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Thaddeus looked into Jana’s green eyes. It appeared that she’d gotten the point, so there was no need to say more. Which was fine with him. All the talking was a distraction.
Jana was in danger; that hadn’t changed. And that pissed him off more than anything. Thaddeus didn’t want harm to come to her. He cared. That was what it boiled down to. He cared a lot.
He waited for a scathing retort from Jana, for her to rail against him. Only it didn’t come.
Jana looked at him without saying a word, for what seemed like minutes. “I’m sorry,” she said softly. “I just…”
Thaddeus looked at her, wanting to hold her, wishing he could reassure her.
“I’m grateful that you’re here,” Jana said. “I really am.”
“Can we go now?” Thaddeus said, having no idea how to respond to her.
Jana nodded, so he pulled back onto the road and headed for the impound yard. She seemed all right, for the moment. But Thaddeus wasn’t.
He was in turmoil. He’d let his guard down. Even in battle, he’d kept his emotional barrier up. Whatever had come his way, he’d dealt with it. He hadn’t allowed anything to get to him—he wouldn’t have allowed it.
His thought processes didn’t mesh with the female psyche. He thought strategically, not emotionally. That was how he’d been trained. It was logical and was the best defense against attack.
Battle, competition, or anything physical, Thaddeus understood. That was where he was at home, on his own turf. Emotion and intimacy had been beyond his reach. He’d known that, so he hadn’t sought any enduring relationship with a woman.
Then why did he feel as vulnerable as hell? Thaddeus cared for Jana more than he should. It wasn’t just that she was his client, that he had a duty to protect her—although that would have been enough. It was her. He cared about her, as a woman, and as a person.
