Nostrils flaring, Kristen looked away from Carl. I dont think Sam Cooper will agree to it.
I think hell agree to anything that will keep his daughter safe from another attack. Carls voice dipped an octave. Fathers are like that.
Kristen stood up, her legs trembling with pent-up anger and a healthy dose of apprehension. Its a terrible idea.
But youll do it?
I dont have a choice, do I? She left his office, giving the door an extra-hard push as she shut it behind her. The slam echoed down the corridor behind her.
Foley looked up as she entered the bull pen, making a face at the sight of her scowl. Good afternoon to you, too.
Carl wants me on full-time babysitting duty with Maddy Cooper, she growled.
Foleys eyebrows lifted. Really? I was betting hed tell you not to go on your movie-night date with Sam Cooper.
She shot him a dark glare. Its an informal interview with a crime victim at his home.
Over popcorn and movies.
The popcorn and princess movies are for the kid. Kristen crossed to her desk, grabbed her purse and headed for the door before he asked more questions.
That kids got a thing for you, Foley said as she passed.
Then maybe shell remember something new and tell it to her new best buddy, she retorted.
Thats not fair, Tandy. And youre not that cold.
She stopped in the doorway and turned back to look at him. I have to be that cold, dont I? Especially if Im going to be Maddys best friend 24/7.
Foley shook his head. I dont think thats what Carl had in mind. I know Sam Cooper wont put up with it.
She sighed, leaning against the doorjamb. What am I supposed to do? Blow off the assignment? Do you really believe theres not going to be another attempt to grab that kid?
No. I think someone brazen enough to send photos to her daddy is brazen enough to try to snatch her again, Foley conceded. But Ive seen you with kids. You look like youre allergic. I keep waiting for you to break out in hives.
She pushed away from the door frame and swung her hair over her shoulder. Im not good with kids.
Foleys expression was full of pity. Its not that youre not good with them, Tandy. Youre afraid of them. When she didnt answer him, he added, Are you going to do what Madison wants?
She left without answering, her chest tight with dread.
LETS GET SOMETHING straight, Sam murmured to Kristen an hour later after Maddy had squeezed out from between them to go to the bathroom. Clearly, youre not the maternal type.
Kristens eyes met his. The vulnerability that flashed there for a moment stunned him, but it disappeared quickly, leaving her expression unreadable. No, Im not.
Then, I think from now on, we should limit your interactions with Maddy to formal visits.
Her gaze remained steady, but Sam saw a flicker of something in the depths of her blue eyes that might have been pain. Again, it slipped away as quickly as it had come. I was afraid youd say that, she murmured. But-
Maddy came back into the room and bounced onto the sofa between them. Unpause! she said brightly to her father.
Sam hit Play and the syrupy strains of a princess love theme filled the room, ending the conversation with Kristen for the moment. But Sam felt her gaze on his face, sensed the tension buzzing around them, as whatever it was shed started to tell him lingered, unsaid but unforgotten.
Within an hour, Maddys eyes began to droop, and she gave only a halfhearted protest when Sam finally stopped the DVD player and carried her off to bed. He lingered a few moments as she tossed and turned, still not used to the strange bed. She demanded a story, and he complied with a quick reading of Horton Hears a Who. She was asleep within a couple of minutes.
Sam put the book on the nightstand and tucked her in, lingering a moment to run his fingers over the satiny curve of her round cheek. Swaddled in the enormous old wedding ring quilt that had belonged to his grandmother, she looked tiny. So very fragile and breakable.
He felt rather than heard Kristen enter the room behind him. He turned to find her standing in the doorway, her narrow-eyed gaze fixed on his daughter as if looking for something in Maddys soft features. Tonight she wore a pale green T-shirt and jeans, her hair loose and a little wild, very different from the buttoned-up police detective hed spent the morning with. The T-shirt revealed even more new curves he hadnt seen before, and the snug jeans made her legs look miles long.
His whole body tightened pleasantly in response.
Kristen stepped out into the hallway, and he rose to follow, closing the door to the bedroom behind him. She faced him as they reached the living room, her tense expression working hard to kill the light sexual buzz hed been enjoying.
I have something to ask you. Her voice was tight, as if shed had to force the words from her throat.
He grew instantly apprehensive. What?
Carl-Captain Madison-believes theres a strong likelihood that whoever broke into your home is going to go after Maddy again. I agree with him.
So do I, Sam conceded, though her stark assessment made his stomach hurt.
He wants to assign someone to Maddy full-time.
Sam frowned. Full-time? Like a bodyguard?
Yes.
Sam stepped away from her, rubbing his jaw. His beard stubble scraped his palm with a rasping sound. I dont know if shell take to some stranger coming in to play nanny-
It wont be a stranger, Kristen said, her voice even tighter than before.
Tension stretched in the air between them as he slowly turned to look at her, understanding dawning. Her eyes locked with his, wide and scared.
Ill be Maddys bodyguard, she said.
Chapter Four
Waiting for Sam to break his stunned silence, Kristen didnt know whether she wanted him to agree or refuse. On a purely visceral level, anything that saved her from spending every day and night with Maddy Cooper would be a welcome response. But it was also a cowards choice.
She wasnt a coward, no matter what Foley or Carl thought.
Thats the last thing I expected you to say. Sam sat down on the sofa and passed his hand over his jaw. His palm made a raspy noise against his beard stubble, and she was surprised to feel a flutter of feminine awareness in her belly.
He was an attractive man. Not handsome exactly, not by Hollywood standards. His appeal was edgier-raw male power, evident in the broad expanse of his shoulders and the lean, almost feral features that even a veneer of civilization couldnt temper.
She sat beside him, ignoring the tremble in her knees. It wasnt my idea.
He shot her a dark look. You dont say.
That doesnt mean its the wrong thing to do, she continued, ignoring his sarcasm. Maddy may be in further danger, and Im the best person, under the circumstances, to protect her. She seems to like and trust me. I will do anything in my power to protect her.
My brother could do the same thing.
Hes on special assignment with the Drug Enforcement Agency. You know that. She had checked into Aaron Coopers availability herself, during the short hour between Carls order and her arrival at the Cooper family guesthouse.
My sisters husband is also a deputy.
Riley Patterson? The one whos currently in Arizona for his parents fortieth wedding anniversary?
You did a background check on my whole family?
She had, in fact. A cursory one, anyway. Standard operating procedure for child abduction cases. He and your sister wont be back until Monday.
Sam frowned at her, his gaze intense. She could see him weighing all the ramifications in his mind as he stared her down. Could he trust her with his daughter?
Should he?
She withstood his scrutiny for as long as she could before finally blurting, Yes or no?
His nostrils flared briefly. Okay. Theres an extra bedroom you can use. But I dont want our lives disrupted any more than they have to be. Maddy still gets to visit with my parents and go fishing with Jake and Gabe. Understood? If I say shes safe with someone without you there you dont interfere.
Kristen nodded. The less time she had to spend alone with Maddy, the better. I know youre probably wary about bringing a gun in here with Maddy around-
Sams lips curved into a grim smile. Im armed myself, Detective Tandy.
The deadly serious tone of his voice made Kristens stomach tighten. So shed been right to see the masculinity beneath the well-cut suits and expensive ties. Despite the Italian silk and the fancy letters at the end of his name, Sam Cooper had grown up here in the hills of Chickasaw County and hardened his native strength with a stint in the Marine Corps.
She paid back his earlier scrutiny by indulging herself with a long, appraising look, smiling as he reacted to the tit for tat with a look of grudging amusement. She knew Sam Cooper had graduated from law school and passed the bar exam by the young age of twenty-four and spent the next five years working as a JAG lawyer before taking a civilian job in the District of Columbia. Sure, it hadnt been a combat assignment, but everybody in the Marine Corps had to go through boot camp, didnt they?
If the hard muscles and flat planes she glimpsed beneath his olive-green T-shirt and faded jeans were anything to go by, hed kept up with the fitness regimen even after hed left the service. She looked away.
I keep wondering whod do something like this. The vulnerability in Sams voice caught her by surprise. Im not rich. Im not a celebrity. I dont think I could scrape up a ransom payment if I tried.
I think maybe revenge, she offered quietly. The haggard look in his eyes suggested that answer had been squirming around the back of his mind since the attempted kidnapping. Or some other personal agenda, she added.
His eyes narrowed. Youre still thinking about my ex.
The majority of child abductions are familial. You have full custody of Maddy and moved her to another state recently-
With Norahs blessing, Sam said firmly. Shes welcome to see Maddy whenever she likes. She chooses not to.
Why not?
Sams lips narrowed to a thin line. His gaze shifted toward the hallway, as if he was afraid Maddy might overhear. He nodded toward the cottages kitchen nook, leading the way. When he spoke, he kept his voice low. She didnt want to have Maddy in the first place. The pregnancy wasnt planned. I talked her into the marriage.