Naughty Stranger (Dangerous Love 1)

“But you did.” Boone’s arms came around her so tight. “Thank God, you did.”

Peyton sank into his hold, shutting her eyes. Adam. Had he been there keeping her safe? She liked to think so. Against Boone’s chest, and in his strong arms, she heard the message the universe sent her.

She wasn’t meant to die just yet. She needed to live.

* * *

Back at Peyton’s house, the warm water rushed across Boone’s finger as he tested the shower in her small four-piece bathroom. He glanced over his shoulder, saw his T-shirt hit the floor, then looked away. He hoped bringing Peyton home would comfort her. Something fierce had stormed through him when Kinsley ran into the bar. Now something warm and protective rushed through his veins as he hurried to remove his clothes and offered his hand to an already naked Peyton. “Let me help you.”

She stayed silent, but she didn’t need to say a word. Her emotional eyes told him everything—she needed him. She trembled uncontrollably, completely covered in blood. He understood this now. Death brought her back to Adam’s death. Seeing her now, trembling and unable to stop it, he had a sinking suspicion Adam’s passing was the reason she gave up nursing. But now was not the time to find out.

Instead, staying silent, and using slow, gentle hands, he washed her hair, then used the facecloth to wash her body until none of the accident remained on her.

Once finished, he turned off the shower, then grabbed a towel from a hook on the back of the door, wrapping it around her shoulders. He tucked a finger under her chin. “Better?”

She nodded and gave him a small smile. “Much.” She looked at her hands. “I’m not shaking anymore.”

Yeah, he noticed that too, and he liked that he could calm her down. He reached for another towel on the cabinet next to the sink and wrapped it around his waist. “Are you all right to get dressed so I can get an update?” he asked.

“Yes, of course.” She took a step closer. “Thank you…for being here.”

“There is absolutely nowhere else I’d want to be, Peyton.” He gathered her in his arms, pressing his lips against the top of her head. “You scared me today.”

“I scared myself.”

He leaned back and she placed a sweet kiss on his lips before letting herself out of the bathroom. Boone began drying off, when a knock came at the bathroom door.

“Got your clothes,” Asher said on the other side of the door.

Boone had called Asher on the way to Peyton’s to stop by his place for him. He opened the door and Asher tossed him a T-shirt and a pair of jeans. “Thanks.” In quick time, Boone got dressed and hung up his towel and left the bathroom.

When he moved into Peyton’s living room, he found Asher on the chair and Rhett sitting across from him, his eyes glued to his phone. “Anything?” Boone asked, moving toward the couch.

“Nothing.” Rhett glanced up, shaking his head. “The crash victim is still in surgery. Nothing from Jerry yet.”

Jerry Hoyt was an independent accident investigator who had arrived on the scene as Boone was leaving with Peyton in Rhett’s truck, while Rhett drove Boone’s motorcycle back. Jerry had the experience to look at all the evidence today to give Boone a clearer picture of what in the hell happened out there. Sure, accidents happened all the time, but this accident didn’t feel like an accident. “Anything on the SUV?”

Asher shook his head. “Nope.”

Boone bit off the curse words building from his frustration. He knew that SUV would give them some sort of clue or fill in a missing piece. He felt it in his gut. That’s not all he felt, and he didn’t like where his thoughts took him.

Whatever crossed his face had Asher’s eyebrows winging up. “I know that look. You plan on telling us what you’re thinking?”

Boone leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees, glancing between his closest friends. “We’ve been coming up on dead end after dead end working the Francis angle on this case. Originally, we thought Lauren Francis and Peyton looked alike.”

Rhett nodded his head. “You think we’ve been focusing on the wrong person.”

Boone’s mind wanted to refuse that thought. His gut told him he was right. And the thought only solidified during the shower. “In a year, Peyton has lost her husband, had a murder at her shop, an

d now been involved in a fatal car accident.” He paused, scrubbed his tired eyes. “It’s a lot of tragedy around one person.”

Asher sat back against the chair and exhaled deeply. “It is.”

“And yet,” Boone continued, putting a voice to the thoughts running in his head, “Peyton is good and kind, so why in the hell would someone want to hurt her?” That’s what bothered him the most now. Did Peyton have some sordid past that had gotten by him?

It wouldn’t be the first time that his feelings toward a woman jumbled up his instincts.

Asher watched Boone closely, studying him intently, then nodded. “You’re right—she seems an unlikely candidate to gather enemies.” He tapped an impatient finger against the wood armrest of his chair. “What do you know about her past?”