He stood at her side and placed both hands on her shoulders, trying to calm her.

“They won’t listen to you.”

“I’ll make them listen. I was the only one there. I know it wasn’t you. If they focus on you they won’t look for the real ass**le who did this.” Frustration made her tremble. That and anger toward the police, who were supposed to be smart enough not to go after the wrong guy. Rick was the wrong guy.

Rick lifted his chin in challenge. “Tell me how well you know Rick.”

“What?”

“I’m the detective. Tell me how well you know Rick.”

Oh, she got it now. He wanted to role play. Fine! She could do that. “I met Rick last year when he helped a poor, innocent girl escape her abusive parents.”

“You’ve been dating Rick since last year?” His questions came fast.

“No. I finished college and we met up when I moved here.”

“He works for your brother?”

“Yes. As a security specialist and sometimes bodyguard.” She puffed out her chest, happy she knew all the answers to these questions and none of them made Rick look bad.

“How long have you been dating?”

She knew he was trying to corner her with that question. Instead of being vague, she took the opportunity to derail him a little. “We’ve been flirting around dating more than dating. Our first technical date was set for the night of the attack.”

“Why didn’t you date earlier?”

She narrowed her eyes. “Trying to pry answers from my lips, Rick?”

“As much as I want the answer to that question for my own reasons, I know the detectives are going to ask. You don’t have to answer me.”

Judy’s chin pushed out to meet his attitude. She didn’t have anything to hide, and in light of everything they’d been going through, playing a game wasn’t necessary. “Well, Detective, if you really need to know . . . I grew up in a small town where it seemed every girl there went to college, met a guy, and then never did another thing in her life other than have babies and go to PTA meetings. I want more in my life, so I picked plan B. I fell in love with design on my first trip to LA during one of my brother’s premiers. I want a career. Something that will define me more than a married last name.”

Her confession sank in slowly. She saw it meet Rick’s brain and shake hands.

“Rick triggers something inside me that makes me feel like he’d derail my plan.” Her confession continued to roll. “Agreeing to a date felt like putting the pieces into place to make plan A move forward without permission.” Maybe her brush with death the week before gave her confidence, or maybe she realized, after said brush, how important it was to have someone in her life to share the good and the bad.

They stood in silence for a few seconds. Any questions Rick may have had were certainly flowing out to sea now. The wind whipped her hair around her face but she just met his green-eyed gaze and set her jaw.

One of his hands traveled up her arm and cupped her face. He stepped into her personal space and took ownership of her lips. The kiss was desperate and so damn raw, tears ran down her cheek when she closed her eyes and sucked in the essence of the man delivering it.

She might as well sign up for PTA president now. Maybe she could design a carnival booth for the elementary school fundraiser.

He kept kissing her, chaste kisses that tingled everywhere but she knew weren’t meant for complete surrender.

When Rick finally let her go, he ran a gentle finger under the bruised eye. His eyes weren’t completely dry and that warmed her more than any kiss could.

He leaned his forehead against hers and closed his eyes. The pain in his face ran over her when he started in again. “Did Rick know any of this before the attack?”

“No.”

They stood at the edge of the sea cliff, holding each other and continuing with the ridiculous questions. Each time Rick spoke his voice was more detached. Less him. “So he might have thought you were just leading him on?”

“Is that what you think?”

He shook his head. “It’s what they’ll think.”

“If I was leading him on I wouldn’t have agreed to a date.”

“Maybe Rick doesn’t know this . . . maybe Rick is a sociopathic womanizer that doesn’t like the word no. Maybe he has relationship issues of his own and he’s scared of dating you . . . of rejection.”

“That’s so stupid. I don’t know a more confident man than you. You can bottle it up and sell it and make a fortune.”

Rick smiled for the first time in their conversation. “Thanks for the confidence, Utah. But the detectives are going to come up with their own answers to these questions and work them into their theories.”

She didn’t like the thought of this . . . any of this.

“I know where you live, what you drive. I had the ability to know you were still at work and if I drove like a man on a death wish I could have made it to your work in the time that you were being attacked.”

The tips of her fingernails dug into his thick arms with every word. Deep inside she knew he wasn’t capable of hurting her. How could anyone think differently?

She started to speak and he covered her lips with a finger.

“I could have made it in and out and been in Beverly Hills for the cameras that I know are there.”

“They can’t do this.”

“They can. And unless we find another direction for them to look, they will.”

Judy wrapped her arms around him, absorbed his heat, his strength. Why had she pulled away from this man . . . ever?

They walked back to the house, his arms sat on her shoulders as he attempted to shelter her from the strong winds blowing off the ocean.

So many emotions swam inside Rick on that short walk he felt like a pot of stew filled with tons of beef and the perfect amount of vegetables to add color and spice to the blend. He knew that with time what he and Judy had going could be the most amazing thing they’d ever tasted . . . ever experienced.

She hadn’t wanted to date him, not because of anything he did . . . but because of her fear of losing herself in the process. Did she not know that her drive, her spunk was what drew him to her in the first place?

Rick stopped her two feet before the front door and stepped in front of her. Words tumbled out of his mouth as if they’d just finished the conversation in his thoughts. “I’d never keep you from your dreams, Judy.”

There was no hesitation in her response. “A week ago someone tried to steal my entire life. Dating you isn’t nearly as scary. We’ll get through this.”