Like I’d delivered some sort of wound-inflicting blow.
He warred, his strong jaw tight before he finally rumbled, “Had some business to attend to.”
“At two in the morning?”
Damn it, I was about the shyest person around, but I never could keep my mouth shut around him.
He shifted toward me.
A tidal wave of animosity.
He leaned in my direction.
He smelled of the woods and fresh, clean soap.
I bet if I ran my fingers through his hair, it would still be damp.
“Don’t try to dig inside me, Daisy. You aren’t going to like what you find.”
I lifted my chin, hoping it wasn’t shaking. “I always liked everything about you.”
He barely shook his head. “I’m willing to bet that is about to change.”
He seemed…angrier this morning. As if something had cracked between when he left last night and right then.
Maybe it was me having the audacity to touch myself in his bed. What kind of houseguest was I?
“Never,” I rushed.
Cash might have been staring me down, but something in those hazel eyes shifted. Something soft cloaked in the hard edges that had shaped him.
Intensity billowed in between.
Uncertainty and old, old dreams.
He suddenly pulled away, and he shifted to plant both hands on the island counter. “Spent the morning trying to track down your ex.”
Spite poured from his mouth, while a gush of dread spiraled through the middle of me.
Terror at the thought that Ethan could be anywhere. Right here, lurking in this place that somehow made me feel sheltered and secure. Knowing he wanted me dead. Not sure the lengths that he would go to achieve.
But I was also caught up in wondering how in the world Cash would track him down?
I gulped, before I forced out craggy words. “Did you find him?”
The shake of Cash’s head was sharp, and his tattooed hands turned into fists against the stone. “No, but I will. I promise you.”
My brow pinched. “How?”
“Have my ways.”
My stomach tightened at the way he said it. It was almost a threat. An innuendo. Like he was trying to tell me something that he couldn’t.
“Did you think about what I asked you?” I choked it out, turning to what was most important.
The laugh he released was hollow. “It’s the only thing I’ve been thinkin’ about, Daisy. That and how when I’m finished it’s not going to be necessary. Until then, you and those kids stay here.”
It’s not going to be necessary.
