Rx Missing (Decorah Security Series, Book #10): A Paranormal Romantic Suspense Novel by Rebecca York Page B

shot another question at her. “Why did you rush up here?”
    “I didn’t rush.”
    “You looked like you were in pretty much of a hurry when I saw you race up the stairs.”
    “But I checked . . .” Her voice trailed off as she must have realized what she was admitting. She started again. “What were you doing, following me?”
    He lifted one shoulder. “To be clear, I was following Wright, not you. I was at the door to the business center when you flew past. What was so important that you left the rest of those wretched souls to fend for themselves?”
    “I’m not their keeper.”
    “What are you?”
    She hesitated for a moment. “A person who ended up in this weird place.”
    “I think you know more about it than the rest of us.”
    “No.”
    The denial lacked conviction.

Chapter Twelve
    Lily didn’t like the accusatory tone of Mack’s voice. It was one of the many things she hated about this whole miserable charade. Not just that he’d asked the question but that she had to keep him from finding out what she’d been going to do.
    She might have screamed in frustration, if that had been an option. When she’d agreed to put herself in this situation, she hadn’t understood all the implications. Not by a long shot. Before she’d woken up in her bedroom in the Mirador Hotel, she’d thought of most of the other people who were here in the abstract. With the exception of a few, like Mack Bradley. Now she could see that they were real individuals with real problems and real fears.
    But her change of perception wasn’t just having to do with the people she’d met here. It was the black bird that had landed in the woods, the clouds that had taken over the sky, turning the bright blue into a preview of horrors to come.
    And then going into the woods with Mack and almost losing her mind. If he hadn’t been with her, she was pretty sure she would have ended up like someone who’d had a prefrontal lobotomy.
    Now he had invaded her bedroom with an aggressive defiance that would have frightened her if he’d been one of the other men in the hotel.
    But this was Mack, the only guy here she thought she understood. In the short time they’d been in this place, she’d seen him as a born leader, a protector of the weak, and also a man who was determined to figure out why he had ended up with a bunch of strangers in this hotel.
    And when he’d decided she was acting suspiciously, he’d wanted to know what was up.
    As he moved purposefully toward the closet, she knew she had to keep him from going in there. And the only way she could think of was to make him change the focus of his thoughts to something a lot more personal than Lily Wardman’s suspect motivations.
    Without giving herself time to reconsider, she reached for him.
    The move was so out of character that she could hardly believe what she was doing. She hadn’t been with a man in years. She certainly shouldn’t be with this one. But something about this place and the man made it seem like the right thing to do, at least at this moment.
    And she had a good reason, she told herself. She had to stop his blatant snooping.
    Of course it was a lot more than that. She’d been drawn to him, not just when she’d encountered him in this weird environment. Before . . . .
    Well, she’d better not think about that. As far as this reality was concerned, there was no “before.” There was only now.
    As she folded him into her arms, she felt him go very still, probably trying to decide how to react to her sudden invitation.
    Even as she drew him closer, she knew deep down that it was the wrong thing to do, and perhaps in some part of her mind, she was hoping he would break the contact.
    He’d come in here to challenge her. But it seemed that she’d succeeded in making him forget his reason for being in her room, and she was having a similar reaction. As he moved to gather her close, any hesitation she felt was simply blotted out the way strong sunshine