“I need to get dressed. I don’t want to die naked.”
“You’re not fixin’ to die at all. There’s already a deputy out front, and Garrett’s on his way,” Ethan said.
“And you’re already here.” She smiled but it felt unsteady. “You came running when you thought I might be in danger.”
She moved past him out into the hallway, then down it to her bedroom, and logical or not, she was more touched by his protectiveness than she was frightened by the threat. She was constantly surrounded by Brands. It would take an army to do her harm.
Ethan followed, then leaned in her doorway while she opened dresser drawers and took out clothes. She stepped into panties and pulled them up under the towel. Then she grabbed a sports bra and turned her back to him, dropping the towel entirely. She pulled the bra over her head, and then the first blouse she’d found, and when her head popped out, she realized she was facing the mirror, so he’d had the full view the whole time.
She grabbed a pair of socks, then opened another drawer and took out a pair of jeans. As she pulled them on, she said, “Given how far your eyeballs have emerged from their sockets, I don’t think my hands-off policy is our solution.”
“Why not?” His voice cracked like an adolescent boy’s.
She buttoned the jeans and sat on the bed to don the socks, then stood up again. “Because you’re not gonna be able to keep your hands off me. Are you, Ethan?”
“Not unless I leave town.”
“Oh, I see you’ve given this some thought already.”
“A little, yeah. And you’re the one who kissed me, today. After you said hands off at work. To be honest, I don’t know if I’m comin’ or goin’.”
She nodded. “I’d apologize, except I mostly don’t either.” She crouched to pick up her dropped towel, and when she straightened again, he was right there, close to her. “Are you gonna run from me again, Ethan? Leave in the morning like the stars at sunrise?”
“I feel like the mornin’ might be too late.” He slid his arms around her waist.
“Hot damn, I was hopin’ you’d say that.” She put a little Texas twang into the words, then slid her arms around his neck and leaned up close to nibble his lips before kissing them, and then there was a shout from the front door.
“Lily! Bubba! You okay in here?”
She jumped away from Ethan a fraction of a second before Garrett Brand appeared in the doorway, the badge on his chest. “Everybody okay?”
“Yeah, fine,” Lily said. “Um, Ethan, why don’t you fill him in? I’m gonna um…dry my hair. Yeah.” She went into the bathroom and closed the door. Beyond it, she could hear their male voices, tones muffled, concern evident even though she couldn’t hear their words.
She stared into the mirror. Ethan wanted her so much it was undeniable, yet he was willing to leave town to get away from her, yet he’d raced to her side, terrified she might be in danger.
What the hell was a woman supposed to do with a guy like him?
Terrence Clay had been Angus Silver’s driver for three years. His dad had been Angus’s father Devon Silver’s driver. Terrence had made it clear from the get-go that driving was all he did. Oh, he could keep his mouth shut all right. Mr. Silver never needed to worry about Terrence running his mouth. He was no rat. His dad had taught him better. To work for the Silvers, all you had to do was follow orders and keep your mouth shut. He’d never been asked to do anything illegal.
But he didn’t like that his boss had threatened those women. He’d threatened women in the past, and some of them…well, bad things had happened to some of them. He didn’t know his boss had anything to do with it…but he suspected it.
Angus Silver drove recklessly as hell, while in the back, Terrence held on for dear life. He hadn’t buckled up, and the sharp curves sent him sliding across the seat, smashing against the door, then sliding to the other side.
“Boss, Jeeze, slow down!”
They came to a crossroads in the middle of nowhere, and Angus didn’t even let up, just blasted right through the stop sign. A brown car came flying from the left and T-boned them, hitting the driver’s side, just ahead of where Silver was sitting. The Caddy’s nose snapped right, the car went into a skid, fishtailing wildly as Silver fought the steering wheel.
He brought the car to a stop off the road in a cloud of dust. The other car was off the other side in the road. It had wound up in a weed patch with a steep ravine behind it. The engine had stalled, and the driver was trying to start it.
The big guy’s words back at the cantina floated back into his head and he thought they must’ve been prophetic. He opened his door, started to get out.
“I’ll kill that fucker,” Silver yelled. He wrenched the wheel, jamming the car into drive.
Terrence pushed off, barely clearing the car door, landing in a tuck-and-roll that hurt like a bitch. He got up on all fours in the road in time to see the Caddy speeding away from him toward the brown car, which had its nose smashed to hell and gone. The driver kept cranking it, over and over again, but it wouldn’t start. Silver gunned the Caddy, aiming it right at the guy, and Terrence was sure he was about to witness a murder.
Then the brown car caught and started, and just as Terrence braced reflexively for the crash, the car shot forward. The Caddy blasted right through the spot where it had been, kept right on going, over the drop-off on the other side of the road. It sped to the brink, then vanished from sight.
The brown car sat rumbling in the road. Terrence pushed himself up onto his feet, stunned and shaking. He wanted to see what had happened to the boss and ran closer. The mangled wreckage at the bottom gave all the information he needed.
