Page 9 of Protect My Heart

Clearing her throat, Liz’s gaze dropped to the floor. She took a second to compose herself. She was a professional, dang it. She would not melt like a chocolate bar in the hot Florida sun. Pasting on a pleasant smile, she met his gaze. “I appreciate the way you handled Luis.”

“The kid’s been through a lot. The last thing I want is to scare him.” He was still looking at her with the intensity that had her stomach knotting in balls. At the same time, visions of his lips on hers flashed in her brain. The heat in her face moved to her chest, and she’d swear if she fell in the snow right now, it would steam.

This was crazy. She knew nothing about this man. He could be married with a dozen children for all she knew. Her gaze dropped to his hand. No ring.

Moving out the door, he followed close behind. She turned to ask, “So, do you have child—”

The squeal of wheels reached her ears a split second before the flash of dark metal caught her gaze. A truck swerved around the corner, careening over the curb and straight towards them. Strong arms encircled her, hoisted her off the ground, and propelled her backward. All the air left her lungs as she landed with a thud on a solid chest. It was definitely better than the concrete but just as firm.

“Are you okay?” Bracing her by the shoulders, his eyes surveyed her for damage. Either the near miss or his visual scan of her body made her legs wobble a little. Shell-shocked.

“I think so.” Before she could enjoy being cradled in his strong arms, he shoved her aside, and her butt hit the cold ground.

“Did you get the license plate number?” Jim jumped up and had his phone out, rapidly firing off orders to the person on the other end of the line. When he finished, he jammed the phone back in his pocket and reached a hand out to her.

Her fingers slipped into his, and he pulled her up. His fingers trailed over her, checking for injuries, no doubt. When they stopped on her shoulders, she looked up to find his dark gaze intent on her. What had he asked? Oh yeah, license plates. “I didn’t see the plates. Heck, I barely saw the vehicle.”

“If I was a suspicious person, I’d think that guy jumped the curb on purpose.” His eyes narrowed and the menacing look told her he was the president of the ulterior motive club.

Her hands fisted on her hips. “Who did you piss off lately?”

“Me? I’m a police officer. There is always some criminal out there wanting to take out a cop.”

The reality of his statement sunk in. Someone was always out to get him. Cold dread seeped into her chest. Just a reminder that he wasn’t for her. She couldn’t let herself fall for another guy that could be gone tomorrow. Even if it wasn’t by his choice.

He turned to her. “But no one has tried to kill me in a while. Who’d you piss off? An ex maybe?”

“No, not likely. I’ve only been back in the state for a week.” She doubted her ex-boyfriend would put the energy into tracking her down. He was too busy screwing her ex-coworker.

“Then my best guess is it has to do with the shooting last night. Come on. Let’s go.” He took her arm to lead her to his car.

“Oh, my purse.” She reached for the contents of her bag that had spilled on the sidewalk. As she scooped up lip-gloss and her wallet, he bent beside her to help.

“What is this?”

The blood drained from her face and a chill prickled the back of her neck. Jim held the one thing she wanted to forget existed. The envelope had been riding around in her purse for a day, but she couldn’t ignore it anymore. Her fingers trembled as she reached out and slipped the letter from his hand.

The sting in her nose warned her of the impending tears. Why would she cry? Embarrassment? Anger? Both. Liz didn’t want to admit her father was in prison to anyone, much less the man standing in front of her. Jim looked at her with a mix of curiosity and concern.

Dang those cop-eyes. He watched her and waited. Silence was her Achilles’ heel, the words battled in the back of her throat to get out. ‘It’s nothing’ was on the tip of her tongue. So, why did she blurt out her worst nightmare? “My father’s up for parole.”

Damn, the last thing she needed was his condemnation, guilt by association... or worse, his pity.

If Jim hadn’t watched the woman in front of him fight to keep it together, he would have thought she was bullshitting him. Parole? Probably in an executive correctional facility for some insider trading or a Ponzi scheme.

Doc breathed in deep, closed her eyes for a moment, and squared her shoulders.

He could see she was implementing some calming techniques, but her eyes glistened.

No, don’t cry. Tears were his kryptonite. Three sisters and he still didn’t know what to do when a woman cried.

“Well, um... Want some ice cream?” Brilliant! Now she’ll think I’m an idiot.

“Did you say ice cream?” Her brows pulled in, confusion clear on her face. “It’s twelve degrees out here.”

“Yeah, so?” Jim stared into her liquid, brown eyes. He tried to get a read on her. She was cool as ice when he challenged her last night, and all warm and caring with Luis, but one question about the unopened letter unhinged her. Not sure what to do, Jim went with the one thing that always worked when his sisters freaked out about something. Ice cream.

“Do you like pralines and pecan? There’s a café around the corner that serves the best ice cream with homemade waffle cones.”