Page 26 of Wounded Christmas Wolf
“Anyone would be,” he said. “Was that the guy at the community center the other day, the one who wouldn’t leave you alone?”
“Yeah.” Holly curled her hands in her lap. “My old high school boyfriend. We were over a long time ago, but he won’t give it up.”
“You tell me where to find that son of a bitch, and I’ll make him regret the day he was born.”
Holly blew out a long breath and clasped her hands between her knees. “Please don’t. I don’t want to make a big deal out of it. Rob wants attention; he always has. Maybe if I ignore him, he’ll give up.”
Jace didn’t like that idea. He wondered if he could findthis Rob character on his own. “Do you think he’ll come back?”
“No,” Holly said. “Rob is all talk and no action.”
The ruined doll looked like action to Jace, and he didn’t like it. “People like this don’t always stop. You might be in danger.”
Holly started to shake her head, then looked up at the sound of an engine rumbling into the yard. Jace jumped to his feet, his heart hammering.
“It’s just Dad,” Holly said. “That’s the truck.” She stood up, turned to look at the ruined doll and the note, and then, shivering a little, she leaned down and took the empty trash bag from the bin beside her bed. She gently wrapped the doll up in it and put it on a low shelf.
Jace ached to hold her, but every part of her body language bristled with defensiveness. “What do you want to tell your dad?” he asked.
“Nothing,” Holly said promptly. “I don’t want him to know a thing about this.”
“This guy broke into your house and left a note in your bedroom.”
“I know. But Dad always hated Rob. I just can’t deal with the I-told-you-so’s right now. If Rob gives up, if this is as far as it goes, then Dad never has to know.”
“Your dad will want to protect you.”
“Yeah,” Holly said flatly. “And that’s why I don’t need him getting involved. I absolutely cannot deal with Dad on a Papa Bear tear right now, I just can’t.”
She wiped her hands on her jeans and tucked them under her arms. She was still wearing her coat and looked absolutely miserable.
“Look, someone should,” Jace said, and she looked up sharply. “Help you, I mean. I hate the idea of you being alone with all this.”
Holly smiled a crooked, sideways smile. “Well, I have you.”
Yeah, a guy who was going to be leaving in a couple of weeks. But he could already feel his wolf’s protective instincts homing in on this like a missile.
“I will,” he said. The words seemed to come from a burned-out, empty place deep inside him. It had felt like a wasteland in there. Now green shoots were tentatively springing up.
Holly looked puzzled. “You’ll what?”
“Protect you.”
She frowned. “Jace?—”
“No, listen. I know you’re not scared of this guy.”Although you should be.That slashed-up doll still gave him chills. “But I’m going to be around all the time anyway, since I’m staying up the hill. Wouldn’t you feel safer having a bodyguard, just in case, just for the next couple of weeks?”
The downstairs door slammed. Holly jumped. Jace put out a hand automatically, brushing her arm, and stepped between her and the door of her room before the Colonel’s voice called from downstairs, “You in here, honey?”
Holly cleared her throat and visibly got herself under control. “I’m changing upstairs, Dad!” To Jace, she hissed in an undertone, “He absolutelycannotfind you in my room.”
As they both froze, the Colonel called up the stairs, “I brought one of those deli chickens from town. We just need some potatoes and a side.”
“I can get right on that!” Holly called down the stairs. After the Colonel’s footsteps clomped away, she said quietly to Jace, “Wait until I’m in the kitchen with Dad and then come down the stairs. You can pretend to come in from any direction, just not up here.”
“I’m serious about protecting you,” Jace whispered.
“I know,” Holly said under her breath. She pressed her lips together. “Just until Christmas.”
