Page 12 of Yuletide Guard

That was a good thing, right?

She hadn't run.

She was still here.

He wanted to kiss her. He wanted to gather her up in his arms and tell her how terrified he had been when they’d learned whathad happened to her. He wanted to tell her that he had feelings for her, he wanted to explain about his past and why they could never be more than friends.

But Michael didn't do any of those things. Now wasn't the time for that. Now was the time to do his job and keep Samara alive. He couldn’t cope with another death on his shoulders.

*****

9:30 A.M.

It felt weird to unlock her front door and step inside.

Although it had only been about twenty-four hours since she had locked the door and headed out to run errands before going to her brother’s for lunch, so much had happened, and so much had changed that to Samara, it felt like an eternity since she had last been home.

As she looked around, she tried to find evidence that the stalker had been here. They didn't know whether he had been inside her home, but he had followed her from here to her brother’s house, and if he knew where she lived, then there was a pretty good chance he had broken in here at some point.

Samara shuddered at the thought.

“Are you okay?” Michael asked, obviously noticing the shiver.

Michael was another thing that had changed in the last twenty-four hours. They had been friends for a couple of years now, and she loved hanging out with him, but she had never really thought of them as anything other than friends. She knew they were close, and she liked that, she always enjoyed his company. He was quiet like she was, and she knew he had a dark past just like she did, so she didn't usually feel that rush of inadequacy that she got around the rest of her friends and her brother.

Despite Michael never mentioning feeling anything evenremotely romantic for her, earlier at the hospital he had been so tender when he’d brushed his knuckles across her cheek. The affection in his chocolately brown eyes had her all confused.

Did he like her beyond just friendship?

Did she like him beyond just friendship?

This really didn't seem like the right time to be thinking about something like that. Someone wanted her. If the stalker could get his hands on her again, he wouldn’t hesitate, Michael was here as her bodyguard to keep her safe, and besides, she wasn't even sure if she felt anything romantic for him. She’d never really thought about it before.

If she felt something for him, she was about to find out.

Living together in her house for however long it took for her stalker to be caught, and spending all day every day together, if she had feelings for him she hadn't allowed herself to acknowledge, then it wasn't very likely she would be able to keep them locked away. Hewaspretty cute with his messy brown hair, serious brown eyes, and dimples. And he had a very impressive six-pack from working out at the gym every day. She knew that because they were gym buddies and usually went after work when everyone else went home to their families.

“Samara?” Michael prodded when she didn't answer.

She turned to find him putting the chain on the door and closing all the blinds so that if the stalker was out there, he couldn’t see what they were doing.

And just like that, all thoughts of their friendship developing into something more slipped away.

Her life was on the line here.

Her stalker was dangerous and knew a whole lot more about her than she knew about him.

“Someone is watching my house, too, right?” she asked.

“Yes, Brady has got everyone scheduled on a shift to watch your house,” Michael confirmed.

Brady Crowley was a thirty-one-year-old ex undercover cop who now ran the private security firm both she and Michael worked for, along with two other ex-cops Ryan Xander and Paige Hood. Samara trusted all three of her bosses and was so grateful that they had pulled everyone at the firm together to help her out. While Ryan and Paige were older, in their fifties, Brady was only a couple of years older than her and married to one of her best friends, Aurora, so they were friends as well as him being her boss. She might only have a small circle, but it was a strong one. Certainly stronger than anything her stalker could throw at her.

“Samara.” Michael stood in front of her, his hands hovered above her shoulders for a moment before lightly resting on them, his touch probably more comforting than it should be. “We’re in this together, okay? That man will never lay a finger on you ever again.”

For some strange reason, when Michael said it, she believed it.

Maybe there was something to this more than friends thing after all.