Yuletide Protector (Love Inspired Suspense) (8 page)

But she had a lot of thinking to do now that her business at lunch had been a bust. It was on to plan B.

Kevin was sitting in his car as Daria pulled into the driveway a few hours later. A strange comfort, mixed with apprehension, washed over her. It surprised her how much seeing him lifted her mood after the disappointing day she’d had.

Reaching across the bench seat, she collected her lunch bag and purse before stepping out of the truck. As she turned toward Kevin’s SUV, she saw him staring at her with the look of a man who’d been faced with a death sentence.

This can’t be good.

“What happened?” she finally said, walking the few paces down the driveway to the curb. He hesitated before climbing out of his vehicle, slamming the door behind him.

He paused for a moment, as if what he was about to say would be uncomfortable for her to hear. “What is Marla Rickenberg’s relationship with your ex?” he asked.

A strange burning coiled tight in her belly seemed to rise in degrees, squeezing the breath from her lungs. She really didn’t want to talk about Marla and George.

“So you already know about Marla’s lunch with George?”

A flash of surprise crossed his face. “Ski saw them at the restaurant together. The questions is why didn’t you call me if you knew?”

“I
didn’t
know, not until after the fact. And anyway, what would you have done? There was no crime in the two of them having lunch. Besides, I was busy.” And she had been. Her longer-than-normal lunch meeting with the loans officer, coupled with her talk with Marla right afterward, had left work piling up on her desk. The granola bar she’d had this afternoon had done little to quell her hunger and now she was starving.

At his questioning stare, Daria added, “Marla and George have known each other in a casual sort of way through me for a couple of years.”

“There was nothing casual about the way they were snuggling together in that corner table at Aluvia’s during lunch today.”

“Thankfully, she left that part out when I warned her about him.”

“You warned her?”

“I had to. I couldn’t just let her go off with George blindly. I didn’t tell her about your meeting with him though.”

“You mean, you didn’t tell her he tried to hire me to kill you.”

She looked around to see if anyone was listening. “No,” she said quietly. “I just warned her that he’s not what he seems.”

“Why are you whispering? There’s no one out on the street.”

“Who knows who might be listening to us? I don’t
want everyone to know every detail of what’s going on. It’s bad enough I have to know.”

“Providence may not be small-town America, but neighbors have a way of finding things out whether you want them to or not.”

“Terrific.”

Daria glanced at the small scattered pile of garbage at the foot of her driveway where Kevin was standing. Now, that was the cherry on the cake of her bad day. In the next yard, Spot was barking. He must have had a feast in her can before the garbagemen had been by, leaving only this remnant of trash for her to deal with.

Grabbing the overturned metal garbage can, she walked to where Kevin was standing, plopped the can down and bent to pick up the trash. As if just noticing the debris on the ground, Kevin bent to help her pick up the mess.

“Let me do that,” he said. “You’ll get dirty.”

“It’s okay. I can wash up when I change. I do this every week.”

“Are you always this stubborn when someone tries to help you?”

“I like to think of it as being independent,” she said. Looking at the trash on the ground, she felt a little foolish arguing about accepting Kevin’s help. But she’d always been independent. It had been an asset when she was married to George. He wasn’t the type to coddle her too much. In his world, it was sink or swim.

“Did Marla say anything to you about the reason for lunch?”

Daria sighed. “Marla is an attractive woman. George likes to be noticed. It could be as simple as that.” At least, she hoped that’s all it was. It would make things so much easier if it were.

“You look like you’re jealous.” His voice was tight and his expression accusing, which irritated her.

“Hardly. I’m worried for Marla. Even after my warning today, I’m not sure she understands what she’s getting into.”

“She probably wouldn’t listen anyway. But at least you gave it a try.” Kevin dropped the last of the trash on the curb into her garbage can.

“Thank you for helping,” she said, taking a cleansing breath.

“Believe it or not, it’s not a sign of weakness to allow a man to be a gentleman.”

His sudden, warm smile melted her irritation. “I’ll have to remember that. I just wish Marla had told me about George before she went to lunch with him.”

“Would that have made a difference?”

Daria thought about it a moment. “I don’t know.”

Marla’s timing was more than awful. Daria had gone to work the day after Kevin told her about his meeting with George, intending to keep it a secret from her coworkers. She didn’t really need anyone else hovering over her the way Kevin was doing, and she certainly didn’t want anyone to feel as if they were in danger at the office. Now she questioned her decision to do so.

“He called her, not the other way around,” she said, admitting the real reason for her worry.

“What are you getting at?”

“Marla met George at the Christmas party two years ago. And I think they talked at one of the company cookouts. George never seemed interested in her. He never talked about her, anyway. I’ve suspected for some time that Marla’s been interested in pursuing a relationship with George now that he’s a free man. But Marla
said he was the one who’d called her, which makes me wonder why.”

“I think it’s obvious. He’s toying with you. But he won’t be a free man for long if I can help it, and Marla is not the target of his aggression, so you needn’t worry.”

Kevin spoke the words almost under his breath, but the bitter tone in which he said them didn’t prevent Daria from hearing them.

Kevin cleared his throat. “I’ve been thinking. I’m not sure having dinner together is such a good idea.”

“Why not? I thought you wanted to talk. And besides, I got a Christmas tree. I was hoping you’d help me decorate it.”

He glanced over to the back of her truck, then propped his hands on his hips with a low chuckle. “You mean you were hoping I’d drag it in for you.”

She snapped her fingers. “Busted. Actually, I hadn’t thought about the dragging-in part until just now. Just decorating. But since you insist on being a gentleman, helping me get it inside is a bonus. Come on, what’s the problem? It’s only dinner,” she said. “People eat. I know you certainly do. There’s no sense our both eating alone if I have to cook anyway. I figured you could use a change of scene. Some holiday cheer. It’s not like decorating a Christmas tree over a meal is a big deal that’ll cause a scandal with the neighbors. You’ve been sitting on my curb for the last few days and giving Mrs. Parsons plenty to wonder about.”

In truth, it was a big deal to Daria. She’d never been one to pursue a romantic relationship. With her nomadic lifestyle, it had been too difficult to start a romance, knowing it couldn’t last. Friends, yes. The reality of having to make quick friendships, both male and
female, had been there all her life, the way she’d grown up moving so often.

The pain of leaving a budding romance, only to have distance kill the relationship, had made her wary about taking risks where men were concerned. There were many times she wondered if that was the reason she’d jumped into marrying George. If they were married, she’d thought there would be no leaving. Boy, had she been wrong.

But something about Kevin had instantly put Daria at ease, and if nothing else, it was a friendship she wanted to pursue.

“I’ll be honest with you. If things were different, if I’d never met up with your ex that night and I’d met you at the market like we did, I still would have noticed you.” He drew in a deep sigh and shook his head just a fraction. “And I still would have accepted your invitation to come back here for coffee.”

She smiled at his admission. Kevin looked directly at her. She liked that about him. He meant what he said and he wasn’t afraid to say it. That kind of honesty was refreshing.

“Good. Then we don’t have an issue here.”

Kevin hesitated, gazing at her with eyes that grew darker, more intense as they penetrated her the way they did when he was all fired up. But he said nothing more. For either of them to move out of the cold and into the house, someone had to put an end to it.

Daria took one step toward him and cocked her head. “Look, it’s starting to snow and my tree is going to get all wet and ruin my newly refinished hardwood floors. I don’t make killer muffins, but I’m a decent cook and I could use the company while I string the popcorn for
the tree. Despite everything that’s going on, I actually enjoy your company. So if eating a meal with a friend is something that interests you, then great. We’ll share a meal, have a little conversation over a root beer and then return to our regularly scheduled programming. If not, then you can get a sugar high on Mrs. Hildebrand’s muffins and your trusty bag of Cheetos in your cold car. It’s up to you.”

As she stared at him, he smiled one of those killer smiles that always caught her off guard even when she was expecting it.

She didn’t wait for him to say anything. Instead, Daria grabbed the garbage can and walked up the driveway toward the house. When she heard footsteps on the walkway behind her, she turned to find Kevin following her. A smile she couldn’t hide crept into her cheeks.

“Independent, my foot. You were still going to make me carry the tree in, weren’t you?”

She chuckled. “Yep. I may be independent but I’m not stupid. I’m wearing heels.”

Daria hesitated at the bottom of the steps and waited for Kevin to lift the tree from the back of her truck and meet her on the porch.

“No dead birds tonight,” she said with relief as she opened the screen door and pushed the key into the back-door lock.

“Is that why you wanted me to come?”

She flicked on the kitchen light and blinked at the brightness. “Sure. Plus, you know, carry the tree, kill the bugs, remove the mice and whatever else comes crawling into this old house.”

“Women,” he muttered with a chuckle.

“Hey, I heard that.”

“I’m sure you did.”

Dropping her purse and lunch bag on the kitchen table while Kevin shut the door behind him, she said, “Why don’t you prop the tree against the window up front. I need to go to the attic and unearth what few Christmas decorations I own before we can start worrying about how to arrange it. In the meantime, make yourself comfortable in the living room while I get you a root beer. I have frosted mugs in the freezer.”

He smiled kind of lopsided and tired and she felt her heart do this ridiculous acrobatic roll. She watched as he wrestled the tree she’d bought through the kitchen. It had been a spur-of-the-moment decision as she passed the Christmas-tree lot on her way home from work. The smell of pine filled the kitchen and soon would fill her house. She’d sweep up the pine needles that dropped to the floor later, when Kevin left. For now, she wanted to get dinner started.

It was only dinner and yet Daria was looking forward to spending time with Kevin tonight. No one had been to her house as a guest since she’d bought it. For the longest time it wasn’t habitable, so company was out of the question. But there really hadn’t been anyone she had wanted to invite until now.

She grabbed the frigid mugs from the freezer and dropped them onto the counter before pulling out a six-pack of her favorite bottled root beer. That’s when the sobering thought hit her. She was actually excited about Kevin having dinner with her, yet she knew Kevin was here for a purpose. He was here to protect her, not because he wanted to spend time with her socially. She’d be wise to remember that.

“I can look upstairs for the tree stand and get it set
up while you’re cooking. Or we could order a pizza or something if you’d rather work on the tree,” he said, now standing at the kitchen doorway.

“I don’t mind cooking. And it’s really quick. Besides, you’ll never find anything upstairs. There are tons of boxes.” She handed him the mug of root beer. “You can take a load off while I get dinner ready. My coffee table is meant for putting your feet up.”

He lifted an eyebrow. “I don’t dare try that in my sister’s house.”

She laughed and added, “You look as if you’re ready to drop on the floor. Go ahead. I’ll be in the living room in a few minutes.”

“I’d rather just talk to you.”

She smiled as she busied herself in the kitchen with pots and food. “Okay. What do you want to know?”

“You mentioned you had something in the works today. How’d it go?”

“Oh.” Her spirits immediately plummeted. “Well, I’d hoped to be celebrating the loan I was applying for. But it didn’t go through. My credit is good, but I’m house poor right now and until that changes, I can’t get an unsecured loan. I don’t have enough equity in the house and you’ve seen my truck.”

“I’m sorry it didn’t work out. I appreciate that you’re trying to find a solution to this situation.”

“For both of us.”

He offered her a weak smile. “Then my bank account thanks you, too. Have you given any thought to what I said this morning?”

“About George’s dealings?”

He nodded.

She sighed. “I really haven’t had much time. And
honestly, he didn’t talk much about work. I found out about the loan shark quite by accident when someone in the building we were living in recognized him. George would have cut off his own tongue rather than confess it to me after I’d been hoarding pennies for so long. But he’d been acting strange, a mixture of being short with me and unusually sweet. So I knew something was up.”

“Did he tell you how much money he owed or what it was for?”

“No, he said he didn’t want me to get too involved in the whole thing, that he was protecting me.”

“Protecting you? From what?”