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glad you called. I spoke to Melanie earlier. Thank you so much for picking her up. I feel better knowing that she’s not there alone.”
    “About that. Is she in some sort of trouble? What is she doing here?”
    His sister was uncharacteristically quiet, and her hesitancy fueled unwelcome curiosity within Charles. He waited, knowing that Sarah wouldn’t be able to hold her silence long. Eventually she said softly, “If she didn’t tell you, I can’t.”
    Irritation with himself filled Charles. Melanie was remaining in touch with his sister. She had resources she could call on if she needed someone. He didn’t need to get involved.
    He should end it then and there.
    Yet he said, “My schedule is flexible this week if she needs something. She can call me if she does.”
    “She probably won’t, Charlie,” Sarah said gently, “Melanie is a very private person. She’s built this protective shell around herself that makes her look tougher than she is. She doesn’t like anyone to know when she’s hurting or when she’s scared, but I can tell you that she’s both right now. It’s why I feel better knowing that you’re checking in on her. I should have gone with her.”
    His heart thudded heavily in his chest. “Is she ill?”
    Sounding a little horrified by the idea, Sarah exclaimed, “Oh no, Charlie, nothing that extreme. I hate not being able to tell you, but I promised her I wouldn’t tell anyone. She’s not sick and she’s not in danger. That’s all I can say.”
    That’s not a hell of a lot. Charles fought down an impulse to charge over to Melanie’s hotel and demand to know everything. The surge of primal protectiveness in him was outside his civilized norm.
    Control was his strength. He didn’t debate his strategies with his clients. He wrote his plan for action and gave them a choice to stay or walk away. They stayed because no matter how rich they were, they wanted more and knew he could deliver.
    He was the same way with women—in control and detached. This is what I can offer you. Take it or leave it.
    Most stayed. A few walked away. Neither decision affected him for long.
    He kept his relationships simple, uncomplicated—everything that Melanie wasn’t. From what Sarah was saying, Melanie needed a friend more than she needed a lover, and that wasn’t what he wanted from her. H e’d call her to make sure she was okay, but he needed to stay the hell away from her physically.
    He said good night to his sister and hung up before he gave in and asked another question that would betray how his fascination with Melanie was bordering on an obsession. He remembered how Melanie’s voice had been husky, as if h e’d woken her when h e’d called, and fought the desire to call her to hear it one more time.
    Was she sleeping?
    Or was she awake and upset?
    He reminded himself that either way it was none of his business.

Chapter Four
    “ Do you want me to wait?” the cab driver asked when he pulled up to the front of the Jones’s home early the next evening.
    Amazing how easy it is to find excuses to delay what you don’t want to do.
    Melanie told herself she couldn’t go to Todd’s parents’ home first thing in the morning. She needed time to plan what she was going to say. She also told herself it didn’t make sense to go in the afternoon since most people worked during the day. They probably wouldn’t be there until around dinnertime, so why waste a taxi ride? An hour ago, with her stomach churning nervously, sh e’d confronted her lack of action. No more excuses.
    “No,” Melanie said, handing him his fare and a tip. If she had an escape route, she just might use it. Besides, the neighborhood looked safe. As safe as any street in a big city could.
    New York wasn’t actually any more chaotic than parts of Melanie’s life in Texas had been. Sh e’d done her share of rodeo roping while in high school. Sh e’d handled crowds, thundering hooves of excited animals when she took a fall,