“Do you think those men were after you? That makes no sense. The cop said there has been a string of robberies,” she reminded him.
“Yeah, I’m hoping that’s all it was. But in my line of work, I don’t trust many people.”
“What in the heck have I gotten myself into?” she asked.
He gave a mirthless laugh. “I bet you will be asking yourself that same question a lot over the next couple of weeks,” he told her.
“Weeks? What are you talking about?”
“I don’t think you should go home for a while, at least until we figure out what is going on.”
“They got the bad guys. I’m going to be perfectly fine going home,” she assured him.
He sighed, and she could see he didn’t agree with her at all. She had no idea where that left her. One thing she did know, though, was that she was in for an adventure, even if she didn’t want one.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Ace didn’t know what was going on with him, but he knew for sure that he was in some serious trouble where this woman was concerned. He looked over at Dakota as she snoozed restlessly in the seat beside him. He also knew he was a sick bastard for noticing the sleek curve of her thigh as her robe bunched up around her.
He couldn’t shake the feeling that he’d been the one to put her in danger. Yet he was still lusting after her. The best thing he cou
ld do for her would be to put her in a safe house and stay the hell away from her. But the thought of doing that had him feeling . . . panic. That was an emotion Ace didn’t feel—didn’t allow himself to feel.
What was this woman doing to him? He didn’t know, but no matter how much he wanted to fight the emotion, he couldn’t. He cared about this spitfire of a woman, and he didn’t want her out of his sight. Not only because he knew he could protect her better than anyone else could, but also because he couldn’t seem to let her go.
The more he was with Dakota, the more muddled his brain and body became. He hadn’t been this infatuated with a woman since he was a teen trying to score with the band nerd who had a wild side.
Dakota was more than he’d ever imagined. She was beautiful, loyal, and fun to be around. She wasn’t afraid of much in life, and he could see himself never growing bored with this woman by his side.
But settling down with a yard, and kids, and a couple of dogs wasn’t in the cards for Ace. He’d chosen a solitary life, and he’d accepted it. But being back home around his very happily married siblings was messing with his head. Being around Dakota was making it that much worse.
Ace had been on red alert for so long, he’d forgotten what it was like not to be. Over these few short weeks, he’d let down his guard, at least partially. He hadn’t been as aware of his surroundings, and all hell had broken loose because of it. The cops said it was robberies, but he couldn’t fully accept that.
What would happen if he settled too casually into this make-believe world he was living in? If the general population had even an inkling about all the bad surrounding them, they wouldn’t sleep so well at night in their comfy little homes. Ace was very aware of the danger, and even he’d grown somewhat complacent to it all.
His arm was throbbing, reminding him he’d been shot. The medics had wrapped it, but if he didn’t get the bullets out soon, he was going to have some problems. His sister-in-law was a nurse. She’d take care of him. Right now, he had a call to make.
Turning down the volume on his car speaker, he dialed Bill and waited.
“Hello.” The greeting was abrupt as always.
Dakota stirred in the seat next to him at the bold voice coming over the speakers, but then she settled back down, obviously exhausted from their ordeal.
“My friend Dakota was attacked tonight,” Ace told him, coming straight to the point. “Could it have anything to do with me?” Ace tried desperately to keep the rage from simmering over. It wasn’t working too well.
“I haven’t heard anything,” Bill said slowly, but there was a knot of suspicion in his voice. He didn’t believe in coincidences, either. “Random attacks do happen,” he added.
“I don’t trust anyone,” Ace told him. “Two men were in Dakota’s house, both of them armed. I have no doubt they wanted to harm her. It was a good thing I showed up.”
“I’m sorry, Ace. Maybe we should meet up and see if any of this has to do with you. But honestly, I don’t think so,” Bill told him.
“Not right now. Can you do some research without me? I have Dakota with me and I’m getting her to safety,” Ace said.
“You know you don’t have to do this alone,” Bill told him. “I’m here for whatever you need.”
“I’ll take care of my own problems,” Ace said with no room for argument.
“Ace—” Ace cut him off with the click of a button. He respected Bill, knew he wasn’t a part of all of this, but he’d been wrong before. He wasn’t going to allow anything to happen to Dakota. And that meant he was going to take her to his brother’s home. Even after all these years, he knew where he could go for safety, and he knew he could count on his family above anyone else.