Unexpected Protector Read online

  “Justice, sit,” Carson ordered sternly.

  The canine instantly obeyed, looking rather dejected about it in Serena’s opinion. Feeling sorry for the canine, Serena pulled a slice of ham out of the sandwich she had just fixed for herself.

  She was about to give it to Justice when she heard Carson gruffly tell her, “Don’t.”

  Startled, she looked in Carson’s direction. Her eyes narrowed. “Are you ordering me around?”

  Rather than answer her question, Carson felt it would be wiser to explain why he’d stopped her.

  “Like the rest of the K-9s, Justice was painstakingly trained. If I give him a command and you do something that negates what I’m trying to convey to him, he’s getting mixed signals that are bound to confuse him. There are times when my life depends on his reaction, and I’d rather that Justice wasn’t confused.”

  Serena frowned. “I really doubt that he’s going to have to defend you from being assaulted by a slice of ham,” she told him sarcastically.

  “The point I’m trying to get across is that disobedience just breeds more of the same,” Carson informed her matter-of-factly. “And as I said, all the dogs that are part of the K-9 unit were very specifically trained.”

  “I know,” she said, trying not to sound impatient, “by your brother.”

  But Carson shook his head. “Bo just raised the dogs,” he told her. “He did some early work with them, but then the K-9 Training Center selected professional dog trainers for their program. Professional trainers like Hayley,” he said, thinking of the woman Bo had been engaged to, “who worked with the dogs to train them for a number of diverse fields within the K-9 department. My brother definitely wasn’t disciplined enough in his private life to train a goldfish, much less a German shepherd.

  “Hell, Bo couldn’t even discipline himself. Part of me,” he admitted seriously, “is rather surprised that a jealous boyfriend didn’t take him out long ago. Bo was always playing fast and loose, seeing one girl behind another one’s back, jumping out of bedroom windows to avoid being on the wrong end of a jealous boyfriend’s or enraged husband’s gun.”

  Serena suddenly felt her opinion validated. “So you do have other people to investigate instead of just Demi,” she cried.

  “Yes and no,” Carson said. “Bo actually settled down once he took up with Hayley,” Carson said. Of course, he added silently, that had been for only the last three months, but it was a new pattern. “He didn’t cheat on her, so jealous husbands and boyfriends were no longer prominently in the picture.” He couldn’t help thinking of what a terrible waste it all was. “I thought that maybe he finally grew up.”

  “Grew up?” Serena repeated, surprised. She thought about how Lora’s father disappeared on her, taking her money and her credit cards with him. She’d been abandoned, humiliated and robbed, a veritable trifecta. “I thought that most men felt that this was the kind of lifestyle they aspired to—juggling women, enjoying them, then disappearing once it got too serious.”

  “I wouldn’t know,” Carson told her. “I never took a survey.”

  She decided the detective wasn’t going to squirm out of giving her a straight answer. “How about you?” she pressed. “Did you look up to Bo? Did you want to be like him?”

  Carson looked at her as if she had lost her mind. “Why the hell would I want to be like Bo? I’m already looking over my shoulder to make sure that there aren’t any bad guys trying to take me out as it is. I wouldn’t want to add disgruntled husbands and angry ex-girlfriends to that number.”

  He almost sounded as if he meant it. Serena caught herself wanting to believe him, but her experience with Lora’s father had tainted her.

  “So then you’re monogamous?” she asked.

  “What I am,” Carson told her with a finality that said he wanted to be done with this conversation, “is focused on my job. That takes up all of my time. Right, Justice?” he asked, looking at the dog.

  Justice barked, then looked at Serena. The German shepherd began to drool, clearly eyeing the remainder of her sandwich.

  Serena, in turn, looked at Carson. “Here,” she said, pushing her plate and what was left of her sandwich toward him. “You give it to Justice. I wouldn’t want to interfere with the connection you two have.”

  “Justice,” Carson said sternly. The dog immediately became alert, looking at Carson and waiting for his next command. “At ease.”

  With that, the canine relaxed, almost flopping down on the floor.

  “Okay, now you can give that to him,” he told Serena, nodding at what was left of her sandwich.

  She could only stare at him, stunned. “‘At ease’? You’re kidding.”

  “No,” he answered. “Training is training. Trust me, this is for everyone’s own good. Justice has to know who to listen to. If I tell him ‘at ease,’ he knows it’s okay with me if he goes with his instincts.”

  “All that with ‘at ease’?” she said, marveled but somewhat skeptical nonetheless.

  “There’s a little more to it than that,” Carson admitted. Now, however, wasn’t the time to get into it. It was getting late. “But yeah.”

  She shook her head, then held out her sandwich to Justice. The dog quickly consumed every last bite, carefully eating it out of her hand.

  His teeth never once even came close to nipping her skin.

  When the sandwich was gone, Serena brushed off her hands against one another, still marveling at how gentle Justice had been.

  “You’re right,” she told Carson. “Your dog is very well trained.”

  “He’s not my dog,” Carson corrected her. “He’s my partner. Best partner I ever had,” he said, affectionately petting the animal and ruffling Justice’s black-and-tan fur. “He doesn’t mouth off, doesn’t give me any grief and always has my back.”

  “Sounds like a match made in heaven,” Serena commented.

  “It pretty much is,” Carson agreed.

  He got up and carried his empty plate to the sink. She expected the detective to leave his plate there and was surprised to see him wash the plate and place it in the rack to dry.

  Turning around to see that she was watching him, Carson made an assumption as to what she was probably thinking.

  “I wasn’t raised in a barn,” he told her.

  “I didn’t think you were,” she assured him quickly. “It’s just that nobody does that around here,” she explained. “I mean, I do sometimes, but Anders doesn’t take his meals here and my parents and sister just assume that’s what the housekeeper is for. In their opinion, it’s all just part of ‘keeping the house.’”

  She’d managed to arouse his curiosity again. “What makes you so different from them?” he asked.

  She hadn’t given it much thought. It was just something that had always been that way. Since he asked, Serena thought for a moment before answering.

  “I think for myself. And I like working with the horses.” She thought of the way Joanelle turned her nose up at things. “My mother wouldn’t be caught dead near the corral unless the rest of the ranch was on fire. Maybe not even then,” she amended with a whimsical smile.

  Serena realized that the detective had grown quiet and was just studying her. She’d said too much, she admonished herself.

  Clearing her throat, she picked up her own plate and glass and made her way over to the sink, where she washed them.

  “I’d better be getting back up to Lora,” she told him, paving the way for her retreat. “She’s probably waking up about now. Poor Alma’s practically put in a full day taking care of her. It might not look it, but taking care of a baby is exhausting. Alma doesn’t complain, but I know she’d welcome having the rest of the evening to herself. With the rest of the family gone, there won’t be any sudden ‘emergencies’ cropping up.”

  When Carson began to follow her out of the kitchen
, she was quick to try to divert him.

  “You don’t have to come up right away. There’s a big-screen TV in the entertainment room if you want to watch anything.” She gestured toward the large room as she passed it on her way to the staircase.

  “I’m not here to watch TV,” he told her. “I’m here to watch you.”

  “I didn’t think you meant that literally,” she protested. At the very most, she’d thought he’d just be somewhere on the premises, not really with her. Not for the night.

  Carson could almost read her mind. “I don’t intend to hover over you, if that’s what you’re afraid of, Serena. But I do intend to be close by.”

  Serena made her way up the stairs, then paused and turned around. She was two steps above Carson. Just enough to bring them eye to eye, literally rather than figuratively.

  “Define ‘close by.’”

  “A room near your suite,” he answered. “Or I can just bed down in front of your door if need be.”

  What she needed, Serena thought, attempting to reconcile herself to this turn of events, was to get her life back.

  She blew out a breath. “You really intend to go through with this.”

  “I said I would and I always live up to my word.”

  “Why couldn’t you be a liar like every other man?” she murmured under her breath as she turned around and started to go up the stairs again.

  He couldn’t make out what she’d said, only that Serena had said something. “What?”

  Serena merely sighed and continued walking up the stairs. There was no point in repeating what she’d said. “Never mind.”

  Chapter 13

  The housekeeper was on her feet the moment that Serena walked into the suite.

  Serena could see by the look on Alma’s face that the woman seemed very interested in the fact that Carson still hadn’t left the Double C.

  Not only hadn’t the detective left it, but he gave no indication that he was going anywhere this evening.

  Normally, Serena prided herself as being a private person who didn’t go out of her way to justify her actions. What people thought about her was their own business and she was not in the habit of making any excuses. But she liked Alma. The woman had been exceptionally helpful and kind to her, especially when she’d been pregnant with Lora.

  Right now, she could see that Alma was dying to ask questions, but her mother had been very specific when it came to what her “place” was as a housekeeper for Judson Colton and his family. Consequently, the woman would explode before asking anything concerning why the detective was still here.

  “Justice and I are going to take a look around the second floor,” the detective told Serena, walking out of her room. “We’re going to make sure that there’s nobody up here, present company excepted.”

  Serena waited until Carson was out of earshot. “Alma,” she began. “I’m going to need you to bring some bedding into the spare bedroom that’s next to my suite. Detective Gage is spending the night,” she added, watching the housekeeper.

  Alma’s expression remained impassive. She nodded dutifully. “Very good, Miss Serena.”

  “No, it isn’t,” Serena corrected, knowing exactly what was going through the other woman’s head. “But it is what it is and we’re just going to have to deal with it for the night.” That didn’t come out right, Serena thought. She tried again. “It’s the detective’s intention to stand guard over us to make sure that Lora and I stay safe.”

  This time she saw Alma smile, sanctioning what the detective was doing. “Very good, Miss Serena.”

  “Then you approve?” Serena asked, trying to find out just what the woman thought of the whole setup. As for herself, she hadn’t reconciled herself to the idea of having Carson hovering around like a brooding guardian angel.

  “It’s not my place to approve or disapprove, Miss Serena. I’m only supposed to follow orders,” Alma replied quietly.

  “But you must have an opinion,” Serena pressed.

  “I am not being paid to have an opinion, Miss Serena. Only to make things as comfortable as possible for you and your family.” When Serena gave her a look that clearly said she wanted the woman to give voice to something a little more personal than that, Alma gave every indication that her lips were sealed.

  And then the housekeeper leaned in a little closer to the young woman, who, unlike her parents and younger sister, always treated her with kindness and respect.

  Lowering her voice, Alma said, “It’s a good thing to have someone so capable and good-looking watching over you.”

  Serena bit back a laugh despite herself. Obviously Carson’s looks had won the housekeeper over. “I didn’t know you noticed things like that, Alma.”

  “I’m not dead, miss,” the woman replied just as Carson and his four-footed partner returned to the suite.

  Carson looked from the housekeeper to Serena. Judging from the housekeeper’s expression and the sudden onset of silence as he walked in, he guessed that something was up. “Did I miss something?” he asked after the other woman left the room.

  Serena looked at him with wide-eyed innocence. “I thought you never missed anything,” she told him. “Isn’t that why you’re here?”

  She was clearly baiting him. He deliberately ignored it. Instead, he merely gave her his report. “Justice and I swept through your floor. Everything looks to be in order.”

  She couldn’t explain why, but Carson’s solemn expression just made her want to laugh. “Nobody’s hiding in the closet?”

  His eyes went flat. “This isn’t a joke, Serena,” he said gruffly. “Someone took a shot at you today.”

  She was not about to allow herself to be paralyzed by fear. “I’m really not worried about someone who can’t hit the broadside of a barn,” Serena told him.

  He didn’t like the fact that she was taking all this so lightly. Didn’t she realize the very real danger she could be in?

  “Maybe they can and they’re just toying with you first,” Carson pointed out. “Are you willing to bet your daughter’s life that you’re right?” he demanded, struggling to keep his voice down so as not to wake up the sleeping baby.

  Serena frowned, glancing over her shoulder toward the crib. “You really do know how to get to a person, don’t you?”

  Carson definitely didn’t see it that way. “If I did,” he told Serena, “you and your daughter would be in town by now, staying in the hotel with the rest of your family.”

  This wasn’t going anywhere, and she was not about to just stand here, listening to him go over what he viewed as her shortcomings.

  “My housekeeper put fresh linens in the guest room for you,” she told the detective. “It’s this way.” Crossing to the doorway of her bedroom, she found Carson blocking her exit. She could see that he wasn’t about to go anywhere. She glared at the man. “I can’t walk through you,” she said pointedly.

  He had no desire to be down the hall from her. If something went wrong, seconds would count. “That’s okay. Justice and I’ll just bunk down outside your door. It’s closer that way,” he emphasized.

  Enough was enough. “Aren’t you carrying this whole thing a little too far?” she asked, irritated. “If this person is dumb enough to show up here, we’re dealing with someone with an ax to grind, not a professional cat burglar who’s light on their feet.”

  And then Serena decided to attempt to use another tactic.

  “Alma made the bed up for you,” she reminded him. “If you don’t use it, the woman’s feelings will be hurt and heaven knows my family’s done enough of a number on her. To be honest, I have no idea why Alma puts up with it and stays.”

  Carson laughed shortly and shook his head at her in wonder. “And that’s supposed to get me to use the guest room?”

  “No,” she corrected, “common sense is supposed to do that. Besides,
you’re probably the type who sleeps with one eye and both ears open, so if anyone does try to break in and shoot me, you’ll hear them before they get off a shot.”

  Carson knew she was mocking him. But he also knew that he wasn’t about to get anywhere arguing with her. Justice was with him; he was confident that the German shepherd would alert him if anyone who didn’t belong on the premises entered the house.

  So, because it was getting late, and in the interest of peace, Carson gave in. “Okay, you win. If you need me, I’ll be in the guest room.”

  Serena looked at him in surprise. She’d expected him to put up more of a fight than this. Was he up to something?

  “You’re being reasonable?” she asked, looking at him uncertainly.

  The expression on her face was worth the capitulation. “It’s been known to happen.”

  She decided it was best to call it a night before Carson decided to change his mind and resurrect the argument.

  “Good, then if you don’t mind, I’m going to try to get some sleep while my daughter’s still napping.” She gestured to the open door down the hall. “That’s your room. I’ll see you in the morning, Detective.”

  “Yes,” he assured her, standing there a moment longer and looking at her, “you will.”

  Why did such a simple sentence cause her to suddenly feel hot ripples going up and down her skin? He wasn’t saying anything out of the ordinary. The detective was agreeing with her, for pity’s sake.

  So why did she feel as if he’d just set up some sort of a secret rendezvous between them?

  He hadn’t done anything of the sort, Serena silently insisted, firmly closing her bedroom door behind her. All he’d said was that he’d see her in the morning, which right now seemed like an inevitable fact of life. But by no means was he making some sort of an earthshaking revelation.

  Was he?

  She was getting punchy, Serena told herself with a sigh. Punchy. That was why she wasn’t thinking straight and coming up with all these strange thoughts and reactions.

  She supposed that, in all honesty, the missed shot really had unnerved her.