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She studied his muscular back and the broad shoulders filling out his simple T-shirt. The man had to own nothing but T-shirts in every color imaginable since they’re all he seemed to wear.

“I never learned to cook. My mom said I never had the patience. She would try to teach me, but I kept getting distracted. She finally gave up and decided I needed different activities to keep my mind busy. Girl Scouts, piano lessons, softball, cheerleading, tennis, creative writing club, dating. I learned to live off frozen food and takeout in college, which serves me well now. My mom tries to stock my freezer whenever she comes to visit.”

Jackson dried his cup and replaced it in the cabinet. Then he moved to the door on the other side of the room. “I’m going to do a perimeter sweep.”

“Wait!” She waited for him to turn back with a curious look. “Is there a computer I can use?”

He eyed her suspiciously. “What for?”

“I need to work.”

He quirked an eyebrow as if he didn’t believe her. She released a frustrated sigh.

“I don’t expect you to understand, but when I’m working on a book, the ideas won’t leave me alone until I write them down. It’ll help keep me sane until my parents get here. I have a deadline coming up, and I have to work when I can considering what’s happening. I left my laptop behind, so I need to borrow a computer.”

“How can you work if you’re stuff is at home?”

“Everything is saved to cloud storage. I can work from anywhere with an internet connection. I’d work to on my phone, but the keyboard is too small. I can type faster with both hands instead of only my thumbs.”

His arms crossed his chest, a sign she’d started associating with his stubbornness. “I don’t think it’s a good idea.”

“Why not? Do you expect me to sit here and do nothing while you catch the bad guys?”

“I expect you not to let anyone track your location because you use the internet.”

“If you think I’m being tracked, why let me use the phone? Plus, you can’t tell me with all the security you have around here that your laptop doesn’t have a dozen firewalls and encryptions to protect it?”

“How do I know you won’t go poking around my files?”

This time, she was the one to cross her arms over her chest. “Because I don’t care about your secret stash of porn. I just want access to my book.”

She expected him to keep fighting her on the issue, and a small part of her was disappointed he didn’t. Instead he shrugged as if resigning himself to giving her what she wanted.

“I’ll talk to Luke and make sure all of the connections are secure enough for you to use one of the laptops for work. He and Ben should be here about the time Easton arrives with your mom and stepdad.”

He turned to leave as if the matter was settled.

“Wait! That doesn’t help me now. It’s better if I can write when inspiration strikes me.”

She would almost hear his brain churning with possible excuses to shut her up. Finally, he stomped over to the kitchen counters and began rifling through drawers. He closed one with a resounding thud and turned to hold up a notepad and stick ink pen triumphantly. He slapped them on the kitchen table next to her.

“Use these.”

Reagan watched him, slack-jawed, as he left her alone in the kitchen without another word.

∞∞∞

Jackson completed his turn around the perimeter and paused at the large pine tree at the front of the cabin. He opened an app on his phone and checked the security cameras for anything unusual he might have missed during his walk through. Usually, he would have even rewound the feed to check the video recorded during the night, but since he hadn’t been able to sleep, he’d watched the cameras to pass the time.

He expected his thoughts to be consumed with English and finding his assailant. Instead, he thought of little else but the woman under his protection. Reagan was under his skin. She pushed his buttons, and when he thought he might strangle her, she became vulnerable, and his protective streak rose to the surface. He didn’t want to like her, and he definitely didn’t want to become attached to her.

He needed his brothers to show up. Ben could work his charm on Reagan and win her over, leaving Jackson to focus on the most important case of his life.

A pang ached in his chest, and he rubbed a fist against his sternum until it faded. He didn’t allow himself to ponder where the sudden ache came from. He didn’t want to know. Forming any kind of connection to Reagan was a bad idea, one he knew better than to entertain.

More for a distraction than to work the case, he called Luke for updates.

“Hey, man, have you talked to Easton?” Luke said without bothering with any kind of traditional greeting.