Free Safe in His Arms by Dana Corbit

off-limits.”
    â€œI’ll keep that in mind.” Sipping her tea, she set the cup back on the table. “You do understand.”
    He lifted a brow, waiting for her to explain.
    â€œThe expectations.”
    â€œI understand, all right.”
    â€œSo, is your brother a trooper, too?”
    â€œSurprisingly, no. There was practically a national incident when David decided not to join the ‘family business,’ but Dad and Grandpa eventually got over it. David didn’t escape the whole law-enforcement bug completely, though. He and his wife are both assistant prosecutors in Kalamazoo.”
    â€œThen let me guess. Your mom’s a judge.”
    His game face must have faltered a bit because her gaze narrowed. “Oh, no. You haven’t mentioned your mom at all. She’s not—”
    He nodded. “She died when I was eight and David was twelve. Cancer.”
    â€œI’m sorry. I didn’t know.”
    â€œYou couldn’t have known. Don’t worry about it.”
    Strange how he was tempted to tell Lindsay more about his mother. He never talked about her. But for some reason, he wanted Lindsay to know that it was his mother’s death, rather than his father’s life, that led him to a career in law enforcement. He wanted to tell her other things, too, as if Lindsay’s accident bound them somehow, making him want her to know as much about him as he knew about her.
    It was a bad idea for him to allow himself to get too close to Lindsay and Emma. He didn’t do that with people. He’d tried that once with Chelsea, but that relationship had gone up in flames as a reminder that his walls were there for a good reason. Lindsay was wearing down his defenses now, and he was letting it happen.
    â€œI’m sorry I bought it up.”
    Joe blinked, realizing that she’d guessed he was still thinking about his mother.
    â€œNo. It’s fine, really. I was just thinking about work.” As far as work involved a certain victim in one of his accident cases, anyway.
    She nodded, accepting his flimsy explanation.
    â€œIt’s going to be really hot again tomorrow,” she began. “I was thinking that…maybe…since I don’t work tomorrow…that Emma and I would go to the beach at Kensington Metropark.” She cleared her throat. “Would you like to meet us there?”
    â€œThe beach?”
    Joe was grateful that at least his voice hadn’t cracked. This was different from yesterday, when he’d invited himself to her condo to give her unsolicited advice, or even an hour ago, when she’d called him out of desperation. She’d invited him.
    â€œYou know, the place with the water and the sand?”
    â€œOh, I meant which beach at Kensington. You know there are two at that park, right?” And good thing for him that there were because he hadn’t been this awkward around a female since the eighth grade.
    â€œMartindale Beach, I guess. If you’ll be too tired after tonight and after your shift tomorrow, I’ll under—”
    â€œSounds like fun,” Joe answered before she couldoffer to understand anything. She’d spent too much time understanding. From parents who didn’t deserve any excuses to a sister who probably hadn’t tried hard enough to share the stage. Even from a guy like him, who didn’t have the guts to tell her the whole truth.
    â€œAre you sure? It’s just that I wanted to take Emma, and I’m worried that I might need an extra pair of hands.”
    â€œI’d be happy to go.”
    â€œOh. Thanks.”
    Lindsay needed him, after all, as a friend. She deserved to have someone on her side for once, at least until she became confident enough to challenge her parents’ belief that she wouldn’t make a good guardian. He shouldn’t get closer to her. It was a risk, and he had enough of those at work with him clearly being off his game. But