“Who?”
Unable to fight against the pain and nausea, she laid back down and closed her eyes. “If I knew that, I wouldn’t be in hiding.”
She felt his hand against her head. She jolted and opened her eyes again. He shook his head.
“Easy, just making sure you don’t have a fever.”
“No fever,” she said as warmth flashed through her. It had been so long since someone had taken care of her…it was nice. And she couldn’t handle nice. “Turning soft on me, Mix?”
He pursed his lips. It was a sure sign that she’d pissed him off. Over the years she had learned all the different ways he showed his emotions. When his eyes narrowed, she knew for sure she had accomplished her goal. She could not have Ian being nice to her. People being nice to her made her long for a normal life. That was something she would never have.
“Self-preservation.”
“How is keeping me from having a fever keeping you alive?”
“There are about five people who would kick my ass if anything happened to you.”
She snorted. “What? Mr. 007 can’t handle himself?”
“Against most of them. But one in particular is married to your boss, and I have a feeling that Adam Lee could probably kick my ass.”
That was true. Jin Lee was a podcaster who covered true crime and Lila was her assistant. Well, she had been, but lately, she had been preoccupied with the people coming for her. Jin’s husband was a massive Hawaiian. He would definitely kick Ian’s ass.
“My sister also accused me of hurting you.”
He seemed put out by that. Actually, he sounded as if he was pouting over the matter, and most of the time, she wouldn’t be attracted to a man who did that. With Ian, it seemed that her dreaded attraction let things like that slide.
“Unfortunately, my father is on his way over here.”
And that was another reason she needed to disappear. Sam could not see her. It would put everyone else in harm’s way. The twins knew her name and some of her background. She had kept the most dangerous information close to her chest. Not because she didn’t trust them, but because she would rather stab herself in the eye than have one of them get hurt.
“So, you ran into me at the burger joint?”
She rolled her eyes. “I was hungry and wasn’t paying attention.”
“Is that how this guy got the drop on you?”
“No…although, I’m not sure. He came through the back of the house. I don’t think he was there when I came home, but I might be wrong. I was so preoccupied that I forgot to set the alarm after I came in.”
“What were you preoccupied with?”
She glanced up at him. He wasn’t being coy. “Nothing, just thinking about things.”
And she was still trying to figure out why she didn’t check the house. Even with the alarm system, she always checked the house. Running into Ian had left her flustered. That had to be the reason and that was not good, especially since he was insisting that she stay in his house.
“Did he say anything to you?”
“Yeah. Said he had a boss. Made a few gross statements, then we had the fight, and he got hurt.”
His eyes narrowed as he studied her face. “What kind of gross statements?”
Dammit, she was going to blame her concussion and the fact that Ian was so pretty on that slip.
“Nothing really.”
He crossed his arms over his chest and frowned at her. Dammit. That made him even more attractive. Again, what was it about him? Why did she find every little thing he did sexy? Was it the concussion? No, if she were honest with herself, her attraction to Ian started a long time ago. Lila was sure there wasn’t a heterosexual woman who wouldn’t find him attractive.
“Fine. He said that he wasn’t told that I was good looking.”
