Under the Lawman's Protection

He gave himself a stern talking-to as he headed into his room. He wasn’t in the market for a relationship. And Hawk wouldn’t appreciate knowing how much Isaac thought about kissing his sister.

From here on out, he needed to keep his distance from Leah. For both their sakes.

FIVE (#ulink_97778030-162b-5b59-8bfe-222828c59b7f)

Leah awoke with a start, to find bright sunlight streaming through the window. For a minute she couldn’t figure out where she was, but then the events from the night before came rushing back to her.

The masked man, the Jeep sliding into a ditch, the canister of tear gas. She pushed her tangled hair away from her face, amazed that she’d slept so soundly after all that. When she glanced over at Ben’s bed, her heart flew into her throat, because it was empty.

“Ben?” She leaped out of bed and dashed over to open the door. She needn’t have worried, for Isaac had everything under control. He was seated beside Ben, the two of them enjoying a hearty meal of scrambled eggs and bacon.

“Good morning, Leah,” Isaac said. “Are you hungry? I didn’t order anything for you yet, because I didn’t want the food to get cold.”

“I— Um, yes. I’m hungry.” She was glad to see that Ben must be getting over his nervousness around Isaac. They looked quite cozy eating breakfast together.

“It will take a few minutes for them to deliver,” Isaac said as he reached for the phone. “But I have coffee here if you want some.”

“I’d love a cup.” Leah crossed over and helped herself to a steaming mug. She doused it with cream and then carried it back to her room. If breakfast was going to be a while, she’d spend the time getting cleaned up.

She emerged from the bathroom twenty minutes later, feeling much better even though her mud-splattered jeans were beyond redemption. But she pulled them on anyway, because she didn’t have anything else to wear.

Making a mental note to convince Isaac they needed to go shopping, she came out of the bedroom to the enticing aroma of bacon and eggs.

“Smells delicious,” she said, pulling out a chair next to her son. At this moment it was almost as if none of the terrible things had happened last night.

“Trust me, it is.” Isaac stood and moved his dirty dishes out of the way so she’d have more room.

“Mr. Isaac is a policeman just like Uncle Shane,” Ben said, his eyes gleaming with excitement. “Isn’t that cool?”

She forced a smile for Ben’s sake. “You bet.”

“Are we gonna see Uncle Shane soon?” he asked.

“I’m not sure. I think he’s working,” she hedged.

“He saves people, right, Mommy?” Ben persisted.

“Yes, he does. And so does Mr. Isaac.”