A Promise to Protect. Liz Johnson

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СКАЧАТЬ to retire. But not this week. And certainly not because of this.” He dismissed his leg with a flip of his hand.

      Her breath came out slowly between tight lips. “Do you need to see a doctor? Should I take you to the hospital? Or back to your hotel?”

      He snorted. “Do you know the ribbing I’d get from Tristan and the others if I let you drive me to a hospital? I could be gushing blood, and I still wouldn’t let you do it.”

      Her gaze shot to his, humor completely gone. “Are you bleeding?”

      The air around them filled with his laughter. “No.” When the lines on her face disappeared and her shoulders relaxed, he winked. “I’m just slow and out of shape and apparently unable to dodge a car.”

      She gave him a half smile for his half joke. Sure, he wasn’t in peak condition, but even with the leg, he could take most men. He just needed a little rehab. But he needed to work on that while he was in town.

      “I’ll be back to normal in no time.”

      When she was convinced of his general health, her eyebrows knitted together. “What about the guy that was here? Did you see his face? Or what kind of car he got into?”

      “No.” He slapped his hand against his thigh. It’d been dark, the man mostly in shadows, and all he’d seen of the car were blinding high beams. “But maybe you should call Chief Donal and let him know you had a prowler.”

      “I will.” She glanced over her shoulder at the front door. “Will we see you tomorrow?”

      And tonight, if you look out your window. There was no way he was going back to the hotel when there was any chance that the guy from earlier might come back. But he had a feeling Ashley wouldn’t like that answer, so he kept it to himself for now. “I’ll pick up what we need to fix those locks and be here first thing.”

      She sauntered to the front door, but turned back when he said, “Lock your door. Okay?”

      She wrinkled her nose and shook her head. “It’s like you don’t know me at all.” She offered a tiny wave before slipping inside.

      He waited at the edge of the sidewalk for fifteen minutes, absently rubbing his leg, as the lights in the house turned out one by one. When all was dark, he strolled around the perimeter. No cigarette butts or footprints. Toys in the backyard clean and put away. The bushes hadn’t been trampled. No sign of anyone lurking in the area.

      That didn’t mean their visitor wouldn’t be back.

      So Matt settled into his truck, stretched his legs across the bench seat and leaned against the passenger door. Crossing his arms, he watched.

      * * *

      Ashley rubbed her eyes and covered a yawn as she opened the front door.

      Matt’s hand, in midknock, dropped to his side. With his other hand, he held a brown paper bag out to her.

      “New locks?”

      “Muffins.”

      She laughed as she grabbed the bag and poked her head inside. More than a dozen in different varieties; the scent of cinnamon and brown sugar rose on waves of warmth. “Thank you. I was just making an omelet. These will go great with that.”

      Leading him into the hallway and over multicolored braided rugs toward the kitchen, she stole another sniff into the sack of fresh pastries.

      The faces around the kitchen table looked up from coloring books and crayons with a mixture of surprise and concern. But their uncertainty disappeared as soon as they recognized Matt.

      “Good morning.” He nodded at Benita from the doorway, as though asking permission to enter, and when she smiled at him, he stepped into the room, still leaning on the edge of the doorframe.

      “You all remember my friend Matt Waterstone, right?” She set the bag on the counter, then got back to work on the omelet. She poured the beaten eggs into a skillet on the stove and added ham and cheese as she introduced the others. “Matt, you met Benita and Julio and the girls last night. And this is Meghan, Greta and Sara’s mom. She works the night shift at the hospital and just got in this morning.”

      Matt offered them a wide smile, somehow making himself shorter, less intimidating. Apparently he didn’t take their welcome for granted, so he’d keep earning their trust. His broad shoulders couldn’t be helped, but he wasn’t so meaty as to look like a thug. In fact, he looked almost the opposite of the guy he’d chased away the night before.

      The skin at the corners of his blue eyes wrinkled with his grin. How on earth did he look so refreshed? She’d lain awake for hours last night, listening for any sound out of the ordinary. And all she had to show for it were puffy eyes and a thundering headache.

      “Very nice to meet you, Meghan.” Matt stepped into the room just far enough to offer a handshake to the middle-aged woman. “Your daughters and I played a board game last night, and I’m sorry to report that I lost miserably. You have smart kids.”

      Meghan beamed at him but didn’t say anything.

      Matt relaxed back into his spot in the doorway, putting his hands in his jean pockets, his elbows loosely bent at his sides. The dark brown of his long-sleeve T-shirt made his hair look even lighter than usual; several curls fell over his forehead. He tossed his head, sending his curls back into place as he watched the kids, who had returned to their coloring.

      She hadn’t looked at any man more than just in passing since Paul, so why did Matt make her heart stutter?

      When he caught her eye, he quirked the corner of his mouth and winked. She jumped, nearly sending the omelet onto the floor.

      “What’s wrong, Miss Ashley?” Julio ran up to her, his little eyes squinting, two lines appearing between his brows. “You’re all red in the face.”

      Of course she was red in the face. She’d just been caught staring at a man she had no business looking at. Avoiding Matt’s gaze at all cost, she offered a distraction. “Matt brought us muffins for breakfast. Who wants one?”

      “Me!” Julio grabbed for the bag.

      “Uh-uh, mister.” She shook her head. “The table needs to be cleared and set first. And would someone please call Carmen and the others?”

      When all was ready and everyone had assembled, they squeezed around the long wooden table. Ashley told herself that she sat next to Matt so that he wouldn’t end up next to someone he might make uncomfortable, but that wasn’t the entire truth.

      His elbow bumped hers as he shoveled eggs into his mouth, and he whispered an apology, followed by surprising words of praise. “You’re doing a good thing here.”

      The affirmation sent an unexpected burst of warmth straight through her chest, curling around her heart and leaving her a little bit breathless. She was doing something important.

      But then why was someone threatening her?

      With the breakfast dishes done and the kids doing crafts at the table, she followed Matt into the rooms in need of window-lock repairs.

      As he unscrewed СКАЧАТЬ