you?”
“Not really.”
“I thought they taught you to be better liars in SEAL training.”
This whipped his gaze in her direction, and it landed heavily on her face. But a quick glance his way revealed an accompanying grin. It was lopsided and immensely endearing, despite her desire to think of him as nothing more than an extra set of hands to protect her charges.
“So what’s for dinner at Lil’s tonight?”
Ashley shot him a pointed look, and the corners of his mouth arched into an even wider smile, forming almost-dimples to his jawline. He was far too charming for his own good. It was distracting, which would have been dangerous enough at any time. Just now, when she needed all of her wits about her, it could be disastrous. Was it really safer for everyone involved—especially her—to let him help with this situation?
“I’m not sure. Why?”
“Thought you might invite me to join you.”
“Whoa.” She held up her hands. “That’s a bad idea. Very bad idea.”
“Why’s that?”
She studied the small black purse in her hands, turning it over several times, hoping it would give her the right words. “It’s just that the women at Lil’s have had hard lives, been treated horribly by the men they trusted. I try not to bring guys into the house unless absolutely necessary.”
“Don’t you think this might be absolutely necessary?”
“What? Feeding you dinner?”
He pulled up to a red light and turned his head to look into her eyes. She blinked twice but forced herself to maintain eye contact. “Listen, Ashley, you don’t have to act like this with me.” She almost asked what he meant, but she already knew. “You’re in trouble. You and the girls at Lil’s. Until this letter-writing lunatic is caught, someone needs to watch your back. And your brother asked me for a favor. We’ve been watching out for each other since day one of BUD/S, and I’m not going to let him down. He’s the only family I’ve got.”
She already knew that Tristan and Matt had met on the first day of BUD/S—Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL training. But how did Matt not have any other family? He’d visited their home for years, but he’d never really talked about his own background. Tristan had always been the talker, and early on, he’d told her not to grill Matt about why he wasn’t going home for the holidays. She hadn’t cared, really. She had just wanted Matt to keep coming back to the house. But had he really never mentioned his family?
Before she could ask, Matt leaned toward her, his face drawing nearer to hers, setting her heart thumping painfully. He took a deep breath, his shoulders rising and nostrils flaring slightly as he let it out. “That makes you family, too. So I’m going to be in Charity Way until I’m certain that you’re absolutely safe.”
His tone brooked no argument, but a second later, the fierce intensity gave way to the serene calm she expected from him. He turned his eyes back to the road and pressed the accelerator. “It’s just dinner. I promise not to scare anyone.”
Didn’t he realize he was already scaring her?
She’d already relied on him more than she had any man since Paul, letting him make her feel safe just by standing next to her. She already hated the thought of him leaving, the thought of losing his steadying presence in the midst of something she couldn’t explain or understand.
And for someone with her history, that was the scariest thought of all.
* * *
Apparently Matt had said the right thing.
Ashley nodded but changed the subject, diving into the discussion of possible threats. “The notes have to be connected to one of the women at Lil’s Place.” Ashley’s teeth found her lower lip, chewing away. “They refer to someone’s property. That’s got to be one of the women.”
“Probably. But just for the sake of argument, could it be personal against you, since the house hasn’t been targeted yet? Have you had any personal arguments or disagreements with anyone lately?”
“Of course not. I’m far too sweet for that.”
He shot her a raised eyebrow.
Ashley laughed behind her hand. “Fine. But I’m not usually one to pick a fight. Besides, I’m usually busy taking care of things at the house, so outside of running errands and going to church, I’m hardly ever in town.”
“So you haven’t had any run-ins with anyone in the last month or so?”
“Most people in this town leave me and Lil’s Place alone. We’ve had a few vocal citizens who think we should stay out of other people’s business. But they’re pretty few and far between. We have a couple regular volunteers, and Chief Donal notes all of my concerns, but other than that, we’re a quiet house on a block with a bunch of other quiet houses.”
“What about friends? People at church? Has anyone seemed strange lately?”
She pursed her lips to the side, her nose wrinkling as she thought out loud. “Well, Miranda’s been a bit more scatterbrained than usual.”
“Who’s Miranda?”
“She’s a volunteer and a friend of mine.” Ashley’s head swiveled to watch a green station wagon roll past them before continuing. “She missed two volunteer kitchen shifts last week, but she said that work has been crazy lately. The tire plant had layoffs and she works in human resources there.”
“What about a boyfriend? Are you seeing anyone?”
She wanted to tell him it was none of his business. It was written all over her face. But she wrapped her arms around her stomach instead. “Nothing serious.”
She wasn’t telling the whole truth. He could read that like a book, too. And for some reason, being questioned about a boyfriend made her uncomfortable. Bad breakup? No, she’d admit to that—she wouldn’t hold back if there was a chance her ex was involved. So what was the problem?
He wanted to question her further, but she seemed so tense that he decided to let it drop. For now.
Swallowing back his questions and pushing all thoughts of Ashley’s love life out of his mind, he navigated their conversation back on course. “So if it is related to one of the women at the house, who do you think it might be?”
“That’s the problem—I think it might be related to a girl who’s not in the house anymore. She’s the only one whose background is a mystery.”
“She wouldn’t tell you?”
“She wouldn’t say much more than her name—Joy. And she promised she was eighteen, but she looked like she was barely sixteen.” Lines appeared on Ashley’s face, making her look much older than her years. She couldn’t be much more than twenty-five, but the pain in her eyes added at least ten years.
“How did she end up at Lil’s?”
Ashley motioned to the next street, indicating
