Kayne didn’t buy it.Shocker.“Sit down, Chloe.”
“I don’t need to sit.”
“Then humor me.”He tapped the back of her sofa.He fully expected compliance and was no doubt prepared to pick her up if he didn’t get it.
She huffed, but she sat.Because she wanted to.Not because a six-foot-five Cajun demigod told her to.Obviously.
Kayne crouched in front of her, forearms braced on his quadriceps.Up close, she could see the darker ring of green around his irises, and great, now her heart was doing gymnastics.
“Talk to me.”
She swallowed.“It all happened so fast.Both times.I’d finally recovered from the first attempt when he came at us again.”
“It’s okay to be scared.You held up.”His voice softened.“I’m proud of you.”
Proud of her.
He’d practically wrapped two warm hands around her heart and given it a reassuring but emotionally inconvenient hug.
Chloe forced a smile.“Thanks.I still feel like a vibrating phone on a glass table.”
Kayne chuckled.“Pretty accurate description.”
A knock sounded on her door.
Kayne’s head snapped toward it so fast she was surprised his neck didn’t crack.“Expecting company?”
She shook her head.Leo would’ve texted.She checked her phone.No Leo, but several from Danica.
Chloe peeked out the window and then wished she hadn’t.Danica breezed inside in a cloud of perfume.“Oh, my God,finally.I’ve been texting for an hour.One of the construction workers saw you almost get run over, then your car was in the lot but you weren’t, and honestly, if I have to drag information out of this family like a dentist doing medieval tooth extractions—”
Her rant screeched to a halt when she spotted Kayne behind Chloe.
“Kayne, I didn’t know you would be here.”
Kayne straightened to his full height, the picture of a polite Southern menace.“Evenin’.”
Danica practically melted into the floorboards.
“You know, it’s been bothering me since we met, how familiar you look.You remind me of a romance-novel cover.Of course she’d hide you.”
Heat crept up Chloe’s neck.“Danica, stop.”
“I’m just saying,” Danica continued, hands flying, “he could pass as a bodyguard, but like, the sexy kind who ends up shirtless by chapter three.”
Kayne’s lips twitched.Possibly amusement.Probably an urgent desire to evacuate the building.
Chloe folded her arms.“Why are you here?”
“To check on you!I thought you might be dead.But clearly you’re alive.And clearly you’ve upgraded your dating pool.”
Kayne shifted slightly in front of Chloe.“We’re fine.Just rattled.”
Danica’s eyes narrowed shrewdly.“So it was bad.”She pivoted back to Chloe.“Are you okay?Really?”
Chloe felt her throat soften.“I’m fine.It was just scary.”
“Andhesaved you, didn’t he?”Danica tipped her chin at Kayne.“Look at him.He screams, ‘I save distressed women for breakfast.’He’s basically a human shield with cheekbones.”She leaned around him.“So how serious is this?Should I be picking out bridesmaid dresses?Do you need me to vet him?I’m amazing at spotting discrepancies.”
