Read Yuletide Protector (Love Inspired Suspense) for Free Online

was struck by how odd it seemed to see a woman so elegantly attired in a dress coat, skirt and heels climb into that old clunker. She didn’t seem the type to drive an old beat-up truck. For that matter, she didn’t seem the type to be living alone, fixing up this old house, either. But then, what did he really know about Daria Carlisle…other than that she was stubborn?
    Kevin turned the key in the ignition and heard the engine roar to life. He would watch her walk into her office building and then he would drive away. Her building had security and for now that was going to have to be enough. Besides, Ski was watching George Carlisle. But covering all the bases didn’t take any of the edge off his fear that a guard in her building was not enough.
    Daria was one stubborn woman. She was trading her life in exchange for watching a tree bloom next year. And she’d called him insane?
    No, she’d called the idea of him watching over her insane. Well, Kevin couldn’t really argue about that.
    Shaking his head as his foot hit the gas pedal, he wondered just how long he’d be able to keep this up.
    At the red light, he pulled in behind Daria’s truck and watched as she glanced into her rearview mirror and caught him staring back at her. He didn’t look away. He wanted her to know that he was serious. He was watching. He’d have his eyes on her until he was absolutely sure she was safe from George Carlisle.
    Maybe after a few nights of him staring at her front door, watching her stare back at him from her bedroom window, she’d get the point and leave town as he’d suggested. Otherwise, he was going to have to get used to sleeping in his car for however long it took until they got enough evidence against her ex to put him behind bars.
    Daria’s office was a twenty-five-minute ride from her house. Kevin had clocked it, as well as the time it would take him to get from the station to her house. There was lag time. It couldn’t be helped and it worried him greatly, but there wasn’t a whole lot he could do about it.
    He watched her gracefully step out of her truck and waltz into her building, never looking back at him. Stubborn woman.
    When she was finally out of sight, he realized he felt no relief. Not for her. Not for him. Agitation crawled beneath his skin.
    The woman didn’t want to believe she was in danger. The district attorney and his superiors didn’t want to put forth the resources to ensure her safety. And Kevin was only one man. He couldn’t do it all.
    Lord, please keep Daria in Your watchful eye when my own eyes can’t be there to guard over her. Keep her safe from harm. Keep those who are trying to hurt her at a distance.
    When he was finished with his prayer, he sighed. He had just enough time to get to his apartment, shower and change and then get to work. After the long night he’d had, he knew this day would be even longer.
     
     
    The flowers were sitting in the center of her desk when Daria had arrived in her office. The excited stare from her administrative assistant was telling, butnothing was said. Yet. It was only a matter of time before Marla burst.
    Daria hung her coat and stuffed her purse in the bottom drawer of her desk, locking it. Instead of the normal local radio station playing on a nearby radio, Christmas carols floated through the office. Daria listened to a favorite holiday song as she busied herself with all her usual morning routines, ignoring the oversize vase with flowers sitting in the middle of her blotter. She didn’t have to look at the card. She knew who they were from. And the cold chill that knowledge gave her after yesterday’s meeting with Detective Kevin Gordon left her raw.
    “You’re killing me,” Marla finally shrieked, standing at the doorway with her arms crossed.
    “Am I?”
    “Someone leaves you these big, beautiful flowers and you’re checking your in-box to see what’s in store for the day? Forget it! You don’t have any meetings. I already