The Protectors: Defending His Own / Guarding Jeannie. BEVERLY BARTON

her blouse, nuzzling her tender flesh with his nose. Reaching between them, he undid the first button, then the second, his lips following the path of his fingers.

      A loud blast rent the still autumn air. Ashe knocked Deborah to the ground, covering her body with his as he drew his 9mm out of his shoulder holster.

      “Keep down, honey. Don’t move.”

      “Ashe? What happened? Did—did someone shoot at us?” She slipped her arms around his waist.

      Lifting his head, Ashe glanced around and saw nothing but an old red truck rounding the curve of the road, a trail of exhaust smoke billowing from beneath the bed. He let out a sigh of relief, but didn’t move from his position above Deborah. He waited. Listening. Looking in every direction, lifting himself on one elbow to check behind them.

      “Ashe, please—”

      “It’s all right.” After returning his gun to its holster, he lowered himself over her, partially supporting his weight with his elbows braced on the ground. “I’m pretty sure the noise was just a truck backfiring.”

      “Oh.” She sighed, then looked up into Ashe’s softening hazel eyes. Eyes that only a moment before had been clear and trained on their surroundings. Now he was gazing down at her with the same undisguised passion she’d seen in them when he had unbuttoned her blouse.

      Her diamond hard nipples grazed his chest. His arousal pressed against her. She needed Ashe. Needed his mouth on her body. Needed him buried deep inside her. Needed to hear him say that he wanted her more than he’d ever wanted anything or anyone.

      “It’s safe for us to get up now, isn’t it?” She heard her own breathless voice and knew Ashe would realize how needy she was.

      “I don’t think it’s safe for us anywhere, honey. We’re in danger from each other here on the ground or standing up.”

      When he lowered his mouth, brushing her lips with his, she turned her head to the side. But she still held him around the waist, her fingers biting into his broad back.

      “Eleven years ago, you weren’t much more than a girl. What you felt was puppy love. And I was a confused young man who didn’t have the foggiest idea what love was all about. But I was older and more experienced. I take the blame for everything.” Ashe kissed her cheek, then drew a damp line across to her ear. “We’re both all grown up now. Whatever happens between us, happens between equals. No regrets on either side. No apologies. I want you. And you want me.”

      She shook her head, needing to deny the truth. If she admitted she wanted him, she would be lost. If they came together again, for him it would be sex, but for her it would be love. Just like last time. She couldn’t have an affair with Ashe and just let him walk out of her life after the trial. She couldn’t give herself to him and risk having her heart broken all over again.

      “Please, let me get up, Ashe. I’m not ready for this.” She shoved against his chest. He remained on top of her, unmoving, his eyes seeking the truth of her words.

      Nodding his head, he lifted himself up and off her, then held out his hand. She accepted his offer of assistance, taking his hand and allowing him to pull her to her feet. She brushed the blades of grass and crushed leaves from her dress, redid the open buttons and straightened the loose strands of her hair.

      “I need to get back to work,” she said, not looking directly at him. “Let’s take this food back to the office with us. We’ll be safer there. We won’t be alone.”

      Without a word, Ashe gathered up their sandwiches, returning them to the paper bag. She was right. They’d both be a lot safer if they weren’t alone. He intended to do everything in his power to protect Deborah, to make sure no harm came to her. But could he protect her from what they felt for each other? From the power of a desire too powerful to resist?

      

      Later that day Ashe stood in the doorway of Allen’s room watching Deborah help the boy with his homework. She played the part of his mother convincingly. He wondered how long she had substituted for Miss Carol. Ever since illness had sapped Miss Carol’s strength and she lived in constant fear the cancer would return?

      No one seeing Deborah and Allen together could deny the bond between sister and brother. Her whole life seemed to revolve around the boy, and he so obviously adored her.

      While Allen struggled with the grammar assignment, he eased his right hand down to stroke Huckleberry’s thick, healthy coat.

      “Remember, Allen, it’s rise, rose, risen,” Deborah said. “Do this one again.”

      Nibbling on the tip of his pencil eraser, Allen studied the sentence before him. “Hmm-hmm.”

      Ashe remembered how Deborah had struggled with algebra. When he had tutored her, downstairs at the kitchen table, she’d sat there nibbling on her eraser, a perplexed look on her face identical to Allen’s. Ashe had been the one who’d had trouble with grammar, and Deborah had helped him write more than one term paper.

      Gripping his pencil in his left hand, Allen scribbled the sentence across the sheet of notebook paper, then looked up at Deborah. “Is that right?”

      Checking his work, she smiled. “Yes, it’s right. Now go on to the next one.” She glanced up and saw Ashe. Her smile vanished. Standing, she moved her chair from Allen’s right side to his left, shielding him from Ashe’s view.

      Why had she moved? he wondered. It was as if she were protecting Allen. But from what? Surely not from him.

      Ashe walked into the room. Huckleberry lifted his head from the floor, gave Ashe a quick glance, recognized him as no threat and laid his head back down, his body pressed against Allen’s foot.

      “Hey, Ashe.” Allen looked up from his homework paper. “I’m almost finished here, then we can play a video game on the computer.”

      “Maybe Ashe doesn’t want to play,” Deborah said, standing up, placing her body between Ashe and her brother. “We’ve had a long day. Maybe he wants to read or watch TV alone for a while.”

      “I’m alone all the time in my apartment in Atlanta,” Ashe said. “I like being part of a family. Allen and I are pals. I think we enjoy doing a lot of the same things.”

      “Oh. I see.” Did he spend all his time in his Atlanta apartment alone? She doubted it. A man like Ashe wouldn’t be long without a woman. She pictured the entrance to his apartment. The thought of a revolving door flashed through her mind.

      “Your sister used to have a problem with algebra,” Ashe said, walking around Deborah to sit down in the chair she had vacated. “English grammar seems to be your downfall just like it was mine. I guess guys have a difficult time choosing the right words, huh?” Ashe glanced up at Deborah, who glared down at him.

      “I don’t have to sweat making good grades in anything except this.” Allen punched his paper with the tip of his pencil. “I’ve got three more sentences to go, then watch out, Indiana Jones!”

      Allen leaned over his desk, reading from his book. He jotted down the sentence, choosing the correct verb tense. Ashe watched the way his untutored handwriting spread across the page, like so much hen scratch. The boy’s penmanship was no better than his own. Another shortcoming a lot of guys had in common.

      Ashe noticed a crossword puzzle book lying on the edge of the desk. He loved working the really tough ones, the ones that often stumped him and stimulated his mind. He’d been a dud at English grammar, but he was a whiz at figuring out puzzles, even word puzzles.

      Ashe picked up the book. “Have you got an extra pencil?”

      Allen opened his desk drawer, retrieved a freshly sharpened number two and handed it to Ashe. “You like crossword puzzles, too?”

      “Love ’em.” Taking the pencil and sticking it behind his ear, Ashe opened the book, found the most complicated puzzle and studied it.

      He felt Deborah watching