Page 12 of Deadly Attraction
“Where are you going?” Agent Holden quickly caught up to her. “You shouldn’t be out here.”
She handed him the flashlight and threw open the barn door. “I want to show you something.”
His voice was flat, tight. “You’re making yourself a target.”
“If Chris is around—which I very much doubt he is—he’ll confront me face to face, and wouldn’t that be nice? Between the two of us, we could shoot his ass and put an end to this before it even gets started. You could be home before sunrise.”
She smiled sweetly, and saw his jaw twitch. Not even the shadows could hide it. Annoyance? Oh, yeah. But maybe a touch of humor too.
“Are you always like this?” he asked, helping her move the big barn door out of the way, his eyes scanning the interior as well as shooting a look over his shoulder.
“Helpful?” she supplied.
“Bullheaded.”
Still smiling, she led him into the barn, flipping on the overhead lights and passing the stalls of her other horses to get to Second Chance’s. The foal was standing next to her mother, both of them lifting their heads and pinning the newcomers with their dark, soulful eyes. “Hope,” Emma said.
Agent Holden’s gaze inspected the barn, skimming over the stalls, tools, hay. “A smelly barn and some horses equals hope?”
It did to her. She pointed at the pair in front of them. “Hope is my new foal. Born a few hours ago and look how beautiful she is already. Strong and sleek. She almost didn’t make it. Her mother might have died, too, during the birth, but they both lived and they’re doing fine.”
As if on cue, Hope swished her tail. She raised her head and whinnied at them.
“That’s nice,” Agent Holden said. He studied the horses for a moment, shifting his weight between his feet as if itching to be anywhere but in the barn with her.
“This is my Christmas present,” she said, ignoring his restlessness. “Hope. She embodies a fresh start, a new year. An innocent joy I haven’t felt in a long, long time.”
Shyly, the foal ambled over. Emma stroked her nose. Both Labs inched closer and Salt put her nose up against the stall’s open slats, sniffing. The curious foal dropped her nose to do the same.
Holden’s eyes kept cutting to the barn door. Was he worried about Chris showing up or was he planning his escape? “She’s…cute.”
Cute? Hmm. His heart was colder than the Grinch’s. “New life represents hope. Babies, puppies, kittens…they all make us feel happy and optimistic.”
“If you say so.”
But he couldn’t seem to resist when the foal shifted her nose to him. One of his large hands reached out and rubbed her between the ears. He’d been that way with the dogs too. He couldn’t seem to ignore animals.
In Emma’s book, that made him even more likable.
Work your magic on him, Hope.
“Are you always like this?” she said, mocking his earlier question to her.
His lips twitched as he played along. “Charming and smart?”
“Detached and grumpy.”
The lip twitch turned into a frown. He checked his phone, scanned the barn door again. “Only when I’m trying to keep someone safe and she’s making that extremely difficult.”
He liked a challenge; she could see it in the way his eyes danced. “Constant vigilance must take a toll.”
“I’m not used to playing bodyguard.”
Maybe not, but she would bet he guarded his own heart and his feelings closely. “Victor must trust you a great deal, then, and feel confident that you’re up for the job.”
A soft chuckle escaped his lips. “I was the closest warm body when the call came in. Nothing more than that.”
Self-deprecating. She liked that. “Lucky me.”
