Jennifer Morey - The Eligible Suspect

She could have stripped naked for him right then. Hell, she could have stripped naked and pushed him into his room. Instead, she’d forced her feet to back up until she was able to turn and go to her room, where she’d looked at him as she closed the door.

Sleep had come much later. Now it was coming to 10:00 a.m.

Dressed in jeans and a gray wool sweater, she finally went downstairs.

Korbin was in the kitchen with a cup of coffee, reading one of her books. The television was on in the living room, tuned in to a weather channel that was talking about the blizzard on the way for tonight.

He looked up when he heard her. His eyes flared with heat before he stopped the reaction. Shutters came down and emotion vanished. He was guarded, cold. Stopping his attraction. Where had that come from? Did he regret kissing her last night?

That part of his past he couldn’t talk about must be why. Instead of thinking twice about entertaining any romantic possibilities with him, she should take his lead and put a stop to this right now. Going into another high-risk relationship wasn’t on her adventure radar. High-risk because there was too much uncertainty. The next man she got involved with, she’d get to know very well first. As in, it would be months before she slept with him, not weeks as she’d done before.

The sound of a passing snowmobile had both of them looking outside. The sky was overcast, but it had stopped snowing.

Hurley rented snowmobiles, but his property was far enough away that no one ever rode this close. The trails were several miles away.

Savanna went to the back patio door. She saw nothing, and the sound faded.

“I hope they aren’t lost,” she said.

When Korbin didn’t respond, she looked at him. He stared at the window, brow low and creased. It bothered him that a snowmobile had driven so close to her house.

“What’s the matter?” Once again she felt a strange sense of foreboding come over her. Something about him caused it. Why?

“Nothing.” He stood up and went to the front door, opening it and searching outside. Then he closed and locked the door and went to the garage. When he made sure that was locked tight, he returned to the living room.

He was acting weird.

A sound from the sunroom stiffened Savanna. She remembered that she’d left the door unlocked in there. Looking at Korbin, she saw he’d realized that along with her.

An instant later, a man wearing a black ski mask and winter outerwear appeared with a pistol. The shock of the sight rendered Savanna frozen. He fired the pistol at the same time Korbin pushed her into the kitchen, putting her behind him just as the man rushed in after them.

Savanna stepped backward as Korbin grabbed an island stool and threw it at the man. While the man stumbled, Savanna ran out of the kitchen through the other entrance. She flattened her back against the wall, breathing hard, looking around for a weapon. She spotted the phone on the side table. Hearing Korbin fighting the stranger, she ran to the phone and then back to the wall for cover, ducking as the man fired again. Bullets struck her cabinetry and Korbin leaped into the living room, taking cover with her.

They had to get out of here.

“This way!” Savanna ran for the front entry.

She stopped short when the man in black emerged from the other kitchen opening, aiming his weapon and blocking their escape. She waited in horror for him to shoot.

Korbin moved so that she was behind him. “Don’t shoot.”

Savanna wasn’t going to wait for the man to start firing his gun. Picking up a bottle of wine from the buffet and wine cabinet, she hurled it at the man. He ducked and the bottle shattered against the wall.

Korbin charged forward and punched the stranger hard enough to knock him down. He fell to the side, partially in the kitchen.

Savanna ran to the front entry and took cover there, lifting the phone. There was no signal. The line was dead. Not that calling the police would do much good. How would they reach them in time with all the snow on the ground?

Oh, God. What were they going to do?

Dropping the phone, she heard Korbin fighting the man again. Peeking around the corner, she didn’t see them. They were in the kitchen. A loud crash told her something had just gone through her patio door. Another gunshot rang out, followed by a few smacking punches, and then the two men crashed to the floor in the kitchen entry. Korbin had the intruder’s wrist in his grip, keeping the gun aimed upward. The intruder twisted free but Korbin hit his face and then kicked the gun from his grasp. It clattered to the floor. Savanna ran to pick it up just as the man pulled a knife from a holder on his boot. He lunged at Korbin, who jumped back to avoid being cut.

Savanna moved to stay out of his way and saw the other man run for the broken door. Korbin didn’t chase after him.

“Let’s get out of here.” Korbin took the gun from her and guided her into the entry, looking back to make sure the man didn’t follow.

“Who was that?” she asked.

He put his back to the wall near the doorway. “We can’t stay here.”

“Why not? That man is out there.”

“There’s a lodge across from Chavis’s cabin. Let’s ski there,” Korbin said, gesturing to her closet full of gear. “Get dressed.”

Savanna kept everything in here anyone might need for cold weather. “You, too.” She handed him long underwear that was still in the package. Korbin stayed by the door with the gun. The house was quiet.

“Maybe we should stay here,” she said. “I think he left.”

“Your back door is broken. He’ll come back. We should go somewhere safe.”

Korbin had a good point. If the man returned, he’d be able to get inside. But would they be any safer out in the wilderness? It was a long way to Hurley’s lodge.

“He’s on a snowmobile,” she said.

“We’ll hear him. We have to get away from here,” he said.

“Why? And why did a man show up in my house shooting at you? What’s going on?” Was he on the run from something?

Korbin looked at her as she handed him a jacket.

“Was that a cop?” she asked.

“No.”

“Who was it, then?”

He shrugged into the red-and-black Descente breathable jacket. “I don’t know.”

Wondering if he was lying, Savanna found long underwear and a lightweight fleece. “But you know why he’s after you.” The man had to be after him. No one would come after her.

Next she found a breathable jacket and snow pants but didn’t dress. That feeling of foreboding intensified. Instinct urged her to stay in her house. She could board up the window with extra fencing that was piled outside the stable.

“Get dressed, Savanna.”

She threw the garments she held onto the floor. “I’m not going anywhere with you.”

After peering out from the entry to check if the man had returned, he said to her, “You have to.”

“No, I don’t. You brought that shooter into my home. It was peaceful until you got here.”

He stared at her. “This involves you, too, now.”

The sting of shock froze her. “How?”

He hesitated, much the same as he had when he’d first gotten stuck on her road. “He saw you. You’re with me. That means you’re in danger.”

Just because he’d seen her? “Why was he shooting at you?”

“Get dressed, Savanna. I don’t have time to explain right now. We have to get as far away from here as we can.” When she only stared at him, he urged, “Please. Just listen to me. And trust me. I’ll keep you alive. I promise.”

“I’ll keep myself alive by staying here.”

“What if he comes back here?”

Her face grew cold with dread. “Why would he do that?”