The shattered lamp.

He carried her back toward the bed. Eased her to her feet. But didn’t let her go.

She should tell him to let go.

She really shouldn’t enjoy his touch so much.

“I wanted you to feel safe here.” His voice seemed to vibrate around her. “I’m sorry that my brother frightened you. It won’t happen again.” He dropped his hold and stepped back. “I’ll clean up the mess and—”

Her hand caught his. “Do you know what scared me the most?”

He looked at her hand wrapped around his wrist, and then his gaze slowly rose to her face.

Her lips pressed together; then she admitted, “I knew that...in order to get to me, my stalker would have to take you out first. I was afraid he’d hurt you.”

When she’d decided to seek out Brodie, she hadn’t thought of the danger that she’d put him in. She’d been selfish, too scared, and now Jennifer had to face the ramifications of what she’d done.

His hand lifted and curved under her chin. “I’m an ex-SEAL. I can take care of myself.”

Then his lips brushed against hers. The kiss seemed bittersweet. She found herself leaning toward him, wanting to just hold him tight and sink into him.

I should have stayed away. But when a woman had no options, she tended to act desperately.

His lips rose from hers. “You’ll always be safe with me,” he promised her. Then he turned away.

She believed he meant those words. Deep at his core, Brodie was the true-hero type. She’d known that...counted on it.

But...

Would he always be safe with her?

* * *

BRODIE PULLED THE guest room door shut behind him. He paused a minute, his mind still on Jennifer.

And on ripping his brother’s head off.

“I thought you’d stay in there longer.” Davis’s voice came from just down the hallway.

Brodie glared at his brother. “Shouldn’t you be crashing somewhere?” Somewhere on the other side of the house.

Davis’s eyes slid back to the closed door. “She really a client?”

She was more than that.

“Because I saw the way you looked at her, and I also saw how close you were to swinging a punch at me.”

Davis had been drinking her in with his eyes. Everyone thought that Brodie was the one with the love-em-and-leave-em reputation. They didn’t know the truth. Davis was the one who could seduce so easily. “She’s not for you,” Brodie said flatly even as his hands clenched into fists.

Davis cocked his head to the side. “If she’s for you, then why are you out here with me? Instead of being back in that room with the woman your eyes seemed to be devouring?”

Because he was trying not to scare the woman. Brodie closed the distance between him and his brother. “Someone is stalking her. Terrifying her. Our job—” and, yeah, he stressed the our because everyone at McGuire Securities would be working to keep Jennifer safe “—is to protect her.”

Davis gave a slow nod. “You know you can count on me.”

He did. He knew that his brother would have his back, always. The man might infuriate him, but Davis was the one person he trusted above all others in the world.

They’d weathered the storm of their parents’ death together. They’d trained as SEALs together. No one knew him better than Davis did.

Davis knew just about all his secrets. Except...

I never told him about Jennifer.

“That woman has training,” Davis murmured. “She almost took me down.”

Not an easy feat, considering the number of times that Brodie had sparred with his brother.

“She was seconds away from gouging my eyes out and breaking my nose,” Davis added.

Brodie’s brows climbed at that news. Jennifer had always struck him as delicate, almost breakable.

“She didn’t even scream.” Davis had turned away and was wearily walking down the hallway. “Just attacked. Got to admire a woman with a fire like that.”

Yeah, you did.

He glanced back at Jennifer’s closed door.

But where had a high-society girl like Jennifer learned to fight so well that she’d almost taken out a man with SEAL training?

It seemed that Jennifer might have more secrets than he’d realized. Thoughtful now, Brodie returned to his room and booted up his computer. When Brodie checked his email, he saw that the case notes from the New Orleans attacks had been sent to him. Eyes narrowing, he began to read...

* * *

THE SECURITY AT the McGuire ranch was good, too good. The McGuires had been determined to turn their home into a fortress after their parents’ death, and they’d sure succeeded in that plan.

In the darkness, he searched for any weaknesses that would allow him access to his prey. He searched, but he found none.

He made sure not to trigger any alarms. After all, he wasn’t an amateur.

If he couldn’t get to Jennifer, because she was secured so tightly on the McGuire homestead, then he’d just have to rip that safety net away for her.

Maybe it was time for Brodie McGuire to realize that Jennifer was a serious threat, one that shouldn’t be anywhere near the other members of his family.

Jennifer couldn’t be trusted, and she shouldn’t be protected because, at her core, she was just a killer.

How long will it take before you throw her to the wolves, Brodie McGuire?

He couldn’t wait to find out.

Chapter Three

Jennifer wasn’t going back to sleep. Not then.

Not with fear and adrenaline pumping through her, not with her emotions all twisted and her body too tense.

Not with her mind focused so much on Brodie.

He didn’t understand what he meant to her. In the darkest moment of her life, he’d been there. A savior she hadn’t expected.

Jennifer slid from her bed. The shards of the broken lamp had been swept away and her footsteps made no sound as she headed toward the door.

She fully realized that she could be making a huge mistake, but Jennifer didn’t care. She wasn’t going to play it safe this time. Not with him.

She tiptoed into the hallway, turned toward the room next to her own and lifted her hand, poised to knock. After drawing in a deep breath and attempting to control the faint trembling of her fingers, Jennifer rapped lightly on his door.

A few seconds later, that door was yanked open. “Look, Davis, I’m not talking about—” Brodie broke off, his eyes widening as he focused on her. “Jennifer? What’s wrong?” Then his hands closed around her shoulders and he shifted her a bit to the side as he looked behind her. “Is my jerk of a brother bothering you again? I told Davis to back off.”

Jennifer shook her head. “I needed to see you.”

Surprise rippled over his face.

She didn’t want to have this conversation in the hallway. Not where Davis might pop up again. “Can we go in your room?”

He backed up. She advanced. He shut the door behind her and flipped the lock.

His brows shot up at the soft click. A lamp near his bedside had been turned on, and the light cast a soft glow over his bed and his tangled sheets. “Jennifer?”

“I can’t get to sleep.”

“Join the club,” he muttered, running a rough hand through his hair. “But, um, you don’t want to be in here with me right now.”

“I don’t?” This was exactly where she wanted to be.

His hand dropped. “You look really good in that shirt.”

She glanced down at herself. After he’d run Davis out of the guest bedroom, Brodie had brought her a shirt to sleep in—one of his US Navy shirts. It fell to her knees, seemed to swallow her.

It smelled liked him. Maybe that was why she hadn’t been able to get him out of her head.

Or maybe there were other reasons.

“Go back to your room, Jennifer.” His voice was low, hard.

She didn’t move. “You asked me before...why the connection was this way between us.” She’d wondered about it, too. Why they touched and truly seemed to ignite.