Page 17 of A Dangerous Proposal

The command in his voice was so clear even Jax stopped his snuffling and turned his face to look at the figure leaning in the car.

Alex’s hand came up absently to stroke over Jax’s head. “He’s all right?”

Madison opened her mouth, but no noise came out. Swallowing hard, she nodded.

Alex’s expression faltered slightly before settling along rigid lines. His expression was terrifying, but when his hands cupped her jaw and tilted her face up to his, they were gentle.

“Thank you.” The words whispered into the silence between them, and she realized they were hers.

“You’re trembling.” He frowned; his gaze swept over her, assessing.

The body had hardly hit the floor before Alex had taken her to the reception desk. He’d studied her with an intensity she’d never experienced before, his silvery blue eyes traveling over her and then Jax before he crushed her to his chest, his arms tight around both of them. The memory of how she’d felt his heart, matching her own frenetic pace, pierced through the fear, and she held on to that sensation.

With Alex’s strong arms locked around her and Jax, she’d felt secure—and it made no sense.

She had finally lost it.

It was the only explanation.

Because with a dead body on the floor nearby, and her best friend bleeding, Madison had known with a certainty she couldn’t explain that she was safe. Because Alex wouldn’t allow anything else.

For either of them.

The sensation of Alex’s warm lips pressed to hers brought her back to what was happening.

“I’m going to take care of you.”

It was the briefest of touches, but she still felt the promise of it in her chest.

She shivered in the back seat as Alex pulled out of the parking lot, heading back toward the store where her car still waited. Finally, her lips formed the words racing through her brain.

“Shouldn’t we wait for the police?” Her voice sounded weird, and she met his worried eyes in the rearview mirror.

“Don’t worry about that,” he said, pulling up beside her car.

“What about Cami?”

“Bloom is taking care of her.”

James adored her friend. He would make sure she was okay.

Madison needed to get out of the car. Go home. There were important things she should ask… needed to ask… But her brain felt like it was underwater.

She was so cold.

So tired.

The back door opposite her opened, and then Alex was bent in the car. She watched in silence as he cursed for a few moments before he successfully installed Jax’s car seat into the spot next to her.

“What are you doing?”

“You said he had to have a car seat.”

His words seemed to reengage her brain, and she reached for her seatbelt. “That’s not what I meant. Stop. I need to take him home.”

Alex’s hand came down on hers. “You are in no shape to drive, and you know it. Let me have him.”

He was right. Her fingers were still numb, and she felt shaky.

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