Page 7 of Lone Star Country Protector
“Inside your purse?” he asked. His sister and female cousins had trained him never to touch a woman’s handbag without express permission, potentially in writing. Once granted, he was never to dig around for more than what they’d asked for. Under different circumstances, he would crack a smile at the memory. This situation was way too heavy for any levity.
“Yes, please,” she said, swiveling her hip so that he could gain access to her personal belongings.
He reached a hand inside, felt around for anything that felt like a phone and clasped his fingers around it to be sure. “Do you need me to make the call and hold it to your ear?”
“Would you mind?” she asked. Even now, her voice was like silk.
He tapped the screen and then held the phone toward her face for ID. A moment later, the screen came to life. “Sister’s name?”
“Look at call history,” she instructed. “She should be at the top of the list.” She paused and waited as he tapped again. “Did she call back?”
“Not yet,” he stated before holding the phone to her ear.
Being this close, he heard the call roll into voice mail. He could also smell the floral-citrusy scent that had stayed on the bedsheets and imprinted on his soul that special weekend.
Dalton cleared his throat. Another time. Another place.He might ask her what the hell he’d done wrong. Now wasn’t the time.
“First of all, everything is okay,” Blakely started. “Whenever you get this message, call me back or head over to my house. I’m fine. Chase is fine.” She paused. “I’ll explain everything once you get here.”
Blakely turned her attention to Dalton. This close, he could see emotion flash in those honey-browns that said she remembered him and that weekend very well. Thick black lashes hid those intense spun-gold babies as she dropped her gaze.
“Thank you,” she said, emotion thick in her tone as she held on to her nephew like they were on the Titanic as it was going down. “I don’t know what I would have done if anything…”
Her voice trailed off as Dalton scanned the perimeter once more. “You said in your statement that you grabbed hold of the perp’s wrists.”
She nodded. “That’s right.”
“Let’s get you home so we can collect evidence,” he urged. He didn’t like her being out in the open like this even though Ski Mask should be long gone at this point. A smart perp would get out of Dodge to save his own hide. A determined perp would bide his time before returning to finish the job. A deadly perp would come back even more prepared.
The threat might be at bay for now, but professional instinct honed by years of field experience said it wasn’t over.
* * *
Blakely walked nextdoor to her home and finished giving her statement while sitting on the couch in her living room. In the meantime, Dalton walked the house, closing blinds and ensuring all windows and doors maintained theirintegrity and remained locked. The medical examiner paid a visit to collect evidence and swab her nails. She managed to take off her jacket while Chase stayed plastered to her body like a baby gorilla to its mother in the wild.
By the time Dalton joined them, he’d inspected the home inside and out. He’d checked the perimeter and set up surveillance cameras at critical points. What could she say? The marshal came prepared.
They probably needed to have a conversation about what happened in Galveston, but that had to wait until grownups could talk without young ears tuned in to every word. At this rate, though, Chase might just have to fall asleep for that to occur. Even then, he might wake up the second she put him down, much like he’d done as a colicky baby years ago. Blakely remembered well the nights her sister had called bawling, unsure of what to do as she paced the floors. Outside of those weeks of colic, Chase had been an easy baby.
The fact she and Dalton had a fling didn’t need to be common knowledge. She would ask for his discretion even though he came across as the kind of person who could take a secret to the grave. The man was honorable, intelligent and drop-dead gorgeous. The termeasy on the eyesapplied in spades. It was followed byhard on the heartbecause a man this tall, dark and ridiculously handsome was no doubt a heartbreaker. Had to be, even though her heart wanted to argue against the idea.
Hearts had a mind of their own. Logic kept her from making the same mistake twice—one that could have cost her life at fifteen. Blakely didn’t survive that horrific incident just to dive right back in and make a similar mistake—one that could end differently this time—no matter how many years had passed.
Chase snored against her chest, hugging his Switch to hischest. She didn’t have the heart to move him when he looked so comfortable. What he’d witnessed might leave mental scars. Blakely knew all about those. She had physical ones, too, as reminders. But the emotional scars ran the deepest.
“I hope he’s young enough to forget all about this night,” she said to Dalton as he took a seat in the chair near the couch.
“Kids are resilient,” he said. Was he speaking from personal experience? She had no idea. He wasn’t married. She knew that much. Which didn’t mean that he wasn’t a dad.
Considering they’d spent time intimately with each other, Blakely figured they ought to know something about each other now.
“Have you been assigned to me?” she asked, starting there first.
“Yes,” he confirmed before diving into what he’d been up to in order to secure her home. “I set up security cameras with sensors on the perimeter. They’ll send an alarm to my phone if something with enough body heat and size to be human enters the property.”
“I probably should have done that years ago,” she said, wishing she’d thought of it.
“You didn’t have a reason until now,” he pointed out. “Plus, this neighborhood is quiet. You had no reason to suspect a perp would slip past the gate.” His forehead wrinkled as he studied her. Under different circumstances, his expression would have been part adorable, part sexy. Right now, all she could focus on was the close call she’d just had and the fact she’d unknowingly put Chase in danger. “How did you fight him off?”
