Page 44 of Anchor Point

He also didn’t know that Olivia had me on her side. And I’d make sure she and Rosie were safe. Even if it meant moving them in with me.

“Absolutely not.” Her voice rang loud and clear through the kitchen. The high color on her cheeks and the way her fists lay clenched on the table, not to mention the firm set of her jaw, was enough to terrify most people.

But I wasn’t most people, and I wasn’t taking no for an answer. Gone was the pleasant boat ride, the emotional aftermath of the restaurant, and now a fuming woman sat across from me mere minutes after receiving the news that Loren was back on the loose and she was a target. I wanted to wrap them both in bubble wrap and then hit something. Hard.

“This is the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard. I’m not about to sit by and let some punk-ass threaten me and my daughter and let him run me from my own damn home.” Her voice rose with every word, echoing off the bare walls of my lake house.

“Chief—” I was back to calling her by her title because I’d needed to put that distance between us.

“That’s right, Captain. I am the chief. And what I say goes.”

She was wrong there.

“Olivia,” I barked, needing to get her attention, allowing fear to take control. “I’m not your damn subordinate in my own fucking house, so listen up. I’m not taking any chances. You’ve read the file, but you weren’t here when Thoren almost died. You didn’t console his girlfriend while we waited. You weren’t the one running in to save him from that fire. I’ve been on the waiting side too many times recently. I’ll be damned if I sit by and let you put yourself in harm’s way.”

“That bastard is bluffing. He’s not coming for me.” The fire glinting from her eyes would be a beautiful thing under other circumstances. Seeing her all worked up and pissed off did things to me. But I tamped that ridiculous thought down because now was not the time to be thinking of how beautiful Olivia Hawkins was.

I shook my head. “You don’t know that, and I’m not taking chances. Think of Rosie. Hell, think of me. If I ever meant anything to you, if she means anything to you, you will trust me on this and let me at least provide you a safer place. Some backup.”

Some of the fire went out of her at my words. Her shoulders relaxed to the point that she almost looked defeated.

“If I hide, it will make me look weak. I can’t stand looking weak.” Her voice was soft, vulnerable.

I pulled out the chair next to hers and sat, placing a hand over her fisted one. “It’s not weak to accept help. It’s not weak to be safe,” I offered. “You and Rosie come to my place. Let me take care of you. Let me be the man my daughter needs me to be.”

All my pride bled away as I practically begged her to understand.

She studied our hands for a moment, and then finally, finally, she turned hers over in mine and linked our fingers.

“Okay, but we will have to sort this out so that city hall doesn’t turn this into something they can use for grounds for dismissal.”

I wanted to reassure her and tell her it would all be okay, but I couldn’t bring myself to lie to her. So I just squeezed her hand and silently prayed that it would.

Chapter Thirteen

Olivia

“This is ridiculous,” I muttered under my breath as I tossed a couple more items into the bag. I’d been muttering the words over and over the entire ride home from the lake house. It was finally Rosie who trumped me into agreeing because I didn’t want my daughter to be in danger, and if being with Mac meant she might be a fraction safer, Mac’s was where I’d take her.

All my frustration wove tightly around the fact that spending time with him had royally messed with my head. Independent woman? Yes, thank you. Horny and attracted to the silver fox that fathered her daughter? Also yes. Trapped in a situation that meant one of us could lose our jobs if something came of this attraction?

I shook my head because now I was being ridiculous.

I was more upset about what might happen if I was forced to spend time with Mac, and how that absolutely could not happen, than I was about being targeted by a killer.

Why?

Because just the minimal amount of time that we’d spent at the lake house had shown me that Mac was still as amazing as I’d remembered.

And everything he did made me want him more. Which was impressive considering I hadn’t had much of a sex drive in the past few… years, it seemed.

Being told she’s “frigid” would do that to a woman.

Old shame resurfaced at the memory of Tim and me trying—and failing—to talk through our intimacy issues. In the end, it had just been easier to forgo sex than to deal with the problems that came with it.

To him, it didn’t matter that my mind wouldn’t shut off, ever. Even when we were in bed. Especially when we were in bed.

He’d go down on me, and I’d start thinking about a grocery list.

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