Windswept by Anna Lowe Read Free Book Online

bare hands. And that when push came to shove, she didn’t mean as much to him as she’d let herself believe, because what he’d said about her to his friends…
    She slammed on the brakes. Not going there. Not after a day like she’d had. And certainly not after a day in which Ryan had saved her so often, she was losing count.
    She rocked on her heels and watched the clock tick. Lucky disappeared into a back office with another pair of officers, and she wondered if he was a suspect now, too.
    At some point, a shadow appeared in the doorway from the inner offices, and it took her muddled mind a minute to process that it was Ryan standing there. Ryan, looking worn and tired and very, very pissed off.
    It took her another long minute to realize the reason his arms were suddenly around her was that she’d practically tackled him into a hug that came out of she-wasn’t-sure-where. Only that it felt good, getting him back again.
    Whoa, Nelly. You haven’t gotten anyone back again,
the prudish part of her snapped.
You never wanted to see him again, remember?
    Right now, though, holding him felt right. Important, somehow. For a split second, she even felt his knees buckle before he steeled himself and went back to tough guy again.
    He cleared his throat and jutted his chin to the door. “Let’s get out of here.”
    “Yes, let’s.”
    Stepping out of police headquarters was one thing. Deciding what to do next was another. The sun had just set, the streets were dark, and her head was spinning from a crazy afternoon.
    “You can come to my house. Gerta and I will take care of you,” Hans offered, standing in a way that made it clear the invitation was targeted at her, and her alone.
    “I’m good,” she insisted. “I need to get back home.”
    “Home?” Ryan’s left eyebrow arched.
    “To my boat.”
    Now both his eyebrows shot up. “Your boat?”
    Okay, so maybe he wasn’t the only one who’d held back some personal information.
    “My boat.” She nodded.
“Serendipity.”
    He nodded slowly but his eyes were wide.
    “It’s a long story,” she sighed. “Where are you going?”
    Ryan looked at her, expressionless. Which, she knew, was a sure sign of trouble. The stronger Ryan felt about something, the less he’d let show it on the outside. She wanted to stomp a foot and wring the words out of him.
    “Your dinghy is tied up at the town dock,” Hans broke in. “And your boat is moored all the way across the bay. I won’t let you do that alone.”
    “I’ve dinghied across the bay lots of times,” she protested.
    “Not after a day like today,” Hans pointed out.
    “I’ll be fine,” she said, hugging herself unconsciously, then immediately straightening. But damn it, in trying to avoid Hans’ eyes, she made the mistake of latching on to Ryan’s.
    You don’t have to go alone,
his green eyes said.
    Don’t be ridiculous,
she wanted to say. But the words wouldn’t come. Her tongue flat-out refused to form them, and her lips were on strike, too.
    “And anyway, it’s nighttime,” Hans went on.
    Ryan didn’t move or change expression in any way, but there they were, those unspoken words.
You don’t have to go alone.
    “I go at night all the time,” she tried, but she was wavering. Maybe Ryan was right. Maybe she didn’t have to go alone. Maybe she didn’t have to prove anything tonight. Maybe…
    Please,
his eyes said. Like he needed her to say yes. Desperately. Like it wasn’t just about a trip home but about something much bigger than that.
Please. Please let me explain.
    A moped hummed past. Jazz music played from a bar somewhere down the street. Hans was still insisting on giving her a ride to his place. A waxing moon shone down from above, palms rustled overhead, and Ryan kept looking at her like
that
, saying,
Please.
    She’d nearly died that afternoon. Didn’t she owe him this much?
    “And anyway, don’t worry,” she finally managed, cutting Hans off. “I won’t be alone.”
    Ryan