Read Dangerous Grounds for Free Online Page A

her luscious curves underneath Eric’s wool jacket again. Christ, she was sexy.
    How much of an asshole are you, Gabe? Thinking about getting her flat on her back right after she’s had a gun to her head?
    He cleared his throat. “Did he make you take off your clothes? Did he—”
    “Umm, no.” Her face went red and she glanced down at her bare feet. “I did that on my own.”
    “What?” He blinked. “Why?”
    Two officers came around back and called out a greeting.
    Madison leaned forward and hissed, “Because I thought he was you. This doesn’t make it into the report.”
    His dick hardened at her words, and he cursed. This wasn’t exactly the time or place to be springing wood.
    “Miss Phillips?” One of the officers, a female, approached her.
    “Yes.” She nodded.
    “We’re going to ask you some questions about what happened…”
    Gabe let the officer do her job, but wished to hell he could be the one questioning Madison. Since he was off duty he was denied that right, but at least he could be by her side while it happened. His attention snapped back to the question they were asking her.
    “The Espresso Bandit has been very consistent in what he wears when he strikes. I assume he was wearing a black ski mask, black shirt and black pants?”
    “Yes, to the black pants and black shirt. And no to the ski mask.”
    “He wasn’t wearing a mask?” Gabe repeated in disbelief, and snapped his mouth shut when the officer gave him a sharp glance.
    “He didn’t realize I was here,” she explained. She licked her lips and cast a warning glance at Gabe. “You see, I was changing in the back when he came in through the front. He must have assumed I was gone. I heard a noise and went to investigate.”
    The officer nodded. “And that would explain your state of dress?”
    Madison nodded.
    “Miss Phillips,” the officer gentled her tone. “I need to know if there was any kind of assault—”
    “No. The whole thing happened in like ten minutes.” She closed her eyes. “He was going to kill me if Gabe and Eric hadn’t shown up.”
    “You’re the first person he’s held up who is capable of identifying him, which is even more vital now that one of his victims has died.”
    The fury at how close to death she’d been washed over Gabe in waves. God. Why hadn’t she listened to him?
    “You’ll need to come down to the station first thing in the morning. We’ll need you to work with our sketch artist so we can get his picture out,” the officer stated and went on with more questions.
    Gabe walked to the front of the shop, where Eric paced in obvious distress. He hadn’t thought anyone could be more furious than he was right now, but Eric seemed to be giving him some competition.
    “She’s all right, isn’t she?” Eric asked, looking up at him with cold eyes. “I mean, she can identify him. What if he comes back?”
    “I’m sure we’ll have an officer guarding the shop,” Gabe assured him, although something else still worried him. “She told the officer the robber took her purse.”
    “Damn. She’ll have to cancel all her credit cards and let the bank know. I wonder if she had any cash.” Eric didn’t seem to understand his point, but suddenly stiffened. “He knows where she lives.”
    “He was going to kill her.” Gabe forced his voice to sound calm. “We got here right as the son of a bitch had his gun to her head. It seems he didn’t like the idea of someone being able to identify him.”
    “She can’t go home.” Eric shook his head. “He’s going to be waiting for her.”
    My thoughts exactly. Gabe’s voice turned firm. “Take her to your parents’. She needs to have someone with her all the time.”
    “My parents are in their mid-sixties. What are they going to protect her with? Social Security?”
    “You and Lannie—”
    “I can’t bring Lannie into this, Gabe. I won’t risk the lives of two women I love. Please,” Eric insisted. “You know I would never ask