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Zach shifted his attention to Gia. “I’ll ask Naveah to stay with you after her shift.”
“That’s not necessary.” Gia gave a stilted smile. “I’ll be fine.”
Caleb didn’t buy it. He was close enough to see the tension in her muscles, the faint tremble in her body.
Fight or flight.
He had a feeling he knew which one she would choose.
He started to reach for her chin, then remembered her earlier reaction and dropped it. “Get some rest. Decide what to do in the morning.”
Don’t run.
“In the morning,” he stressed.
She said nothing, just stared at him with wide, turbulent eyes that made him want to stay.
To watch over her.
To hold her until she felt safe again.
When he’d brushed his lips across hers on the ground outside the bar, it had been to distract her. Keep her calm while he planned his move against the asshole about to plug him with a round.
And because he’d wanted to.
She’d tasted as good as she smelled.
Prickly pear.
The hand he’d almost touched her with curled into a fist.
He’d had beautiful women as clients before and never once had his thoughts veered to unprofessional places. What was it about this woman that had him so off-kilter?
Maybe he should take a vacation instead of the New York job. He had plenty of time accrued. Make himself do something that wasn’t work-related.
Get a life.
“Your car’s still at the bar.” The huskiness in her voice was as potent as if she’d stroked her palm over the front of his jeans.
His body tightened.
“I’ll drive him back,” Zach offered, his tone laced with irritation.
Caleb snapped back into himself and checked his watch.Nine pm.
His mother’s funeral was in the morning.
“Thank you,” Gia whispered. A butterfly touch to his arm that he felt all over. “For being my knight in shining armor.”
He nodded, unsettled by the thought he might not see her again. “Take care.”
The deadbolt clicked behind him and Zach.
Only then did he release the breath he’d been holding.
She was safe.
But for how long?