Page 19 of Sizzling Nights

Her heartbeat sped up.

"Yes, I know what that is."

"Okay, well, he has a chatter channel, and he heard Blossom Springs and business partners."

She leaned down and rested her hands on her knees. She hoped it would force her mind to stop thinking of the bad things that could happen and start to formulate a plan. She'd let herself get complacent. What was wrong with her? She'd always thought her muscle memory would come back when she needed it, and she'd jump into survival mode once more. Maybe it had run out since she had been on the run for the past year. It was only the past six months here that she'd felt safe.

"Okay, so we have our work cut out for us, Theresa. We have to figure out who could be a business partner here in Blossom Springs."

She closed her eyes for a moment.

"Okay," she finally got out.

Her knees shook. She stretched her back.

His voice was soft and concerned when he said, "I'm sorry." The concern in his voice nearly made her weep. He knew how scared she was.

That wasn’t good. She was not an actress—that was a fact.

Shouldn't she keep some distance?

He twisted slightly, resting his forearms on his legs as he spoke to her softly. "Hey, we're gonna do everything we can to make sure you're safe. Do you understand me?"

She nodded. "Yes, but they're here."

"Well, I guess we've known that now since last night when someone made contact with you."

"Right, but that was just by cell phone."

He nodded. "And then this morning? Someone threw a rock through your window. Do you think that was random?"

She sucked in a deep breath and blew it out hard. "No, it wasn't random. Do you think they've been watching me for a while?"

"It's possible. It's possible they've been waiting for instructions on what to do. Maybe they've been watching you to see if they could get a clue as to where you have those documents hidden. I would say it's highly probable that they are very calculated, and they are going to be very careful."

He grinned. "You have them scared, sweetheart. You have them real scared."

She huffed out her breath. "Well, now they have me scared too."

"Yeah, I understand."

Her knees still shook, and her stomach was flipping around like a fish trying to find water.

His voice was low and husky when he broke the silence. "Come on over here and sit down before you fall down."

She slowly moved to the sofa and sat on the edge of the cushion.

He scooted next to her and wrapped his arm around her. He gently leaned them back against the sofa, but he kept his arm around her shoulders. She could smell him. It was an interesting combination of food, cooking oils, and Marco. How could he still smell like himself after creating hundreds of meals tonight?

He reached over with his free hand and gently held her hand. He squeezed it gently.

She liked the comfort that she felt from his touch. She liked the softness that filled his voice when he comforted her.

Basically, she liked everything about him.

But she was in danger, and she had brought trouble to him.

His voice was deep, but solid and strong when he said, "Look, sweetheart, I know you're scared, and I know this feels like they are very close. But I can also tell you this—we're one up on them. We know they're here. They don't know we know that. So, tomorrow morning, we're going to start doing some research. You don't have to tell me where the files are, but can you just tell me this? Do you have to go somewhere to access them?"

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