Lynn Bulock - The Harbor of His Arms

Holly managed what she knew was a wan smile for her overprotective boss. “Not exactly. He didn’t make me cry the way she thinks he did. I’ll admit I was crying, but it wasn’t exactly Alex’s fault. He’s just an old friend of my husband’s, and he had a little bad news for me. Nothing I can’t handle. And nothing you need to get involved in.”

“You sure?” There were times when Holly thought that Jon-Paul missed the action he’d gotten playing football. He certainly didn’t seem to shy away from confrontation.

“Positive. But thanks for caring.”

His scowl lightened into a grin. “Hey, you’re my best server. I can’t have you upset.” He looked around the kitchen at the chefs and assistants who were finishing up the last of the late dinner orders. “Why don’t you take off a little early and take care of your business with your friend.”

“Sounds like a good idea. You sure you don’t mind?” Holly minded a little herself, just because taking off early meant less income in tips. But the dining crowd was thinning, and there wouldn’t be that much more income to be had anyway. Alex’s presence would have her so rattled that she wouldn’t be that effective to begin with. As usual, Jon-Paul had a good idea.

“I’m positive. See you for lunch tomorrow, right?”

“Bright and early.” Holly tried to sound more cheerful about the prospect than she felt. She went back to the dining room to try to make Alex see things from her perspective. It wasn’t a likely prospect, but she was sure going to try.

She knew she was going to lose the argument when he wouldn’t even consider her offer of dinner on the house. “No, I’m going to be here a while,” he argued, ignoring her pointed looks that tried to tell him otherwise. “No sense in getting off on the wrong foot. I intend to start out as a paying customer and stay that way. Besides, the one perk to being with the D.A.’s office is that I do have an expense account. It might not be the world’s most liberal one, but it will suit my needs well in a little town like this in Wisconsin.”

“If you insist.” Holly tried to sound as pleasant as possible. It wasn’t easy. She hated losing arguments. And lately it seemed as if she got in more arguments every day, and seldom won one. This one had all the earmarks of being a major defeat already.

“And I do insist. I insist on paying for my dinner, and I insist on staying here in town. The closer I can stay to you, the better.”

“Well, that might present a little problem, because Safe Harbor isn’t the kind of place where a woman in my situation can just take in a guy off the street without a lot of talk.”

“So tell them the truth.” Alex could be just as argumentative as she was. “Tell them I’m your bodyguard because of the situation Kevin left you in.”

“He didn’t leave me in any situation,” she fired back. “And I can’t tell them the rest of the truth, anyway.”

“Why not? Surely it would be better than having your fine, upstanding small-town friends think you were taking in strays.”

“It really isn’t any of your business what my friends will think. And surely that expense account will spring for a hotel room if we can find one. Your timing is at least a month off. If you could have held off until after Valentine’s Day I could have got you a room at the new bed-and-breakfast.”

“Sorry the bad guys weren’t paying attention to your social calendar.”

“Oh, stow it, Wilkins. I know you’re sorry about a lot of things, but I’m sure that isn’t one of them.” Holly knew she sounded unkind, but she felt unkind right now, and anxious to get rid of Alex Wilkins and the problems he posed.

He wasn’t cooperating. Alex sat still, folding his arms over his chest. “You’d love it if I just walked out of here, wouldn’t you? Well, get used to having me around, because no matter how much you protest, or how many reasons you have to the contrary, I’m staying. And for tonight I’m camping out as close to you as I can get. If you’ll let me have your living-room couch, I’ll take that. Otherwise I’ll sleep in my car in the apartment-complex parking lot. But I’m not going away, Holly.”

The light in his eyes told her he meant every word of what he said. That was a shame, because now Holly was stuck. She had no desire to let Alex Wilkins into her apartment for any reason. But only a heartless monster would let anybody sleep in a car in January this far north. Of course Alex knew that. It was why he’d played that trump card to begin with.

“Don’t get comfortable on that couch, Wilkins. Because you’re spending one night, and one night only, there. And you can be the one to come up with an explanation for my boys about who you are and why you’re on that couch. Remember they’re only five.”

Alex looked thoughtful while he took a credit card out of his pocket to settle his bill. “Now you make sleeping in the car sound attractive.” He’d lost that challenging grin. “If I thought I wouldn’t freeze to death I’d stay there. Five years old, huh? I’ll have to dredge back in the distant past and try to remember what I thought about when I was five. Maybe I can come up with something convincing that will satisfy them and make you happy at the same time.”

Holly picked up the credit card and headed toward the kitchen. “Don’t bet on it. You might convince the boys, but nothing you say will make me happy until you say goodbye.” She was pretty sure that was the truth. Why didn’t it feel much like the truth when she said it?

Holly puzzled the question over in her mind while she got Alex’s receipt and prepared to give him directions to her apartment. Surely any sane, respectable person would be glad to have someone like Alex out of her life as quickly as possible.

Why, instead, did it seem as if he was the cavalry riding up to rescue her? She didn’t need rescuing from anything, did she? Most of her said no, but there was a sliver of common sense that told her yes, she needed rescuing in ways that Alex could probably provide. It was only a few blocks back to the apartment, not nearly enough time to answer a question that complex, so Holly wasn’t surprised when she pulled up in the parking lot with no more answers than she’d had at The Bistro.

Alex had to admire Holly’s baby-sitter. The kid looked only about fifteen or sixteen, but he seemed very protective of her. This was obviously the first time Holly had ever come home from work earlier than planned, or brought company with her, and the boy eyed Alex suspiciously.

Neither of the rowdy little boys the teenager had been watching appeared to like the idea of a strange man coming home with Mom, either. Holly paid the sitter, and Alex could hear her reassuring him at the doorway that everything was okay. While that was going on, he sat down on the lumpy brown couch in the living room. The little boys stared at him in silence.

“Who are you, anyway?” One of them broke his silence and stepped half a pace closer to Alex. There was still a coffee table between them to keep the kid brave. Alex could see a bit of Kevin Douglas in this one. His brown hair looked as if it had a mind of its own, and his challenging posture made him seem much taller than he was.

“I’m a friend of your dad’s. My name is Alex Wilkins.”

“Okay.” The answer didn’t seem to satisfy the child totally. “I’m Conor. This is Aidan.” He motioned toward his silent brother, who was slightly taller.

Alex could hear the baby-sitter ask a question, and then Holly closed the door behind him. Alex was happy to see that she locked it securely. “So you’ve introduced yourself?”

“I have. Just the basics. I told them my name, and that I was a friend of their dad’s. Anything else I should add?”