Free The Protector by Marliss Melton Page B

silence, he asked her, “Who is Lancaster?”
     
    “A bear.” She shot him a smile.  
     
    His expression turned quizzical.
     
    “My favorite stuffed animal,” she clarified. “I got him when I was a kid, back when we toured England, while we were living in Germany. Of course, only Dad would know that, which was why he chose it as the safe word. Now you do, too,” she pointed out.      
     
    Ike nodded and went back into his shell. He maneuvered around a pothole, slowed where rainwater had eroded away the gravel. “You’re dad’s a good man,” he said as they bounced across the chasm.    
     
    Eryn’s eyes flooded with tears, making her realize how much she’d missed talking to her father. “Can I call him?” she begged. “We always talk on Sundays.”  
     
    “No.” Ike shook his head. “NSA is monitoring his phone calls. He doesn’t want anyone knowing where you are. Sorry,” he added, glancing her way and seeing her pained expression.
     
    She turned her head to hide her disappointment. The creek raced alongside them, colorful quartzite glimmering under the rush of clear water. Once she’d collected herself, she looked back at Ike and was struck by the isolation that seemed to encase him. “Do you have family?” she asked him. “In Ohio, maybe?”
     
    “Far as I know.”
     
    She found the statement odd. “As far as you know?”  
     
    He lifted a hand and punched on the radio, cutting their conversation short.  
     
    Her mouth hung open. How rude! Obviously, he didn’t want her knowing anything about him. Fine. She didn’t want to get personal with him, anyway.   He was nothing more to her than her protector.   
     
    Then why are your feelings hurt? she asked herself.
     
    Averting her face, she refused to look at him, refused to even think about it.  
     

 
     
     
     
     
     
    Chapter Six
     
     
     
    Eryn McClellan was giving him the silent treatment, Ike realized, mildly amused. She had managed to go twenty minutes without speaking a word—probably a record for her. In the process, she’d bitten her lower lip so many times it looked liked she’d been thoroughly kissed. Damn it, now he was thinking of kissing her.
     
    Don’t even look at her, he ordered himself.
     
    But he couldn’t keep his eyes off her.   Without a speck of make-up, with her freshly washed hair tied into a damp knot, wearing yesterday’s clothing and a haunted look on her face, Eryn was like no other woman in Elkton, population 2,000.
     
    She was too damn graceful. Her complexion was too clear, and when she spoke—which she was bound to do soon—she used proper, grammatical English that sounded nothing like the mountain twang from this here part of Virgini a.
     
    And shopping for clothing at Dollar General was clearly an unaccustomed chore for her. “There’s hardly anything my size,” she groused, breaking her silence after sifting unsuccessfully through the racks. At last, she held up a yellow sweater, laid it over her chest to see if it would fit, then lobbed it wordlessly toward the shopping cart.
     
    And missed.  
     
    Ike’s ribs tickled. Unsettled by the giddy sensation, he moved toward the display window, resigned to wait.
     
    With one eye on the parking lot and the other on Eryn , he watched her fill her cart with another sweater, a pair of jeans, and a pink, velour sweat suit. He wondered if there was a plan to her selection-choices or if it was all hit or miss. As she moved toward a rack of pastel-colored panties and bras, his pulse quickened. He made himself look the other way, but not before he pictured her wearing what she picked out.  
     
    For Christ’s sake, think of something else.
     
    As she turned toward the rear of the store for toiletries, he stayed where he was, affording her privacy. Finally, with a look of resignation, she headed for the register.   
     
    He joined her just as she unzipped one of the pockets in her purse. “I’ll pay,” he said,