Levity faded as he drove, keeping an eye on the mirrors. He noticed Sarah doing the same thing and knew she was remembering their brush with death on the way to the mountains. He couldn’t blame her. He was still considering her observation that the bullets could have been meant for him. He didn’t think so, but he wasn’t as quick to dismiss the idea as he’d led her to believe. If someone was after Sarah because of her father, then it made sense they’d want Gavin out of the way to gain access to her. Then again, if they’d both been killed, it wouldn’t have mattered to the shooters. They would have achieved their goal of getting rid of Sarah.

Ten minutes into the silent drive, he glanced at her. “Hey.”

“Yeah?” She looked at him and he focused back at the road.

“So, this is pretty random, but would you be interested in eating dinner with me at my parents’ house?” When she didn’t answer, he looked out of the corner of his eye. “Sarah?”

“Um . . . that’s really nice, but . . . why?”

He laughed. “Because I’d love for them to meet you. And . . . I promised my dad I’d talk to my sister. She’s got some issues going on, and I . . . could use a buffer.”

“A buffer?”

He wanted to smack himself. “I mean, I’d love for you to come regardless, but yeah . . . I’m being a huge chicken in a sense. I’m literally scared to death to talk to my sister and hope that if you’re there, you’ll give me courage and keep me from saying something completely stupid.”

She gaped. He shrugged.

“Well, when you put it that way,” she said, “I’d almost feel guilty if I didn’t come.”

“Great. I’ll let them know you’ll be there tonight.”

“Tonight!”

“What? Does it matter when we go?”

She huffed a slight laugh. “No, I guess it doesn’t.”

Gavin spun the wheel to the right into the hospital parking lot. Once parked, he kept an eye on their surroundings, a little worried that things had been quite calm. He wasn’t sure about the reason for the attempts on his life and Sarah’s unless the general’s speculation was correct, but the efforts to get rid of Sarah—or him—had failed, so no doubt another attack was imminent. He just didn’t know from where. Or how.

And it made him antsy.

Once out of the truck, he stayed close to Sarah, placing a hand on the small of her back. Her warmth seeped into his palm, and he realized how much he was coming to care about this woman. He’d liked her right off when he’d met her in Kabul. Now that he was actually getting to spend time with her, he knew he’d do anything to protect her.