She shivered and backed up, not wanting to know what had broken. "Mike, hurry," she whispered.
"Get out of the house, Halley."
She could hear his siren now, her fingers tightening on the cell phone. "No. It is completely dark outside." She whistled to Elf and Midget, both of whom were sniffing around. They'd found evidence of the break-in as well!
"Halley, grab the keys to your car and get in it. Drive away!"
She shook her head. "No. Just hurry." She was scared, yes, but she wasn't going to allow some stranger to kick her out of her house. No way!
She heard Mike's sigh of frustration, but the sound of his siren was getting closer. "Halley!" He was practically yelling at her.
She heard the siren getting closer and looked out the window. When she saw the lights to his SUV, she felt her whole body exult with relief and happiness. And that crazy excitement that never seemed to go away when Mike was nearby.
"You're here!" she yelped and tossed her cell phone down onto the sofa, racing out of her cottage.
Mike had barely stepped out of the vehicle when she threw herself into his arms. Thankfully, his SEAL training had made him strong and ready for just about anything. So when she leapt into his arms, he easily caught her with his left arm, even while his right hand covered his weapon.
"Halley!" he growled, pulling her closer while his eyes scanned the trees. "Tell me what's going on, honey."
She wouldn't release her arms from around his neck, but he felt her head shift back and forth. "Just … give me a minute," she told him, enjoying the security of being in his strong arms. No one would mess with Mike. He was big and strong and could probably kill a person with a paperclip, or maybe his pinky.
Mike relented, but still scanned the area for anything that didn't look right. His mind was slowly losing focus though. Her breasts were pressed up against him and her soft body was too tempting. All of his discipline went out the window while she was holding on to him like this. He lifted her up with an arm around her back and carried her over to the porch, sitting down in one of her benches with his back against the wood of her house while he continued to scan the woods. He didn't see anything move, nothing suspicious.
Slowly, her trembling subsided and she pulled back. "Want to tell me what happened?" he asked.
Halley pressed her nose into his neck as she shook her head. "No. I don't. I want to pretend like nothing is wrong."
He laughed softly. "I guess that strategy works sometimes."
"Always works with my car," she told him.
He pulled back a couple of inches, looking down at her. "What do you mean?"
Halley shrugged. "If something rattles in my car, I just ignore it. Normally, it goes away."
Mike groaned at that statement. "Tell me you're kidding."
She looked at him as if he'd lost his head. "Hey, if it didn't work, I wouldn't keep doing it."
He sighed as he rubbed his forehead. "I'm sure there's a bit of logic there, I just can't see it at the moment." He sighed and glared down at her, knowing that she wasn't getting the full impact of his look in the dim light coming from her house and the moon. "A rattling noise in your car means something is wrong."
She rolled her eyes as she stepped out of his arms, lifting her fists so that they were on her hips. "So, why does it stop when I ignore the rattle then? Why does the rattle just go away?"
He didn't have a response to that. "Next time you have a rattle in your car, you're going to call me."
She didn't accept or deny his command. Instead, she dropped her hands, feeling the stress leave her body as she fought not to laugh at his chagrin. "I'm okay now," she told him. "Thanks for coming out here so fast."
Mike stood up as well, suspicion entering his mind. "Halley, did someone really break into your house? Or was this just a ploy to get me out here?"
Halley couldn't believe he was doubting her. Placing a hand on his arm, she looked up at him, her features devoid of all amusement in her effort to convince him of her words. "Mike, I would never do that. If I wanted you out here, I would … " she stopped, not sure what she would do. "Well, I don't know. Since I've been doing an excellent job of avoiding you for the past few days, that's a ridiculous thing to suggest."
He moved even closer. "So you have been avoiding me," he growled. "Why?"
"Because you irritate me," she returned, stepping backwards again. Unfortunately, the railing of her porch stopped any further retreat.