To Love and Protect (Must Love Diamonds 4)

He put the truck in gear and drove toward the parking lot exit. “Where do you live, Shelby?”

She didn’t reply. Didn’t plan to until he answered her first.

When he reached the road, he braked and waited as light snowflakes began to drift down and melt on the windshield. She crossed her arms and turned to watch his profile, determined to get one thing she wanted out of this night.

The moment the question had left her lips, she realized she badly wanted to know what had happened to him. Because while physically he was still the same strong guy she’d known all her life, he was different in a way she couldn’t quite define. Harder? Distant? If she knew what had happened, maybe she could figure him out.

You don’t need to figure him out. He doesn’t want you—not before, not now. Let it go!

After another thirty seconds, Dev flipped on his left blinker and gave her one last glance. One last chance. She thought he was bluffing, but he stepped on the gas and pulled out onto the road in the opposite direction of her apartment complex.

She let out a little growl of annoyance. “Where are you going?”

“Home. I’m not gonna sit here all night because you’re acting like a spoiled brat.”

A spoiled brat?

Shelby glared out the window, balling her hands into tight fists as she fought the urge to reach over and hit him. After another half-mile, she unclenched her jaw and rattled off her address.

He checked his mirrors before flipping a U-turn.

A few miles later, she grudgingly asked, “You know where it is?”

“I have a friend who lives near there. I’ve driven by a few times.”

Girl friend?

Nope. Don’t care, remember?

She remained silent until they reached her complex, then she gave him her private gate code, and directions to her building. He pulled up slowly, his gaze scanning the area as he parked outside her garage bay. When she reached for the door handle, he ordered, “Wait for me.”

She paused in surprise. That was something Blake never did, though the one older gentleman who sometimes filled in on his days off usually did.

Dev came around to open her door and offered her a hand down. She hesitated, but didn’t have much choice if she wanted to avoid tripping on her long skirt in her high heels. The moment his rough, warm fingers took hold of hers, a spark of electricity zinged up her arm. She sucked in a quick breath at the same moment his grip tightened.

Once her feet were on solid ground, he released her as if he didn’t want to touch her any longer than absolutely necessary. He didn’t speak on the way inside the building and down the hall to her door. His sharp gaze surveyed everything as if he were on a mission—at least she assumed he approached a mission with the same level of intense awareness.

His hyper-vigilance threw Blake’s more casual approach into stark contrast. The odd thing was, she wasn’t sure if it heightened her anxiety, or made her feel more secure. Her stomach was a bit uneasy, but she guessed that was more from Dev’s presence than anything else.

At the door, she said, “I’ll need you to pick me up tomorrow—or later, today, actually, since it’s almost one a.m. So, say around ten, for brunch and the gift opening at my parents’ house. Then Loyal and Roxanna are leaving for their honeymoon after that.”

Quit babbling!

“Fine.”

“Great. Then I’ll see you at ten.” She turned to punch in her code for the keyless lock.

Dev’s hand closed over hers on the handle, his chest brushing against her back as her pulse skipped like crazy.

“Does Blake not check your apartment when he brings you home?”

“No.” Fighting to keep her breath even, she added, “He walks me to the door and makes sure I get in okay.”

He muttered what sounded like fucker under his breath.

“It’s fine, Dev. I make sure everything is locked up when I leave.” And she always left the lights on so she wouldn’t be freaked out walking through a dark apartment.

“I’m sure you do, but I’m still going to want to check for myself.”