Page 71 of Deathmarch

He grinned. “Your car is being released.”

She glanced at the cast on her foot. Of course they’d release her car as soon as she couldn’t drive it. “Thank you. For everything.”

“I can bring the Chevy over from the station later.” He moved on to his small kitchen table to set the food down.

“Would you mind taking it to the B and B? I’m going to head over after lunch.”

“No.”

And there went all the goodwill she’d unexpectedly discovered for him. She did her best to stare him down.Calamity Jane, help me now.“It’s not your decision to make.”

“I could take you into protective custody.”

“Dammit, Harper. You can’t keep me here against my will.”

Harper walked back to her, the fatigue in his eyes replaced by sparks of annoyance. “If you want to go back to your room so desperately, I’ll take you over. But someone, possibly your unhinged ex-boyfriend, almost ran you over last night. So please, think about this for a damn second.”

“Could have been an accident.”

“Could have. And we’ve already argued about that, so we’re not going to argue about it again. You were lucky last night. But just as easily, I could be out today investigating vehicular homicide.”

“It wasn’t—”

“You’re the only guest at the B and B. What if someone does want to hurt you, and he comes after you again? What if Shannon gets in his way? She just finally recovered from the fall she had last summer.”

Allie stared at him, hating that he was right and she was going to have to admit it.But not yet.“You’re emotionally blackmailing me with Shannon?”

“Yes.”

“And by openly admitting it instead of denying it, you’re taking the wind out of my sails. It’s very sneaky.”

“You got me. Too smart to be tricked.”

“I can’t tell if you’re mocking me or buttering me up.”

He grinned, and it was so quintessentially Harper, the old Harper she’d once been in love with, that she found herself grinning back at him, her aggravation evaporating. “Fine. I’ll stay.”

“If you insist.”

She threw a pillow at him. “Don’t push your luck.” Then she groaned. “You’re driving me crazy, you know that?”

“The feeling is mutual.” His tone was nothing but heartfelt.

In an unexpected move, he crouched in front of her.

Too close. His blue eyes too intent. She could smell his soap. Feel the heat of his body.

All humor disappeared from his expression as he said, “I can’t get the image of you in front of that car last night out of my head. The way you went down. You weren’t moving when I reached you. You didn’t open your eyes when I first called your name. Do you understand that you could have been killed?”

She didn’t know how to respond to that. He seemed sincerely concerned, like he truly, deeply cared. More than someone would care about a virtual stranger, which was what they were to each other after all those years apart. Right?

She struggled to stand without putting weight on her sore ankle until he rose and scooped her up, had her at the table in three steps, and smoothly deposited her into the nearest chair.

Oh.Her heart raced.

“Tell me about this Zane character,” he said before she could recover.

Not a conversation Allie wanted to have. But she did want to be back at the B and B, in her own room, and that meant she had to give Harper enough to convince him Zane wasn’t in Broslin.