Why did she feel as if she’d lost an argument? Cherry let Gracie know she’d be back in the morning. As Dante escorted her out the door, Gracie was left alone with Wade. She looked up at him and sighed. It’d be easier to say no if he resembled a trol . With his sexy grin and rock-hard body, she could al too easily imagine relying on him to solve this mess for her. No, it’d be crazy to put him directly in the path of a stalker.
“I can see those thoughts as clearly as if they were flitting across your face. You think I should keep my nose out of it. You’re worried I’l get hurt.”
“Wrong. I’m worried you could get kil ed.”
“Gracie—”
She cut him off with a hand in the air. “Look at me, Wade. This was just a warning. He’s teaching me a lesson. What do you think he’l do if he suspects we’re sleeping together?”
“Do you honestly believe he’l be content to keep you at a distance forever? Eventual y he will make a move on you. The only thing I’m suggesting is that we force him to act sooner rather than later. This way we’l be ready.”
“He might just lose interest.” Even as she said it she knew she was deluding herself. “It’s possible he’l just get tired of the game and move on. We don’t know he’s going to escalate, Wade.”
“Do you real y believe that? In your gut, do you real y think this bastard is going to walk away?”
Crap, she hated to admit it, but he was right. She didn’t truly believe her stalker would give up and leave her alone. Not after two months of e-mails and phone cal s. The first time she defies him, she lands in the hospital. No, he wasn’t going to stop. “Don’t curse. It’s real y annoying.”
“Get some rest, honey,” he whispered. “We’l figure this al out in the morning.”
He moved closer and leaned down. The brush of his lips over her forehead had Gracie going stiff as a statue. His lips, soft and ful , felt much too good against her skin. She couldn’t al ow herself to imagine what they might feel like elsewhere. That road led to disaster. When he stepped back and sat in the chair next to the bed, she frowned. “What are you doing?”
“Staying. Got a problem with that, Gracie?”
The night? He’d be able to see her while she slept. What if she snored? “You can’t stay.”
He stretched out his legs and crossed his arms over his chest. “I’m not leaving you alone here while some asshole has his sights set on you.
I’m staying.”
She tried another tactic. “You can’t sleep in that chair. I’m not even sure you’re al owed to stay past visiting hours. You aren’t even family. Be reasonable, Wade. I’m in a hospital surrounded by people. I’m perfectly safe.”
“I’m ex-military and a PI. I can sleep just fine in this chair. And hospital or not, I’m not leaving you unguarded.”
What could she say to that? It was impossible to argue with a gorgeous man bent on protecting a woman with his very body. “Suit yourself, but don’t blame me for the crick in your neck tomorrow.”
“Sleep, Gracie. Don’t worry about my neck. I’ve slept in worse places.”
She wanted to pursue that, real y she did, but she was too exhausted. Fatigue settled in around her.
Sometime in the middle of the night a nurse came in and took blood. Wade sprang to attention the instant the door creaked open. As she started to drift back off, she felt Wade’s hand against hers, his thumb stroking her knuckles. The light, soothing gesture worked better than any sleeping pil on the market.
3
“She’s going to be fine, Cherry,” Wade whispered to keep from waking the sleeping beauty. Damn, just looking at her made him see red. Her perfect ivory complexion was now covered in bruises. The bastard would pay for hurting her. “I’ve already got Jonas checking into a few things for me and, as soon as Gracie’s able to leave, I’m going to have her show me those e-mails. Maybe there’s something there that can lead me to this guy.”
“I’m worried about her. I feel responsible. Maybe if I hadn’t hired her, she—”
Wade had known this was coming. “Don’t even go there. This guy would stil be stalking her regardless of where she worked. Which reminds me. Her other job, that office she works at, what does she do there exactly?”
“She’s an administrative assistant. Why?”
“Maybe this guy works with her.” Wade’s gaze went back to Gracie. He remembered the tears he’d seen in her eyes the day before. Damn.
He should’ve tried harder to get some answers then. He’d known something was wrong, but he’d let it go, hadn’t wanted to push. Wel , no more.
He frowned as he realized how easily the woman went to his head.
At first he’d been intrigued by the way she stood up to him. Gracie had chal enged his dominant streak something fierce. And her cute blushes whenever he teased her turned Wade on quicker than anything. But seeing her hurt had al his protective instincts worked up.