Her quiet voice and matter-of-fact manner stirred his hope. Could it be that she wasn’t frightened by what she’d seen? Boone studied her as carefully as she was watching him. Then he shook his head. “You always surprise me.”
The smile that was never far away reappeared. “Good. Don’t forget you said that.” Then she clasped his hand. “Take me home, Boone.”
For one quicksilver, impossible moment, Boone let himself imagine a life where those words could be ordinary.
Take me home, Boone.
They weren’t real. He knew that.
But for tonight, at least, he was the man who had the right to take Maddie home.
He squeezed her hand and led her outside.
Chapter Seven
Stubborn. A frying pan applied to the side of Boone’s head seemed more attractive all the time. He’d insisted on driving, denying that he was hurt. Maddie tamped down her concerns, her thoughts still on what had happened.
Some women would have called it Neanderthal, Boone’s reaction back there. Maddie tried to imagine a single man she’d ever known who would leap to her defense with such raw physical power.
None came to mind. She tried to picture Robert in that same situation. Robert would have used words or bouncers —or walked away.
Boone had defended her honor with his fists.
As a woman of the twenty-first century, she should have been horrified. Such brute behavior should have revolted her.
It hadn’t. She wasn’t.
Instead, Maddie was thrilled. She felt safe. Protected. Awed by what Boone had done.
Boone would have mashed in Robert’s face for what he’d done to her. Boone would have dispatched the bullies who had taunted the gangly girl who never fit in.
She’d been angry at first, but Hank’s strength had frightened her when he squeezed her tighter, spewing sour beery breath in her face. When he’d ground his mouth down on hers, she’d been more unnerved than on any dark New York street.
Then, like an avenging angel, Boone had charged to her rescue, his golden hair gleaming in the light.
Egad. The hair rose on her skin as she remembered him, the sheer power and strength of his passion to protect her.
She’d thought she’d never see Boone lose his formidable control. Now she knew why he clamped down so hard.
It wasn’t because he didn’t feel. Far from it.
Boone felt too much.
If only that passion could be spent on her…what must it be like? Maddie rubbed her arms at the thought and squirmed on the seat.
“You cold?” He reached out to turn down the a/c.
Maddie looked over at him, but he turned away quickly. Since they’d left, silence had wrapped him like a shroud and he wouldn’t meet her gaze.
“Boone, I didn’t thank you for what you did back there.”
“You mean for acting like some kind of beast let out of his cage?”
She jerked around to see if he was joking. His face was grim.
“You weren’t an animal. You rescued me.”
Boone pulled up to the house and turned off the truck. Still not meeting her gaze, he stared straight ahead. “I’m sorry you saw that.”
“Boone…” She laid one hand on his arm.
He pulled away and opened his door. In the overhead light, she saw anguish on his face.
Boone left the truck and headed for the house, not waiting for her.
Maddie leapt out of her side and followed, racing to catch up. Just before the porch steps, she grabbed his arm.
He spun around. “Don’t!” he barked. “Let me be.”
“Boone, what’s wrong?”
“Go away, Maddie.” When she showed no intention of leaving, he turned away toward the barn.
Something deep within her said not to let him leave like this. She practically ran to get in front of him.
“Maddie…” His voice dropped to a growl.
She got a better look at him in the moonlight. His face was all angles and haunted hollows. “Talk to me, Boone. Tell me what’s wrong.”
He rounded on her then. “I could have killed him. I would have, if you and Jim—” He looked away, his jaw working. “You shouldn’t have seen that.”
“You saved me, Boone. He was hurting me. I was scared.”
Boone exhaled a shuddering breath. He looked away.
Maddie reached up and laid her hands on either side of his face. “Boone…let me in. Please.”
The face he turned to her could have been terrifying. To Maddie, it screamed of inner pain. Like a man balanced on razor’s edge, Boone teetered on the brink.
All Maddie could do was hold very still. And hold onto Boone.
Suddenly, he reached for her like a drowning man clawing for shore. With a strength that should have frightened her, Boone pulled her into his body.