Read Online A Vow to Love by Sherryl Woods - Free Book Online

had a hunch it was outrage.
    "Let me get this straight," she said slowly.
    He winced at her tone. He was right. She was furious. As if to prove it, she glared at him. He could imagine the withering effect it would have on most men. For some reason, it excited him. Talk about inappropriate responses. She'd probably belt him if she guessed. He tried to focus on what she was saying.
    "You were acting all possessive and probably making a crude comment or two about your woman," she began, keeping her eyes pinned on him for a reaction. "And he, quite naturally I might add, took this hands-off attitude to mean that I was your personal property. Am I getting close?"
    "Close enough," he conceded.
    "And now, thanks to you, that thug wants to tattoo my name on his chest?" she snapped facetiously.
    Sam thought she was taking it rather well, all things considered. She was mad, not terrified. "That's one of the things he could have on his mind," he agreed. "I'd say there are others you should be more concerned about."
    "What should be at the top of the list? Kidnapping? Rape? Murder?"
    "I don't think he'll go that far," Sam said defensively.
    "But you don't know that, do you?"
    "Penny, I'm going to protect you."
    "Oh, right," she said with heavy sarcasm. "You're the one who got me into this. You and Grandfather. Remind me to thank him, too."
    "You're not going to tell him?" Sam couldn't keep the horrified note out of his voice. He could just imagine the repercussions of that. He'd get a call from the chief the next morning assigning him as Penny's personal bodyguard...probably without pay. He figured it would take less than a week of twenty-four-hour-a-day duty to drive him absolutely over the edge. The maddening desire he had to kiss her would probably flourish into a yearning for a whole lot more.
    "Give me one reason I shouldn't tell him," she retorted.
    "I'll wind up sleeping on your sofa, sharing your bathroom, following you to work, sitting in a corner of the lab while you do whatever you do. Are you getting the picture?"
    "Oh, God," she said.
    She said it with a soft little moan that did astonishing things to his insides. She looked as if she were ready to weep. To forestall that, he asked hurriedly, "Does that mean you'll keep this just between us?"
    "I suppose I don't have any choice."
    She sounded so totally despondent that Sam wanted to hug her. Hugging was not something that came naturally. "That doesn't mean I don't intend to keep an eye on you," he said. Even to his own ears, it sounded grudging. "I do feel responsible for this and I'll handle it in my own way."
    "What way is that?" she inquired.
    Since neither of them had touched a bite in the past twenty minutes, he figured dinner was a total loss. He waved for the check. "Don't worry," he told her, "I'm still working on it."
    She rolled her eyes. "I can hardly wait."
    He stood. "Come on. Obviously we've both lost our appetite. I'll take you home."
    She sat right where she was, a stubborn expression on her face. "Not necessary. I can catch a cab from here."
    Sam felt his stomach clench. Saints protect him from mule-headed, foolhardy women, especially this one. Hadn't she heard one word of what he'd been telling her about Tank's intentions?
    "I will take you home," he insisted. "If you want to get yourself killed, do it on somebody else's watch."
    She grinned at him. It looked forced.
    "What a charming way to put it," she commented.
    There was no mistaking the sarcasm in her voice. Sam figured it was a good thing she'd agreed to keep her grandfather out of this. Enforced proximity for the two of them would be more dangerous than anything Tank could devise. Sam had a hunch he would end up strangling the mouthy woman himself.

    Sam had seemed extraordinarily unwilling to leave her apartment once he'd safely deposited her there, Penny thought as she toweled her hair dry. Under other circumstances, she might have felt flattered, maybe even experienced a little thrill of