Page 28 of Lethal Threat

If going into her apartment brings back her memories, there’s gonna be a crisis. Only this time, I’m not letting her go.

I motion toward the building on the right. “Yeah. Up there. Top floor. You live here. Not me.”

“So…um…we don’t live together?”

I shake my head. Landmine detected. Tread easy. I’ve been thinking about this question since I walked into the hospital.

As I turn off the engine, I tell her the truth. “No. We don’t live together.Yet.But you’re coming to my place now. After that, we’ll figure out what makes the most sense.”

If she doesn’t get her memory back.

The corners of her mouth drop into a frown. “So weird. I feel kind of seasick because I don’t know any of that.”

I’m thinking the same thing.I don’t have my sea legs either, sweetheart.

She reaches for the handle to open the car door, but Igrab her. “Let me get a feel of things before we go running up to the sidewalk.”

That makes Sierra scrunch her nose. Which makes her wince. Which makes me pissed off as fuck that she’s got such bad bruising.

She mutters, “Right. I forgot. We’re in high alert mode.”

“Safety first.”

As soon as I utter the words, I remember Sierra used to always counter me with a devilish grin. “Safety third,” she’d say before she would do something ballsy.

After another minute of watching for any signs of trouble, I give the all clear. Before I can tell her to let me open the door, she bolts.

I call after her as I jump from the car. “Hang on there, wild woman.”

When she meets me at the front of the car, I have to fight not to scold her. “In the future, let me open your door.”

“Are you one of those men that?—”

“Yep. I am. I enjoy opening your door. Call me old-fashioned. I’ve got manners, and if I didn’t, my mother would kick my ass.”

What I don’t remind her of right now is that I also enjoy holding her hand and tucking her close to my side with my arm over her shoulder. Not going there now. I’m already skating on thin ice, trying to keep my libido under control.

I do allow myself to rest my hand on her low back as I guide her up the walk to the entry to her building.

I pull out the key Cade gave me as we climb the stairs. “Fortunately, Cade got a key for us. He had it made by the landlord.”

What I don’t tell Sierra is that my key is missing… or technically at the bottom of the river since I threw it off a bridge in a fit of heartbroken rage.

I slide it into the lock and try to turn it. Only the thing doesn’t budge. Just fucking great. I clench the key in my fist. “Which doesn’t work, by the way.”

Chapter Ten

COLE

As I try the lock, Sierra remarks, “That’s weird.”

Weird in a string of oddities. The accident. The possible car tailing us. Now the lock.

I examine the gold-tone key for any anomalies. “Looks normal, but doesn’t fit this lock. Could have given us the wrong key.”

She glances around. “Do you think the office is on site? Maybe we could ask?”

“Possibly, but I have a faster solution.”