Officer Next Door by Ranae Rose

thermostat felt right to him – there was no way it was any cooler. In fact, he was sweating lightly, though that may have been due to the panic that’d nearly seized him a few minutes ago. Normally, he didn’t think of himself as someone who was quick to freak out – after all, he dealt with the state’s worst criminals, day in and day out. But when Alicia had fallen against him and started changing colors…
    He still felt the almost-panic deep in his chest, a sensation that made it feel like someone was holding his heart in their fist, squeezing. At 33, he figured he was a little too young to be a likely candidate for a heart attack – luckily.
    “It’s 70 degrees,” he said, settling on the couch beside her. “Are you sure you’re not sick?”
    She shook her head, sitting with her arms wrapped tightly around her torso, hugging herself. “I feel fine, other than these chills. You know how it feels when you get a fever… Well, I don’t feel like that.”
    “Still, I can drive you to the hospital, if you think you need to get checked out.”
    She shook her head. “Definitely not. I’m fine.”
    Her voice was steady now, but she still seemed … shaken.
    “You sure?” He pushed, because if she was afraid something was really wrong, he didn’t want her to feel like she had to hide it from him. “It wouldn’t be a big deal. Better safe than sorry.”
    “No. Thanks, though.”
    “No problem. Just to be safe though, maybe you should make an appointment with a doctor in the morning. You just moved anyway – you’ll have to get established with a new primary care provider at some point. There’s this office in—”
    She managed to laugh, even with her teeth chattering, and her laughter cut him off, stopping him mid-sentence.
    “What’s so funny?”
    Her eyes were full of light when they met his. “You really like to worry, don’t you?”
    That caught him off guard. Like it? Hell no, he didn’t like worrying that there might be something medically wrong with the most beautiful woman he’d ever met – a woman he still planned to take to Wilmington. And to bed, if she was up for it.
    “I’m not a worrier,” he said. “I’m just being realistic.”
    She kept laughing. She also reached down to pat Holden, saying something reassuring. Liam couldn’t help but notice that her hand shook as she did so.
    “Look,” he said, “this isn’t normal. I think you should reconsider staying here alone tonight. Call one of your friends—” he winced as he said it, unable to help thinking about how much safer he could keep her “—or stay at my place.”
    He hoped desperately that she wouldn’t argue this time. He had two damn good reasons why she shouldn’t be alone, and he didn’t know what he’d do if she was too stubborn to see them.
    “Well…” She looked thoughtful, then almost pained as another chill shook her, violent.
    “Okay,” she finally said, when it had subsided a little, “but only if I can bring Holden. I wouldn’t want to leave him alone in the house.”

CHAPTER 10
     
     
    “Deal,” Liam said, barely repressing a sigh of relief. “You need to get some stuff together before we head over?”
    “You want me to come over right away?” She turned her gaze toward the window.
    It wasn’t dark yet – not even close, actually. Still, Liam didn’t like the idea of her sitting alone in her house, shaking so hard her teeth were knocking together.
    He didn’t like the idea of her crossing the property line alone either, especially at night. They lived on a forested rural road, after all. Though he certainly hoped they weren’t, one or both of the Levinson brothers could be lurking among the pines that stretched for acres behind their houses. Who knew how far the felons had gotten by now, especially the one who’d suffered a bullet wound.
    “If you want to, we could both head over to my place now and order a pizza,” he offered, hoping she’d take the admittedly lame