Page 43 of Lone Star Country Protector
“What? Imply that I wasn’t? Because what other logic is there for making a comment like that one?” Damn. She could hear the defensiveness in her own tone. “You’re saying that I’m not competent to take care of myself. And that I’m incapable of managing my life.”
“Hold on a second,” Dalton said, still calm as the surface of a lake on a clear day. “You got all that from what I said?”
“It’s what you meant, isn’t it?”
“No, seriously. You extrapolated a criticism of your professional life as well as your personal life based on what I said?” He white-knuckled the steering wheel.
When he put it in those words, she sounded off base. It had made sense in her head a few seconds ago. “Sorry, would you repeat your statement?”
“Why? You’re just going to decide what I mean instead of hearing me out anyway,” he said. The finality in his tone said they were done talking about this.
Had she jumped to conclusions?
Maybe. Okay, yes. Yes, she’d jumped to conclusions, but that didn’t mean she was off base.
“It’s all I know,” she said quietly as she stared out the front windshield.
“My grandmother used to say, ‘If it’s not broke, don’t fix it.’ Sounds like the saying applies here.”
Blakely doubted she could change if she wanted to. “I’m set in my ways, Dalton.”
“Okay,” he said. His quick agreement struck like a physical blow. “We’re here.” He pulled up to the front doors of thecourthouse, as close as possible. Ralph, her favorite bailiff, waited at the door. “You should probably head on inside.”
A moment of panic gripped her. “Where will you be?”
“I’ll be around,” he said.
Okay.She’d done it. She’d successfully pushed him away. She’d done this, without regret, to every person who came into her life for longer than she cared to remember.
Why did she suddenly feel hollow inside?
Blakely was midtrial on a robbery case. She expected closing arguments later today, and then the jury would go into the jury room and start their process.
As she passed by the men’s bathroom on the way to her courtroom, her law professor stepped into the hallway. The move caught her off guard. She yelped and brought a defensive hand up to push him away.
“Your Honor,” he began, tipping his hat and offering a slight bow.
Before he could continue, she asked, “Professor, what are you doing here?”
“I brought a couple of promising students to witness a trial,” he explained. The professor had a full head of white hair. He was tall, roughly six feet, and in his midfifties.
“Extra credit?” she asked, unable to muster a smile.
“That’s right,” he said, standing a little too close. “I’d hoped to catch you.” His gaze shifted from her to Ralph and back. “Might I have a word in private?”
“Is it urgent?” she asked as an icky feeling took hold. “Because I’m on my way to court.”
“Of course.” His smile was more like a sneer. “It can wait.”
Blakely tried to shake off the grimy feeling on her way to the bench.
“Everything all right, Your Honor?” Ralph asked.
“Fine,” she said, even though she felt anything but.
Chapter Sixteen
Dalton surveyed the area for a long moment after Blakely disappeared inside the building. There was no sign of trouble. None that he could see anyway, which didn’t necessarily mean a threat wasn’t there.
