“And why can’t the two of you stay under the same roof?” Zane asked curiously.

“None of your business.”

Zane chuckled. “If you don’t give me an answer I’m going to think things.”

That didn’t move Jason. “Think whatever you want.” He then checked his watch. “I hate to do this but I’m checking out for the rest of the day. I intend to keep an eye on Bella until Pete finds out who threw that rock through her window.”

“You think Kenneth Bostwick had something to do with it?” Derringer asked.

“Not sure, but I hope for his sake he didn’t,” Jason said in a voice laced with tightly controlled anger.

He stopped talking when Bella walked onto the porch. Not only had she grabbed her purse but she’d also changed her dress. At his curious look, she said, “The dress I was wearing wasn’t suitable for visiting.”

He nodded and decided not to tell her she looked good now and had looked good then. Whatever she put on her body she wore with both grace and style. He met her in the middle of the porch and slipped her hand in his. “You look nice. And I thought we could grab dinner someplace before I bring you back here.”

Her eyes glowed in a way that tightened his stomach and sent sensations rushing through his gut. “I’d like that, Jason.”

It was close to ten at night when Bella returned home. Jason entered her house and checked around, turning on lights as he went from room to room. It made her feel extra safe when she saw a police patrol car parked near the turnoff to her property.

“Everything looks okay,” Jason said, breaking into her thoughts.

“Thanks. I’ll walk you to the door,” she said quickly, heading back downstairs.

“Trying to rush me out of here, Bella?”

At the moment she didn’t care what he thought. She just needed him gone so she could get her mind straightened out. Being with him for the past eight hours had taken its toll on her mind and body.

She hadn’t known he was so touchy and each time he’d touched her, even by doing something simple as placing a hand in the center of her back when they’d been walking into the movies, it had done something to her in a way that had her hot and bothered for the rest of the evening.

But she had enjoyed the movies they’d gone to after dinner. She had enjoyed sitting beside him while he held her hand when he wasn’t feeding her popcorn.

“No, I’m not trying to rush you, Jason, but it is late,” she said. “If your goal this evening was to tire me out then you’ve done a good job of it. I plan to take a shower and then go to bed.”