She tugged her wrist back and shook her head though she sat on the edge of the white cushion. “I’m not an invalid, Galen.”
“I’m worried about you.” He stopped at a side table, grabbed a pen and paper, and took the seat next to her.
She shifted and relaxed on the couch, dropping her shoulders and hugging her knee—the hem of the green dress rising to just above it. “Thank you for letting me stay. I’m really lost as to who would do this. Why?”
He put the paper on the table in front of them and pulled it closer to him, so he could easily write. “Let’s go through things. We know about the accident at the doctor’s office.”
She dropped her leg and stared at the pen and paper. “Are you making a list of mishaps?”
“It seemed a logical place to start.”
Natalie kicked her flats off and sat straighter. “Good idea, but I thought your brother was dealing with lawsuits and stuff like that. I don’t think doctors hire hitmen.”
He wrote the doctor’s office and staff on the paper as he shrugged. “One never knows, so let’s write down any possibility we can think of.”
She bit her lower lip but then released it. “All right—it just seems unlikely to me.”
His entire body felt numb except for the parts of him that touched her. He ignored the sensation of his skin and focused on protecting her. “What seems likely to you?”
Natalie spoke fast. “Rocco.”
The man had sent roses and showed up after ten years. It made sense to investigate further. He wrote it down. “Rocco’s last name?”
“Dubois.” He added the last name. Natalie rubbed her forehead as if the stress of the day had given her a headache. “He showed up a few days ago out of the blue and acted like he wanted to apologize. Then he sent the flowers. I had security block him from my building, but he still waited for me in the lobby at least twice afterwards. I told him to leave me alone.”
Her story left him cold on the inside. He had no idea Rocco had been to see her that many times, though the flowers had made him jealous. He tapped his pen to the paper searching for something to say, but he settled on moving forward. “We’ll have Rafe check out the security footage from your building and find out if he returned any time you don’t know about. What’s the backstory there?”
Natalie’s blue eyes rounded. “We dated for a few months my senior year of college. Nothing that serious honestly, but he cheated on me with my best friend Maria. I hadn’t seen him since and then suddenly he showed up at my door to apologize.”
Galen made a star. “Maria, what’s her last name?”
Her gaze narrowed. “Hernandez. Why?”
He wrote her full name down and UM next to it. “She might be a person of interest to find out more about Rocco.”
A smile grew on her face and she gently bumped his shoulder with hers. “This is helping me relax.”
At least here, he could protect her. He brushed a blonde wave off her forehead glad to have a mission. “So will lunch. My chef is pretty good at French cuisine.”
She tilted her head, and he kissed her, remembering that she was hungry. He called to the kitchen and spoke in French, then done, he put his cell phone on the table.
She smiled at him. “What did you order just now?”
For once he had the surprise element. He brushed his hand on her thigh. “It was my choice today, so you’ll just have to wait. Let’s get back to list-making. Anyone else come to mind?”
She stared at his profile. “Dating you was new.”
He flinched but otherwise didn’t move. “You think I had anything to do with this?”
She placed her hand on his cheek and then bounced in her seat to kiss him fast. Once she settled back she said, “Not directly, but is there anyone who wouldn’t want us dating? Maybe Jennifer?”
Natalie trusted him, and that was good. He wrote the actress’s name down. “Jennifer is in love with Peter, not me. She’s benefitted from some shady situations before, but she’s never been linked to any crime.”
For a moment Natalie didn’t say anything—she looked lost in thought but then she blinked. “Did she date Rafe a long time ago?”
“Huh?” Had Natalie liked Rafe years ago? His pulse zipped with jealousy, but he kept quiet.
Natalie lifted her head and stared at the ceiling for a moment and then scooted closer to him. “In college I remember Rafe coming to visit Caro and Caro complaining about his model/actress girlfriend Jennifer who never went to college.”
