Like a Knife by Annie Solomon Page A

house, Nick. I did that once. I lost my mother, then I lost my father and my home. Every familiar tiring, every beloved memory. Never again."
    "This is different. It's just for a little while. A few weeks. Until I can prove Rennie-"
    "After my mother died, my father dumped me at my aunt and uncle's. He swore it would only be a few weeks, too."
    "For God's sake-"
    'Those few weeks lasted the rest of my life, Nick. The rest of my life!" She was trembling again, but this time as much in anger as fear. "Well, I choose now. Me. Not you or Rennie Spier or anyone else. And I choose to stay. No one is pushing me out of my life again."
    "Look at you, you're shaking,"
    "I'm scared. You think I'm an idiot? I'm scared spit-less,. But I'm still not leaving."
    "Christ." He shot her a black look that was lethal as a bullet. "Then neither am I."
    Chapter 7
     
     
     
    Nick spent the rest of the night on the floor, leaning against the couch, gun drawn, guarding Rachel and the broken door. Even if he wanted to rest, he wouldn't have been able to. Not with her asleep on the couch behind him.
    All night long, her nearness teased him. Her bare legs rested against his back, skin to skin; her breasts lay inches from his hand with only a thin film of material covering them. Once, she rolled over so her arm embraced the width of his shoulders. He swore and moved away.
    In the morning, he stood over her while she woke like an angel, smiling and sleepy-eyed. For half a second he imagined watching her wake up like that for the rest of his life.
    Dream on, pal.
    Arms behind her head, she yawned and stretched, pushing her breasts out "Morning."
    He suppressed a groan. "It's late. Better hurry up."
    She opened her eyes and saw him, and he watched the memory of what had happened the night before flit across her face. Her sleepy smile faded, her shoulders tensed.
    She sat up, bare legs dangling over the edge of the couch. "Is everything all right?" He eased away, needing distance between them, but she grabbed his wrist. "Nothing else happened last night, did it?"
    He looked down at her fingers on his wrist. Every nerve ending lit up. "No," he snapped, pulling his arm away. "We don't have much time. Let's go."
    She sat up, worry plain in her face. ""What's wrong?"
    What wasn't? He hadn't-slept, she was practically naked, and he couldn't think for staring at her. And Ren-nie was still out there. "Nothing's wrong. Except your insane idea to stay here."
    Her beautiful mouth frowned at the snarl in his voice, and she looked down at her hands. "Look, I'm grateful for what you did last night, and for keeping me company-especially since you can't possibly understand why I wanted to stay." She lifted her face and her eyes were soft and pleading. "I... I don't want to fight about it. Not first thing."
    He let out a long, exasperated breath, feeling himself cave. But if he let go of his irritability, he might have to grab onto something he wasn't ready for, and certainly couldn't have. "There's no point hanging around more than we have to," he said flatly.
    "I know that." She stood up, and he fixed his gaze on a spot just above her head so he wouldn't gape at her barely clad body. "Look, I'll be ready in twenty minutes." She headed for the bathroom and shut the door behind her, and a moment later he heard the shower turn on.
    To keep his mind off what she was doing in there, he made a few phone calls to see if he could arrange a replacement for the broken door, but it was too early to reach anyone.
    Fifteen minutes later, she came out of the shower wrapped in a towel and drying her hair.
    Was she trying to drive him crazy?
    "Nick, I... I appreciate everything you've done for me," she said softly. "And I don't expect you to baby-sit me. I know you have ... things to do. Murderers to catch." Her mouth formed a thin smile. "And there's the boy. You have to find him. Can't do that if you're stuck to me like glue."
    Her face was flushed, and she smelled like freshly cut