Keeping Guard Read Free Page B

and she shushed it. Lightly, she crept down the stairs. She paused at the outside door, trying to gather her courage before plunging into the night.
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    â€œWhere do you think you’re going?” Nate stood at the top of the steps and watched as Kylie gasped, turned around and pressed herself against the door with wide eyes. A hand went over her heart. The woman looked almost childlike with her big eyes and delicate features.
    â€œYou scared me to death.” Kylie’s hand moved from herheart to her forehead and she closed her eyes, looking as if she wanted to melt right then and there.
    â€œYeah, same here. I thought someone was trying to break in.” He lumbered the rest of the way down the stairs, his head still throbbing. When would that aspirin kick in? “What are you doing? You have no business going out at this hour.”
    â€œI need my bags.” She looked down at her clothes. “I’ve got to change or I’ll end up sick and be no help to you at all.”
    It was true. Nate had already changed into some sweats and a T-shirt. He hated to go back out into that rain again. But he would, like it or not. His mother had raised him well.
    He nodded the opposite way of the back door. “Come on. We’ll go through the kitchen and avoid some of the storm outside.”
    He didn’t check to see if Kylie was following him. He could hear her soft steps behind him, though. He unlocked the door leading to his kitchen and allowed her to go inside first.
    She stopped in the doorway and her face lit up as she looked around. “This is fabulous.”
    Her compliment gave him a small amount of satisfaction. “Thanks. I like it.”
    She stepped forward and gingerly ran her finger across the tile counter. “You’ve kept this as original as possible to a Colonial times restaurant, haven’t you? That’s just brilliant.”
    Nate watched her carefully, surprised by her fascination and knowledge. “Yeah, I wanted to give people the experience of what it would be like to eat in Revolutionary War times—with a few modern amenities, of course. That’s why they come to Yorktown, after all. To experience a bit of the past.”
    She twirled around, apparently forgetting about her wet clothes and whatever problems had brought her here. Her eyes seemed to absorb each and every appliance—or lack thereof. She looked like a girl who’d woken up on Christmas morning to find she’d gotten everything she’d asked for.
    â€œThis is going to be amazing.”
    Nate actually felt his lip begin to twitch in the start of a grin. Seeing someone who actually had some passion for the place felt nice. He only wished he had a touch of that same fire. “I’m glad you like it.”
    â€œI more than like it. I’m just…I’m amazed. Maybe being here won’t be so bad after all.”
    The beginning of Nate’s smile slipped into a frown. She seemed to catch what she said and she dropped her hand from the countertop to look at him with doelike eyes. “Sorry.”
    â€œNo need to apologize, Kylie.” He stepped around her, going toward the front door.
    If she didn’t need to apologize, then why did he feel so annoyed? He knew the answer. He’d already screwed up one rescue mission and he had no intention of screwing up another. But Kylie—the very person he was trying to save—could very well be his biggest obstacle also.
    Just as he reached the front door, lightning brightened the sky to purple. The flash of light illuminated a man at the restaurant’s front window. The man stood with his hands to his eyes, peering through the glass into the darkness.
    Before Nate could say a word, a splitting scream cut the air.

FOUR
    â€œH arvey,” Nate mumbled, walking toward the door.
    The tall, lanky man grinned and waved from outside, clueless to how shocking it had been to see his face pressed to the