Read Online My Deadly Valentine by Valerie Hansen - Free Book Online

handy.”
    “No good,” she said, shaking her head and making her hair swing gently. “It might be safer temporarily but it would be terrible for my reputation. Rumors about us are probably already flying. Having you casually come and go, especially after dark, would be disastrous.”
    “Do you mean to tell me you wouldn’t call me in an emergency?”
    “I’d call 9-1-1 first.”
    “And then me.”
    “Maybe.”
    There were those rosy cheeks again. Rachel’s tendency to blush was endearing. Sandra had never done anything like that, nor had she seemed a bit shy about whether she might be creating a negative impression. Now that he could look back on her behavior and contrast it to Rachel’s, he was amazed at how unappealing Sandra’s attitude seemed.
    The change of perspective caught Jace by surprise. When had he stopped brooding over his lost love and started seeing her for who and what she really was?
    When he’d met Rachel Hollister, he answered without hesitation. It was she who had opened his eyes and given him hope for the future.
    His jaw clenched. All he had to do now was make sure Rachel had a future. If he didn’t put a stop to whomever was threatening her pretty soon, the attacks might escalate until they became deadly.

    “I’d ask you in, but…”
    “I know. Rumors. Can’t have that.”
    “Right.” She held out her hand, expecting him to shake it. Instead, he grasped her fingers in his and simply held them. The intense look in his eyes was so serious it made her pulse speed and her breathing grow ragged.
    “Tell you what,” Jace said softly, “if I can’t come in to stay awhile, how about you leaving the door wide open until we’ve checked the place over very carefully, just to be on the safe side?”
    “You think someone may have been in my house, too?” That notion would have seemed preposterous mere days ago. Now, it made all too much sense to suit her.
    “We won’t know for sure until we look. Or you could stay outside while I go in and check.” He made a motion as if stepping toward the door.
    “I’d rather do it myself but you can wait on the porch and watch if you want.” Pulling her hand from his grasp she reached for the doorknob and felt his light touch on her shoulder.
    “Hold on. Where’s your key? Don’t you lock your house?”
    “I haven’t for as long as I’ve lived here. Nobody does.”
    “Well, start,” Jace grumbled. “I don’t believe you country people. Do you trust everybody?”
    “Pretty much, yes. We really have very little crime in these parts.”
    “Yeah, except for the occasional homicidal maniac.”
    “That’s not funny.”
    “It wasn’t meant to be.”
    Jace was just standing there staring at her, his arms slightly outstretched in a silent plea for understanding. She knew he had a valid point. She also knew that she didn’t like the lifestyle changes she was being forced to make.
    “All right. I know I have a house key somewhere. I’ll dig it out and start locking my doors. Satisfied?”
    “It’s a good start,” he said. “I’ll pick up dead bolts tomorrow.”
    “You don’t have to do that. I can get them.”
    “When? Last time I looked, your hours were the same as the hardware store’s.”
    “I can run over there on my lunch hour.”
    “And I can do it as part of my regular patrol. If it’s the cost you’re worried about, you can repay me later.”
    “I’ll never be able to repay you as well as I should,” Rachel said, meaning every word from the bottom of her heart. “I don’t know what I’d have done if you hadn’t come to my rescue.”
    “You’d have managed.”
    “Would I have? I wonder.”
    “You could have always called your father.”
    “And listen to him rant and rave and insist that I need a husband to take care of me? No, thanks. Been there, done that. Didn’t like it one little bit.”
    “Is it the idea of marriage that you hate or your dad’s choices?”
    She huffed. “That’s a very good