into Harley the way she’d done just a few minutes earlier had emphasized the quiet strength he possessed under his clay-speckled T-shirt. She couldn’t say why, but it’d been almost unexpected. It seemed silly, really. His body was visibly tanklike. Liz had admired it more than a few times. So why it stuck out now was a mystery. But it was definitely not unpleasant.
Unless the guy with the knife thinks he’s a threat, said a voice in her head. Then it’ll be anything but pleasant.
Liz fought both a shiver and a stab of guilt.
“Come here, baby,” she said to Teegan, her voice not quite as firm as she would’ve liked. “Let Mr. Maxwell go. Contrary to popular belief, he’s not a jungle gym.”
Her daughter finally disentangled herself and moved to stand in front of Liz, her eyes still sparkling. “Were you watching, Mom? I was practically flying.”
“Uh-huh. And between that and the climbing, I think we should probably go inside before one of the neighbors comes out and complains about my parenting and your safety.” She said it lightly, but she couldn’t quite keep from shooting another nervous look up the street.
“You can use me as your scapegoat,” Harley offered. “Bad-news artist influencing your daughter’s precious mind.”
Liz couldn’t help but smile. “You’re the least ‘bad news’ artist I’ve ever met.”
He grinned back. “I feel like I should be insulted by that compliment.”
“Don’t be. It’s refreshing to see someone with more talent than ego.”
Teegan groaned. “Are you guys just gonna stand there all night talking? Because if you are, I’m gonna go climb some more.”
“No!” The word came out of Liz’s mouth a little sharply, and both Teegan and Harley blinked at her.
The big man recovered quickly, his surprised look relaxing into a smile. “Well. Since apparently you really want to get the kiddo home...mind if I walk with you up to the apartment? I think I might’ve dropped my phone in the hall between your place and the studio.”
“Sure.” She wondered if the relief she felt was evident in her reply.
But if he noticed, he didn’t say. Instead, he offered her a grin and gestured toward their shared building. “Women and children first.”
Teegan immediately took off at a happy skip, and Liz’s heart thundered nervously in response to the open space between them. She took a step forward without even realizing she was doing it until Harley spoke.
“You want me to catch her?” he asked.
She didn’t stop walking, but she made herself answer calmly. “She’ll be fine. It’s only a hundred feet between here and the door. And Lord knows she’s done more dangerous things in the last five minutes.”
“True enough. Guess I’ll just have to settle for protecting you instead.”
He said it teasingly, but she noticed that he was quick to step between her and the road, and she couldn’t help but wonder if it was on purpose. Had he picked up on her distress? She suspected she hadn’t hidden it very well. She’d been so worried about watching the man who was watching her that she hadn’t even stopped to think if Harley was paying attention.
He gave her shoulder a nudge. “I sometimes think I might be one, by the way.”
“One what?” Liz replied, puzzled.
“A jungle gym.”
She let out a genuine laugh. “I’m sure Teegan agrees. I’m sorry if she’s bugging you too much.”
“I don’t mind. She’s got enthusiasm.”
“That’s a nice way of saying she’s a pain in the butt, huh?”
“I can hear you!” called Teegan from a few steps in front of them.
“Well, there wouldn’t be much point in saying it if you couldn’t hear me, would there?” Liz called back.
In typical Teegan-style, her daughter turned and stuck out her tongue before flinging open the door that led to the units above the shop.
“Still think she’s just ‘enthusiastic’?”
Harley grinned. “I plead the Fifth.”
“Yeah, I don’t blame you.” Her tone was ruefully amused. “And speaking of self-preservation...any idea where the sitter disappeared to? Did Teegan scare her off?”
“I can still hear you,” her daughter yelled from the top of the stairs. “And I didn’t scare her away. You were late, and Miss Wanda had to go pick up her boyfriend from work.”
“Late by five minutes,” Liz muttered under her breath. “I think I pay her enough to cover that.”
Harley took the handrail and gestured for her to take the first step. “To be more accurate, Wanda’s boyfriend had some kind of emergency—sliced finger or something—so I volunteered to bring Teegan down to you.”
“It doesn’t make me feel any better than my sitter left my kid with a strange man.”
“I’m not all that strange.”
“Ha ha. You know what I mean.”
“I do,” he agreed. “But Teegan assured Wanda that I was—and I quote—the best old man ever. And she was happy to remind Wanda that I was the one watching her the other day when you ran to that store.”
“I forgot about that.” She smiled ruefully. “I think my kid would make one heck of a lawyer.”
“She would. And she also used her powers of persuasion to rope me into the hide-and-seek.”
Liz sighed. “You really don’t have to indulge her like that. Because I promise you, she’ll take full advantage and have you wrapped around her little finger faster than you can blink.”
“I don’t mind. Really. I needed a break from work anyway.”
“Sculpture’s not coming along?”
“Sculpture’s actually shaping up well.”
“So you made some progress?”
“Well. I don’t know what it is yet. But yeah. The clay’s slightly more than a lump now.”
Liz laughed again. “I guess that’s good.”
“It’s awesome, Mom,” Teegan interrupted. “It looks like a mountain. But also a dragon.”
She groaned. “You have got to stay out of Mr. Maxwell’s workspace.”
“Since we rent it to him, isn’t it really our workspace?” countered her daughter.
Liz’s
