She shut the door with a sigh, then followed him in. The silence between them wasn’t exactly uncomfortable… just charged. She started putting groceries away, aware of him watching her like she was a puzzle he couldn’t decide if he wanted to solve or break apart.
Her skin prickled under that stare. And no, it sure as hell wasn’t the willies this time. It was something else entirely—something hotter, more dangerous, something she absolutely did not need added to her already screwed-up brain where he was concerned. One moment, she wanted to strangle him, and the next, she wanted to strip bare ass naked, jump on him, and relive what they shared last night.
When she closed the cabinet a little harder than necessary, she caught him still looking at her, jaw tight, eyes unreadable. Sheswallowed, turned away, and kept moving even though her pulse wasn’t cooperating.
Yeah. This was going to be a long, unnerving day… and if she wasn’t careful, Kane might end up rattling her far worse than any enemy she could ever face.
CHAPTER 24
Kane stood in the yard while Knox tore around like he owned the damn place, nose to the ground, tail going a mile a minute. Monica was inside cooking and had been since he brought the bags in. She hadn’t looked at him once. She might think their earlier conversation was done, neatly wrapped and buried, but she was dead wrong. They were finishing it later, one way or another.
He reached for the stick Knox dropped at his feet… then froze. What the actual hell was wrong with him? Since when did he stand around thinking about having aconversationafter sex? Normally, it was the woman who wanted conversation after sex, not him. Never him. The realization that the tables had turned rattled the hell out of him.
With a curse, he threw the stick hard. Yeah, bringing up her quitting her job with Farrar right after they’d wrecked that bed hadn’t been his smartest move. But his protective instincts toward her had hit him hard.
Knox trotted back with the stick, and Kane tossed it again, jaw tight. The thought of Monica in danger had already beenmessing with his head, but then he had to go andsleep with her. Now it was worse. Now it felt personal. Too damn personal.
“Dammit,” he muttered, louder this time.
“Sounds like you’ve got something on your mind.”
Kane nearly jumped out of his skin when Theo’s voice came from nowhere.
“Sorry,” the old man added. “Didn’t mean to startle you. I called your name.”
Kane needed to get his shit together before he got himself or Monica killed. He should’ve heard Theo long before he got this close. Charger and the guys would laugh their asses off if they found out.
“You’re good,” Kane said, giving Theo a nod like he hadn’t just been caught slipping.
“I’m sure in your line of work, you don’t get to relax much,” Theo said, watching Knox bolt after the stick like a missile.
“No.” And the word tasted like failure for more reasons than one.
“Too much relaxing can get you killed,” Theo added, raising an eyebrow like he was reading Kane’s exact thoughts.
Kane didn’t answer. He just stared as Theo’s gaze drifted back toward Monica’s house.
“Listen,” Theo began, quieter now, “I didn’t want to say anything in front of Monica. And I’m hoping it’s nothing.”
Kane went still.
“Every afternoon I go for a walk,” Theo continued. “I make a loop around both our properties.”
Knox returned with the stick, but Kane held up a hand, and Knox dropped the stick and sat.
“We had a little rain last night,” Theo said. “I found footprints. Man-sized. Behind Monica’s house, right at the tree line.”
Kane’s eyes snapped to the woods behind her place. “Hunters?”
Theo shook his head. “Doubt it. I’ve got No Trespassing signs everywhere. We haven’t had trouble with Hunters in over a year. There are forty-seven acres between us. I own most. Monica has the rest.”
“Any tracks on your side?” Kane asked.
“No.” Theo’s jaw tightened. “Just hers.”
Kane’s gaze cut back to the woods. Something in his gut twisted. “You carrying?” he asked.
Theo patted his side. “Never leave home without it.”
