course everyone thought Hart should protect her. They’d known about her crush on him and, because of that, they’d believed everyone would buy that he was her boyfriend. Heat rushed to her face with humiliation that her attraction to the former detective was such common knowledge. But Hart had never showed any interest in her. That had to be common knowledge, as well.
So would anyone actually believe that he was her boyfriend? That he’d suddenly noticed her now—when he hadn’t noticed her all the years they’d worked together even after his divorce?
Her parents had been suspicious. Or they wouldn’t have fired so many questions at her.
Those questions had been hard to dodge because lying to her parents had never been easy. But in this case, it had been necessary. She didn’t want to worry them.
Like she was worried.
They would be safe, with the police watching them, with Payne Protection bodyguards watching them.
Luther wouldn’t be able to get to them now—not with so many people protecting them. But if the threats continued, she would tell them; she would urge them to leave town for their safety and hers. She would be more careful herself if she didn’t have to worry about them, as well.
She clicked the fob to unlock the car, but before she could pull open the driver’s door, a deep voice murmured, “Good morning.”
She jumped even though she instantly recognized that voice. When she turned to face him, Hart Fisher was very close. So close that their bodies brushed against each other.
Her pulse quickened with excitement, not fear, with the attraction she felt for him—that she had always felt for him. But she didn’t want him to know that she had really had a crush on him. She already felt foolish enough about it.
“What the hell are you doing?” she asked as she glanced nervously around.
The curtains swished at the front window of her parents’ house. Someone was watching them.
“I’m trying to do my damn job,” Hart said through gritted teeth as he very obviously faked a grin.
When he’d dropped her off last night, she had refused to let him inside the house. From the dark circles beneath his eyes, he must not have slept at all. Too bad his daughter’s babysitter had arrived at the agency before they’d left. He wouldn’t have been able to take Wendy home if he’d had to take care of Felicity.
But even though his babysitter had shown up, the little girl still needed her father—especially since he had full custody. Where was her mother?
“You need a safer job,” she told him.
“I’m fine,” he said, but his voice lowered even more to a growl of frustration. “It’s my assignment that’s a pain in the ass.”
She smiled—just as artificially as he had. “Then you need another assignment.”
He shook his head. “This is the one I have,” he said. “So I’m going to make the best of it.”
Then he did something she hadn’t expected. He lowered his head until his mouth brushed across hers.
Her pulse began to race and she gasped.
He kissed her again, lingering this time—his lips clinging to hers before he deepened the kiss even more. When he finally lifted his head, she gasped again—this time for breath.
“What the hell was that?” she asked.
He arched his head toward the front window of the house. “For our audience.”
“You’re overacting,” she said because she had to remind herself that was all he was doing. Acting…
He wasn’t really her boyfriend. He wasn’t really attracted to her. He was only pretending.
Yet the kiss had felt real to her, so real that desire coursed through her. She wanted him. But he only wanted to do his job.
She had a job of her own to do, though. “You’re going to make me late,” she said. “I need to get to work.”
“Then get in my SUV,” he said. “And I will take you to work.”
She shook her head. “I need to have my own vehicle.” But her vehicle was actually in a service shop right now. Since her mother hadn’t been cleared to drive yet with her new right knee, Wendy was using her mom’s car.
With obvious skepticism, Hart narrowed his eyes. “If you have to go out to a crime scene, you use the department van to collect evidence,” he said.
“Yes, and you can’t go with me if I’m called to a crime scene,” she said.
He lifted his broad shoulders. “I can’t ride in the van,” he said. “But I have every intention of following you.”
“You’re not going to look like my boyfriend. You’re going to look like a stalker,” she said.
He grinned and leaned closer. So close that his lips brushed lightly across hers again. “Or like a man in love…who suspects a killer might be threatening his girlfriend.”
Her heart skipped a beat until he shuddered as if the idea repulsed him. The idea of being her boyfriend? Or of a killer being after her?
While she curved her lips into a smile, she glared at him and pushed him back so she could pull open the driver’s door. “Since you apparently intend to follow me to crime scenes, you can follow me to the station,” she said. “Because I’m driving myself there.”
Before he could reach for her again, she slid into the seat and jammed the key into the ignition. He cursed, or started to, but she turned the key and the engine drowned him out. He stepped back as she reversed the car into the street.
She shifted into Drive and pressed hard on the accelerator. Since he wasn’t going to make it easy for her to do her job, she wasn’t going to make it easy for him to do his. She intended to be long gone before he could even get to his SUV.
But speeding in a residential area wasn’t smart. So she reached for the brake pedal, pressing lightly on it. But the car didn’t slow. At all…
She pressed harder until the pedal went all the way to the floor. Nothing happened.
The car would not stop. The brakes had gone out. And since her father almost fanatically maintained his vehicles, Wendy knew they hadn’t gone out on their own. Someone had cut the brake line.
She could not stop.
Hart shook his head, disgusted with himself that he’d just let her drive off. But with her parents watching, there was little more he could have done to stop her, especially since he knew her father was armed. Even now he had to force himself not to run to his SUV. He had to keep the smile on his face until he turned away from the house. But then he glanced down at the driveway and his heart slammed against his ribs as he noticed fluid pooled on the asphalt where her car had been parked.
He
