Page 67 of Colton's Secret Weapon
He didn’t bother commenting on the obvious. She’d paid a heavy price for her choice.
“I just thought…within the complex I’d be safe. And mostly, because I felt safe here, my own physical safety wasn’t at the forefront of my mind.”
He had to bite back the words that came to him first. That her physical safety should always be at the forefront of her mind. But that wasn’t his call to make. “We’d just got the proof we’ve been seeking on Brad Fletcher,” he said instead. “It’s understandable, with all that’s gone on, your father lying in there…that getting the man in custody would be consuming you.” Which was why he’d told Welding to make sure he saw her into the building.
Which the detective had.
Mitchell just hadn’t imagined that Dove would head in the wrong door.
“Actually,” she said, turning her head on her knees to look at him, “Fletcher wasn’t the one affecting my thinking right then.”
The way she said the words, as though she was telling him something she wasn’t sure she should, treading in unsure waters, had him watching her intently.
She’d been thinking about him? Maybe about the fact that, with Fletcher’s arrest, and the warrants they could then compel, they might soon be able to prove conclusively that all the destructive things happening to her stemmed from the shady businessman’s attempt to pressure her into selling her father’s business. Which meant that her time as a guest in his home was at an end.
They’d had their one night together.
And it was done.
“When Detective Welding pulled up to the wrong part of the medical complex, he was asking me out.”
Mitchell’s gaze swung back to her, more intently than it should have done. He managed to keep his mouth shut, however.
If Dove wanted to date, that was her business. They’d had sex. No commitment. No expectations.
“I didn’t want to embarrass him, but at the same time I just had no interest. Except to be noncommittal and get out of the car before he could press for more. I didn’t want to risk the chance that he’d hang around for a minute or two, to make sure things were good, and so I went out the back way.”
Reeling with the words, he continued to stare at her. The idea that Welding had expressed an interest in Dove wasn’t as fantastical as Mitchell’s immediate reaction to the man for having done so. He’d have liked to punch the man in the face.
Which was better than the gun he’d have taken to her assailant had he been present during that travesty.
Still, he had no right to any opinion about Dove’s love life.
Nor any reason to feel like strutting around like a golden rooster at her response to Welding’s invitation.
She’d had no interest.
Which factored in not at all.
It was about the attack she’d endured. And her dealing with it. Getting by it as best she could. That was all that mattered.
About the fact that her would-be abductor was still out there. On the loose. Possibly planning to try again. Unless Welding and his team could get a look at Fletcher’s phone records, his finances. Then figure out who was on his payroll and stop them.
Or it was until the door into the ward opened suddenly, with a nurse standing there.
Her expression—not grim—the uniformed woman said, “Your father’s awake. The doctor’s on her way.”
And Dove was gone.
Chapter 20
Spirits soaring, Dove practically flew into her father’s room, only just realizing, when she heard Mitchell’s soft tones behind her speaking to the nurse, that she’d just left him sitting out there.
A part of her was stronger, knowing he was there, but she was fully focused on her father.
And stopped, not far inside his door when she saw the anger glaring at her from his older blue eyes. “What’s going on?” he demanded in a tone she hadn’t heard directed at her…ever. “Why am I here? Did you have me committed? Because I can tell you…” He started to throw off his covers and sit up.
“Dad, no!” she said, hurrying over to him, both arms reaching out to his chest. Not to push him back but to hold on. He didn’t hug her back but had stopped moving forward, and tears burst out of her. “You were hurt,” she told him, sobbing. “Please lie back down. At least until the doctor can look in your eyes and make sure you’re okay to get up.”
