Drake Sisters 04 - Dangerous Tides

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    Libby blew a kiss out over the sea and smiled at her sisters. "I needed you all. Evidently so did Hannah."

    "Me, too," Elle added.

    "I was feeling a bit melancholy myself," Joley admitted.

    Sarah smiled at them. "The best part of being a Drake is having all of you."

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Chapter Sixteen

    LIBBY stared out the window as Tyson parked the car in the hospital lot. She wanted him. Every single cell in her body was acutely aware of him. She had been afraid the experience of having her first time caught in a photograph for the world to see would inhibit her for all time, but she had awakened in her bed with Tyson lying beside her. His body had been wrapped around hers, his arms protective as they held her. There was nothing sexual and everything caring and shielding in his body language. Perhaps if he had been aroused and pressuring her, it would have been different, but he had slipped onto her bed, atop the comforter and simply held her close to him.

    "You were very sweet to me last night. Did you sleep at all?"

    Tyson glanced at her. She'd been so quiet on the drive to San Francisco. It worried him that she might be reconsidering her commitment to him. He wouldn't blame her if she did, but he knew he'd never recover. "I didn't want to sleep. I needed to watch over you, Libby. I've had too many scares lately." He turned off the engine and reached along the back of the seat to wrap his hand around the nape of her neck. "I hope you don't mind. I had to be with you last night."

    "I didn't mind at all. To be honest, I expected you earlier."

    His fingers brushed against her neck, did a slow massage. "I thought you might need a little time with your sisters. You've had so many things happen lately and I wanted you to have some time to talk things out with them."

    He was always such an unexpected surprise to her. She had never considered him thoughtful, yet, with her, he was. "How'd you get into the house?"

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    "Elle opened the door and asked me the same thing. She thought the gate had been locked, but it swung open when I approached. I found the padlock on the ground."

    Libby's heart did a peculiar flip. "The padlock was on the ground?"

    "I closed the gate and locked it. You should be more careful. Sarah's dogs didn't even bark at me. I thought they were supposed to be great guard dogs. Neither animal so much as growled. Whoever trained those dogs ripped Sarah off. And if you have an alarm system, I didn't trigger it."

    "Did Elle open the door before you knocked?"

    His fingers slid into her hair. "Yes."

    "Our alarm system was working just fine. And the gate opened because it was you." She flashed a small smile. "The gate and house welcome those who belong."

    "I definitely belong." He rubbed the silky black strands between the pad of his thumb and index finger.

    Her smile widened. "That's my man. Totally sure of himself."

    "I'm not, you know. I have a few questions that don't seem to go away. For instance, you aren't thinking of breaking up with me, are you? You've been so quiet and distant the entire drive, and you didn't say much this morning when you woke up."

    She touched his jaw, a soft, tentative brush of her fingers. "I woke up and saw your face and thought I wanted to wake up like that every morning. You were looking at me and I can't even begin to describe the look you had on your face." Love. Adoration. Neither word could come close to the stark intensity she saw shining in the depths of his eyes. She had known it wouldn't matter how many photographs had been taken or how embarrassed she was. She wanted Tyson Derrick in her life. Not just now, but forever.

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    "You looked so beautiful."

    She shook her head. "My hair was wild and I didn't have any makeup on, but I appreciate that you'd say so."

    "You don't heed makeup and I love your hair. I've told you that before, Libby." He slid out of the car and went around to her door, opening it before she had the seat belt undone. "Women are weird, you know that, don't you?"

    She took his hand and hid her smile at his expression. "We're weird? How so?"

    "I just don't understand how a woman can be so beautiful but worry constantly about her hair or nails or clothes. Who the hell cares?"

    "You don't care whether or not I