“Over there,” she said, pointing until she realized her hand was shaking. She lowered it slowly. “That’s my primary concern.”
The building, a smaller version of the main house, sat the length of a football field away. Larkin studied it, his jaw rigid. “What’s so special about that spot?”
Tremors shook her, making her limbs weak as water. So many people counted on her. She cleared her throat, tears burning her eyes. “It’s a safe house for battered women and their children. Aside from a handful of trusted staff, myself and now you, only two other people know it even exists.”
Two
Holy hell. Larkin struggled to reassess the mental picture he had painted of a slightly paranoid, vulnerable, eccentric rich woman. “You’re not worried about your own safety at all, are you?”
Winnie never took her eyes off the house in the distance. “No. I can take care of myself.” The stubborn tilt of her chin was an angle he recognized. Growing up, he’d seen it every day in one of his siblings or his cousins. An attitude that acknowledged life’s unfairness, but a determination to spit in the wind anyway. Winnie continued, “It’s my job to make sure those women and children stay out of harm’s way. That stupid article has threatened the security I promised them.”
“Why you? Aren’t there sanctuaries in the city for abuse victims?”
She shot him a sideways glance. “Government shortcomings aside, such situations demand physical distance. Once we bring our clients here, it’s much more difficult for angry husbands and boyfriends to track them down.”
“So you deliberately court danger on your very doorstep.”
She leaned back against a column, one bare foot tucked behind her as she balanced on the other. “You disapprove.”
He shrugged. “Clearly you don’t have the necessary precautions in place.”
He could almost see her hackles rise. “We’ve never had a hint of trouble. Still haven’t, for that matter…at least when it comes to my guests. But the article has opened a Pandora’s box. I need you to nail shut the lid.”
“I have to be honest with you, Winnie. You’re damned naive.”
Her eyes flashed and her hands fisted at her sides. “Maybe I wasn’t clear. I’m hiring you for security, not judgment.”
“Too bad,” he said, the dual syllables terse. “My protection comes with a whole complement of advice. It’s what I do.” He looked out across the neatly mowed lawn. “Take me down there.”
Winnie flinched. “Absolutely not. The women and children in the building are terrified of men…any men.”
“I won’t hurt them. Hell, I won’t even scare them.”
“You don’t know that. Everything about you screams macho alpha guy. You practically ooze testosterone.”
He grinned, the male in him reacting to her interest, even if it was reluctantly given. “Give me a little credit. I can do low-key. Part of my job is surveillance, remember?”
“I’ve never let anyone step over that doorstep except me and a handful of other professional women.”