That was probably a valid concern. She was still concerned about putting him in danger. Tiger had made his claim on her. And while she had no intentions of ever being with that asshole, she knew that he didn’t care about her thoughts on the matter.
She also had a feeling that Tiger wasn’t used to women kneeing him in the balls and running from him. She shivered.
No, she was pretty sure none of this ended well for her.
Linc led her outside after Steven had taken the photos of her neck. She shivered slightly, even with his jacket still wrapped around her. Silently, he led her to his truck. He opened the door. He already had her backpack in his other hand, he’d refused to let her carry it herself.
“I think you need to start carrying a stepladder around,” she grumbled.
He placed the backpack down in the truck then wrapped his hands around her waist. “You don’t need a stepladder when you have me.”
Aww, that was sweet.
He set her down on the seat then reached across her to do up her seatbelt.
“Well, what if you’re not around? How will I get in?”
“If I’m not around why would you be trying to get into my truck?” He closed her door and walked around to the driver’s side. Climbing in, he started the truck, turning on the heater and aiming it her way.
“What if I had to drive it somewhere? Then I’d need some way of getting in it, wouldn’t I?” She wasn’t sure why she was so focused on his truck. Maybe because it was taking her mind off the mess her life was in.
“Teeny, you aren’t ever going to drive my truck.”
She crossed her arms over her chest with a pout. “Why? Because I’m a girl?”
“No,” he replied calmly. “Because you’re not even five feet tall. You can’t see over the dashboard. You probably couldn’t even reach the pedals.”
Okay, those were valid reasons, but she wasn’t giving in.
“I’m sure I can drive this just fine.” No. She wasn’t.
“Uh-huh, sure you can. Tell you what, tomorrow you can sit in the driver’s seat. If you can see over the dashboard and reach the pedals then if there is ever a time that you need to drive my truck, you can.”
“All right then.”
“But if you can’t reach the pedals and see over the dashboard, then you’re going to agree to using a booster seat.”
“What? No way!” Was he kidding?
“Yep.”
She scowled. “Linc, I don’t need a booster seat.”
“Someone as small as you, it’s got to be safer. Wouldn’t you rather be able to see out the window properly anyway?”
“I can see out the window.” Just not the front window. “I’m not sitting in a booster seat.”
“We’ll see.”
“I’m short, not a child.”
There was a beat of silence. Her nerves started to get to her again. Linc fell silent. Guilt ate away at her. She knew he wouldn’t be happy about her keeping things from him.
“Linc, I—”
“Were you ever going to tell me? About Tiger?”
Oh God. That guilt increased. “I . . . I don’t know.” She didn’t know what to say to make everything better. They both fell silent again as he turned his truck into Sanctuary Ranch’s driveway. The big gates opened automatically and his truck started forward. She took a deep breath in and let it out slowly. She was going to Linc’s house. Where would she sleep? She hadn’t even asked if he had a spare bedroom. Was he expecting something more from her? Sex? She’d never had sex. She didn’t have a clue what she was doing.
Oh hell. Why had she said yes to coming home with him?
Because you didn’t want to say goodbye.
“What if I put everyone here in danger?” she whispered.
“Did you meet Clint? When you were out here?”
“Umm, yes.” Clint Jensen was a big, blunt man. Kind of scary. But it was clear to see his adoration for his now-wife.
“Well, his brother, Kent owns Jensen Security International. And their base of operations is the ranch. Most of the guys working for him live here. They’re mostly all ex-military. They’re highly trained. This ranch has the best security you can get. We take the safety of all the women very seriously. You’ll be safe here. They’re safe here. Stop worrying so much. It’s all going to be okay.”
All right. That made her feel better. And she remembered someone mentioning JSI in the spa, she just hadn’t realized what exactly it was.
“Sometimes it’s easier for me to think about what could go wrong, then I can prepare myself. If I think everything will be all right and then it all unravels, well, then it’s much harder to pick myself back up.”
“I hate that you’ve had to teach yourself to think that way. You should be filled with hope for the future, not expecting everything to go to shit. Excuse my language.”
She had to smile at that as they pulled up outside a quaint log cabin that was surrounded by tall trees. “You don’t have to worry about your language.”
“Still shouldn’t be swearing in front of you. Nana would have my hide for how I’ve been talking around you tonight. Wait there.”
She thought it was kind of cute that he worried about what he said with her around. She undid her seatbelt as he opened the door. Reaching up, he lifted her down and grabbed her backpack.
“Pretty sure I can get down on my own,” she told him. “It’s getting up that’s the issue.”
“You might hurt yourself jumping down, especially when the ground is uneven.”
“I jumped from a far higher height tonight without a problem,” she commented without thinking as she followed him up onto the porch.
“You could have hurt yourself. What if you’d broken your arm? Or your foot?”
Well, she guessed she wouldn’t be here right now since she was sure that Tiger would have found her. But she didn’t say that. She wasn’t silly.
He opened the door to the house and ushered her in.
“You don’t lock your door?” she said with surprise.
“I left in a hurry.”
To rush into town to help her.
“I’m so sorry. You must be so tired. I didn’t know Ed was going to call you.”
“Which just makes things worse. Since you should have demanded he call me the minute he picked you up.” He toed off his cowboy boots and she did the same with her sneakers. Grabbing them both, he set them in the coat closet. She noted it was neat as a pin.
“Sorry,” she whispered.
Reaching out, he grasped hold of her chin. “I don’t care what time it is, how much I’ve been working or what is going on, if you’re in trouble, if you’re hurt, you call me. Understand?”
“I understand.”
He took hold of her hand and led her into a tidy living room with a cathedral ceiling, making the room feel cavernous. She looked up, seeing gable windows. There was a fireplace that had already been lit. She rushed forward but he kept hold of her hand, not letting her get close.
“Be careful around the fire, okay? Don’t stand too close.”
She thought about pointing out that she wasn’t an idiot, but he’d already shown that he was on protective overdrive tonight. So she just nodded.