rigid, unmoving, just watching. Logan didn’t give a fuck who was watching. He wrapped his arms around her, heartened when she didn’t try to move away, and pulled her against his body. It was as much to give her warmth as it was to protect her.
He was busy every minute scanning the crowd, looking for the two men from this morning or anyone like them. He recognized some of the people. After all, he’d been living in Arrowhead Bay for two years. He was more interested in strangers, anyone who looked like they didn’t belong. With all the snowbirds that was a little more difficult, but his eyes were trained to pick up nuances in stance and body movement. He also relied on his well-honed instincts. They hadn’t failed him yet.
And all the time he was hyperaware of Devon’s very appealing body pressed against his.
Deliberately he put all thought of her body out of his mind and concentrated on the here and now.
He was still convinced the fire was to draw her out of the house. Maybe they hoped in the crowd they could snatch her. Of course, it occurred to him whoever was behind this could hire a couple of locals to grab her, too. He was pretty sure they didn’t want her dead until they found out where her father was. He’d be overly careful whenever they were out of the house.
At last Russell Deering, who had been watching and checking on things, walked back over to where they were standing, a look of sympathy on his face as he spoke to Devon.
“I’m sure I don’t have to tell you the Princess Devon is a total loss. Lady Hannah can probably be salvaged but she’ll need a lot of work.”
“Do you know how the fire started?” Logan asked.
“Not yet. But we’ll have a crew looking at what’s left of it as soon as the fire is completely out. Miss Cole, we’ll get a report to you as quick as we can for your insurance company.”
“Insurance?” She tensed in Logan’s arms.
“Yes. You’ll need to file a claim for both boats.” He looked at Logan, then back at her. “I know we have search and rescue out looking for your father. We still don’t have any new information for you. We’re still searching, but I’m sorry to say I’m not hopeful.”
Devon drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Thank you for keeping me informed.”
“I want to go on board Lady Hannah,” she told him as soon as Deering had walked away.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea right now. There are still sparks flying everywhere so the danger of fire isn’t really over.”
She bit her lower lip, a habit that tended to make him hard as a spike. “Do you think it will be all right sitting here like this?”
“Yes. There are too many official figures and too much of a crowd around here today. They might not even let you on it right now. Tomorrow would be better. You have the keys Sheri gave you, right?”
She nodded.
“Then I think we should go home and come back tomorrow. All you’ve had to eat today is a muffin and you don’t want to get sick. Plus, I want to get you out of this crowd as soon as possible.”
She shuddered. “Yes. All right. But—”
“But what?”
“What if they’re waiting for us on the road?”
“Here comes Avery.” He tilted his head at the figure walking down the dock. “We’ll get her to send a follow car with us.”
“A follow car for what?” Avery stopped next to them.
“A black SUV popped out of the trees across from the house and tried to shoot us off the road.” He gave Avery a half grin. “Just in case they’re waiting to try again, we need someone to follow us and cover our asses on the way back to the house.”
“Okay. Good thing we’re light on assignments this week. The crew is at the house working on the new security system. I told them to bring everything they could think of with them so they could get started right away.”
“Good deal. Then I’ll go ahead and take Devon home. Maybe I can even get some food into her.”
“Everyone wants to feed me,” she snapped, “but I don’t have an appetite.”
“Doesn’t matter. You eat so you don’t get sick. Come on. You’ll only upset yourself more standing around here.”
When he took her hand to lead her off the dock, he was pleased she didn’t pull it away.
I’m just holding on to her for her protection.
Yeah, he could tell himself that all he wanted but he knew the real truth. And in the intimacy of the house he wasn’t sure what would happen. He had a hard and fast rule—never, ever mix business and pleasure. But as a fellow Marine once told him on leave, rules were made to be broken.
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