Page 8 of Securing His Heart

So many thoughts swirled through her mind and she needed to go. Get somewhere safe.

“Umm you know what, I’m going to go back to my office.” She took two steps back, cradling her wrist which was beginning to hurt again. There had to be some ice cubes in the freezer in the staff kitchen. That would suffice until she had time to go to the doctor and get it looked at.

“Lindy? What’s going on?” Chris’s voice was full of concern.

How she wanted to believe that he wasn’t about to do anything sinister to her.

Yet now that the thoughts had taken root in her mind, she couldn’t stop them from growing until they consumed her consciousness.

“I think it’ll be best if I go.” The panic she was trying to hide crept into her voice and it had risen above her normal pitch.

Chris’s eyes widened and he gave another one of those little nods. “Okay, I’ll take you to wherever you want to go.”

The last thing she’d expected from him was his agreement. “You will?”

“I’ll do anything you want. If that’s going back to your office. Or getting a room in another hotel makes you happy, then I’ll take you.” He sighed and leaned against the open door, giving her full view of his room.

Shoes lined the floor in front of the neatly made bed. A jacket was draped over the back of the chair in front of the desk. On top of the wooden surface, sat a laptop and a pile of folders.

The room gave the impression of a businessman but there was still that dangerous edge to Chris.

She’d picked up on it when he’d first sat down on the stool next to her. The second time had been in the fierce look he’d sent into the direction of where her assailant had disappeared with her purse. The third time had been when they’d been at the police station when the questioning had seemed to be going in circles.

This man was complicated.

How could she think he was involved with her bag snatching when he’d been nothing but gentle and caring with her?

“Lindy?

Her name a whisper in the air and she looked up from where she’d been studying the ground.

“Come in for a minute,” he said.

“Okay.” Her acquiesce to his request was immediate and instinctive, the total opposite to the flight instinct from a few moments ago. All it had taken was a few words for her to feel comfortable with him again.

“Thank you.” Chris lightly touched her arm, as she passed him and she wanted to fall into his embrace.

Lindy headed over to the corner of the room, where a lounge chair was placed to take advantage of whatever the view was behind the heavy curtains.

“Do you want a drink? I can make you a coffee or tea?”

“I don’t think I need any caffeine, thanks, but I’ll have a water.”

He walked over to the mini fridge and pulled a bottle out; he went to reach for a glass.

“The bottle is fine, unless you want to share, then sure, pour some in the glass and have the bottle for yourself.” Lindy jammed her lips together to stop herself from saying anything else. Her father had worked with her on her tendency to let her words run together when she was stressed out.

He’d always cautioned her that she couldn’t let the people she was meeting with, even if they were on the same page as her, know that she was nervous or concerned about what she was trying to get them to understand.

Confidence is key when negotiating, Lindy. Always keep control of the situation. If you do, it will always work in your favor.

Her dad’s voice and advice sounded in her mind and the grief, which she’d done well in forgetting, returned full force and she blinked rapidly against the tears that built behind her eyes. If she let them fall, she was afraid she wouldn’t stop.

“Linds, what’s going on?” Chris had come up and was now squatting beside her chair. His fingers a few millimeters from her arm.

“I don’t even know you and yet you’ve come to my rescue and now I’m in your hotel room. I don’t even know who I am.”

Where did that last line come from? It was the truth. Ever since her Dad died, she didn’t know who she was.

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