Page 21

She’d always been so careful. But now…

You break the rules, you die.

Surely, she understood what would happen?

Shelby, you are only bringing this on yourself.

She should have just left things alone. Now it was too late.

He was in her bedroom.

And he seemed to be taking up way, way too much space.

Hunter waited near the foot of her bed. He’d actually even bent down moments before and checked under her bed. He’d searched every inch of her house. In closets. In the shower. The small attic space.

Under the bed.

No intruder lurked nearby. No one waited to jump out at her. Her home was safe.

And Hunter was taking up way too much space in her bedroom.

“All clear,” he announced, but he made no move to leave. Just kept lingering with his tousled hair, and his deep, dark eyes, and his big hands loose at his sides. He’d reholstered his gun minutes before, tucking it into place with a practiced motion.

He’d been with her the entire time at the hospital. Because, yes, he’d insisted that she go to the hospital. He’d shadowed her movements. Glared at any strangers who got a bit too close. And pretty much protected her every single moment.

She’d been intensely aware of him every single moment. Each time his body brushed against hers, Shelby had felt a rush of awareness. She was dying to know if Hunter felt it, too. Dying. Yeah, no, wrong word to think about.

“Where is your backup hearing aid?”

It always felt weird when she didn’t have her hearing aid in place. At first, it had taken her forever to get used to the light feel of the device on her ear. But without it, the world truly did feel one-sided. She couldn’t catch all the sounds around her, and when she did pick up distant things like car horns or the blast of music, it was hard to tell exactly where the sounds originated. If someone spoke low and close to her right ear, she either missed all the words, or they came to her so muffled that she could barely make sense of them.

With brisk steps, she hurried to her nightstand. She opened the drawer and pulled out the backup device. She always kept a backup. A good thing, in situations like this one. She didn’t have an implanted device. With her particular injuries and the way she’d healed after the attack, the traditional hearing aid had worked well for her. At least, it worked well for now. Who knew what would happen in the future?

Quickly, she put the aid in place and activated it. Shelby made a mental note to make arrangements to get a new hearing aid. She always wanted to have a second one in her drawer. Her back was to Hunter as her fingers fluttered over the device. She could feel his eyes on her and a little shiver skated down her spine.

The bed is right there. Hunter is right there.

But he was there to protect her. Protect. Not like he wanted to grab her, toss her onto the bed, and make wild, frantic love to her. That would just be crazy.

Wouldn’t it?

“I could always stay here…” Shelby caught Hunter’s musing words. “Plenty of room.”

Was he talking about staying in the bed with her? She whirled toward him. A quick whip around. Not some slow turn.

He scraped a hand over his jaw. “Lots of room on the floor.”

Right. Sure. Of course, he hadn’t meant staying in the bed. “You are not sleeping on the floor.”

His dark eyebrows rose. “If I’m all the way downstairs and you scream for me, it will take me precious time to get up here.” Another scrape of his hand over his jaw. Dark stubble coated his jaw. His five o’clock shadow had certainly come out strong. Sexy. “Probably a better idea for me to be as close to you as possible.”

Not happening. “You searched my house. Proved to yourself that no one was lurking inside. I’m safe now. You can leave.”

Instead of leaving, he stalked toward her. An oddly graceful stalk considering his size. He paused when he was right in front of her. Maybe a foot separated their bodies. “I’m not leaving.”

Shelby tensed.

“No.” An immediate shake of his head. “Don’t be afraid of me. Understand this. Understand me. I will never do anything to hurt you. My job is to protect you. I will take that job very seriously.”