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He gave a brisk nod. “You sure you want to go to work? You look like you need to take a couple of painkillers and climb back into bed.”

Okay, how could he go from terrifying her one moment to acting all concerned the next? This conversation had to be one of the most confusing in her life.

“I’m fine. Could I get to my car, please?” The sooner she was out of his presence the better. “I’m going to be late.”

“Sure.” He moved away from her car then opened the door and held it for her. “But your car is making a squeaking noise that I’m certain is the fan belt. And your tires have hardly any tread.”

He wasn’t telling her things she didn’t know. Well, she hadn’t known that about the tires. Or the reason for the squeaking. She knew next to nothing about cars.

She slowly climbed into her car, aware of his gaze on her. She reached for the door handle but he crouched low, peering in at her. The interior light in the car was on, letting her see more of his face. She noted the small scar that intersected one eyebrow and the hazel-green eyes that were staring at her intensely.

“I really am going to be late.”

“Chief ain’t going to be happy with how stiff you’re moving. You sure you’re well enough to go to work?”

No.

“I’m fine,” she said firmly. “Now, thank you again but I have to go.”

“Seatbelt,” was all he said.

She sighed and did up her seatbelt. “Do you all have to pass some bossy test before he hires you?”

He blinked for a minute and then a smile lit up his face, magically transforming it. Suddenly, he wasn’t just handsome. He was breath-takingly gorgeous.

“Something like that,” he replied with a chuckle. “I’m gonna drive behind you, make sure you get there okay so don’t be concerned if you see my headlights.”

“That’s not necessary, I drive this route nearly every day.” He really had done enough.

“Not after being injured and getting next to no sleep, you don’t,” he replied. “Just think of it as part of the service.”

Right.

She wondered how many other women had received these services.

No, best not think about that, Abby.

“Well, thanks for bringing me my car. And everything else. I think,” she muttered.

He gave her a nod. “Sweet. Chief said to treat you like one of our own.” He shut the door before she could ask what that meant. Actually, she was pretty certain it was a good thing she didn’t know what that meant. Because it might just be more than she could handle right now.

That had been about eight hours ago and her shift was nearly over. Thank the Lord. She just wanted to go home, take some pain killers and crawl into bed. She didn’t care about food or anything else.

Home. Pain killers. Bed.

“Abby, I need to talk to you.”

She groaned at those words. She didn’t have the energy for Gloria right now. But the older woman was her boss and Lord knew, she needed this job. She walked slowly to where Gloria sat in a back booth, trying to school her face into something pleasant. Or at least so she didn’t look like she’d enjoy wrapping her hands around the older woman’s chicken neck and ...

All right. Enough of that. She wasn’t usually given to murderous urges. But she was exhausted.

Gloria didn’t even glance up, didn’t invite her to take a seat in the booth seat across from her even though Abby had been on her feet all day. She had her laptop open and documents spread out across the table. For Gloria, this was work. But it was mostly show, since she was usually socializing with her friends or online shopping.

Oh well, she was the boss so Abby figured it wasn’t any of her business. It was a little annoying that she took up an entire booth which could be filled up with paying customers during peak times.

But again, not her business.

“Oh, there you are. Took your time.”