He did, too. He wasn’t built for fancy. He preferred his leather recliner couch and his battered poof, which doubled as a coffee table when he needed one. That damn box held everything from a spare weapon to the remote. If he didn’t have a place to put them, he’d lose everything. “Main bath.” He pointed it out to her. “This room will be yours.” He pushed open to the spare room. “Unless you’d prefer to sleep on the couch or sleep in my room if you’re worried about nightmares.”
Her cheeks pinkened. “Umm.”
“Just sleeping.” He wanted to do so much more, but there was no way he’d step over that line without an invitation. “If you are worried about having nightmares, then the offer is there.”
He kicked his go-bag into his room and pulled the door almost shut. She had plenty of time to decide what she wanted to do. His doorbell chimed, and he went to answer it. “Hey, Kace.”
“You forgot to bring her stuff,” Kacey grumbled. “It’s been checked.” As fast as he arrived, his brother disappeared again. He was probably going to check that his kitchen hadn’t been destroyed while he and Willow were gone. He winced, because if the kitchen was a mess, Rexar would have his ass handed to him, no matter what Lily said. Now that it was finally just the two of them, and he’d shown her the place, there was an awkwardness between them as if neither knew what to do. Inspiration struck… baby animals. She seemed to like baby animals. “Do you want to go for a walk around? We might be able to go to the barn and meet some of the animals.”
“Yes. Please. I’d love that.”
From their conversation outside, he knew she’d regret not having a camera again. He couldn’t do anything about that yet, but maybe he could do something. He went to rummage in the poof box and pulled out a spare throwaway phone. She sat on the edge of the couch, watching him curiously as he set it up. He held it out to her.
“What’s this?”
“It’s not a camera, but at least the camera function works on it.” Maybe this was a mistake. He was stupid for offering the photographer a camera phone. “I figured with it, at least you could save some kind of photos…” He trailed off lamely.
“Are you serious?” Her eyes widened. “For me?”
He was a fucking idiot, but he had no choice but to reply. “Yes.” He barely had time to brace himself to catch her as she launched herself at his chest and took a step back to keep them both from ending up on the floor. He froze when she smushed her lips to his.
“Thank you,” she whispered against his mouth. “I love that you thought of it.”
She leaned back and smiled at him.
His breathing hitched. Did she know what she’d done? He figured yes, she was a grown-ass woman and not stupid. She definitely knew she’d kissed him. He tilted his head slightly and brushed his mouth across hers. It took her a second; he almost pulled away, but then she sighed, a sound that went straight to his balls, and kissed him back.
Heaven.
Hell.
Somewhere in between.
His hand cupped the back of her head, and hers fisted into the shirt on his back. The kiss deepened, and the wall around his heart cracked just a little bit more, allowing her room to wriggle inside and claim a corner of it for herself.
I’m fucked. So fucked.
He knew it by the time he broke the kiss and stepped back. His whole world had tipped on its axis; north was now south, and east was now west.
“I—ugh?—”
He held up his hand. “If you apologize, I’m telling you right now, baby girl, I’m gonna be pissed.”
“I kinda attacked you…”
“You can attack me like that any damn time you please,” he reassured her. “But in the interest of both of our peace of minds and before we launch into something neither of us is ready for, we should make tracks for the barn.”
“Okay.”
“Most of the animals are around the barn.” He knew he was babbling, and he just couldn’t bring himself to care. When had a kiss ever knocked him on his ass before? Never that he could remember, at least not since he was about fifteen. “I think there might be an early foal, too.” He regretted mentioning the foal as soon as the words were out of his mouth, and he saw her eyes sparkle because what if he was wrong? He knew for sure there were kittens as he heard Rory bitching that Dalton refused to allow him to give one to his son. The boss didn’t want cats in the house as Buddha might have his prey drive turned on and chase it, or at least he thought that was the explanation given. He grabbed some coats from the hall closet and handed her his sheep-lined denim one. “It’s cold out there at this time of night.”
“Thanks.”She put it on and stuffed the phone into a pocket. “Ready when you are. Lead the way, kind sir.”
What was I thinking?
Her grandmother would have called her ‘one of them harlots’ for sure. Not only was she staying in a strange man’s house for the second night in a row, but after kissing him, she was more than a little considering spending the night in his bed for the second night, too. Except this time, she wouldn’t object to it being for more than the nightmare protection services he’d offered. Yes, her grandmother would have been correct; harlot was an apt description.
She’d meant to thank him for the phone. It wasn’t supposed to be a melt-your-panties-off kiss… but it had certainly turned into one, and was she upset about it? No. No, she wasn’t. She’d even have cheerfully stood in front of her grandmother, confessed her sins, and asked for a name badge with the title of harlot on it, but she still wouldn’t have been able to bring herself to regret it.
