Free YULETIDE PROTECTOR by Julie Miller

skills that made him such a successful investigator. Instead of offering her some meaningless reassurance, or asking her directly about the car she’d mentioned, he invited her to talk about something else. Just to get her talking. Because he didn’t believe for one minute that she’d contacted him by mistake. Despite her assertion that everything had turned out “just fine,” something had spooked her. And he wasn’t about to risk the successful outcome of his task force investigation on the chance that a man taking her picture was a perfectly innocent coincidence. “Tell me about your interview today.”
    She made a decidedly unladylike scoffing noise. “It was a joke.”
    “So you didn’t get the job?”
    “No.” Spencer stepped onto the mat when she turned to the bag again to vent her frustration. “Mr. Stern asked how much Jackson would donate if I took the PR position. As if my stepfather has to buy me a job. I think that was the only reason the foundation would even consider hiring me.” Breathless from the exertion, she stopped punching and tilted those azure eyes up to his, frowning. “He didn’t even ask about my work experience. Not that I have much except for some retail jobs when I was in college. He barely looked at the portfolio of campaign projects I created during my senior internship. The only qualification he was interested in was Jackson’s money. I love my stepfather dearly, but...”
    One more punch punctuated her wounded self-esteem. And though the petulant action reminded Spencer of the pampered society princess he’d once pegged her to be, there was something about the trembling line of her jaw tilting upward that spoke of depth and determination, something about the squaring of her shoulders that spoke of a fatigue that went beyond the physical exertion of an intense workout. This wasn’t the same woman he’d known before her assault. That woman had been beautiful, sharp-witted, oh-so-young and off-limits. This Bailey was layered, mysterious, all grown-up...interesting.
    Sexy and complex—a dangerous one-two punch for a man who didn’t do relationships. He inhaled a steadying breath to cool the desire firing through his blood.
    He should turn around and walk away. The last time Spencer had gotten involved with a witness, the results had been disastrous. But his will was stronger than the libidinous urges sparking inside him. His obsession with seeing the Rose Red Rapist case through to the very end didn’t mean he was involved with Bailey Austin. Instead, he rationalized that he was a dedicated professional who was still working the investigation. He hadn’t gotten the answers he’d come looking for yet. “Why’d you take up boxing?”
    Her eyebrows arched as if she suspected his random questions might have a more specific purpose. But she played along. “My trauma counselor suggested I take up some kind of exercise that would build up my strength and give me a physical outlet for my...temper.” She shrugged, curving her finely sculpted lips into a wry smile. “I never even knew I had a temper. I’ve always been the peacemaker in my family.”
    That meant she’d probably downplayed her emotions for years. But a traumatic event like a rape— or the murder of someone you loved and swore to protect, a cruel little voice inside him taunted—changed a person. Spencer had locked up tight, subjugated his emotions beneath logic and levelheaded thinking so that he’d never make that kind of mistake or feel that kind of pain again. But with Bailey, everything she was feeling, everything she’d once schooled beneath a ladylike facade, was rising to the surface.
    Very complex. And more vulnerable to the dangers she’d face with this trial than the brave tilt of that chin let on.
    Spencer shrugged out of his coat and jacket, dropping them both to the mat before unbuttoning his cuffs and rolling up his sleeves.
    This was not why he’d answered Bailey’s call.
    Bailey backed