Undone

Chapter IX

Kate stood frozen in shock.

Surely she'd heard wrong. Jeremy Danvers had not just offered to move in with her. And yet she knew her hearing was perfectly sound, so therefore, he must have. There was no way he could move into her home, however temporary.

Firstly, she rationalised, her guest bedroom was tiny. Dear God, how would she sleep knowing that he was so close? No. It was not a viable option. Secondly, being near him, when she knew that he was not romantically interested in her, would only make getting over him that much harder. Not that she could tell him that. How did she explain to Jeremy that the reason she was reluctant to allow him to stay with her, for her own added protection, was because she feared revealing the depths of her feelings?

Kate lifted her hands to massage her suddenly aching temples. When had her life become this complicated?

"Well?" Jeremy interrupted her musings.

Kate swallowed. "I couldn't ask you to do that."

"You didn't ask. I offered," he reminded her.

She bit her lip, torn. In all honesty, she didn't want to be alone, not after the day's events. The idea of another encounter with Salazar was not high on Kate's list of repeat performances, but what was the alternative? Realistically, she couldn't move to Stonehaven. With her working hours, she'd be adding at least an hour and a half's commute to an already busy day. That left only two other options: Be completely unreasonable and insist on staying on her own, or have Jeremy moved in with her. Then again, did she actually have much of a choice? She either took her chances on her own and potentially risked having a psycho try to kill her a second time, or she agreed to have the hottest man in town serve as her personal bodyguard.

If Jeremy was anyone else, someone she wasn't insanely attracted to and already half in love with, she'd have no problem with the arrangement. However, if she was looking to tip the scales in that direction completely, then acquiescing to this ridiculous idea would be the way to go.

Kate glanced at Sheriff Morgan.

The other woman shrugged. "I can't force you to do anything, Dr Shaw, but you would be far safer if you weren't alone right now. However you choose to accomplish that is your business, and BVPD will be doing its best to look out for you, but until we catch this guy, our resources are going to be spread pretty thin."

Unfortunately, she couldn't think of a better alternative. Her eyes rose to meet Jeremy's. "I accept your offer. Thank you."

He visibly relaxed, as though he'd been unsure of what she'd ultimately decide. "Good."

Just then, a car pulled up and parked at the curb. Kate recognised it as belonging to Clay. Did Jeremy call them? she wondered as Clay, Elena and Nick walked towards them. When?

"If you'll excuse me?" Sheriff Morgan said, turning away. "I want to wrap things up inside."

"Are you guys okay?" Elena asked, all concern as she glanced first at Jeremy and then at Kate.

Jeremy nodded and smiled.

"We were at the...uh... grocers when Clay got Jeremy's text," Nick explained, answering Kate's unspoken question. Grocers? She honestly didn't peg any of them as the type who trolled supermarkets.

Clay stood beside his father. "What happened here?"

"Some crazy guy was waiting for me when I got home from work. If it wasn't for Jeremy..." Kate's words trailed off as the reality of what could have happened to her set in. Suddenly, she felt really cold. She rubbed her hands up and down her arms in an attempt to get her circulation going.