Kaylee shoved the books on her night table in the drawer. Her eyes swept over the rest of the room frantically. Hopefully she hadn’t left anything embarrassing lying around. She wasn’t used to having guys at her apartment. Especially not men like Elliott.
Big, masculine men that she fantasized about every night.
The hair on the back of her neck stood up and she didn’t have to look to know that he was standing in the doorway. Her apartment wasn’t that big, but it suddenly seemed exponentially smaller with Eli sucking up all her oxygen.
“Tank finished his assessment before we got here. We’re all clear.” Eli stepped in and looked around. “Where do you normally keep the figurine?”
Kay pointed to the top of her dresser. Eli walked over and looked down at her collection. He touched one and the sight of his thick fingers stroking the delicate china shouldn’t have seemed erotic at all. But the image of this big, strong man handling tiny breakables with such care struck her as incredibly tender. Would that be how he treated a woman in bed? Like she was delicate, precious?
Or would he push her hard, demand things she didn’t know how to give? Warmth spread to her face just thinking about it.
Not that you’ll ever find out.
“There’s an empty space here. He didn’t even bother to push the others closer together to conceal what he took.”
Kay hated to even think of it. Someone had been in her apartment, touching her things. Had he been here while she was home alone? While she was with her daughter?
While they were sleeping?
She shivered and grabbed the duffel bag she kept underneath her bed. Her favorite nightshirt was on top of the comforter, so she shoved that in the bag. Then she pulled open the drawers in her nightstand and added a big handful of underwear and bras. She didn’t even look at how much she was taking, just grabbed blindly. Who cared, really, what she wore? All she cared about was getting out of here. Would she ever be able to relax in this room again without wondering if someone was watching?
She crossed to the dresser where Eli stood and yanked open the last drawer. In went several pairs of jeans, then she yanked open another drawer and added a big armful of sweaters.
“Kay, what are you doing?”
“Packing. I just want to get out of here.”
She struggled with the zipper on the bag, almost breaking a nail on the metal teeth. Her breath came in harsh pants until little black spots danced in front of her eyes.
“Kay, calm down. Just hold on.”
She struggled against his hold, but he held her securely in his grip, her back to his front. His arms wrapped around her, keeping her from moving but not holding her so tight as to cause pain. Eventually Kay stopped fighting and allowed her head to fall back against Eli’s chest.
“Hey, hey. It’s all right. Just calm down.” He rubbed her arms gently, soothing her.
Kay finally stopped wrestling with him and allowed him to hold her. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. It was a foolish moment of weakness, but for just a second, she soaked up the comfort and warmth of being in his arms.
“We’re safe here. You’ve got a great security system. I already had Tank check it out and it hasn’t been tampered with. I don’t know how this guy got your figurine, but he didn’t break in to do it.”
Tears welled up, but she squeezed her eyes closed, swallowing back the sudden flood of emotion. There was no time for nonsense or feeling sorry for herself.
“Why would someone do this, Eli?”
“I don’t know, angel.” He spoke in a hush, the words flowing over her in a soft puff of breath.
His features tightened, and for the second time in recent memory, she allowed herself to soak up the masculine presence that was Elliott Alexander: the smooth dark skin, the high cheekbones, the long straight blade of his nose, and the sinfully full lips. It was a harsh face, not quite as elegantly hewn as his brothers’ faces, but one that she vastly preferred. It looked like safety.
It looked like strength.
“I’m okay now. I promise I won’t freak out on you again.” She stood reluctantly. As wonderful as it felt to be held in his arms, there was only so much she could take before she lost all sense of propriety and threw herself at him again. She already knew he wasn’t interested. When you kissed a guy and he responded by leaving town, that was plenty clear enough.
“It’s okay to be freaked out, Kay. As long as you know that I won’t let anything happen to you.”
Kay nodded and dropped the duffel bag on her bed. She didn’t have enough room to put him up in style, but at the very least she could rustle up some extra pillows and a blanket for him.
“I’m sorry I don’t have a guest room. Or an air mattress.”
Eli gave her one of his trademark are you kidding looks. “I’m not supposed to be on vacation, Kay. The couch is fine. Now, what about Hope?”
Kay gasped. Shame flooded her face. She’d told her mom that she’d pick up Hope by eight o’clock and she was already twenty minutes late. She pulled out her cell phone and hit the first speed dial.
Eli walked away to give her some privacy. Luckily, her father answered, so she was able to explain things with a minimum of fuss. As expected, her parents were thrilled to keep Hope overnight.
When she turned, Eli was watching her with an inscrutable expression. Unsure what to make of his sudden change in demeanor, Kay pushed past him and pulled open the door to the linen closet in the hallway. Several towels fell out and hit her in the face.
“Don’t worry about that now.” Eli took the towels from her arms and shoved them in the closet. “We need to talk first.”
“About what?”
“Everything. Clearly I missed something when I was digging into your life last year. It’s time to rectify that.”
“But nothing has changed. I don’t do anything interesting. So what’s there to talk about?”
Eli stopped and nailed her with an intense look. “I need to know who you’ve been with since last summer.” He moved closer and Kay inhaled, immediately assaulted by his unique scent—warm and rich and disarming. She looked up at him, her senses swirling from the intoxicating blend of reactions that only Eli could cause.
“We need to talk about your lovers.”
