Explosive Attraction - By Lena Diaz Page 0,13

much safer. And I promise I won’t get in your way.”

“This isn’t a debate,” Buresh said. “When you’re both discharged tomorrow, you’re going into hiding, together. End of discussion.”

Darby wrinkled her brow. “Into hiding? Wait a minute. I thought I’d have police protection, but that I’d be able to go back to work. My clients book appointments months in advance. I can’t just cancel without notice.”

Rafe frowned at her. “If you go back to your office, you’ll put your clients—and Mindy—at risk. Buresh is right about one thing. You do need protection.” He turned back to Buresh. “But I’m not the one who’ll be protecting her.”

“We’ll talk more about this in the morning,” Buresh said. “I suggest you both get some sleep. Dr. Steele, would you like me to walk you back to your room?”

“No, thank you. I’d like to talk to Detective Morgan before I go.”

“All right. Good night, then.” He turned and left.

“It’s not personal, you know,” Rafe said.

Darby tightened her fingers around the bed railing. “You sure about that?”

“I wouldn’t want to pull guard duty for anyone, regardless of my opinion about what they did for a living. I have more important things to do, like finding the man who killed the A.D.A., the man who almost killed you.”

Her stomach tightened at the reminder that someone she knew had actually been murdered today, and how close both she and Rafe had come to being the bomber’s next victims. “I know you aren’t exactly a fan of mine. I can live with that. But I still wanted to thank you. You saved my life. You were almost killed.” She swallowed hard. “No one has ever...” She was about to say cared, but that wasn’t the right word.

She cleared her throat and tried again. “No one has ever fought for me like that. And you shouldn’t have had to. If I’d followed your instructions, stayed at my office, none of this would have happened. You wouldn’t be lying in this bed right now.”

Without stopping to think about what she was doing, she reached out and put her hand on his. His face mirrored his surprise, but when she would have snatched her hand back, he entwined his fingers with hers. Maybe it was exhaustion, maybe it was just that she was tired of fighting and was tired of feeling so alone, but when his hand wrapped around hers, she held on tight.

“If you’d followed my instructions, you’d be dead,” he said.

She blinked in surprise. “What? What do you mean?”

“If you’d stayed in your office, the bomber could have abducted you out the back door. We only had one policeman watching your building, from the front, because none of us really thought the bomber would strike again so soon. I thought one cop was enough of a deterrent, but I don’t believe that now. Not after everything that happened. The only reason you’re here right now, alive, is because you were too stubborn to ‘stay put.’ So, no apologies necessary. I’m glad you didn’t do what I told you to do.”

She drew a deep breath to hold off the unexpected rush of moisture in her eyes. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. But, for the record, if I tell you to do something again, I expect you to do it.”

Now, this was what she’d expected. She tugged her hand out of his grasp. “For the record, since you’re refusing to be my ‘babysitter,’ I don’t guess it matters what orders you give me, does it?”

The corner of his mouth quirked up. “No, I guess it doesn’t.”

She twisted her hands together, feeling the loss of his warmth far more than the air-conditioned room warranted. “Well, thank you again, for everything.” She glanced up at the clock and grinned. “It’s midnight and nothing happened. I guess your boss was right.” She covered a yawn. All the stress of the day was catching up to her, and she was looking forward to a good night’s sleep. She gave him a wave and headed toward the door.

The lights flickered, followed by a dull boom in the distance. Darby froze and whirled around to look at Rafe.

He was already sliding out of bed when the lights went out.

Chapter Four

The emergency lights popped on, casting a dim yellow glow through Rafe’s hospital room. He ripped the tape off his arm and pulled out the IV needle that anchored him to the pole beside the bed.

Darby rushed to his side. “What are you doing? You’re bleeding.” She grabbed some tissues