“Do I need to shoot you?” he asked seriously.
“I certainly hope not.” Theo’s mouth twitched.
“I thought you Puritans didn’t believe in sex before marriage?”
“And as all of you are so fond of pointing out to me, this is the twenty-first century.” Theo took a deep swig of his coffee and sighed. “Besides, who says I don’t intend to marry her?”
Jake choked on his coffee, spraying the counter and thumping his chest as he began coughing. “Seriously?”
Theo stared at him silently as he drained his cup. “Holy fucking shit, you are serious,” Jake wheezed as the coughing subsided.
“Jake.” Theo let out a long, frustrated breath. “The truth is, I don’t know what the hell I’m doing. My mind is a mess. I have all these thoughts telling me it’s all wrong. Magic is wrong, taking Olivia as my lover is wrong, just being here is wrong. I don’t belong in your world any more than I belonged in mine. I’ve always felt adrift—lost, I suppose—except when I’m with her. She’s the only thing that feels right.”
“I don’t know what to say, Theo,” Jake muttered. “I can’t imagine what it’s like to find yourself dumped three hundred years into the future with all our different rules and expectations.”
“I don’t know what to think or feel half the time,” Theo replied. “All I know is I have to keep Olivia safe.”
“Even from you?’”
“I am no danger to her.” Theo scowled. “I would never hurt her.”
“And I’m supposed to just accept that? When Olive called and said you’d be staying a few extra nights, I gotta tell you, man, I was worried.”
“I understand.”
“However,” Jake continued, “as much as I don’t like it, it’s Olivia’s life and her decision. But I swear to God, man, if you hurt her, I will kill you, and they will never find your body.”
“I would rather die than hurt her.” Theo stared back at Jake, his dark eyes direct and guileless.
Whatever Jake had been looking for in Theo, he obviously found because he gave a small nod, as if some sort of agreement had been reached between them.
Theo nodded also and turned to refill his cup.
“There is something else.” Theo changed the subject. “I’m concerned about Olivia.”
“We all are.”
“No.” Theo shook his head. “I mean specifically in relation to Chief Walcott. We were in the pub last night and he went after her in public. He waited until I was in the restroom and caught her while she was alone, made threats about arresting her.”
Jake frowned. “He doesn’t have any grounds to and he damn well knows it.”
“Exactly,” Theo agreed. “He’s crossing a line now.”
“I have to admit, he’s been different down at the station too,” Jake mused. “He’s been even more erratic and confrontational, and others are starting to notice it now.”
“You don’t think he’ll actually hurt her, do you?” Theo asked. “I’d hate to have to go to prison for killing the chief of police.”
“I get the uncomfortable feeling you’re not joking.”
“I’m not going to let anyone hurt her, not even a man of the law.” Theo scowled.
“I know.” Jake shook his head. “But this isn’t the seventeenth century. You can’t just go around killing people. Besides, I don’t think he’d actually physically hurt her, but then again, I just can’t gauge him anymore. He’s obsessed. Why’d he go after her anyway? What did he want to know?”
“He wanted to know where she was yesterday afternoon.”
Jake’s eyes narrowed.
“I heard you two gave Hanson the slip.” Theo paused with his cup halfway to his mouth. “Louisa told me,” Jake clarified. “After all, it was my sister’s car you borrowed.”
