Page 21 of Her Noble Protector

Raiden grinned. “So he’s stolen money, plus given out crap to people. Oh, this is not going to go over well.”

“You got it.”

“I’ll give it a day, then give him a call.” Raiden imagined what Leif would be thinking then.

“Hopefully this lesson will get through,” Kane said.

“To tell you the truth, I’m not sure it will,” Raiden sighed. “But one can hope.”

“Yep. Well, good luck with both projects, I’ve got to go.”

Raiden could hear the grin in his friend’s voice, as he hung up.

* * *

Lisa woke up and stretched and something felt different. She was on her couch. She tried to think about what was wrong but came up with nothing. Her eyes hit the front door. Locks were in place. Then the back door, locks were good there. She grimaced when she saw the trash bag. She sat up higher on the couch and threw her legs down so she was sitting up, careful not to step on any of the dirty dishes.

What was wrong? She bent down and picked up the plateful of congealed spaghetti that was close to her right foot, and set it on the coffee table.

What was wrong?

Then she remembered.

Raiden.

Raiden was outside, and he was making sure she was safe. She was finally safe. Nobody was going to come inside and get her. She rolled her shoulder muscles, they felt good. Not hard, not tense, they felt like she’d had a good night’s sleep. Even her lower back felt good, even though she’d slept on the sofa.

“Raiden?” She called out softly.

“Yeah? I was hoping you’d wake up soon. It’s good to hear your voice.”

That hit her right in her solar plexus. So weird that he would like to hear her voice. But then again, she was really glad to hear his voice too.

“What time is it?” she asked.

“Eight o’clock in the morning,” he answered. “You missed a beautiful sunrise.”

Lisa closed her eyes for just a moment and pictured an Arizona sunrise. They were one of the best things about living in a desert, that and sunsets. Her eyes shot open and she grinned when she realized that she’d actually pictured a sunrise instead of some kind of nightmare.

“I like sunrises.”

“So do I. So what can I get you for breakfast?” Raiden asked. “How does an Egg McMuffin sound?”

Lisa felt her stomach rumble. She placed her hand over her stomach and realized she didn’t feel queasy. Actually, that sounded good, but then her head swiveled to her front door. She saw the pizza pan resting against it and the deadbolts. She couldn’t let him in.

“I could leave it at your door, and you could just pick it up off your porch after I’ve left,” he whispered. It was as if he read her mind.

“I’m not really hungry,” she demurred.

“Do you have enough food in there?” Raiden asked.

Lisa did a sweep of her house. Once again her eyes lighted on the grocery bags on her dining room table. How old were those now? Three days? A week?

“I’m fine for food,” she assured Raiden.

“Are you cooking for yourself?” he asked.

“That doesn’t matter. Look, I don’t want to talk about it, okay?”