Knox strode forward, clapping him on the shoulder. “It’s getting late, and I’ve got a mate waiting for me inside.”
“Yeah,” Razor agreed. “Any chance I could pop that flash drive into a computer tonight yet and see what I can find on it?”
“No chance of that in my house,” Knox said with a smirk. “I don’t have much use for technology up here, but Leni’s sister and nephew should be able to help you out tomorrow. Shannon caved and bought Riley a laptop a couple months ago. The kid’s only seven, but he already knows more than I do about computers and software.”
“In other words, not much?” Razor quipped.
Knox grinned. “Not all of us are born hackers, Raze. Let’s go inside. I’ll ask Leni to call Shannon in the morning. Meanwhile, you’ve got someone waiting on you back in the house too.”
They exited the garage together, Knox switching off the small light on the way out. Heading back into the kitchen, they found the room empty, all the dishes cleaned and put away.
“Willow will be upstairs in the attic guest room,” Knox said, gesturing to the back stairwell. “Depending on how your conversation goes, you’ll find a pull-out sofa in the living room. Good luck, bro.”
Razor gave him a one-finger salute and shook his head. He waited until Knox had walked away to head up the front stairwell before he began the climb up to the attic. The door was closed, nothing but silence on the other side.
He hesitated there, debating whether he should disturb Willow or just head down to the living room for the night. His closed fist hovered an inch from the door, then, with a softly muttered curse, he let his knuckles rap lightly against the thick wood panel.
“Willow? You still awake?”
No reply. He stood there for a moment, telling himself to walk away. Just as he was about to turn and head back downstairs, he heard soft movement from inside as Willow approached the door.
She opened it slightly and peered around the panel. “Razor. Sorry, I was getting ready to take a bath when I heard you knock.”
Her mass of long brown hair was gathered in a loose twist at the back of her head and her freckled cheeks were flushed like ripe peaches. The shawl collar of a dove-gray flannel robe plunged dangerously low from what he could see through the narrow opening of the door.
Every male cell in his body fired off with instant awareness.
Big mistake coming up to talk to her this late at night.
He’d already seen her naked once before, and the memory of her lovely curves and soft, flawless skin had been living in vivid detail in his head ever since. Now he had the added torment of picturing her stepping into a tub full of frothy bubbles while he was going to be prowling the house like a wraith downstairs.
Fuck. He was going to kill Knox for sending him up to talk to her now instead of waiting until morning.
“I shouldn’t have disturbed you,” he muttered irritably. “I’ll leave you to it.”
He turned around, ready to make a hasty retreat.
“Razor, wait.” The door creaked open all the way and his boots halted on the top step. When he pivoted back, Willow was standing just inside the room, barefoot and adorable, looking like a dream wrapped in gray flannel. “You were gone quite a while with Knox. How did it go with him?”
“Good. Fine. No problems.” The words came out short and staccato, made worse by the roughness of his voice. Christ, could he sound any more dismissive?
Her expression seemed to say she agreed. “Okay, well . . . I just wondered.”
Razor ran a hand over his jaw. He didn’t want to leave her feeling like she was a bother to him, but he didn’t want to have this conversation on the attic steps either. “You should finish up . . . whatever it is you’re doing and get some rest. We can talk tomorrow.”
“You’re sure? I don’t mind if you want to come in,” she said, giving a mild shrug. “I’m too wired for sleep right now, anyway.”
The low sound he made in the back of his throat was somewhere between a growl and a groan. If he had any sense, or honor, he’d tell her goodnight and haul his already uncomfortable hard-on down to the living room sofa rather than accept her invitation to step inside. Especially while there was only a scrap of flannel standing between her luscious body and all his dark desires.
All the things he should do went up in flames as he stared at her in her current state of near-undress. “I guess I could come in for a minute.”
She stepped back, allowing him to stalk inside before closing the door behind them. “Leni left some clothes for you if you want them.”
He grunted, bypassing the open bathroom door where her bubble bath waited to instead glance at the foot of the bed where what looked to be a few items of Knox’s clothing lay folded next to some other items apparently given to Willow. Her hoodie and baggy jeans from the second-hand shop in Quebec City lay there too, along with her lacy bra and bikini panties.
The reminder that she was naked under that robe hit his senses like flash fire.
His gaze flared amber at the sweet, warm scent of her that still lingered on her shed clothing, and on the delectable woman standing right next to him. As if she wasn’t tempting enough already, he could hear the speeding pace of her heart. Could almost imagine how hot and fragrant her blood would be on his tongue. Not to mention all the other parts of her that he’d been dying to taste.
