Holt stalked toward the open door of the home whose address matched that on the driver's license in his pocket.

What the hell did the woman think she was doing leaving her door standing wide-open? Just because Marion was a small town was no excuse; burglary, rape, or murder could happen anywhere. Holt planned to inform Samantha of that fact as soon as he saw her.

Then he was going to ask her out on a damn date.

If she said no, that would put an end to that and he could get back to his life the way he liked it. No commitment, no relationships, just no-strings-attached companionship when he needed it.

And if she said yes--he'd deal with that when it happened.

At the door, Holt started to step over the threshold, then decided against entering Sam's home unannounced. He banged his fist against the doorjamb a couple of times for good measure, then waited for a response.

The one he got was not a welcome one.

A man's panicked voice echoed through the house, reaching Holt clearly. "Get in here and help me."

Holt's emergency training took over. He sprinted into the foyer. Through the wide archway, he immediately spotted Samantha's diner companion leaning over her supine body. Holt's gut clenched, but he refused to recognize it as fear.

"What's going on?" he demanded harshly.

"I don't know, she started breathing too fast and then just passed out on me, and I can't get her to come to." Golden-boy was squatting beside the couch, holding Samantha's limp body in his arms. Her hair spilled over his forearms.

An unexpected surge of jealousy stabbed at Holt, but he just gritted his teeth. "Move out of the way." Holt went down on his knees beside the couch, crowding golden-boy out of the way. He slipped his arms under Sam and then glared at the man beside him until he took the hint and moved.

"Samantha? Can you hear me?"

Her eyelids fluttered, then started to rise. Holt held his breath, waiting to see if she would come to, but her eyelids settled back down. Then they flew open in a rush.

"Samantha, are you okay?"

"My...my..." Holt leaned closer. What was she trying to tell him? Then she started struggling to sit up.

"No, stay still," he said a little too roughly. "You don't need to get up yet."

"My beeper. I forgot about my beeper." Holt finally released her as she pushed against his chest. She sat up on the edge of the couch.

"What?" Both Holt and golden-boy muttered the question. They looked at each other, sharing a single moment of understanding between two males who couldn't comprehend how the mind of a woman worked.

Samantha cleared her throat. "My beeper. It's vibrating. I forgot about it earlier. I was supposed to check in at the clinic and I forgot." She buried her face in her hands, her thoughts apparently far from the fact that just a moment ago she'd been laying nearly flat on her back, passed out for some unknown reason. She looked up. "Josh, would you mind getting the cordless for me? I really have to call the clinic. It could be important."

"Sure, doll. Be right back." Golden-boy stepped out of the room before Holt had fully assimilated the familiar way in which he'd addressed Samantha. His lips tightened fractionally. He looked around the living room, looking for any signs that Sam didn't live alone, but he saw nothing that would indicate that golden-boy lived here with her. Hell, he ought to start thinking about the man by his name since Sam had called him Josh.

"Are you feeling all right now?" Holt noted Sam's still pale skin and tautly drawn lips. Something wasn't right with her, and he wondered just what it was. "Do you know why you might have passed out?"

She looked up, seeming startled that she wasn't alone. Her green eyes flickered. "Uh...yeah, but it's complicated." She hid her emotions well after that one glimpse, though, but Holt had seen enough. He wondered what she was hiding. "Holt, there's something--Oh, Josh." She turned her gaze away from him, then reached out and took the phone from Josh's hand. "Thanks."

Josh nodded. "No problem, doll." Then he had the gall to wink at her.

Holt wanted to slam him into the wall and slap a pair of handcuffs on him. The intensity of his reaction to the small gesture of affection unnerved him. He was an easygoing man. In all his past associations, if the woman was ready to move on before him, he'd let her go without any qualms. No woman had ever before caused him to feel so damn primitive. So...possessive.

Holt watched as Sam pressed the numbers that would get her through to the clinic. He observed her in silence, ignoring Josh who stood against the wall beside the archway. Sam's hands were shaking, he noticed, and her jaw was clenched. She wouldn't look up at him standing in front of her.

Holt studied her and decided that there was no real reason for his fascination with her. She was a beautiful woman, but he'd seen many. She was taller than usual for a woman, but that wouldn't account for anything. She had an attitude towards life that so far drove him crazy, so that wasn't a plus. He had no reason to be so stuck on her.

But he was.

Beyond all reason, this woman fascinated him. He wanted her with a passion that shook him to his core. For the first time in his life, he felt truly scared of something, and the feeling wasn't pleasant.

Maybe he wouldn't ask her out on a date after all.