"What happened?" he asked, kneeling down beside them.

Liza looked up at him and narrowed her gaze. "That's who you called when you stepped away from me?" she asked Sam, accusation and anger powering her voice.

"If I didn't call him, he'd kick my ass," Sam explained.

Damned right, Dare thought. And though he understood why she didn't want to see him, he'd be damned if he was going anywhere now.

"Well, I'm going to kick it now," Liza said, and Sam held up his hands as if he needed protection.

"You don't want him to have to arrest you for assaulting an officer," Dare said to her.

"Go away." She refused to look at him.

He muttered a curse under his breath. "Can't do that."

The paramedic strode over before Liza could reply. "What happened?" he asked.

"Ms. McKnight had an accident," Sam explained. "Air bag deployed. No visible injuries and she's been coherent and awake since I arrived on the scene."

Christopher knelt down. "We meet again."

Liza wrinkled her eyebrows in confusion.

"I took you from the fair to the hospital," he explained.

Liza shook her head. "I'm sorry. I don't remember you."

Christopher smiled. "That's pretty normal for a head injury. How are you now?"

"I'm fine. I just want to go home."

"As soon as I check you out, I'm sure you can."

Sam rose to his feet and Dare followed him to a private corner while Christopher examined Liza. "What the hell happened?" Dare asked.

"She said her brakes felt spongy. She planned to pull over after the traffic light and had already slowed down some, but when she tried to brake for red, the car kept going and all she could do was pick a fairly empty spot and brace for impact." Sam shook his head in disbelief.

Dare was nauseous. "What kind of new car loses its brakes? I want that vehicle thoroughly checked out."

Sam nodded. "You know I'm on it."

"Thanks. And I appreciate you calling me."

Sam smirked. "You owe me one. She's pretty pissed at me now."

"You'll live," Dare said wryly.

"Yeah, well, in the meantime, I called Mason's Towing. He'll be here in a few minutes."

"Good. I'm going to go back and see how she's doing."

Sam raised an eyebrow. "Didn't seem like the lady wanted to see you."

Dare shoved his hands into his pants pockets. "Yeah, well, maybe I gave her good reason."

But the minute he'd heard Liza had been in an accident, all the problems between them hadn't seemed important. It would become apparent soon enough, though, that she didn't feel the same way.

By the time he approached Liza again, Christopher had finished examining her and had given her the all clear. "Your neck will be sore tomorrow," he warned her. "Your ribs and chest too. The air bag does a number on the body, but it definitely protected you."

"What's a few more aches and pains?" she asked, and Dare recognized the forced joke for what it was.

"And you're sure your head is okay?" Christopher asked. "You do have a recent injury."

"Yes. And if anything hurts, I'll call Dr. Collins," she promised. "May I go home now?"

"It's fine with me. Officer?"

Christopher turned to Sam, who nodded. "I need to finish taking witness statements and I'll need you to come by later to sign yours," he said to Liza. "But for now you can go."

"I suggest you get some rest," Christopher said as he gathered his equipment. "You're probably more shaken up than you realize."

Given Liza's pale face, Dare had to agree.

"Do you have a ride home?" Sam asked her.

And Dare braced himself for the inevitable argument as he volunteered his services.

Ten.

"I'll take her home," Dare said.

"Here we go again," Liza mumbled. The difference today was that she had her wits about her and she'd also had the opportunity to experience the flip side of Dare's do-gooder persona. It wasn't going to happen again. "I don't think so," Liza said, responding to Dare. "But no," she conceded to Sam, "I don't have a ride home."

Dare growled low in his throat.

"I have to take statements here. Why don't you let Officer Barron take you home?" Sam actually sounded like he felt bad. "Since he's on duty, it's not like he can stick around," he said to Liza.

"Way to help a buddy, Sam."

She couldn't help but laugh. The poor man was caught in the middle. "Fine. I'll take the ride, Officer Barron."

Liza was pleased to see Dare's face had turned red with anger and frustration.

"Remember, I need you to come by and sign a statement," Sam said.

Liza nodded. "I'm going to rent a car, so that won't be a problem," she said before Dare could possibly jump in and say he'd bring her down to the station.

He could drive her home, drop her off, and go back to work. She didn't need another thing from him. But when she rose to her feet, she was horrified to realize her legs were trembling.

Dare grabbed on to her elbow. "Normal reaction," he assured her as he led her through the gathering crowd.

She glanced back, wincing as she saw the damage her car had done to the beautiful center of town. She'd mowed down the impatiens and taken out the gazebo. "So much for getting the Beautification Committee to put the fund-raiser money into the youth center." She shook her head, beyond disappointed she'd undermined her own cause.

"I wouldn't worry about that right now," Dare said.

She ignored him and continued to do so on the walk to his car and the entire drive home.

He pulled into her driveway and cut the engine.

"Thanks for the ride," she said in a polite if frosty tone.

It was his turn to ignore her. He climbed out of the car and walked around to her side, too late to open her door, but he still attempted to help her up the path to the house.

"I can get myself inside." In fact, she already had her keys in her hand, since she'd planned on bolting away from him as soon as possible.

"Liza, you have every right to be angry as hell-" he said, looking too damned handsome in his uniform, his sunglasses covering his eyes until he slipped them to the top of his head.

"Thank you for your permission," she sarcastically answered, holding on to her lingering hurt from earlier by a thread.

She let herself into her house. Unfortunately, she failed at her attempt to leave him on the other side of the door.

He barreled his way inside, following right behind her.

"I thought you had to go back to work," she said, exasperated.

"I do. But not until I make sure you aren't hurt." He stared at her with such concern in those gorgeous brown eyes, he'd melt her heart if she let him.

She shivered and stepped farther away. "The paramedic already said I'm fine, so you have nothing to worry about. Which brings up an interesting point. What is with this sudden show of concern?"

And where had his caring been earlier?

He glanced down, obviously embarrassed. "I shouldn't have taken my feelings for your brother out on you."

"No, you shouldn't have. It's not like you didn't know the situation before you sweet-talked your way into my bed."

"Ouch."

"What can I say? The truth hurts." She let out a sigh, the exhaustion of the last couple of days catching up with her and she leaned against the wall for support.

She still hadn't processed the fact that she'd destroyed the center of town, crushed her beloved car, and nearly killed herself in the process.

The whole morning seemed surreal and made no sense.

"Can you just go?" she didn't care if she had to beg. Her defenses were too low to deal with Dare now.

"Do you promise you're okay?" He reached out to touch her cheek, then obviously thought better and dropped his hand.

She dug her nails into her palms, torn between disappointment and satisfaction that she'd gotten what she wanted. He was keeping his distance. And it hurt more than this morning's argument had. At least then she'd had her own anger to bolster her emotions.

Now she was drained. "I'm fine."

He inclined his head. "I'll make sure Mason makes your car a priority."

She nodded. "Thank you."

"Take it easy for the rest of the day, okay?" he asked, his gruff voice winding its way through her veins.

She managed a nod.

He started for the door and she walked him out, locking up behind him. Only when she was alone did her legs begin to shake again, and she headed for her family room couch where she curled into a ball and let the trembling take over.

An hour later, Liza's earlier shock had begun to wear off. Knowing she had things to do, she pulled herself together. First she checked in at the office with a quick explanation of what had happened. Then she called the company her firm was dealing with in Mystic to explain her absence and reschedule the meeting. Then she turned to focusing on the accident. She reported the accident to her insurance agent, who assured her the costs of a rental car were fully covered.

She was deep in thought when her doorbell rang. Liza glanced up, surprised by yet another visitor, this one in the middle of the day.

She walked to the door and discovered Kelly Barron on the other side. "Hi," Liza said as she opened the door to let the other woman inside.

"Hi yourself." Kelly looked Liza over thoroughly from her now bare feet up and over her wrinkled suit. "Well, you look like you made it through unscathed. The center of town doesn't look nearly as good."

Liza winced at the reminder. "I'm fine. Just really embarrassed."

"By an accident? Don't be silly. I'm just glad you're okay. Your brakes failed? That's so scary."

"Tell me about it." She shivered involuntarily. "I'd ask what you're doing here, but I have a hunch Dare sent you?" Liza flexed and unflexed her fingers, waiting for an answer.

"Well, I'd have come anyway as soon as I heard what happened, but yes, Dare called."

Liza shook her head. "Don't you need to be at work?" she asked, knowing the other woman was a paralegal.

"It'll wait. Today's a light day, so no worries about me. What about you?"

"What about me?"

"Dare mentioned you might need a ride to a car rental place...or to the police station to sign your statement." With a light laugh, Kelly shrugged. "Sorry, but those Barron brothers like to take control."

And it didn't seem like it bothered her all that much.

"I realize that." And though Liza should be angry, she was strangely touched as well. "I just don't get it," she added softly.

"Get what?" Kelly asked.