Linda Castillo - Cops and…Lovers?

Pausing at her bedroom door, she took a deep, calming breath, then swung it open. Nick stood in the foyer, looking like a nervous date, his expression relaying the fact that he'd rather be anywhere else than in her apartment. His eyes flicked down the front of her, and Erin felt an uncomfortable tug of self-consciousness.

"You don't have to do this," she said, pulling the lapels of her robe more tightly together.

"I told the doc I would. You know as well as I do you don't ignore a concussion, McNeal."

She wanted to let him off the hook and get him out of there-he was obviously as uncomfortable with the situation as she was. But Erin figured his sense of responsibility-and his need to protect-was too strong for him to leave her alone.

"How's the head?" Shoving his hands into his pockets, he approached her.

"Feels kind of like the drum set my brother got for Christmas when we were kids. He was a Led Zeppelin fan." She walked to the sofa, trying not to notice the moving boxes or the clutter, telling herself she wasn't embarrassed that her apartment was a mess. It had been a mess the last time Nick was there. She told herself it didn't matter. She was a cop. Nick was a cop. All cops had messy apartments, didn't they?

"You're limping," he said.

"That's because I'm too proud to crawl."

One side of his mouth biked into a half smile. "Where's your aspirin?"

She risked a look at him, and almost wished she hadn't. His penetrating stare invariably unnerved her. What was it about those dark eyes of his that left her feeling stripped bare? Like he could look right through her and see all the things she spent so much time and energy trying to conceal.

"There's a bottle in the bathroom medicine cabinet," she replied.

He started toward the bathroom.

Erin breathed a sigh of relief at his departure-even if it was only for a minute. She felt unsettled. Jittery. She tried to blame it on the fact that she was still shaken up from the incident at the school, but she knew that wasn't the only reason. She didn't want to admit the possibility that Nick was the source of her uneasiness. If she acknowledged the problem, it would become real, and she would have to deal with it.

Being attracted to her boss was a mistake she had no intention of making. Especially when he was the kind of man who couldn't handle the idea of a woman with a dangerous career-like police work.

Warren Prentice had taught her all she ever needed to know about the overprotective-male syndrome. After the way Nick had reacted to her taking down those two suspects, it appeared he had a terminal case. She refused to give up her career for the likes of a man or the fallacy of happily ever after. Erin McNeal simply knew better.

"Here you go."

She jumped at the sound of Nick's voice and turned to find him standing behind her with two aspirin in one hand, a glass of water in the other. She drew a breath, caught the scent of his aftershave and felt an instant of vertigo she knew had nothing to do with the bump on her head. Good heavens, standing next to this man was like riding a tidal wave.

Shaking off the sensation, she reached for the aspirin and tossed them back. His fingers brushed hers when she took the glass of water. "Thanks."

"Why don't you sit down?"

"Actually, I was thinking of taking a nap as soon as you take off."

Amusement played in his eyes. "Trying to get rid of me?"

"Letting you off the hook, actually."

One side of his mouth curved. "I appreciate that. But to be perfectly honest with you, I'd like to ask you a few more questions before I make my big escape. If you're feeling up to it, that is."

Something in the way he said it caught her cop's attention, reminding her that a serious crime had been committed, and she was right in the center of it. Common ground at last. No longer feeling quite as awkward, she sank down on the sofa. "Shoot."

Nick took the chair across from her. "Felony assault with a motor vehicle isn't the kind of crime typical to Logan Falls." Leaning forward, he put his elbows on his knees and gave her a canny look. "What's your take on this?"

"An impatient driver. Road rage." She shrugged. "Maybe he was drunk."

"He? The driver was male?"

"I think so. I only saw a silhouette, but it didn't look female."

"You mentioned a passenger earlier. Are you sure?"

She nodded. "I'm sure."

"We don't get much road rage here in Logan Falls." Nick grimaced. "I talked to several witnesses at the scene. Every one of them said it seemed deliberate. Do you agree?"

"Maybe. I don't know. It happened pretty fast."

"Is there any reason why someone might want to hurt you?"

The question made the hairs at her nape stand on end. "What are you getting at?"

Leaning back in the chair, he gazed steadily at her. "You were a cop for nine years. Cops make enemies. Some criminals have long memories."

Erin knew the possibility was there-she'd busted plenty of thugs over the years, and made plenty of enemies back in Chicago. She couldn't rule out the possibility, but she didn't believe it, either. "The thought of some thug bent on revenge following me all the way to Logan Falls just to run me down at a school crosswalk-and miss-seems unlikely, Nick."

"Probably. Still, it's something we have to consider. From now on I want you to be aware of what's going on around you at all times-"

"I'm always aware of my surroundings," she interrupted. "I'm a cop, remember?"

"You're not invincible. You know better than to not take this seriously."

"I'll take it seriously. But I still think you're overreacting."

"Just covering all my bases."

"Contrary to what you might think of me, I know how to take care of myself."

"That's why you've got a knot the size of Texas on your head."

Irritated that he was undermining her efforts to convince him that she could handle herself, Erin rose abruptly. A curse escaped her when the throbbing pain in her head sent her back down. "Ouch. This is annoying."

Nick was by her side instantly. His hand hovered over her shoulder, but he didn't touch her. "I should have told the doc to keep you," he growled, dropping his hands to his sides.

"Just a headache," she said. "As long as I don't start speaking in tongues or tell you I've been picked up by space aliens, I should be okay. Think you could fish another aspirin out of that bottle?"

Frowning, he picked up the bottle, tapped an aspirin into his palm and passed it to her. "If the headache isn't gone in twenty minutes, I'm taking you back to the hospital."

"Like that's going to happen." Erin took the aspirin and drank half the water. In her peripheral vision she saw Nick head toward the hall. Relieved, she set the water on the coffee table, leaned against the sofa back and closed her eyes.

"Okay, McNeal, I want you on your back."

She opened one eye to see him lugging her pillow, and comforter from her bedroom. "You're kidding, right?"

He looked down at the comforter in his arms. "Do I look like I'm kidding?" He set the pillow against the sofa arm. "Lie down."

"But-"

"That's an order."

Rolling her eyes to hide her discomfiture, she eased the robe from her shoulders. "Do you do this for all your deputies, Chief?"

"Only the ones who take on a ton of steel moving at forty miles an hour."

Easing the robe out from under her, she leaned back into the pillow, realizing just how badly she needed to lie down. "You know, Chief, you wouldn't make a bad nurse."

"Don't push your luck." Taking her robe, he draped the comforter over her. "You were damn lucky today. This could have turned out-" Nick froze, his eyes narrowing on her exposed right shoulder.

Erin realized her mistake an instant too late.

The scar.

Oh, God. He'd seen the scar.