Eve felt like someone had shaken her until her bones rattled. She tentatively opened her eyes and realized she was face down in the grass. She’d jumped from the car like Mac had told her and then tried to run. She didn’t think she’d gotten very far though.
All she remembered was a loud explosion then the sensation of being lifted through the air as a smoldering heat lapped at her back. Stretching out one arm, she tested her strength and pushed up. There was a slight buzzing in her ears. Almost like a phone ringing from a long distance.
She shook as she sat, but at least she could move. More than anything she needed to find Mac and make sure he was okay.
As she started to sit up, two strong arms lifted her under her armpits from behind. “I’ve got you.” Mac’s steady voice had never sounded so wonderful.
A second later she was sitting on the ground and he was crouched next to her. “Are you all right?”
She managed a slight nod. “I think so.”
“Stretch out your arms and move them.” After she did what he said, he instructed her to do the same with her legs. Then he made her take a couple deep breaths and tested her ribs for pain. She was sore, like she’d run a marathon or something, but she didn’t feel broken. When she did everything he said, he pushed out a sigh of relief.
Eve blinked a couple times as she tried to focus on his face. For a moment he was blurry but cleared up when she shook her head. Someone had tried to kill her. And Mac could’ve been killed. That thought alone made her see red. “Are you okay? Did you get hit with any flying debris?”
“I’m fine.” He brushed her questions away as if she hadn’t spoken. The muscles in his jaw stood out. “You’re going to sit here and wait for the ambulance and the sheriff. When Sheriff Marcel gets here you’re going to answer every damn question he has for you. You have to tell him what you saw last night.”
He spoke to her as if she was a child and she didn’t blame him. Maybe she should have told the sheriff earlier but she couldn’t go back and change that now. “Okay.”
The tension in his face melted into shock. “You…wait, okay? You’re not arguing with me?” He arched a dark eyebrow.
“Someone tried to blow me up.” She might not like or even trust the local police department, but she couldn’t hide the fact that someone had tried to kill her—and almost killed someone she cared about in the process. “I’m sorry I dragged you into all this. If you’d gotten hurt…” Her voice broke off as her throat tightened unexpectedly. If she could go back she’d have never stopped by Mac’s place last night. Unfortunately he was the first person she’d thought of because she’d known he’d help her. Now he was paying for her mistake.
“I’m not.” He reached out and brushed the pad of his thumb across her cheek. Probably to wipe off some dirt or grass but she liked the way his touch felt. Way too much.
“Mac…” Staring at his lips she leaned in closer. He could provide the kind of strength she desperately needed right now. The ringing in her ears was gone but she was suddenly hot all over. His blue eyes darkened to something she’d only seen a glimpse of last night. A sound rumbled deep in his throat as he moved forward.
“Sheriff is pulling down your street. You sure you’re okay, Eve?” Grant hurried toward them holding his cell phone.
His question jerked her back to reality and away from Mac’s touch. That’s when she heard it. Sirens. For the second time today. “I think I’m okay.” Holding out her hand to Mac, she let him pull her to her feet, but she didn’t let go right away. The sensation of his callused hands on hers sent a strange tingling sensation down her spine.
When she swayed, he put an arm around her shoulder and let her use him for support. His spicy, masculine scent wrapped around her like a warm comforting blanket, almost making her forget what had happened.
As she focused on what was left of her smoldering car, bile rose in her stomach. The front doors were blown off, all the glass was shattered and the two front seats were practically obliterated. Dancing embers flickered across the remains. “Holy shit.” She and Mac could have been in there. When unexpected tears pricked her eyes, she tried to turn away but he pulled her tighter and murmured soothing sounds against her hair. Not caring what anyone thought, she buried her face against his chest. She was so glad he was with her now.
She almost never cried and today she couldn’t seem to shut off the waterworks. When she finally got her control back, she drew away from him. “Can we sit down somewhere?”
Away from the wreckage.
She didn’t say it but she knew he’d understand. She wasn’t nauseous but her knees were weak.
As he started to help her toward his truck, the sheriff, three patrol cars and an ambulance all screeched to a halt in front of her house, blocking half the street.
Sheriff Marcel was out first. Concern filled his expression as he hurried toward them. “What the hell happened? Are you two okay?”
“Someone blew up Eve’s car.” She was thankful Mac answered for her.
The sheriff eyed her cautiously. “Does this have anything to do with your ‘accident’ earlier today?” He didn’t sound exactly sarcastic—probably because she’d almost died—but he obviously knew she’d been holding something back from him.
She nodded. “I think so.”
Two male paramedics—different than the ones who’d helped her earlier—quickly descended on her and Mac.
As the men steered them toward the back of the ambulance, the sheriff followed them. “What’s going on?”
“I’ll tell you everything, but…” She nodded at the two paramedics. “Not around anyone else.”
He gritted his teeth before turning to one of his patrolmen and barking out orders to cordon off the explosion site. He also told everyone to stay away from her house. From the sound of it, he’d called in a bomb squad from the next county and they were going to check her house before anyone entered it.
Smart
, she thought hazily. Her head began to pound as one of the paramedics helped her into the back of the ambulance. After she answered a dozen questions geared toward making sure she didn’t have a concussion, he checked her completely over but other than the gash she’d gotten from the car accident earlier, she was fine. Sore everywhere and definitely shaken up, but she refused his insistence to take her to the hospital. It would be pointless and they couldn’t make her go. From her eavesdropping of Mac’s conversation with the other man, he wasn’t going either.
Once they were finished, the sheriff guided them toward his car and away from everyone else. She leaned against the back door for support.
“What have you gotten yourself into, Eve?”
She bristled at his question. This wasn’t her fault. Well, maybe some of it was but she hadn’t asked to be almost blown up. “You know that anonymous call you received last night?”
His eyes narrowed as he nodded.
Suddenly she lost some of her steam. She cleared her throat. “Hypothetically, let’s say it was me who called. Let’s say I received an anonymous email advising me to head to the Underwood mansion for a good story. When I got there, I might have—hypothetically—seen Allen Martin’s dead body in the pool house.”
He swore softly but Mac stepped closer and put an arm around her shoulders. The silent show of support made her stomach flip flop.
Finally Sheriff Marcel spoke. “Did you see who did it?”
“No, I…you believe me?” Her eyebrows rose.
He nodded. “Yeah. Despite what you might think, we follow up on leads. Martin hasn’t been to work in a few days and while that isn’t exactly odd, the call came from his cell phone and it’s been turned off ever since. No one has seen him, not even his wife. Right now I’m working on getting a warrant to search the DA’s pool house.”
“Martin’s wife is leaving him, so…” Eve trailed off as she realized what she was admitting.
“How do
you
know?”
She sighed. Might as well admit it now. “I went to see her today.”
He swore again but didn’t look surprised. “Before or after someone tried to run you off the road?”
“Before.”
“Damn it, Eve—”
“If you believed me at the station, why didn’t you tell me?”
“You’re a journalist.” He said it so clear cut, as if the reason should be obvious.
Which in hindsight, it was. He’d never been very forthcoming with her. Still, it annoyed her. “Do you think the DA is involved?”
“I’m not going to discuss any more details of this case with you. I will need you to make an official statement and after this I’m putting you in protective custody until we figure out what the hell is going on. And where is Martin’s phone anyway?” He spouted off everything with machine gun fire speed.
She stepped closer into Mac’s embrace. Not because he happened to be there, but because it was him. The man who’d been there for her too many times to count. Even when they’d been kids. When she was eight and he’d been ten, she’d broken her arm on his father’s ranch after falling off a horse. He’d helped her back to the house and hadn’t made fun of her for crying. Unlike her brother who’d teased her mercilessly. Not Mac though.
When she realized the sheriff was staring at her, she felt her cheeks redden. “I’ll make a statement but I don’t have Martin’s phone. After I took it…” She glanced at Mac who nodded for her to continue. When she looked back at the sheriff, she cringed. He was so not going to be happy with her. “After I took it, someone chased me and shot at me. I didn’t see his face but I heard his voice. He had a Spanish accent, that’s the only thing I know for sure. I ran and ditched the phone but I did take the SIM card out of it before I got rid of it. I doubt you’ll need it since you can probably subpoena Martin’s records but I swear I was going to give it to you guys.”
“She was.” Mac’s deep voice cut through the conversation, causing both of them to look at him. “And she wanted to tell you everything but I wasn’t sure that was the smartest idea. I didn’t want her to become a target, but it looks like it doesn’t matter anyway. Someone knows she saw something.”
Her mouth fell open at his blatant lie but she quickly shut it. She wasn’t sure why he was lying to protect her. She’d be responsible for withholding evidence if the sheriff decided to prosecute her either way.
Sheriff Marcel sighed and scrubbed a hand over his face. “I don’t care why you withheld this info. I’m not going to bring charges against you only because I know you’re not involved in this and I understand why you held back. But remember I am
not
my predecessor,” he said, as if reading her mind. “Where’s that SIM card now?”
She fished it out of her purse and handed it to him. She didn’t tell him she’d made a copy of it and she didn’t say anything about the phone records she’d gotten from Bunny. The cops would be able to get those records easily—and they probably already had them. Just because he believed her didn’t mean she was going to stop investigating this story. Someone had tried to kill her twice and Mac had almost gotten killed in the process. She wasn’t going to let that slide. “Thank you for everything, Sheriff, but I’m not going into protective custody.”
He started to argue when Mac interrupted him. “She’ll be staying with me. The ranch is about as secure as anything. I’ve got guys patrolling 24/7 so I’ll increase my numbers.” When the sheriff tried to interrupt again, Mac shook his head. “I’m not letting Eve out of my sight, so save it. You could try forcing the issue but you and I both know what she’s like. You won’t be able to keep her anywhere for long. It’ll be a waste of manpower I’m sure you don’t have. Keeping her with me will be better.”
Eve gritted her teeth that he talked about her like she wasn’t even there but she was grateful when the sheriff finally nodded. “Damn it, you’re right. Do me a favor Eve and don’t harass the DA, okay?”
“So you
do
think he’s involved?” His non-answer earlier has been a giveaway but she wanted to hear him say it.
He shook his head. “I didn’t say that. Just…stay out of trouble and keep a low profile. If I find out you’re not staying under lockdown with Mac I’ll lock you up myself.”
She wasn’t sure if he meant it or not so she bit back a response and nodded. “Okay.”
* * * * *
Mac pulled Eve’s suitcase from the back of Grant’s truck. After the bomb squad had cleared her house, she’d packed a bag and they’d headed to the police station to make a statement. That had taken another hour and a half.
Dusk had already fallen and he was beat. More mentally than anything. But at least Eve was alive and unharmed. He’d nearly lost a decade of his life during those moments he hadn’t known if she’d been all right.
When he’d found her lying face down in the grass, he could have sworn his heart stopped beating. Until she’d moved. Then something foreign had twisted inside him. Something he didn’t want to admit existed for her. That sharp burst of adrenaline and the need to protect her had nearly overwhelmed him. That need had always been there. Since they were kids in fact. But this was different. It wasn’t simply a need to keep her safe. He wanted to claim her so that every male in the damn state knew she belonged to him.
After Grant headed toward the bunkhouse where he stayed during the weeks he was on night rotation at the ranch, Eve cleared her throat nervously. “I never got a chance to ask you, but why’d you lie to the sheriff?”
“What are you talking about?” Enough hours had passed that he’d hoped she’d forget about it. Should have known better. The woman forgot
nothing
.
“When you told him you convinced me not to tell the police about what I’d seen.”
He shrugged as they reached his front door. “I didn’t want you to get in any trouble.”
“I don’t need a big brother.” She sounded testy and he wasn’t sure why.
He sure as hell didn’t have
brotherly
feelings for her. After last night she should know that. “And I don’t want to be your brother,” he muttered. He wished that was all he wanted. Sleeping under the same roof would be a hell of a lot easier if his feelings were platonic. He might not
want
to want her, but that burning deep-seated need for her wasn’t going away any time soon. The longer he was around her, the more obvious that became.
She said something he couldn’t understand but he wasn’t going to ask her to repeat it. He wanted a cold beer and a hot shower. “Which room do you want?” he asked as they reached the beginning of the hallway.
Eve took the bag from his hand. “I’ll stay in the one I did last night if that’s all right?”
He’d rather her sleep in his bed. He told himself it was simply because he wanted to hold her. To convince himself she was okay. But that was bullshit. He wanted to bury himself inside her and make her come so many times she didn’t remember the touch of anyone before him. The offer was on the tip of his tongue but somehow he reined it in. Damn, he really did need sleep. “It’s fine. I’m going to grab a beer.”
She nodded. “I’ll be there in a sec.”
For a moment he watched the sway of her ass as she strode down the hallway. What he wouldn’t give to slide his hands down her back and cup that perfection. The woman was soft and curvy in all the right places. Just once he wanted to feel all that womanly softness pressed up against him when she was stripped bare to him. No clothes, no barriers and the only thing in her eyes would be desire and heat.
He shook himself out of his trance and headed for the kitchen. Eyeing the contents of his stainless steel fridge, he frowned. There wasn’t much there. The men who lived on the land ate supper at his house during the week but they always took the leftovers back to the fridge in the bunkhouse.
“Got any beer for me?” He turned at the sound of Eve’s voice.
“Yeah.” He grabbed two and handed her one. “I don’t have much food but you’re free to take a look.” As he popped the top of his bottle he tried not to stare too hard. She’d taken off her boots and jacket and looked very comfortable and at ease in his home. Where he wouldn’t mind her spending more time.
“This is perfect.” She leaned against the counter and sighed happily after she’d taken a long pull from the bottle.
His eyes narrowed on her mouth again. Full, lush lips he’d finally got to taste last night. After years of wondering what she’d be like, he’d found out she was as responsive as he’d hoped. Now he wanted more. He didn’t care that they would likely never work in the long term. His cock pushed against his zipper as he watched her take another pull then move the bottle away. When those sexy lips pulled into a thin line he realized he was staring a little too hard.
Immediately he averted his gaze and met her dark eyes. She arched a blonde eyebrow but didn’t say anything. The heat he saw in her gaze made him ache with raw need. Screw the long term worries. He’d almost lost her today. Blindly, he set his beer down behind him and took a step toward her. When he did, her eyes widened a fraction but she didn’t make a move to leave.
After the way she’d run out on him last night his inner voice told him this was a stupid idea, but around her all he seemed to have were stupid ideas. Lying to the police for her and letting her stay with him was a recipe for disaster.
In the end he knew he’d get burned by feisty Eve Newman. It was hard to care when she was staring at him with those big brown eyes that begged him to throw her over his shoulder, take her to his bedroom and not come out for hours. Days even.
The closer he got he realized she was covering the distance from her end. He didn’t even remember moving, but suddenly their mouths clashed. She let out a heated moan and wrapped her hands around the back of his neck.
Something about her brought out his most primal side. He didn’t quite understand it and whatever it was, it made him want to dominate yet protect the little vixen with a fierceness that stunned him.
As her tongue stroked against his in erotic teasing flicks, one of her hands slid down his chest and didn’t stop until she grasped his erection through his jeans. His hips jerked against her touch. Too much clothing was in the way. What he wouldn’t give to feel her hand—or mouth—on him.
His hands tightened around her hips and he started walking them back toward the center island. Holding on to her, he lifted her up and placed her on the counter. As he did, she cried out but it wasn’t from desire.
Drawing back, he opened his eyes. “Are you okay?”
She nodded, her eyes still hazy and lusty. “I’m fine. I guess I’m more sore than I realized.” Her voice had that sexy, breathy quality that made his cock jump to attention. Not that it mattered right now.
He sighed and leaned forward until their foreheads touched. Nothing was going to happen between them tonight. Not with the way he felt. He couldn’t be gentle or tender and that’s exactly what she needed. After an accident then almost being blown up, she would be sore for a couple days. And he wasn’t going to hurt her further by pushing things tonight.
“I think we should call it a night.” He barely recognized the raspy growl of his own voice.
She bit her bottom lip and for a moment it looked like she was going to say no, but she eventually nodded. “Yeah. You’re probably right.”
As he drew back and helped her off the counter, he tried to shift but it only enflamed his cock more. “Stay with me tonight.” The words slipped out before he could stop himself. “Not for…anything physical, but stay with me. That way I’ll know you’re safe.”
Her cheeks tinged an adorable shade of pink. “Okay.” She almost seemed shy as she agreed. Nothing about her was timid but he liked that he obviously affected her as much as she affected him.
He threw an arm around her shoulder as they made their way back to his room, but she paused at the entrance.
“I’m going to take a shower and change,” she murmured.
“Okay.” He didn’t say anything else. Instead he let his arm drop. He was afraid he’d pull her into his arms again if he kept touching her.
After changing, he slipped into bed and stared at his ceiling, counting the seconds until she joined him. Even though he knew it would be torture being able to hold her but not do anything else, it was something he’d gladly sign up for anytime.
When Eve paused in his doorway, his entire body tensed. She’d changed into completely respectable pajamas that unfortunately covered her arms, legs and everything in between.
Her strawberry blonde hair was damp and hanging loose around her face. “Are you sure you want me to sleep with you?” Her voice was hesitant and totally out of character.
Since he didn’t trust his voice, he pulled back the covers on the other side of the bed. Wordlessly she hurried over and slid in. Feeling like a randy teenager completely out of his depth, he wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her to his chest. His hand settled over her stomach and he forced himself to keep it there even though the urge to move higher and cup her breast was strong.
Sighing deeply, she snuggled back against him, then froze. She wiggled once, right over his erection, then paused again. “Uh, Mac?”
“Go to sleep.” He knew he wouldn’t be sleeping anytime soon but it was worth the torture.
“Are you sure—”
“Get some rest,” he murmured in her ear.
It was slight but he felt her tremble in his hold. In a day or two, things would be different between them. He could feel it straight to his core. Hell, things already
were
different than a week ago. This was the first step. Even though holding her like this made his craving for her worse and even though it would kill him when things ended between them, nothing could get rid of this ache. Nothing but Eve.