Page 59 of Dangerous Lover

Ten minutes later, he drove by again, trying to see whether there was an external security system, but the light from the street lamps wasn’t enough to be able to tell whether thewindows were alarmed or what kind of lock was on the front door. That would require close scrutiny, and he’d have to leave tracks in the snow. If Prescott was in there, he’d notice immediately.

The only thing he could tell with certainly was that there were no security cameras.

So maybe the beautiful Miss Lake was the trusting sort.

It was a thought. Jack Prescott was a tough man to break. Trusting Caroline Lake was going to be the hammer that would smash him.

This was good. A plan was forming.

Satisfied that he had done all he could for the moment, Deaver drove off to his hotel.

Tomorrow the endgame began.

On Monday morning,Caroline peered out at the sky, trying to gauge what to expect. It wasn’t snowing at the moment, but the sky was sullen dark grey, even though it was eight in the morning.

Would it snow today? She hadn’t been able to listen to the forecasts because the TV and the radio were both still on the blink. She could check the internet, but her computer was up in her room and by the time she powered it up and googled the weather, she’d be running late.

Whether it snowed or not was out of her control. She needed to drive to work and that was that. Plus, Jack wanted to get going on whatever it was he needed to do today. He was already in his leather jacket, ready to go.

Caroline pasted a smile on her face. Monday mornings were always hard but this one was harder yet.

If she could, she’d press rewind and live yesterday all over again. They’d done absolutely nothing but eat and make love all day. Well,she’ddone nothing but eat and make love all day. Jack had managed to fix her leaky washing machine, repair the bookshelves in her bedroom, oil the hinges of the garage door and shovel another bazillion tons of snow off the driveway. All the while insisting she sit in front of the fire with a book, a glass of wine and a blanket.

He didn’t take no for an answer. The only thing he let Caroline do was cook, and then wolfed down whatever she put in front of him. They’d made love in front of the fire, in the shower and several times in her bed and she’d slept like a log afterwards.

It felt as if she and Jack had been living in a delightful little Christmas bubble, cut off from the outside world and its cares. But now the outside world loomed and she had to face it, starting with driving them into town over icy roads with bald tires and no spare.

“Weather looks bad,” she sighed.

“Yeah.” He glanced at his watch with a frown. The doorbell rang. “About time,” Jack muttered and went to the front door.

Someone was standing there with a form and a set of keys. Behind him, on the street, was a big black Explorer. Jack signed the form and took the keys. When the door closed behind him, he dangled the keys in front of her and said, “Wheels.”

He bent and gave her a quick kiss.

“What?”

Jack pointed to the Explorer outside. “I rented that for a week, until I can find something to buy. It’s no weather to be driving around with bald tires. I’ll drive you in and drive you back until the weather clears up.”

A couple of days ago, Caroline would have objected, out of pride if nothing else. But she’d almost got them killed Friday night, so she said nothing.

He helped her into her coat.

Caroline fingered his jacket. “You need warmer clothes.”

“Yeah. I’ll buy some today.”

“The cheapest place in town is Posy’s and the Christmas sales have already begun, so you should get some good deals. Or you could maybe try The Clothes Factory on State Street. They have used clothes, sometimes very good ones. I shop there a lot. I hate thinking of you going out in this weather with only this jacket.”

He looked down at her, eyes dark and unfathomable. “I’ll be okay,” he said softly. “Don’t worry about me.”

Don’t worry. Caroline nearly sighed. Worry had been her middle name for so many years now that she’d forgotten what it was like not to worry.

She looked up at him, hand still on his jacket. She was stalling and she knew why. “I don’t want to go out,” she whispered.

He picked her hand up and brought it to his mouth. “No,” he said simply.

Outside was cold and bleak, another country. A country of problems and hardships. Inside was warm and safe, where nothing could touch her.

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