Protect and Correct by Breanna Hayse

the other tables. Collin followed her with his eyes, nodding quietly. “What’s wrong?” she asked.
    “My spidey senses are tingling. Don’t share too much with her, okay?”
    “Are you always this suspicious?”
    “When someone I care about is concerned, yes.”
    “Then why did you invite them over?”
    “Haven’t you ever heard of the expression that you should keep your friends close and your enemies closer?”
    “Don’t you think you are being a little paranoid? There is no way she could figure out why I am really here. Seriously, Collin.”
    “I’m worried about you.” He gazed at her warmly. “You are one trusting little girl. I wish I had that innocent a nature.”
    “Don’t mistake naivety for innocence. I don’t trust that easily, but I also have to be logical. What could she gain by knowing about me? Nothing. No one can, except the killer. Here’s our food,” Brooke said brightly as Francine placed it on the table. “We have a long day, so let’s enjoy ourselves, okay?”
    “Having another spat?” Francine asked, pouring more coffee into Brooke’s cup.
    “Not at all. Brooke was just urging me to be a little less protective.”
    “Ahh, well, that is not going to happen, honey. Men like Collin,” Francine stated, “are designed with an ‘on’ and ‘more intense’ switch. There is no off button.”
    “That is what I was trying to explain. She is not accustomed to being taken care of.”
    “She’ll learn. Let me know if you two need anything else, okay? Brooke, honey, give me a call later, and we can meet for coffee.”
    “That sounds like fun, thanks,” Brooke smiled. She turned to Collin once Francine left the table. “She is lonely. Stop making a big deal out of this.”
    Collin shook his head and sighed. Brooke knew he was not convinced.
     
    * * *
     
    “How much did you spend? I thought there was only the one shipment that we got a week ago. Holy crap…” Collin pressed his body against the wall as the movers continued to bring in furnishings.
    Brooke grinned, “Enough to finally make this place comfortable. What’s wrong? You wanted me to decorate.”
    “I swear… when they are done here, I am going to spank you over every single additional piece that you bought. A China cabinet? We don’t even have china!”
    “It should be in this shipment somewhere, along with the rest of a formal dining room setup. Do you mind if I paint the wall?”
    “Do whatever you want—except stop spending my money. Damn it, Brooke! You could have gone to Ikea instead of washing out my savings.”
    “I got a great deal, and this is top notch stuff. All used. And I am letting you keep that horrible couch.”
    “There isn’t going to be any room for it. What the hell is that?”
    “An entertainment center. I also got you a large screen TV.”
    “Is this your revenge? Making me go broke?”
    “Could be. But at least you are going broke in style,” Brooke giggled.
    She had not told him that the majority of the furnishings had been taken from her own home in Florida. She had bought the Amish hand-furniture herself with her own money when she lived in Pennsylvania, and it was a source of pride and joy to her. She knew Collin would blow a gasket, but hell! They needed the furniture, and there was no way she was going to allow her idiot ex-husband to live comfortably with the fruits from her labors…
    Did she care about what the ex was going to think? The jerk would see that his dead wife managed to rip him off by placing an artificial beneficiary in a will dated months prior to her death. Did he even know that she did not have a sister? Or would he claim that the faxed release, sent from Collin’s computer, was signed by a dead woman?
    Truthfully, she did not think the consequences of the process through as she put her hacking skills to good use. She had finagled a neighbor (who loathed her ex-husband) to help, lying to the old woman that she was the deceased woman’s sister. She then