He worked his jaw back and forth, fisting and unfisting his hands at his sides.
Great, she knew that look—that motion. Lane wouldn’t back down until after a long, hard fight she wasn’t prepared to have.
“Celine, I asked you to leave the door open for me. Just a little. I want to do this for you and Parker. I haven’t been here toprotect either of you, to provide or support. This is a small thing I want—hell, Ineed—to do.”
Silence stretched between them as she played through all the ways accepting his offer could come back to bite her in the ass.
“If I get a security system in place by tonight, you won’t have to stay with your mom at all.” The whisper of a smile playing on his lips told her that not only did he understand her kryptonite but that he’d would use it against her.
And dang it, it worked.
“Fine,” she finally said and hoped like hell she wouldn’t regret it.
5
Lane stepped out of the shower and towel dried quickly before throwing on a clean pair of jeans and short-sleeved t-shirt. Water dripped from his hair—he really did need to get a trim soon. But that could wait. He had to get to the store and find a security system then figure out how the hell to install it.
At least he had a job to do, a task to keep his hands and mind busy. Sitting idly wasn’t a strong suit of his.
The blast of the doorbell had him rushing from the bathroom and down the stairs. He didn’t have time for whoever had stopped by. Probably some nosy neighbor with a casserole who wanted to know his plans for the house.
A problem for another day.
Yanking open the door, he prepared for a quick and painful encounter only to come face-to-face with the last person he expected to see standing on his porch.
“Duke?”
Duke Pierson swept his tan cowboy hat off his head and gave a mocking bow. “The one and only.”
“What the hell are you doing here?”
Instead of answering, Duke hoisted a large duffle higher on his shoulder then brushed past Lane to enter the house. His long, low whistle echoed off the high ceiling. “Damn, check out these digs. Not too shabby, bud.”
Lane didn’t know if he was amused or annoyed, but either way it was clear Duke hadn’t tracked him down for a quick hello. Sighing, he closed the door. Duke wasn’t exactly a friend. More like a fellow competitor—a bull rider he’d met on the circuit years ago. The two pushed each other to do better, compete harder. Often trading positions at the top with each new ride.
If he was a chick, he’d call the guy a frenemy. Instead, he usually just called him an ass.
“How’d you know I was here?” he asked.
Duke tossed his bag on the ground and shrugged. “You mentioned your hometown a time or two over a beer. Figured if you can’t ride, you’d come home. Once I was in town, didn’t take much to track you down. Got to love small towns.”
Lane grunted his disagreement. “That still doesn’t explain why you wanted to find me in the first place.”
“Needed a break,” Duke said, lifting a candlestick from the entryway table and looking at the bottom before he set it back down. “If you’re not around for me to go up against, felt like a good time to take it.”
“And you decided to take it here?”
Duke scratched the whiskers along his jawline. “It’s as good a place as any. At least for a little while.”
“So you’re what? Staying?”
“This place is big enough. There’s got to be a spare room or two where I can crash.”
Lane’s mind struggled to keep up with what the hell was happening. So now he had an unexpected houseguest to deal with. “Fine. I don’t have time to deal with whatever shit you havegoing on. I was just about to head out. There’s a couple extra rooms on the third floor. Take whichever one you want.”
“Where you going?”
Struggling to keep his composure, Lane stuffed his feet in his cowboy boots he’d left by the door. “Gotta find a security system. I’ll be shocked if there are any in town, so chances are high I’ll have to drive longer than necessary just to grab one.”
