Someone screamed her name. She could hear it from far away. “Katy!”
The shadow of the man who’d punched her disappeared and footsteps pounded on the pavement. Had he left?
Katy leaned forward on all fours and crawled toward the door. She needed to shut it somehow. What if he came back?
Before she made it more than a few inches, someone hovered over her. And then she recognized the voice. Rafe. “Katy. God.” He lifted her chin and met her gaze. “Holy shit.”
She took a deep breath, tears running down her face. She was relieved for Rafe’s arrival, but still in shock.
Rafe pulled his phone out of his pocket, still holding her chin with his other hand. He pressed a few buttons quickly and then pulled Katy against his chest and lifted her off the floor. “Yes, I’d like to report an intruder… A man attacked my girlfriend… Yes… No… He ran from the scene as soon as I approached… Yes, that’s the address… Okay.”
Rafe set the phone down and stood with Katy in his arms. Her ears were ringing, but she had distinctly heard him say “girlfriend” and it warmed her inside. Rafe set her on the counter next to the sink, grabbed a towel from the counter, and flipped on the water.
He didn’t say a word as he wrung out the towel and then gently wiped her face.
As her vision cleared, she stared at his expression to judge how bad she looked. His brow was furrowed and his lips were tucked inside his mouth. She couldn’t decide if she was that messed up or if he was simply pissed. “If I had been one minute later…”
“But you weren’t,” she mumbled. She grabbed his arm, blinking back the tears that wouldn’t stop falling. They stung as they slid across her lips. She tried to lick them and winced. Her upper lip was swollen and cracked. She tasted blood.
Rafe held the towel up to her nose. “Hold this for a second. We need to stop the bleeding.”
Katy switched her hand from his arm to hold the towel against her face with both hands. As he stepped to the other side of the kitchen and opened drawers, she saw that the front door was still open. It didn’t matter now. Rafe was here. That scrawny little shit wouldn’t dare fuck with a man Rafe’s size.
She could hear sirens in the distance.
Rafe found what he was looking for—a plastic bag and another towel. He wet the second hand towel and filled the bag with ice. And then he was in front of her again, pulling her hands away from her face. “Let me see.”
She felt the flow of blood coming from her nose to wet her upper lip still.
Rafe reached for her nose. “Hold still. This is going to hurt. But I want to see if it’s broken.” He gently touched the bridge of her nose. When she didn’t flinch or scream, he prodded a little harder.
“Ouch.” She winced again.
“It’s not broken.” He used the first towel to wipe away some more of the blood and then set that one aside and lifted the new towel with the ice wrapped inside.
“I bet it’s super pretty.” She tried to smile, but it hurt to lift her lips.
He ignored her. “Tip your head back.” He set his hand on her neck, and she shivered at the touch of his cold fingers. His other hand held the ice.
They stayed in that position for several moments. Katy listened as Rafe breathed so hard she imagined he was in the middle of a fight. And in his mind, he probably was. She had little doubt he wanted to chase the punk down and beat the tar out of him.
But it didn’t slip her notice that instead of doing that, he was here, holding her. Taking care of her. Wiping her tears and her blood. He hadn’t gone for revenge. He’d made a choice, and he’d chosen her.
She wanted to hug him, but her arms wouldn’t lift. They were heavy at her sides.
Rafe finally relaxed marginally and pulled her closer to his chest. He kissed her forehead and then eased the ice away for a second. “It’s slowing down. Another minute.” He set it back against her face.
Tears kept flowing. She knew her nose would hurt like fuck later, but right now she wasn’t crying from pain. She was overloaded with emotion. Fear from the man who’d attacked her. And incredible admiration for the man holding her.
Voices filled the doorway and Rafe turned around as Katy stiffened for a moment. When she saw the two police officers, she relaxed.
Rafe did most of the talking, explaining to the cops what he’d come upon. He actually knew the details better than her. He gave a good visual of the man who’d punched her, including his ball cap, his hair, his ratty jeans, his torn maroon T-shirt, and his scuffed sneakers.
The police took notes. They examined the scene for any evidence, but there was nothing on the floor except Katy’s blood.
“Are there any other distinguishing details you can recall?” he asked her.
Katy visualized him in her mind. “Oh, yes. He had a tattoo running up his arm. A snake.”
“Good.” The cop wrote that down. “That will help. Was he wearing gloves, ma’am?”
“Gloves? No.” Katy was confused.
“Did he touch anything?”
Ah. Katy glanced around, thinking. “Yes. I think he grabbed the door frame when he entered. Oh, and he flattened his hand on the center of the door to push it open.”
The other officer left and came back a few moments later with a kit. He proceeded to dust for finger prints. A thousand people could have touched that door. Katy was less than hopeful.
“Can you think of anyone who would want to hurt you?” the first officer asked.
Katy shook her head, wincing at the pain. She released the ice and set it on the counter where she still sat. Rafe kept his hand on her thigh. “No. I’ve never had any enemies.”
“No exes? No disgruntled old boyfriends?”
She shook her head again.
Rafe spoke next. “She’s a lawyer though.” He glanced at her. “Could you have pissed off a client along the way?”
She shrugged. “I suppose. There have been so many though, I don’t think I could narrow that down.”
The officer took more notes. “We’ll see if we can lift any prints here. Maybe we’ll get lucky.” He put his note pad in his pocket. “In the meantime, I wouldn’t stay here, ma’am. Do you have someplace else you could go for a while?”
“I guess I could go stay at Jenna’s.” She glanced at Rafe.
He shook his head. “She’ll stay with me.”
Katy stared at him. Stay with him? At his house? She took a deep breath. They’d only been dating a few weeks. She barely knew him. Was that such a good idea?
“You’ll be safer with me. I can’t keep you safe at Jenna’s, and she can’t keep you safe either.”
Katy slid off the counter. She followed the officers to the door, still a bit uneasy about Rafe’s arrangement.
“We’ll be in touch, ma’am.” The officer handed her a card and she thanked him as the two men left.
Katy shut the door and turned around. “I can’t believe all that just happened.” Moving her lips to speak hurt like a mother.
Rafe stepped up and tipped her head back. He narrowed his gaze as he examined her face, tipping it from side to side. “I could take you to urgent care, but I don’t think there’s much they can do for you. It isn’t broken and the bleeding has stopped.”
Katy shook her head. “I’m fine.”
He pulled her in to his chest. “I wish I’d arrived about five minutes earlier.”
“Me too.” She wrapped her arms around him. “I assumed he was you at the door. When I heard the doorbell, I opened it. Stupid.”
“Don’t beat yourself up over it. It happened. That guy obviously has a mission. If it hadn’t happened at that moment, it could have been worse another day. Now we know someone is definitely following you.”
“And it isn’t the guy from my office.” She tipped her head back. “I’m scared. I’ll be honest.”
He squeezed her tighter. “You should be. And nothing will happen to you at my place.” He released her finally and angled her down the hall. “Let’s gather up some of your stuff and get out of here.”
When they reached her bedroom, Katy grabbed a small suitcase with shaky hands and started dumping stuff into it. She hardly paid attention to what she was gathering.
“Smells good in here.” Rafe lifted his head and took a deep breath.
“Oh, shit. Dinner. It’s in the oven.”
“I’ll get it.” Rafe stepped around her. “You finish packing.”
Thank God. As soon as he left the room, Katy was able to concentrate better. The man sucked all the oxygen out of the air, and she hadn’t relished the idea of opening her bra and panties drawer while he stared over her shoulder.
It didn’t take her long to gather enough things to stay with him a few days. Any longer and she’d have to come back and get more stuff.
When she emerged from the bedroom, Rafe had the lasagna out of the oven and was covering it with tin foil. “Figured we could take it with us.”
“Yeah. I don’t have an appetite now.” She touched her lip as she spoke. It stung.
“I’ll grab your suitcase.” Rafe passed her and headed for her bedroom.
Katy gathered her briefcase, laptop, and several files she’d been working on from the counter. “Do you think he’ll break in here while I’m gone?” She asked as he returned. The idea of some asshole going through her things made her cringe.
“I doubt it. I think he’s after you for some reason. We can ponder that a bit more later. Maybe try to think of some clients who lost their case.”
She lifted her face to him and tried to smile, but it hurt her nose to move her mouth very far. “What makes you think I have any cases I’ve ever lost?”
He lifted both hands in defeat. “My bad,” he teased. “I forgot you were the best lawyer in town.”
“Yeah. I wish. The list would be too long to read even over a long weekend.”
“Maybe you could whittle it down to the most disgruntled villains.”
She paused. “Corporate law doesn’t usually entice such anger. And if it were related to the firm I’m at now, there would be an entire team of attorneys to blame.”
“Where were you before?”
She took a deep breath. He wasn’t going to like this answer. “I was a public defender when I first got out of law school.”
He rolled his eyes. “Oh, Lord. For how long?”
“A year.”
“Well, at least we can narrow it down to the losses you had during that time period with some level of confidence.”
“If it’s even related to my job. Maybe it’s a mistaken identity.”
“Old boyfriend?”
She scrunched up her face. “I think I’d remember if I dated someone who looked like that guy.”
“I suppose he could be related to some guy or a friend. Or hired by someone.” He perked up at that idea.
“How many men do you suppose I’ve pissed off?” She smiled at him as she stuffed the last of her papers in her briefcase. And then she groaned at the pain in her face.
He came to her side and set his hands on her shoulders. “All the ones who aren’t with you now. They must be steaming mad they gave you up or got dumped.”
She felt her face flush under the pain. “Sure.” She rolled her eyes.
“From what I’ve seen, I don’t know how you’re still available for me to snag off the market.” He kissed her forehead.
“Yeah, well, I haven’t had much time for dating in the last several years, so you can check that possibility off your list. There is no giant pile of disgruntled exes after me for my incredible wit.”
“It isn’t your wit I’m interested in.” He left it at that, turning to pick up the lasagna from the table with potholders. “Wait here a second while I put this in the truck.”
She watched him from the door as he opened the passenger door to his truck and set the lasagna on the floor. He jogged back toward her and grabbed her suitcase and computer bag next.
“I could have managed.” She followed him out the door. “I’ll follow you,” she said as she locked the deadbolt.
“You’re too shook up right now. Let’s come back for your car tomorrow. I’ll drive.”
“So bossy,” she muttered as she followed him to his truck.
“You have no idea.”
Now, what did that mean?
Rafe gripped the steering wheel all the way to his house. Katy sat beside him, too quiet.
“Are you okay?”
“Yeah.” She glanced at him, trying to smile, but she winced the moment her mouth attempted to curve upward again. “I think I’m still in shock.” She looked out the window.
“Are you sure you don’t want me to take you to the hospital?”
She tipped her head his way. “No. You said it isn’t broken.” She touched her nose, wincing again from the pain.
“It’s not. But it’s understandable that you’d be stressed.” He took her hand and squeezed. “Hell,
I’m
stressed.” Rafe pulled into the garage and shut the electric door before he exited the truck.
Katy climbed out her side, dragging as though exhausted.
“Come on inside. I’ll get everything out of the truck after.”
She didn’t argue, which told him a lot about her state of mind. Katy wasn’t someone who would ordinarily let anyone carry her share of a burden. He hadn’t known her long, but he was sharp enough to realize she was a strong woman who generally took care of herself. The fact someone had shaken her this deeply spoke volumes.
She followed him inside, and he flipped on the lights at the entrance to the kitchen. “Come on in. Have a seat. I’ll get your stuff.” He pointed at the couch and watched as she padded over and collapsed against the cushions.
As soon as he had her belongings inside, he set the lasagna on the stove and headed over to sit next to her. The room was so quiet.
Rafe took her in his arms and pulled her against his chest, careful to keep her face tipped to one side. “You hungry?”
“No. I couldn’t eat if I wanted to. My appetite is gone, and my face is killing me.”
Rafe leaned her against the arm of the couch. “Let me get you some ibuprofen.” He headed for the kitchen and returned with a glass of water and two pills.
Tears welled in her eyes again as he sat beside her. “Thank you. For everything.” She swallowed the pills and leaned back. “I can’t imagine what would have happened if you hadn’t been there.”
“If you hadn’t been expecting me, I assume you wouldn’t have opened the door so easily for one thing.”
She shrugged. “Maybe. But still. I appreciate you taking me into your home like this. I could have gone to Jenna’s, but she would have freaked out. I’d rather wait a few days to tell her.”