Page 5 of Too Lethal to Love

Kane snickered as he secured his gun inside his jacket. “Whatever, brother.” He didn’t have to act like a ladies’ man with Beth. He’d only known her a couple of weeks, but enough chemistry naturally kindled between them to start a fire. But even if she hadn’t been giving him the cold shoulder lately, Beth wasn’t a one-night stand kind of girl. Until he got out of the military, he was a no commitment kind of guy.

He pulled in cold air as he picked up his pace. “Feels like we just did this a few weeks ago.”

“We did. Let’s hope tonight’s drama doesn’t send anyone into hiding. Or the hospital.”

“Let’s hope.” Although taking Beth to the ER after she’d hit her head during a break-in at Scarlett’s townhome less than a month ago had been one of the best nights of his life. At least up until their impromptu not-quite date went to shit.

Kane forced the memory from his mind as they approached Beth’s place in the middle of the well-lit block. All looked quiet from the inside. So did the neighborhood. Once he made sure her house was secure, he’d have a conversation with the pretty research scientist. She may not like him, and God knew he couldn’t pursue anything more thanfriendship, but she’d damn well tell him why Nic had been the one she’d called.

Beth glanced in the rearview mirror as she pulled into the parking spot in front of her townhome. One hand clenched the steering wheel. The other fisted the gun by her side. She hadn’t been tailed as far as she could tell, but what did she know?

She turned her attention back to the windshield. A familiar figure in a black cowboy hat and dark jeans that hugged his body like a sin jogged down her steps.

Kane.

As she switched off the engine and disengaged the door lock, she cursed. Heat flooded her cheeks, half from embarrassment that hadn’t abated from their first encounter and half from anger at his appearance. Before she could reach for the handle, he opened the door.

With one arm braced on the roof, the other on the frame, he leaned in. “Are you okay?”

She met eyes the color of a summer sky as she slipped her gun into her bag. “What are you doing here?”

The clouds shifted as if disturbed by the ire in her voice. A sliver of moonlight beamed from the heavens. The scant glow highlighted the hardness in his cerulean gaze. He cocked his head as if his question about her welfare was obvious. And itwasobvious. She’d been hurt again. This trauma wasn’t physical like when he’d been tasked with taking her to the hospital after the break-in at Scarlett’s, but she’d been injured just the same.

No, worse. Physical pain went away. Tonight’s ordeal would leave scars that would plague her forever. Worse thanthat, it had stolen the precarious sense of safety—of normalcy—she’d struggled to attain.

There was nothing normal about living in fear, and certainly nothing normal about asking for help from some sort of super soldier trained to protect and fight.

Or die trying.

“You shouldn’t be here, Kane. Where’s Nic?”

Annoyance flashed in his gaze, half-hidden by the brim of his cowboy hat.

He straightened and held out his hand as he backed up a few steps. “We’ll talk inside where it’s safe.”

The only place she felt safe was in her lab at work. Armed guards, metal detectors, and access granted by biometric verification had a way of making a girl feel secure. The runner-up was her home with its top-of-the-line security system. Her holiday plans didn’t allow her to take refuge in the first. Tonight’s events compromised the second.

Ignoring his outstretched hand, she grabbed her bag and exited the car. The crisp night air did nothing to cool her aggravation. She’d worked hard to learn how to take care of herself. Relinquishing control over her safety meant she’d regressed to being a victim. She’d spent too much time in that role. A bizarre cake stealing wouldn’t banish her back, but the incident had scared her.

She wasn’t naive enough to turn down protection; she just couldn’t accept it from Kane. But Christ, the hard set of his jaw and the tension radiating from his wide shoulders blanketed her with the same sense of safety she felt at work. The gun she spied under his faded black leather jacket helped too.

He ushered her up the stairs and into her house, his head on a swivel, all business and coiled energy. This shift to protector, so at odds with the easygoing country boy who cracked jokes with a twang and talked about his horses backhome like they were his babies, unnerved her almost as much as the mysterious cake stealer.

In a flash, he shut the door and locked it. She stared at him as memories of the last time he’d walked—no, carried her over the threshold—engulfed her brain. Clearing her throat, she shoved that night aside. “Where’s Nic?”

“Getting his laptop so he can check the security feeds from the bakery and the shopping center. We secured your house and the backyard. No sign of a break-in or any surveillance equipment. Whoever threatened you hasn’t been here.”

“I wasn’t threatened, just…” She crossed her arms over her chest.

Violated. Again.Although her fight-or-flight response agreed with Kane.

He peered through the light-up snowflake hanging in her window. “Someone arranged an incident to let you know you’re being watched. That’s a threat in my book.”

God, she wanted to tell him he was overreacting. Perhaps some weirdo really had scammed her cake, put it on the hood of a random car so he could check his phone, and then forgot it.

And maybe Santa will come down my chimney tonight.

Kane tipped her chin up with his fingers. “Do you understand that this is serious shit?”

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