She sighed. “I know how it works. But why would you do that? The police will take care of that.”

“By the time we get to the station and get somebody on the case, he may have already ditched your phone. It’d be too late.”

Accepting his explanation, she typed something into the app and handed him the phone. He took it and kept one eye on the traffic, while he forwarded the number, before dialing Thomas’s number.

Scanguards’ Chief of IT answered immediately. “What’s up?”

“I just texted you a cell number. Can you try and track it right now?”

“I suppose it’s urgent and can’t wait,” Thomas replied, a smirk in his voice.

“You guessed right. Call me when you have something.”

“Sure thing.”

The call disconnected. Blake placed his phone in the cup holder and gave Lilo a sideways glance. “We’ll know very soon if it’s switched on and he’s still got it.”

She nodded. “Do you do this a lot? I mean…” She pointed to the phone. “…find missing phones and track down burglars?”

“I do whatever is necessary.”

“You said you worked in security. What kind?”

From the corner of his eye, he noticed her studying him. Fair enough. Now that the initial shock of being attacked had subsided, she was bound to have questions. “Personal security.”

“You mean like a bodyguard?”

He nodded.

“You mentioned you work for the same company as Hannah. She never said anything about working for a bodyguard company.”

He could feel the suspicion rolling off her. At least it meant she had her wits about her, though he didn’t relish the fact that he had to give her more explanations. The less she knew about Scanguards the better.

“Different divisions, remember?”

“Yeah, you said. Still doesn’t tell me much.”

“There isn’t much to tell.”

“Funny, I had a feeling you’d say that.”

He tossed her another sideways look. Her don’t-bullshit-me expression was easy to read. It was time to pacify her.

“Listen, Lilo, the company I work for deals with highly sensitive issues. Our clients demand confidentiality. That’s probably why Hannah never told you much about her work. But let me assure you, we take care of our employees. And when somebody goes missing, like Hannah, we don’t just rely on the police to find that person. We use all our resources.”

He stopped at a red light and let go of the steering wheel, reaching for Lilo’s hand. Only when he felt her warm skin against his and heard her suck in a breath, did he realize what he was doing. But it was too late to withdraw now. He squeezed her hand, enjoying the tender touch for a brief moment.

“We’ll find Hannah. Alive and well. I promise you that.” Though he had no right to make such a promise. For all he knew, Hannah could already be dead. But he couldn’t share his worries with Lilo or she would fall apart. He needed her to remain strong.

“I hope you’re right.”

For a moment, their gazes locked. He saw concern in her eyes. He’d do anything to wipe that expression from her face and see her smile instead. There were so many things he wanted to see on her face: laughter, joy… he inhaled… arousal. He eased his torso across the divide between the two seats. She looked so vulnerable… so tempting.

The vampire in him was drawn to her blood. And the man was drawn to her beauty and the strength he’d sensed during their initial argument. She was no pushover—no damsel in distress. Far from it. She was the most fascinating woman he’d ever met. A woman with the most tempting lips…

Honking from behind him made him jerk back and let go of her hand.

Fuck!

What had he been about to do? He’d only met her less than an hour ago. And he wasn’t the kind of guy to paw at a woman just because she was hot. And, damn it, Lilo was hot! But that was besides the point. He wasn’t into one-night stands, hadn’t been in years. He liked to get to know a woman first, before becoming physical—though in his twenties he’d been the opposite. He’d been the wham-bam-thank-you-Ma’am type. But that had changed with age and his mounting responsibilities as Chief of Hybrid Security. Now he liked to take things slowly. So why the fuck had he leaned in as if to kiss her?

Get a grip, man!

He cleared his throat and turned right at the intersection, then pulled into a parking spot in front of the station. At this time of night, it was only moderately busy.

“Is this the station?” Lilo asked, her voice a touch hoarse.

Blake pointed to the entry, over which the words Police Station were illuminated.

~ ~ ~

As Blake got out of the car, Lilo fumbled with her seatbelt, trembling. She’d mumbled some idiotic question just to escape the silence that had descended between them after that car had honked at them to move.

Embarrassment burned in her cheeks even now. She’d held onto Blake’s hand, loving the feel of his gentle touch, when all he’d wanted was to comfort her. Instead, she’d leaned in as if drawn to him by some inexplicable force. She’d never believed in such a thing, never thought that she, of all people, could be drawn to somebody as if hypnotized. She, who didn’t trust men, because she’d been disappointed one too many times. But her body didn’t seem to remember those times when her trust had been shattered. Instead, her body yearned for the stranger who’d rescued her from the intruder. Maybe that was the reason for her inexplicable attraction: she felt grateful. Of course, the fact that Blake was the personification of her fictional hero, Morgan West, might have something to do with her momentary lapse in judgment. She would just have to ignore this tiny detail and try not to confuse him with her dashing bounty hunter anymore.

Lilo finally undid the seatbelt and took a deep breath. She could do this.

Before she could reach for the door handle, the door opened. She got out and nodded at Blake, who was holding the car door open for her. Clutching her handbag to her side she said, “Let’s do this.”

She avoided looking at him and walked up the steps leading to the double doors. She heard the car door close, followed by a beeping sound, indicating that Blake had locked the car. His footsteps were close behind her, and by the time she’d reached the entrance, he’d caught up to her and was holding the door open like a perfect gentleman. Not even Morgan West did that. She made a mental note to give her fictional hero better manners.