With a long sigh, she headed for her building. The quicker she got to work the quicker she would get through the day and go home. Maybe by the time she climbed into bed tonight, she would be tired enough to actually sleep.
Someone came up behind her. Phoebe went to move out of the way, but instead of going around her they loomed over her.
Panicked, she spun around so quickly she lost her footing and stumbled.
Phoebe would have landed flat on her backside in the middle of the dirty sidewalk, where she likely would have been trampled, but a pair of hands darted out and caught her.
“Sorry I startled you,” Asher said.
What was he doing here?
Was he the one who had been watching her?
Why would he do that?
A terrible thought occurred to her. Had he been following her because he thought she really did have something to do with his daughter’s abduction? Maybe he thought if he followed her, she would lead him to the men in the white van.
“I wasn’t involved,” she blurted out. Pushed to her limits it wasn’t going to take much to shatter her completely.
“In what?” he asked, looking genuinely confused.
“With your daughter. I wasn’t working with those men.”
His face softened, and she wished he didn’t look quite so deliciously handsome. Her life was a mess, and even if it wasn’t, the relationship she’d run to Manhattan to escape had turned her off men completely. Especially a man like Asher who was all hard muscle and strength.
“I know you weren’t, Phoebe,” he said. “And I hope you know how sorry I am that I hurt you.” He reached out and brushed his knuckle under the lump on her temple.
Why did her pulse have to triple its pace at his touch? Her skin went tingly, and she got that swirly feeling in her stomach.
Okay, don’t panic. You’re just attracted to him, it’s no big deal. Just because you find him attractive doesn’t mean you have to do anything about it, she coached herself.
“Phoebe, you okay?”
Asher’s voice drew her out of her thoughts, and she quickly took a step back. He couldn’t touch her like that, all sweet and gentle, if he did, she’d give in to the urge to throw herself into his arms. He was big and strong, he’d be able to hold her up, just for a little while, until she got her feet beneath her again.
The temptation was almost more than she could bear even with the distance between them. Why did Asher have to be everything she’d always thought she wanted in a man? The package had always been important to her, but she wasn’t so shallow that she thought it was all about a cute face and a six-pack. Intelligence, a sense of humor, a good heart, she thought all those things were just as important, and unfortunately Asher Whitman had them all.
“I’m not really hurt,” she said, mostly to reassure him. Her head did still hurt, and the hot bubble bath hadn’t helped her shoulder at all, but she didn’t want Asher feeling bad about it. What else could he do given the circumstances as he saw them but restrain the person he thought was trying to steal his child? “How’s your little girl?”
At the mention of his daughter, it was like Asher’s entire being softened further. It was clear that his daughter was the center of his world. “Lolly seems to be doing fine. I was worried she might have had nightmares last night, but she slept through. This morning she was excited to go to school, she loves learning, and she always looks forward to school, but I was worried she might have reservations since we’d been on a school picnic yesterday. But nope, not my little Lolly, she was her usual self, excited, chattering away … like I’m doing now. I’m sorry you have to get to work, don’t you?”
She’d been standing there, transfixed by the utter joy on his face when he talked about his daughter. Phoebe thought he was good-looking before, but that was nothing compared to the way his face transformed when he mentioned Lolly, now she roused herself. There was no point in getting herself a crush on the sexy operative. Nothing was going to happen between them.
Nothing could.
Heartbreak was the last thing she needed while she was terrified she was being followed and was broken inside thanks to her ex.
“It’s okay,” she said shyly. Shy wasn’t something she’d ever been before. Phoebe had always known what she wanted and went after it with a confidence she now found herself lacking. “And I’m glad Lolly is okay. I know with a father like you and so many people there for her she’ll bounce back, she’s one strong little girl.”
“She is,” Asher agreed. “She’s not the only one who’s strong. I can’t ever thank you enough for what you did. You saved Lolly’s life.”
Phoebe shrugged, uncomfortable with the praise. If he knew that she’d allowed a man to control and assault her, he wouldn’t think she was strong. “I did what anyone else would have done.”
“No.” He reached out and took her hand, cradling it in his much larger ones. “No one else did do what you did. No one even noticed Lolly was in trouble, and if they did, they didn’t try to help her. You saved her life. I owe you everything.” He paused and dragged in a breath like he was nervous. “Would you like to have dinner with me?”
“Dinner?” she echoed, sure she must have somehow misheard.
“A date,” he clarified.
“A date?”
Asher huffed out an amused chuckle. “I didn’t think it would be such a shocking idea that someone would ask a gorgeous woman like you out on a date.”
Before her ex, she would have jumped at a chance to have dinner with a man like Asher, but now all the thought did was make her stomach churn with panic.
No, she couldn’t go out with Asher.
He was too big.
Too strong.
All it would take was one blow, and he’d render her helpless, then he could do whatever he wanted to her.
There was no way she could take that chance.
Just because Asher seemed nice, noble, and loving, it didn’t mean that he was. He could be hiding anything beneath the veneer of hero who protected the innocent and dedicated father.
How could she ever trust herself to see the truth again?
The panic inside her was growing, and before she did something completely stupid and embarrassed herself, she quickly shook her head. “I can’t go out with you. I’m sorry. I have to get to work.”
Without waiting for a response, she turned and hurried across the street and into her building. Far away from Asher and his too-perfect looks, his too-perfect personality, and his strength that scared her more than it should.
Was this her life now?
Would there ever be a time when she could look at a man and not wonder if he was going to beat her once they were alone?
This was no way to live, but she had no idea how to get herself out of the mess that was her life. Was it time to go to her cousin and ask if there was any way Prey could help her with her ex? Was she ready to admit to her cousin that she’d let a man beat her down until she didn’t even know which way was up?
Was she ready for the world to know she was a pathetic loser?
Chapter Four
February 15th
4:22 P.M.
“Daddy, when are Grandma and Grandpa getting here?” Lolly asked as they walked into their apartment after he’d picked her up from school.