Evidence Of Attraction. Lisa Childs
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him made it to trial.
And it would—despite the threats Wendy had received. They had to be from Mills. Or, since he was in jail, from someone working for him. Unfortunately, he had many, many people working for him.
That was why she needed to be here, to make sure her parents stayed safe. Along with some friends, they were the only real loved ones she had—besides her job. Maybe it was because she loved it so much that she had no other loved ones. She was only twenty-seven, though, and eventually work would let up, when crime and Luther Mills went down, and she would have more time for dating.
If she found someone she actually wanted to date, she would make time now, though. But she hadn’t found anyone yet.
A face flashed into her mind. A handsome face with chiseled features: strong jaw, sharp cheekbones, deep brown eyes that could stare right into a person’s soul. Not hers, though…
Hart Fisher had never even looked at her. Of course, he had been married some of his time with the River City PD. But after he had left the vice unit and become a detective, he and his wife had divorced. He would have been available then…if he had ever showed any interest in Wendy. But he hadn’t.
Not too long after his divorce, he had resigned from the force. Wendy had heard he was working for a former coworker, Parker Payne, as a bodyguard.
She expelled a wistful sigh. She wouldn’t have minded him guarding her body. At least then he might have to look at her. But would he like what he saw?
Untamable red hair and freckles that showed even through the heaviest application of makeup. She uttered another sigh. This one was of resignation. If the rumors around the station were true, his ex had been a beauty queen—a former Miss River City—so it was no wonder Hart had never noticed Wendy.
All a woman like Wendy could do was dream about a man like Hart Fisher, and after his divorce, she had often dreamed about him. About him kissing her, touching her…even just smiling at her.
Her sigh turned to a yawn. The past few sleepless nights must have caught up with her because her eyelids grew heavy. With the officers stationed outside, she didn’t need to worry. Her parents would be safe. She could sleep and dream…of a certain former River City PD detective.
But she hadn’t been asleep for long when a noise awoke her. The hardwood floor emitted a low creaking sound, as if someone was walking across it. Had her dad come upstairs to close her window? She could still feel the wind, though, blowing through the sheer curtains and across her body. And the sound was coming toward her, not away from her.
She jerked fully awake and reached for her Glock. But before she was able to grab it, a strong hand grabbed her, wrapping tightly around her wrist. She stared up at the dark shadow looming over her bed. Before she could open her mouth to scream, the shadow’s other hand covered her lips. She thrashed, kicking out, trying to fight.
But then the shadow dropped heavily onto her, a hard body covering hers. She kept thrashing around, trying to get her knee to connect where it would hurt him most. From the grunts slipping through his lips and his overpowering strength, she knew her intruder was male.
It had to be one of Luther’s minions sent to deliver the next threat in person. The first had been paper, the second the call and now…this one…
Was he just supposed to threaten her? Or was he supposed to make good on those threats and kill her?
If that was his intention, she wasn’t going to make it easy for him. Wendy Thompson wasn’t going out without one hell of a fight.
“Stop,” Hart Fisher whispered, pressing his mouth close to Wendy Thompson’s ear. Her soft hair tickled his lips. “Stop fighting me.”
If she kneed him again, he might not be able to stop himself from crying out.
“You were supposed to be expecting me,” he whispered. Somebody—either his boss or hers—had said they would call and let her know he was coming. When she hadn’t been waiting outside for him, he hadn’t wanted to wake her parents. He had also wanted to see how easily he could get past her supposed protection stationed outside the house.
Too easily.
He shivered and so did Wendy, her body shuddering beneath his. Unfortunately, his body was reacting to the closeness of hers, to her warmth, her softness, her scent…
She smelled sweet, like vanilla.
If she kneed him again, it was going to hurt even more than it already had. Even though she should have been expecting him, she kept thrashing around beneath him.
“Stop,” he told her again even though she had stilled, her body tense beneath his. “I’m here to protect you.”
Her lips moved under his hand, brushing over his skin as she tried to talk. At least, he hoped that was all she was going to do—not scream.
“I’m Hart Fisher.” He identified himself before moving his hand away from her mouth.
“I know who you are,” she said in a raspy whisper. “What I need to know is what the hell you are doing in my bed.”
Heat rushed back to his face from where it had pooled in other parts of his body. Had she felt his reaction to her closeness?
He quickly moved off her, hoping that she hadn’t. It had been too damn long since he’d been with a woman if just any female could affect him like that.
But Wendy Thompson wasn’t just any female. She was the one he’d been assigned to protect. He needed to focus on that, on protecting her.
But now he realized he might also need to protect himself. “I was trying to stop you from shooting me. I work for the Payne Protection Agency,” he said.
She nodded. “Parker Payne.”
“Yes,” he said. Until this assignment, Hart had thought Parker was his friend as well as his boss. Now he wasn’t so damn sure. “I was assigned to protect you. The chief or Parker was supposed to call to let you know I was coming over tonight.”
She reached toward her nightstand again, but instead of grabbing her Glock, she picked up her cell. The screen lit up with a notification that she had a voice mail—undoubtedly from the chief or Parker.
“I already have protection,” Wendy said. “I have the whole River City PD looking out for me.”
Hart snorted derisively. He hadn’t been surprised that Luther Mills had got to someone in the police department. Despite the FBI’s efforts over the past few years to clean it up, there was still too much corruption in the force.
She bristled in defense and said, “They are my fellow officers.”
He knew that, as well as getting her master’s degree in criminal science, she had also graduated from the police academy. Because of that, she had the respect of the rest of the precinct. But that respect meant nothing now, since she had been the one who’d collected the evidence against Luther Mills.
“I know,” he said. “But that doesn’t mean you can trust them.”
“What?” she asked, her voice rising sharply above a whisper. She lowered it and continued. “What the hell are you insinuating?”
“I’m not insinuating anything,” he said. “I’m telling you that Luther Mills got to someone within the police department. That’s why the chief hired the Payne Protection Agency to step in and provide security for everyone associated with Mills’s upcoming trial.”
“No…” She shook her head, tumbling her wild red curls around her face. “I just talked to Chief Lynch a few days ago and he said nothing about hiring a bodyguard for me.”
Hart narrowed his eyes at the suspicion in her voice. Did she think he was the one Luther Mills had got to? She must have