Fall Into You (4 page)

“Yes. No.” She shook her head slightly, like she was still trying to clear the cobwebs.
“I think my memory is coming back.”

“About the accident?”

She swung her legs over the side of the bed and stood, either
unconcerned or unaware that she was only in a T-shirt and what looked to be grandma-sized
panties. “I need to go home.”

“Whoa,” he said, stepping closer. “What’s wrong? What do you remember?”

“I don’t want to rehash it. I just—” She glanced down at her state of undress and
even in the predawn light he could see her cheeks darken. “Shit. Where are my pants?”

“I washed everything and hung your stuff up in the bathroom.”

She hurried past him, a bit unsteady on her feet, and went into the bathroom. The
sink turned on and off. When she stepped out again, she had her jeans and her own
shirt back on and had twisted her long locks into some kind of makeshift bun. “Since
we’re both up anyway, do you mind taking me now?”

“I don’t mind, but I’d sure like to know why you’re moving so fast all of a sudden.
Tell me what’s going on.”

“It’s not important,” she said, grabbing her purse.

“The hell it isn’t.” He crossed his arms over his chest, squaring off with her. Her
agitation wasn’t simply a need to get home. She’d remembered something bad. He could
almost taste her fear, like the air had been flavored with it. “Take a breath. I’ll
take you home. But tell me what’s got you scared.”

Those green eyes, the ones that had been so soft and inviting the day before, turned
guarded. But if she thought the tough-girl face was hiding the anxiety he could feel
vibrating off her, she was sadly mistaken. He’d spent too many years reading cues
in people. She’d have to do better than that to fool him.

She took a deep breath. “Look, I appreciate the help you’ve given me. I do. But I
just need to get home.”

“If you’re in some kind of trouble, Max would want—”

She raised a hand to him, halting his words. “If it were up to Max, I would still
be living around the corner so he could make sure the wind didn’t blow on me wrong.
And everything is fine.”

Sure it was. She hadn’t even been able to keep the eye contact when telling the lie.

He had to stop himself from calling her on it or demanding honesty. She’d only put
up more defenses, and that would get them nowhere.

Looked like the girl who he’d lain awake fantasizing about all night didn’t respond
well to his bossy side. Par for the course. “Fine. Wait out front, and I’ll drive
my truck around.”

She gave him a curt, satisfied nod, thinking she had won. “Thank you.”

He bit his tongue and headed out the door.

She wouldn’t be thanking him later when she found out what he was about to do on the
walk back to his cabin. In his personal life, he considered a woman’s consent as sacred
as religion. But when it came to someone’s safety, he wasn’t going to waste time asking
for permission.

He was taking charge of this rodeo.

The ride back to Dallas was a quiet one. Grant made attempts at polite conversation
with Charli, but she couldn’t concentrate. All she could think about was the fact
that she’d been purposely run off the road by someone—that she could’ve been killed.

She planned to call the cops when she got home and was out of Mr. Sexy Cowboy’s earshot.
But she knew that whatever small-town police force covered that stretch of country
road probably couldn’t do much without any witnesses or license plate numbers. She
couldn’t even give them the make or model of the car. The lights had been so bright.
All she could figure was that it had been a truck or SUV of some sort. Something that
was taller than her vehicle.

And most likely it had been a drunk driver or kids letting a prank get out of hand.
At least she hoped that’s what it’d been. The other possibilities were too frightening
to consider.

“So you’re really not going to tell me what happened, huh?” Grant asked, his tone
light, but his expression tense beneath the brim of his cowboy hat. “Even if I ask
all polite-like?”

She couldn’t help but smile at that. With that low drawl and dimpled cheek, he could
pretty much ask her anything, and she’d probably fold at some point. But she knew
his type too well. Her brother Max was the same way. If Grant found out she could
be in some kind of danger, he’d be calling her brother in an instant and treating
her like she was ten. She definitely didn’t need that. “You’re not used to hearing
no, are ya, cowboy?”

He smirked, deepening that dimple and confirming her allegation. “You must’ve given
Max hell growing up.”

She shrugged. “I grew up in a house of dudes who would’ve locked me in a protective
tower if there’d been one available. It was grow some balls or perish.”

“Eloquently put.”

She turned away, trying to hide her cringe. God, why was she always doing that? Talking
like she lived in a locker room. It was fine at work because working with the sports
crew
was
like a locker room, but sometimes she forgot that most women in the world didn’t
go around talking about balls. “Sorry. They taught me how to throw a perfect spiral,
but eloquence, not so much.”

“No apology needed. I was just teasing.” He took the ramp off I-30 and headed toward
her neighborhood. “Remember, I was in the military. I can be disgustingly offensive
in six different languages if necessary.”

For some odd reason, that knowledge sent a little tingle through her. The thought
of him talking dirty with that molasses-toned accent…oh, my. She rolled down her window
a tick, hoping the blast of air would cool her suddenly warm skin and dissipate some
of the enticing soap and fresh-cut-grass smell wafting off Grant. The man was downright
intoxicating. She probably would never see Grant Waters again in her life, but he
had sure as shit secured a starring role in her next sexual fantasy. “Take that next
left. It’s the fourth house on the right.”

Grant followed her directions and some of the tightness in her shoulders loosened,
knowing she was getting back to her own territory where things made sense. But as
soon as they made the last turn, the blue-and-red flashing of police lights had her
heartbeat rising. Was that car parked in front of
her
house?

Grant glanced her way, his frown lines deep. “Is that your place?”

She nodded, her tongue thick in her mouth.

He rolled to a stop in her driveway, and she was shoving the door open before Grant
had even shifted into park. Her shoes hit the pavement, and she made a beeline toward
the first officer she saw. His head was bent over his pad as he made notes.

“Excuse me? What’s going on?”

He lifted his head. “You a neighbor?”

“No, I live here. I’m Charli Beaumonde.”

He looked toward her little white house, his expression grave. “Sorry, ma’am. We tried
to reach you on your cell phone, but couldn’t get you.”

“It’s dead.”

“Well, your neighbor called us early this morning to report suspicious noises and
a man in your backyard. It was too dark to get a description, but she knew he didn’t
belong there. Said you never have men over.”

Great, even her neighbors were keeping track of her piss-poor love life. She rubbed
her arms, a chill beginning to work its way through her. “Did you find him?”

“By the time we got here, the perp had already left. Looks like he got in and stole
some computer equipment. Your office is a mess, but nothing else looks to be disturbed.”

The already steady pounding in her chest moved into her ears. Someone had broken into
her office? With all her…
No
. She put her hand to her forehead.

Grant who’d stepped up behind her, put a hand on her shoulder and squeezed, as if
sensing that she was near panic mode.

The officer looked up at him, then back to her. “Besides the desktop, did you have
anything valuable in there?”

Valuable?
Just all the research and notes she’d been busting her ass to collect on this story.
She wet her lips, her throat trying to close up on her. “I had information about a
news story I’m working on. Notes.”

He jotted down something. “Anyone who’d want that information bad enough to break
in?”

She rubbed her fingers over her brow bone, her head feeling as if it had a fissure
splitting the middle of it. The list of people who could be involved in this scandal
was long and unproven. Plus, how any of them could know what she was working on and
where she kept her notes was a wonder. “Not really.”

The cop shrugged. “Probably not connected. We’ve had a few break-ins in this neighborhood
over the last couple of months. It’s most likely kids looking to score some electronics.”

After another round of questions from the other officer and a tour of the damage,
the policemen left with a promise to follow up with her if they found anything. She
watched them turn off her street and wrapped her arms around herself, trying to fight
a chill that wouldn’t seem to go away.

Grant, who’d stayed leaning against his truck like some silent sentinel, pushed to
a stand and stepped in front of her, his hat pulled low over his eyes. Apparently
noticing her goose bumps, he rubbed his palms along her chilled arms.

Somehow the little gesture of comfort had tears that had built up from the last twenty-four
hours ready to burst free. But she wouldn’t cry. She could handle this.

“You okay, freckles?” he asked.

“Freckles?” She looked up at him, trying to muster up some
I’m-totally-fine façade, even though having his hands on her had her thoughts fracturing
and emotion trying to leak through. “Are you trying to get me back for calling you
cowboy?”

“Just trying to make you smile,” he said, concern underlying that twang.

She pushed a finger to his chest and tried to manage an intimidating expression. “I’d
normally punch a guy for calling me that. You’re lucky I’m too tired. And that you’re
so fucking big.”

“Lucky, indeed.” He smiled, but those blue eyes remained serious. He grabbed her hand
before she could move it away from his chest. His palm closed over her fist, the hold
firm. “Now are you going to tell me what really happened last night? You’re shaking.
And I know it’s over more than stolen computer equipment.”

She blinked at the change in subject and his grip on her hand. She stepped back, and
he quickly let go of her. “What?”

His mouth dipped at the corners, and he eyed her in that knowing way he seemed to
be so good at. “Fine. We can do this the easy way or the hard way. You can go on pretending
that everything is sugar and sparkles to try to get me to go away and leave you to
whatever mess you’re in alone. Not going to happen, by the way. Or you can be honest
with me so that maybe I can offer some help.”

She groaned. “Look, I appreciate everything you’ve done. But I don’t need help. I’m
on a story that apparently has ruffled someone’s feathers. I can handle it. After
all this, I’m going to be on guard now and more aware.”

The displeasure that crossed his face was strong enough to steal breath. He crossed
his arms over his chest. “Someone ran you off the road last night. And don’t lie and
say I’m off base. You were yelling at them in your sleep.”

She glanced away and took a sudden interest in a crack in her driveway. “It was probably
just kids messing around.”

“You don’t strike me as a stupid woman, Charli. Don’t talk like one.”

She clenched her jaw, frustration building. Who was he to make demands on her? Being
a Good Samaritan gave him the right to a thank-you but not some right to all her business.
But before she could lash out and take out her stress from the last twenty-four hours
on the man in front of her, another truck pulled into her driveway. A very familiar
one.

“Son. Of. A. Bitch.” Her simmering frustration boiled over into outright anger. She
sent a fiery look Grant’s way, as a ginger-headed man climbed out of the truck’s cab.

Grant shrugged. “Sorry, darlin’. He would’ve done the same for me.”