Ultimate Courage (True Heroes #2)(19)

She reached for her overnight bag and pulled out a clean tee and pair of soft sweats. They were comfortable to sleep in and perfectly reasonable to roll out of bed and drive out of town in.

As she was pulling her current shirt over her head, a knock sounded at the door.

She jerked her shirt back down to cover her breasts and belly, reining in a moment of panic. “Who is it?”

“It’s Alex.”

Oh. Her hands shook as she opened and closed them a couple of times to get them to quit clenching by default. Trying to ease off the rush of adrenaline, she focused on who was on the other side of the door.

It wasn’t her ex. And Alex hadn’t shown any signs of wanting to take her back to her ex, either.

In fact, his gruff tone had returned and she was starting to realize it came out when he was about to do something nice and felt awkward about it.

He was really sweet, in a super rough and ready kind of way.

“You okay in there?”

The man gave good voice. She wondered whether he knew it and if he was the person who usually answered the phones at the kennels. It’d explain a lot of disappointed-sounding callers with very ridiculous questions from this morning.

“Can I come in?” He sounded uncomfortable.

“Oh!” She hadn’t realized how long she’d kept him waiting for a response. Crossing over to the door, she unlocked and opened it, backing away as she did.

“For you.” Alex held out a small container. He had a bag dangling from his other hand, presumably with Boom’s frozen yogurt.

She took the container and her mouth watered at the sight of the pristine white swirl of frozen yogurt inside. Abruptly, she realized how insanely hungry she was. One problem. “No spoon?”

He fished around in the bag and came up with a plastic-wrapped utensil. “Got one.”

The man thought of everything. He might be heaven sent. She could dream about him with wings later.

“How much do I—”

He waved her off. “Come to work in the morning and work it off. We seriously do need an administrative assistant, and I don’t want to conduct interviews.”

Frustration churned in her belly for a minute, warring with the sharp hunger. She shouldn’t accept favors from him. Favors and unspoken expectations were how misunderstandings got started. And she hadn’t decided to stay yet. Part of the reason she’d been able to stay on her own this far was because she’d always taken off at the first sign that her ex had found her again.

The text was more than a sign. It was a bright red warning flag.

Alex’s voice cut across her train of thought, calm and mater-of-fact. “I got you plain frozen yogurt because I wasn’t sure what you’d like, but I’ve got a couple of containers on the side here with strawberries, kiwi, graham crackers, and random candies. Didn’t want to set off any allergies. It’s been a while since you’ve eaten and you don’t want to keep thinking so hard on an empty stomach.”

Hunger and appreciation for his consideration won out. “The strawberries, please. And the graham crackers.”

“They’ve got a cheesecake flavor down there. You might like it with these next time.” He handed over the containers and she thought there might be a hint of amusement in his eyes.

He was really good at disarming her. Or she was tired. Probably a little of both. Either way, his presence was comforting and exciting at the same time. She didn’t think it was a good idea but she also didn’t want him to leave just yet either.

Taking the offered goodies, she headed over to the nightstand to save herself from a clumsy fumble and drop. The last thing she needed was to spill food all over Gary and Greg’s wonderful carpet. Opening her frozen yogurt, she carefully shook out a portion of each topping into her container then closed everything up again and handed the sides back to Alex.

As he took them and stowed them back in his bag, she risked a glance at his hips. The tennis ball was gone. She had no idea when he’d taken it out of his pants, but she didn’t have an excuse to be looking anymore, so she risked a glance up at his face.

He was watching her, a bemused sort of half smile shaping his lips.

Heat burned her cheeks and she was pretty sure embarrassment was going to strangle her to death in the next few seconds. Curiosity. It was such a bad idea to give in to curiosity.

Alex cleared his throat. “I’m going to get this back to Boom. In the meantime, take this.”

He reached into his back pocket and held something out to her.

It took her a long minute to recognize what he had in his hand. A new phone.

“Oh no.” She held up her hands and shook her head. “I can’t take that from you.”

“It’s a pre-paid loaner.” He shifted to a firmer tone. “If you’re running, and I think you are, you need to get rid of your current phone. Now. I’m going to take it for you and ditch it someplace away from here. I’m not going to ask you why right now, or from what, but I won’t let you stay here with friends while you still have something that could lead whoever you’re running from to you the minute you turn it back on.”

Her breath left her in a rush. He was right. She’d felt a little bad and worried some, but she hadn’t considered the full impact. He had. And he was taking action.

Alex came a step closer, still holding out the phone. His jaw was set, but his eyes held a kindness, an understanding. “It’s okay to accept help. We don’t know your story, but we know how to take care of ourselves. Part of that is taking simple precautions like this. I could’ve recommended for you to do this and you probably would’ve on your own. Right?”