Lover Beware

even if the cat meows.”
    He looked a little mollified. “I’ll want extra patrols around here as well as around Damon’s house, Sarah.”
    “Well, of course, Jonas,” Sarah agreed.
    “It will give me every opportunity to make friends with them,” Hannah said. “I don’t know many of the new people in town.”
    Jonas glared at her. “You and your slinky body can just stay away from my deputies.”
    Hannah made a face at him, raised her hand to push at the hair spilling across her face. An icy wind rushed through the room, giving life to the curtains, so that they danced in a macabre fashion, fluttering, reaching toward Jonas as if to bind him in the thick folds.
    Sarah glimpsed a dark shadow moving within the drapes. Her hands went up in a casual, graceful wave. Kate and Abbey followed the gentle movements with their own. The wind died abruptly and the curtains dropped into place.
    Damon cleared his throat. “Does someone want to tell me what happened?”
    Jonas shook his head. “Never be dumb enough to ask for an explanation from any of them, Damon. You might get it and your hair will turn gray.” His gaze swung to Hannah. “Don’t even think about it. Ladies, I can find my own way out.”
    Damon didn’t take his eyes from Sarah. She was looking at Hannah and there was accusation in her gaze. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Abbey and Kate doing the same thing.
    Hannah threw her hands into the air. “I wasn’t thinking, okay? I’m sorry.”
    The silence lengthened, disapproval thick in the room.
    Hannah sighed. “I really am sorry. I forgot for just a moment about Dea—” She broke off abruptly, her gaze shifting to Damon. “About the other thing we’re dealing with. It won’t happen again.”
    “It better not,” Sarah said. “You can’t afford to forget for one moment. This is too dangerous, Hannah.”
    “Wait a minute,” Damon interrupted. “If you’re talking about me and those men the other night, I don’t want your family involved in any way.”
    “The men?” Kate raised her eyebrow. “Not in the least, Damon, didn’t give them a thought. There are things far more dangerous than human beings.”
    He watched the four women exchange long knowing looks and was exasperated. They knew something he didn’t. Something regarding him. “I can understand why poor Harrington gets so frustrated with you.”
    Sarah rose and blew him a kiss. “He loves all seven of us. He just likes to puff out his chest.”
    “He was genuinely worried,” Damon said. “And I am, too. The things he said make sense. It’s bad enough to think of you in danger, let alone all your sisters.” He raked a hand through his hair in agitation. “I can’t be responsible for that.”
    To his shock they all laughed. “Damon.” Sarah’s voice was a mixture of amusement and tenderness. “We accepted responsibility for our own decisions a very long time ago. We’re grown women. When we choose to involve ourselves in problems, we accept the consequences.” She leaned toward him.
    Abbey groaned dramatically. “She’s going to do it. She’s going to kiss him right in front of us.”
    “That is so not fair, Sarah,” Hannah protested.
    “Go ahead,” Kate encouraged. “I need to write a good love scene.”
    When Sarah hesitated, her gaze lost in his, Damon took advantage and did the job thoroughly, not wanting to let Kate down.

Chapter 7
    “SO, SARAH,” DAMON said, putting down his glass of iced tea as they sat on his porch. Damon and Sarah spent every minute they could find together. Taking walks on the beach. Working on a security system for his house. Lazy days of laughter and whispered confidences. Damon enjoyed every moment spent in her home, getting to know her sisters. He never ran out of things to say to Sarah and he loved her stories and open personality. There was sunshine in his life and its name was Sarah.
    She took a handful of his chips and smiled at him. Overhead the seagulls circled, looking down with hopeful eyes. Damon had had no more unwelcome nighttime visitors and appreciated the regularity of the sheriff driving by to check the neighborhood.
    Damon shook his head, dazzled by her smile. She could take every thought out of his head with that smile. “Sarah, are you afraid for me or for everyone else? It’s occurred to me that there’s always this buffer between everyone we run across and me. I didn’t really notice at first, but last night I was thinking about it.