Beloved Wolf by Kasey Michaels Page B

clammy, her heart was pounding so hard in her chest that it actually hurt, and stupid, frightened tears burned behind her eyes.
    Crazy. This was crazy. All right, so she hadn’t been in public, alone, since the night of the mugging. But was that any reason to go all goofy and paranoid the first time she was out on her own? It was three o’clock in the afternoon, and she was anything but alone in the crowd of mall shoppers. It was daylight, she was safe, and she’d stand here and gut it out or know the reason why!
    She deliberately squared her shoulders, stepped away from the brick wall and walked all the way across the wide sidewalk, to a pole support at the curb. Fighting the impulse to grab on to the pole for dear life, she leaned her shoulder against it as casually as possible and directed her attention to the main entrance to the mall some seventy-five yards away, watching mothers and babies, teenagers, seniors—all those safe, innocuous people—enter and leave the mall.
    She was all right. She was safe. She could do this.
    But when she felt a hand on her arm, she screamed, a short burst of panicked sound, and half jumped out of her skin.
    â€œWhoa, Soph, what’s the matter?” River said, letting go of her as he pulled her into his arms. “Are you okay?”
    Sophie pulled away from him, gave him several quick whacks on the chest. “Don’t you ever sneak up on me like that again, River James! Where were you? I’ve been waiting for hours!”
    River cocked his head, looked down at his watch. “By my calculations, Ms. Colton, ma’am, I’m seven minutes late. My apologies.” Then he used his thumb to tip back his hat, ran his green gaze over her. “You’re scared spitless, aren’t you, Soph? Look at you—you’re pale, you’re shaking. Why?”
    â€œIt’s nothing. Nothing,” Sophie told him, looking toward the parking lot, seeing the SUV with the words Hacienda del Alegria painted on the doors, and headed for it. “Just forget it, okay?”
    â€œI don’t think so,” River told her once they were both in the front seat, strapping on their seat belts. “You were scared back there. Don’t tell me this was the first time you’ve been out in public. You went to physical therapy in San Francisco, didn’t you?”
    Sophie was having trouble securing her seat belt, thanks to the tears blurring her vision. “Yes, I went to PT there, but I never went alone. Dad had hired a nurse. She was with me day and night until I came back to the ranch.”
    â€œYour nurse? Or was that your bodyguard?”
    At last the belt snapped into place, and Sophie sat back, kept her eyes front, looking through the windshield, out over the parking lot. “She was my nurse, Riv. Don’t read into things, look for stuff that isn’t there.”
    â€œI wasn’t,” River pointed out, adding, “this one just sort of jumped up and bit me. You’re afraid to go back into the world, aren’t you, Sophie? Does Joe know? Have you considered talking to anyone about this?”
    Sophie shot him a dangerous look, or at least it would have been, to anyone else. But not River. He had this maddening way of being oblivious to any warning that he might want to just shut up, mind his own business. “There’s no need. Now, if you’d consider starting the car and getting out of here…”
    â€œYes, Ms. Colton, ma’am, anything you say, ma’am.” River turned the key in the ignition, backed out of the parking spot, turned toward the exit to the highway as Sophie fiddled with the radio, hoping to fill the silence with music and avoid any more conversation.
    â€œAnd stop calling me Ms. Colton ma’am,” she said after a few minutes, because even the music coming from the oldies station couldn’t stop River’s voice from repeating and repeating inside her head.