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it’s only fitting I be on a first-name basis with the man who saved my life.”
    His lips curved. “If you say so.”
    It didn’t escape her that he hadn’t introduced himself in return, but before she could press him for a name, foghorns started blasting and a male voice blared out of a megaphone. A member of the police force, urging the demonstrators to disperse or else extreme measures would be taken. The crowd only got noisier, booing and yelling in response.
    Rebecca stifled a sigh. She’d borne witness to enough riots to know that these people weren’t going anywhere. Now that the mob had gotten a taste of blood and violence, things would only escalate.
    And she wouldn’t be there to cover it.
    “Crap,” she muttered. “You have to put me down.”
    Her rescuer didn’t miss a step. He kept bearing ahead at full speed.
    “I’m serious.” She wiggled in his arms, trying to get free, but his grip tightened, making her realize just how strong this man was.
    Struggling didn’t make a lick of difference. In the end, she gritted her teeth and clutched those broad shoulders. There wasn’t a darn thing she could do until he put her down.
    A few minutes later, when they were well away from the screaming protesters, her personal bodyguard finally set her on her feet. Before she could say a word, he captured her chin with one hand and angled her head while his other hand lightly touched her left temple.
    Pain jolted through her.
    “The wound stopped bleeding,” her rescuer murmured in that deep, sexy voice of his. “But you’ve got a hell of a bump. How’s your vision? Any nausea? Follow my finger.”
    As he moved his finger back and forth in front of her face, Rebecca’s lips tightened. “I’m fine,” she insisted.
    “Follow my damn finger.”
    Ah, he was one of those men, huh? Mr. Alpha.
    Deciding to humor him, she tracked the movement of his finger with her eyes. She knew she didn’t have a concussion. She’d had several of those in the past, and although she’d taken a good knock to the side of the head, she was already feeling better, more oriented. Her surroundings were in perfect focus now, and aside from a slight throbbing in her temple, she felt alert.
    Her savior must have reached the same conclusion, because he let those big hands drop from her face.
    “You could’ve been killed,” he said flatly. “That was damn reckless of you, strolling right into the middle of that mob.”
    A note of disapproval rang in his voice, making her roll her eyes. “Danger comes with the job,” she said with a shrug. “Although if I’m being honest, I wasn’t expecting this assignment to be so exciting. Election coverage tends to be boring.”
    There was a screech of tires as several police cars skidded to a stop ten feet away from them. Her rescuer planted a hand on her upper arm and led her farther away from the street, dragging her along the cobblestone sidewalk toward the end of the block. Only a handful of curious bystanders loitered here, peering at the violent spectacle down the road while a few uniformed officers stood nearby, making sure the riot didn’t spread outward.
    Rebecca allowed him to drag her to the corner, then shrugged his hand off and spun around. She squinted, searched the handful of news vans in the distance, and hitched a happy breath when she spotted Jesse. Smart-ass was actually standing on top of the red-and-white ABN van, just like he’d encouraged her to do earlier.
    Chuckling, she dug her cell phone from the back pocket of her jeans and pressed a button on speed dial.
    “I have to let my colleague know I’m all right,” she explained to her rescuer, who was watching her with those sharp amber eyes.
    For a moment, she faltered, a sense of familiarity washing over her, but before she could examine that strange do-I-know-you-from-somewhere? feeling, Jesse’s voice came over the line.
    “Becks! Where the hell are you?”
    “I’m at the end of the block, just east of