Another step closer and I stepped back into the doorway between the bedroom and bathroom.
“I’ve done nothing but annoy you.”
“Not recently.” He never annoyed me really. It annoyed me that he was right about my life choices. “In fact, recently you’ve been really sweet.”
He stepped closer pushing up against the door jam, one arm resting above my head. “Maybe, all this time I’ve been trying to get into your pants.”
Now, I was the one who was wet. My gaze lowered to his lips then back to his eyes. “Maybe, you should’ve tried harder.”
He nodded and lowered his lips to mine. Soft and firm, and filled with desire. More than desire, it was years of anger and regret and unspoken what-ifs. My lips parted for him and when his tongue touched mine the world reduced to just me and the man kissing me like I was his everything. Kissing me like he should’ve been doing it all his life.
Theo’s free hand slid up my neck and over my jaw. He gripped my hair until my scalp stung. My hands moved up his back, savoring the smooth skin as his muscles rippled beneathmy fingers. His body pushed up against mine and his desire pushing into my belly only served to feed mine even more.
A whimper escaped my lips as he moved his mouth from mine across my jaw and into my neck. My leg moved up to his hip, and I could feel the towel moving. One little tug and this man would be naked in front of me.
A buzzing came from my back pocket. For a moment I froze, trying to get my bearings. The buzzing continued even as I let go of Theo and lowered my leg. He stepped back, holding onto his towel.
It took me another moment or two to understand what was happening. My phone was ringing in my back pocket.
I pulled it out and checked the caller ID.Tiff.“Why would your sister be calling me?”
“Answer and find out.” He chuckled and walked past me completely discarding the towel as he stepped into his closet. Damn. The man had a great ass as well.
I closed my eyes, took a deep breath and answered. “Hi. Everything okay?”
“Yeah.” She sounded hurried. “I just got home. There was a package for you at the front door. Says it's urgent. There’s also other mail. I can take it to work and you can pick it up there.”
Because she wouldn’t set foot in this house.
I wasn’t expecting anything but it could be something important. “No, I'll come get it. Just let me get things settled here first."
“Will Theo bring you?”
I took a deep breath and tried not to snap at one of the women who had been with me through everything. “I am perfectly capable of driving myself. Your brother can stay here and watch the kids.”
“What am I doing?” Theo chose that moment to walk out of the closet in a pair of jeans and nothing else.
“I’ll see you in ten minutes.” I said into the phone before looking over at Theo again. “There’s a package for me at the manor. Tiff says it's marked urgent. Can you keep an eye on the kids for a while. “I’ll get that and pick something up for us for dinner while I’m out.”
Theo was not having that. “Yes, I can watch the kids. But just so you know we have two teenagers who are perfectly capable of babysitting for an hour or two as well. And I’ll order us dinner. You get the package and gossip about whatever you and Tiff gossip about.”
“When I get back you need to be wearing more clothes.” I smiled as I walked from the room. “Besides, at some point I want to know more about that piercing I spotted.”
He chuckled and pulled me back to him. “You play your cards right and you’ll be able to feel exactly what the point of it is.”
The route to Forte Femme is less than ten minutes away. I pull into the driveway and notice the lawn needs to be mowed. I’m torn between reminding Tiff to call someone or doing it myself.
I stepped into the house and was genuinely surprised. It’s not what I would call a museum, but it is tidy. Tiff was right when she said she’d be able to handle living there alone.
“Honey, I’m home.” I called out the greeting she usually used.
Her reply is the same one I gave her too. “In the kitchen.”
The kitchen was spotless except for the dish on the counter with the lid off and microwave whirring in the background. On the massive kitchen table was the box. Maybe a little smaller than a shoebox, it looked out of place in the beautiful kitchen. The dents looked like the box had been used before and the excessive amount of tape looked like overkill. I pulled it closer to me. The original labels had been ripped off. It was heavy, and whatever was inside did not fit snuggly. “Did you open it?”
“No. But I did listen to hear if there was ticking.” Maybe working for a security company for so many years was rubbing off on her. “There was none, by the way.”
I took the smallest knife from the block and cut along the tape. The sound was unnaturally loud as I pierced the blade through multiple layers of tape. Peeling back the flaps, I let out a loud gasp. My heart moved to my throat as I took in the contents of the box. “Oh my God.” Nestled in the box was a bird. I didn’t know how long it had been dead, but the blood looked fresh. The smell overwhelmed me and I needed to swallow hard not to throw up. It wasn’t moving. “Oh no, its wings are broken as well.”
