Verna smiled at her. “Thanks, Millie. You’re a lifesaver.”
“You bet.” Millie followed Scott from the diner.
He opened the passenger-side door for her. “One problem down.”
“Yes,” she said, sighing. “About fifty more to go.”
* * * *
Scott took in the bustling activity on the street as he started his engine. It’d be fun to visit River City for the Fishing Derby when he wasn’t on the job. For now, he glanced at the quiet woman in the passenger seat. “I was thinking.”
“Always an interesting prospect,” she said instantly.
He grinned. “Seriously. Now that you apparently just hired Alex to help out with the guiding business, what do you say to taking a mini vacation?”
She looked at him, her eyes so blue his chest ached. “You want to go on a vacation right now?”
“Not exactly. I wantyouto go on a vacation.” He thought through their available options. “Why don’t you visit my mom in Nantucket? The house is large, and you could cobble together a workshop to build whatever gadget you want. Just for a couple of weeks.”
She partially turned in the quiet vehicle and settled her knee beneath her. “Are you trying to get rid of me?”
“Not in a million years,” he said honestly. “However, I am trying to keep you safe.”
Her chin lifted. “I see. So I go off and hide in Nantucket while the big, bad men figure out this problem.”
“Yes.” The woman misunderstood him if she thought he’d allow her to be harmed.
The mellowness in her eyes morphed into anger. “I’m not going anywhere. Somebody drugged me and now is trying to frame me for murder. I’m a member of the HDD, and I know how to protect myself.”
“I’m well aware of that fact,” he said, holding on to his temper. “However, since you’ve been back in town, you’ve been drugged, framed, and fired upon. That’s not even mentioning the fact that somebody bombed your house. I’m just saying that you need to seek safety for a brief time.”
The thought of her being hurt clawed through him with a shocking force. So far, they’d been lucky and smart, but everybody knew that luck ran out at some point. Even if she survived nine out of ten attacks, that last one could kill her.
He would not let that happen. “Listen, Millie. I don’t want to pull rank here.”
Her head snapped up. “There’s no rank for you to pull. You may be my lawyer, but you’re not my boss. And frankly, you’re not even my boyfriend, not that I would take orders from one.”
“I’m not trying to give you orders.” He didn’t give two fucks about his status with her. If he had to kidnap her cute ass and haul it to Nantucket, he’d do it. He’d pushed his nightmares to the back burner because Millie’s safety took precedence. Right now, the need to inflict violence on the bastards coming for her coursed through him, shocking in its intensity. “You need to be safe. Period. I’m certain JT would agree.”
It was the wrong thing to say.
A bright rose flowed across her face, making her look fucking stunning. “Listen to me, Scott Terentson. We may have gone to bed, and I may have hired you to be my lawyer, which by the way we will discuss later because I will be paying you, but that’s as far as this goes. If you even think of conspiring with my brother to send me away, you both will regret it with every fiber of your beings for the rest of your lives. Do you understand me?”
He could only stare.
She was glorious. “I can tell by your silence that you’re too dumb to fully get me.” She leaned toward him as if wanting a good fight. “I will invent something that will torture you till the end of your days. I don’t know what it is right now.” She looked around. “It could be a beeping sound that follows you wherever you go for the next fifty years. It could be that little pebble in your shoe that you can never rid yourself of. It could be the hordes of women who want to be in Scott Terentson’s arms, somehow having access to you every second of every day.”
He leaned back. The woman issued decent threats. “Millie, you’re facing a spanking, and I don’t mean an enjoyable one.”
Her head jerked so quickly it was a shock she didn’t get a migraine. “Oh no,” she said. “I’m not done yet. Make sure you know exactly what you’re doing if you decide to cross me.” She slid around in the seat, facing forward, and crossed her arms.
God, her adorableness shone bright. He wanted to laugh but figured it would get him punched, and then he’d have to spank her in the middle of her town. “I’ll think about it,” he said dryly. So far, he could cover her. For now. Her safety remained the most important thing in the entire world. If he had to kidnap her and take her to Nantucket, he’d do it.
She flashed him an irritated look. “We are finished with this discussion.” To emphasize her statement, she huffed.
He pulled away from the curb. She might be brilliant, but the brat was dead wrong in this case.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
