Page 72 of You Found Me
Lucy, she decided, liked to shop. She’d have to convince her warden to take her there.
They pulled into a parking lot in front of an old, serious-looking building with County Courthouse engraved in the stone above the door.
Ward found a spot under a tree wearing brilliant red and orange leaves and turned off the engine. “You ready? Remember your cover?”
The reason she needed a cover story to begin with sent a now-familiar stab of anxiety. She deflected it by pointing at her hair. “It’s not like I can forget.”
Ward reached across her lap to flick open the glove compartment.
For a wild second, she thought he was going to reach forher, and a little thrill raced through her.
He pulled a small blue box from the cubby hole that might have come from a nice jewelry store and handed it to her.
She stared at it. “What’s that?”
“Open it.”
“Gee, you shouldn’t have. I didn’t get you anything,” Della mocked as she opened the lid. Inside, she found a simple gold chain with a round gold pendant engraved with a star and what looked like a tiny diamond embedded at the center.
She picked it up and let the pendant dangle from her hand. The diamond caught the light.
“It’s not your style, I know. But I thought you might like having it around.”
“It’s really pretty.” She looked up at him, touched by his almost apologetic tone. “Thank you.”
He took the necklace from her and undid the clasp. “It’s not jewelry. It’s a panic button.”
“A panic button,” she repeated, oddly fascinated by the way his fingers moved.
“Here.” Ward gestured for her to turn.
She shifted in the seat until her back was toward him. Her hands lifted automatically to move her hair out of the way, except she didn’t need to do that now.
Unsure of what else she should do, she let them drop into her lap and sat very still as he slipped the chain around her neck, then worked the clasp. She was hyperaware of the way his fingers brushed against the back of her neck.
He had a deft touch, and the warmth of him sent little shivers into body parts they had no business lingering in. It put ideas in her head. Ideas that involved the truck and a lookout point above the river and a lot less clothing.
She shouldn’t be thinking like that.
There was nothing remotely seductive about her current situation.
Nothing at all.
A tiny voice in the back of her mind chuckled.Oh really? There’s nothing seductive about a hot, sexy bodyguard willing to put his life on the line to keep you safe?
Her mental voice sounded suspiciously like Piper.
“If you feel unsafe, or we get separated, just squeeze it for three seconds,” Ward said. “Go ahead. Squeeze. I want you to see how it feels.”
Della felt a little flicker of disappointment, which was ridiculous. They weren’t really a couple. It wasn’t jewelry.
This was just pretend.
She dutifully pressed the pendant.
A loud, un-ignorable alarm, like an angry foghorn, filled the truck. Della jumped and squealed.
Her hand fluttered around the necklace in a desperate attempt to make the noise stop.