Page 34 of Ambush

Blake had always made her feel safe and protected. He was such a caregiver still, stepping in to be a dad to his brothers and a helper to his mother. There weren’t many men like Blake Lawson out in the world. She’d checked out a few frogs, and Prince Charming always revealed his warts.

Except for Blake. His steadying presence calmed her like nothing else ever had.

She lifted her head and stared into his face, trying to read his feelings. His blue eyes smiled in such a gentle, accepting way. He never made her feel less-than or like she would never measure up to some impossible, perfect goal. He’d always seen her for who she was and had loved her anyway.

Her lips parted, and she wanted nothing more than to feel his lips on hers again after all these years. It was crazy and she should move away. But she slid her hand up to his neck and pulled him closer.

A flash of joy sparked in his gaze, and his arms tightened around her. When the kiss came, it was everything she remembered. Tender but masterful. Gentle but passionate. And she felt it all the way through her being.

She slipped her other arm up to join the first and kissed him back with all the yearning she’d suppressed through the years. Her temperature gauge went from freezing to red hot in seconds.

She’d never gotten over him. Not really. She’d tried to tell herself she had, but it was a convenient story she’d told herself in the midnight hours when she yearned to call him. His kiss drove allthoughts from her head for several long minutes, until he gave a shaky laugh and pulled away.

But he kept his arms tight around her. “Okay now?”

She nodded and made a slight motion to pull back, and his embrace dropped away, leaving her feeling cold and bereft. “Thank you for rescuing me from the lion. Sheriff Davis was in my dream too, and this time I remembered how he used to come see my mother. She would make me go outside to play until he was gone.” She rubbed the gooseflesh that had erupted on her arms. “I think his wife might be right and he killed them. It would explain why the investigation never seemed to lead anywhere. No one really cared.”

The furnace kicked on with a rattle and a wheeze that seemed so normal. That wheeze was the lion’s breath she’d heard in her dream. The last of her fear seeped away. “I think I can sleep now. How’d you get in?”

“Your door was ajar. I heard something in the yard, then heard you scream. I came running up the steps and was sure someone was in here when I saw the door. You didn’t hear anything? That latch can be tricky.”

Cold shuddered down her spine. “I know I locked it, Blake.”

“I’ll check it.”

She wasn’t going to stay here by herself when someone could be in her apartment. Barefooted, she padded along behind him as he flipped on lights and checked behind furniture and in the closet. No one was inside, but Blake stopped and took a sharp inhale.

“What is it?” But he didn’t have to answer because she saw the muddy footprints on the kitchen floor herself. “Those aren’t yours?”

“Nope.” He showed her his clean-soled sneakers. “I think you’d better stay in the main house tonight. You can take the bottom full bunk as long as you don’t mind sleeping with Levi. It was his turn tonight. I’ll sleep on the sofa.”

She doubted she’d sleep anyway, not with her lips still burning from his kisses and her heart still hammering from knowing someone had been in here with her.

Chapter 16

The humid night air held the taste of menace. Blake stalked the perimeter of The Sanctuary fence and watched for movement in the trees and buildings. Who had been in the garage apartment? Before the Mason woman’s body was discovered, he would have said he trusted every one of their employees, but too many things had happened in the past two weeks.

What if he hadn’t heard Paradise? Would someone have attacked her? He didn’t like admitting to himself how she seemed to be a target. And that kiss had left him craving more. Where did he want their relationship to go now? He feared examining that question too closely. One thing he knew for sure—a piece of his heart still belonged to her and maybe always would. Tonight she’d been frightened, and he feared tomorrow she’d have her shields firmly in place again.

A shadow loomed in the barn doorway. “You okay, Blake? You’re out late.” Lacey Armstrong moved into view. Her sleek brown hair was up in a topknot.

“We had an intruder in the main house. Muddy footprints inmy apartment. You’re up late.” He eyed her bike shorts and tee. “You’re out exercising at this hour?”

“They’re comfortable for sleeping. It was my turn to man the animal hospital overnight. The hyenas were making a ruckus, and I came out to see what they were hot about.”

He turned in the direction of the hyena enclosure. “You see anything?”

“A rabbit had wandered in, and they were fighting over the carcass.”

While Blake liked animals, the hyenas were a breed he would have been happy to send off somewhere else. He didn’t dare turn his back on one, and they could be vicious. “Did you hear or see anything else?”

She shook her head and came close enough he caught a whiff of a light scent she wore, something sweet and enticing. Lacey had been working here a year, and when he arrived to help out, they’d become friends. Though she’d made it clear she was happy to entertain a closer relationship, Blake wasn’t ready for anything romantic. He’d never made a move to go beyond a casual friendship.

She put her hand on his arm. “What do you make of all this? It feels like we’re being deliberately targeted, doesn’t it?”

He didn’t want to offend her, so he didn’t move away. “Yeah, it does. The murder, the fire, constant intruders. There’s a purpose behind all of it, but I can’t see who would stand to gain anything by harassing us.” He shifted when the hyenas snarled again, and her hand fell away. “I think I’ll check out the hyena enclosure myself.”

“I’ll walk with you.” She fell into step beside him.

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