Then a thick arm closed around my waist, and my eyes popped open. Dean was right there, heat and steam radiating from him.
“You might want to uncover your eyes before you attempt the staircase.”
“Right. Good idea. You can…” I swallowed. “I’ll go now.”
But he didn’t take his arm from my waist. Instead, a bead of water slid from his temple to his lip, and he licked it. I glanced down and saw his pink nipples, which I’d somehow missed staring at before. Probably because my eyes had been lower, on places now covered by his towel.
Gah.
And then, as I forced my gaze higher again, I saw the blue fire smoldering in his irises. Waves of something languid and heady rolled through my veins.
“I should go,” I breathed.
He nodded. It was still a full five seconds before he let go of me and stepped back. “Yeah,” he said, voice husky and low.
I turned around and made my retreat, only realizing when I was back in the kitchen that I’d dropped the photo somewhere upstairs. Along with my dignity.
Dean’s body was thick in all the right places. Not much hair on his chest or stomach, but what was there accentuated his athletic frame. I’d seen him shirtless before, years ago, but the full effect of his body was different. Dark curls had framed his soft, cut cock.
What would it look like when he was hard? How would the weight of it feel in my hand?
I was about to combust.
About five minutes later, Dean came down wearing jeans and a T-shirt. His damp hair was tied back.
I’d mostly calmed down and stopped visualizing his naked body.Mostly. I pushed a mug of coffee toward him, avoiding his eyes. “I’m really,reallysorry about barging in on you.”
“I’m not that modest. Not a big deal.”
Yet when I glanced up at him, that sharp, hot look he’d given me earlier hadn’t faded much. He pulled the photo of us from his pocket. “You found this? That’s what you wanted to ask me about?”
“I changed my mind. I don’t need to know.” Some questions were better not having the answers to.
“Keira—”
“Can you drive me back to Hartley? I really need to get home. Sleeping here last night was just a precaution. Right? The coast is clear now.”
He studied me. “I’ll take you home. We can check your house, make sure there’s no reason for concern. Could someone stay with you tonight? Brynn? I’ll feel better if I know you’re not alone.”
“Probably.” I could give her a call later, but I wasn’t excited about the thought of keeping so much from her.
But I’d figure that out later. Staying under the same roof with this man any longer was going to do me in.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Keira
“I feellike I should explain to you about the photo,” Dean said.
I adjusted the strap of my sling. Sunlight strobed between trees as we drove down the highway. “It’s not necessary.”
“You seemed to think it was necessary earlier. Enough to come upstairs and confront me.”
“I wasn’tconfrontingyou.”
“The way you were stomping sounded confrontational.”
“So you heard me coming?” I glared from the corner of my eye. “Why’d you drop your towel, then?”
