Page 36 of Ambush

“Why not?” She held her breath. Would he tell her the truth or guard his words? If her life depended on it, she didn’t think she could untangle the knot of her emotions. Maybe he knew how he felt, but she wasn’t sure she could name the things that made her mouth go dry and her heart begin to gallop. She wanted to blame physical attraction for all that, but her heart knew better.

He set the juice on the counter and came closer still. “You have upended my life again, you know. Something has always bound us, Paradise. You might not want to admit it, but you know it, don’t you?”

She didn’t want to agree with him, but the words spilled out anyway. “You were always kind to me, even back in high school.”

“I always felt way more than kindness, and you know that too.”

He wasn’t saying what he felt now, but he didn’t have to. She knew. They both knew. And her reserve had never fooled him. He had laser vision into her soul. The man she didn’t know as well as the teenager, but she wanted to.

She should flee to the bedroom, but her feet stood rooted in one spot as he took a step closer. Then another until he was standing close enough to kiss her again. And she couldn’t thinkof anything she’d rather experience than another brush of his lips on hers. She might just suffocate waiting for him to make a move, so she did. She placed her hand on his chest and stared into those gentle eyes.

His fingertips came under her chin and nudged it up a bit. “I don’t want you to trample my heart again, Paradise, but I’m afraid you might.”

His words were a dose of cold water over the heat rising in her chest. He was too good and kind, and she didn’t want to hurt him. Could she move beyond the pain of her past rejections? Did she even want to try for a new start with Blake? Part of her did, but could things be different when she was the same broken person inside?

She pulled back her hand. “I’d better let you get some sleep.” She fled before the disappointment on his face collapsed her resolve.

Chapter 17

How much had she slept last night? Paradise guessed it wasn’t more than three hours. And Blake would have gotten even less. She arrived at the clinic and found a light schedule waiting, but the lingering chemical odor inside had her head throbbing in half an hour. Fresh air might help. She opened the windows, and while the room aired, she headed outside to take a walk around the grounds.

She’d been here nine days, and she hadn’t forced herself to see the jaguar enclosure. The population report had revealed they had a black jaguar, and it was time she tried to face her fear.

Her steps lagged as she walked across the scruffy winter grass toward the predator section. The distinctive jaguar nasal grunting came from her left, and she froze. She barely turned her head and saw the black panther’s yellowish eyes fixed on her. The greeting came again, but at least it wasn’t the more aggressive roar. This jaguar simply wanted to say hello.

All she had to do was put one foot in front of the other and move toward the enclosure. She could even grab some meatfrom the nearby shed and feed her, but Paradise’s legs refused to move.

She rubbed her throbbing shoulder. “She’s behind the fence. She can’t hurt me.” The whispered reassurance did nothing to calm her racing heart, and she still couldn’t move.

A male voice spoke from behind her, and she whipped around to see Detective Greene bearing down on her with an intent expression. She turned on shaky legs, and for once she welcomed his appearance. She could delay confronting her nightmare for a while.

“Lacey pointed me in this direction.” His gaze raked her from head to foot before focusing on her face. “I wanted to pick up the blasting materials the two of you found.”

“I think Blake has those.”

“And he’s out on a safari tour, so I hoped you could help me. I’d hate to make a wasted trip.”

“I think he put them in the barn. This way.” She led the way back toward the main entrance to the row of buildings where supplies were stored.

Her back prickled between her shoulder blades, and she had no doubt Greene was watching the sway of her hips as she walked. If she could have had him go first, she would have. She unlocked the barn door and left it open. “There’s a locked cabinet here on the right.”

Going inside the dim barn with a lech like Greene didn’t seem like a good idea, but Paradise had no choice. All she had to do was hand over the evidence, and he’d be out of her way. Dust motes of hay danced in the dim sunlight streaming through the door, and she held back a sneeze.

The cabinet where Blake had left the evidence stood open, andshe peered inside. “It was on this shelf.” She touched the now-empty spot on the second shelf. “Someone’s taken it.”

“Or Blake has hidden it. I doubt he’d want me to have a chance to examine it.”

“Deputy Greene, Blake is not behind the crimes that have happened. Your blind determination to pin this on him is going to backfire on you.”

He stepped into her personal space. “That sounds like a threat.” The fingers of his right hand twined around a lock of her hair. “You’re really quite beautiful. I might see my way to going in another direction if you’d let me take you to dinner. I’m sure I could show you a good time.”

She knocked his hand out of the way and took a step back. “You’re disgusting. What would the sergeant think if he knew you were behaving this way?”

She’d thought her implied threat would have an effect since he’d seemed worried about her tattling to her cousin a few days ago, but Greene scowled and reached for her hair again.

“It wouldn’t be good for your long-term health for you to complain about me. I’ve got connections over McShea’s head.”

She turned to run from the barn, but he caught her by her left upper arm, and the too-painful spot flared into raging pain. A moan tried to escape and she bit it back. She wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of knowing he’d hurt her.

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