like you’re born for it. This won’t take you down. A hurdle, sure. But you’re stronger than your fear. I believe in you.”

She gripped the lapels of his coat. “You do?”

“Absolutely. Always have. Always will.”

She released a heavy sigh and gently pushed away from him to stand on her own two feet. “Thanks for the reminder.”

He didn’t release her. “Remember…what I always told you?”

The allusion to his former statement during their phone call registered when she nodded. “You said: When I really needed you, no matter what, you’d be there for me.”

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