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watching…waiting…
    Oh God.
    Libby buried her face in her hands.
    “Why the hell not?” her father demanded. “The cabin’s defensible, remote. A perfect place to hide.”
    “Yeah, until a storm blows in and strands us up there with a psycho killer. Haven’t you ever seen a horror movie?” When her father said nothing in response, Jude let the curtain fall and turned back to them. “You don’t want her trapped someplace all alone. Sure, she might be harder to find, but once she’s found, she has no way of getting help fast. You want her someplace well populated, someplace where the locals see new faces every day and don’t question it.”
    “And you have such a place in mind?”
    “One or two,” Jude said, and the undercurrent of laughter in his voice finally snapped Libby out of her fog.
    Wait. They wanted to take her out of the city?
    “Stop.” She shook off the blanket and stood. “Don’t I get a say in this?”
    “No,” they said at the same time, and in that moment, the similarities between the two men struck her speechless—except one meant everything to her and the other she wanted nothing to do with.
    She turned to the only one who mattered. “I’m not going anywhere, Dad.”
    His expression softened, and he soothed down a flyaway strand of her hair. “You don’t have a choice, sweet pea. Whoever this is knows where you live. I won’t take a chance with my only daughter’s life.”
    “And I understand that, but you can’t just ship me off somewhere. I’ll get a hotel.”
    “Not good enough. You need protection.”
    All right. If that was how he wanted to play it, she could be stubborn, too. She was her father’s daughter after all. She crossed her arms over her chest and lifted her chin. “Then hire someone else because I’m not going anywhere with him .”
    Her father looked at Jude for a long moment, then back at her. “He saved your life tonight.”
    “Yes.” And did that mean she owed him something? Because she really didn’t want to be indebted to Jude Wilde in any way. She could only imagine his version of a repayment plan. “But I can’t stand him. He’s selfish, hedonistic, reckless, and…and I don’t want to be near him.”
    Jude grinned. “You’re full of compliments.”
    She propped a hand on her hip and held her other out as if to say, see what I mean?
    “Yes, he is all those things,” her father agreed with a long-suffering sigh. “And he can’t take an order for shit, but he’s also good at what he does, the best I’ve ever had the misfortune to train. He’ll keep you safe for me.”
    Oh no, this couldn’t be happening. Frantic, she searched for another excuse. “I can’t leave my job.”
    “I already talked to your boss. He said you have plenty of vacation time coming and agrees that you should take it. Please, Elizabeth,” he added softly. “Please. For me.”
    She studied his face, noted the new lines around his weary eyes. “You’re really worried about this, aren’t you?”
    “Very. You should be, too, and it terrifies me that you’re not.”
    Closing her eyes, she let out a breath in defeat. There would be no winning this battle, and honestly, she wasn’t sure she even wanted to. Elliot Pruitt never admitted to such weaknesses as worry or fear. That he would do so now only went to show exactly how concerned he was.
    “All right.” She took a moment to fortify herself before she faced Jude. “What should I pack?”
    The man grinned, and tendrils of heat curled through her belly at the sight of his dimples. Damn him.
    “Swimsuit,” he said.
    “Figures.”
    As she stalked toward her bedroom, she heard him laugh. This was going to be one long, headache-inducing vacation.

Chapter Four
    The house was exactly the way he remembered it: smack dab in the middle of the city and completely secluded behind a stone fence and a lush tropical garden.
    Perfect place to hide from the world.
    Jude pulled up to the gate at the backside of the