I’m not supposed to be seeing this. He’s not supposed to be here.Even though those facts blink brightly in some part of my brain, I can’t look away from all that tanned skin. My gaze slides higher, over a muscular chest slick with water; up to a corded neck, the muscles of which flex; and farther still, to a strong chin covered in day-old scruff.
He’s holding a cell phone up to his ear, but his mouth isn’t moving.
When I meet his hard eyes that are narrowed into black slits, my brain finally catches up. Yup. There’s a naked man in my childhood bedroom.
Shit. There’s a naked man in my bedroom.
With nothing useful to protect myself, I do the next best thing and scream bloody murder.
CHAPTER 2
Walker
Ah, what the fuck?“Billie, I gotta go.”
“Who is that?” my sister asks, although it’s hard to hear her through the phone with the woman in front of me screaming her head off. Even with her face red and contorted in anger, it’s easy to see she’s pretty. I’ve seen pictures of her around the house, so I know who she is. I just don’t know why the fuck she’s here.
“It’s the other Darling girl. I’ll call you back in a second.” I toss the phone toward the bed, not waiting for my sister to acknowledge me. She’s used to few words. She’d be more concerned if I actually tried to have a conversation with her.
I tighten my towel and hold out my free hand to the banshee in front of me. I’m not sure she’s all there right now. She’s screaming like the noise itself is all she knows to do. Like her brain has stopped working.
Approaching her carefully, I take a step forward. “Ma’am.”
She flails her arms at me. “Don’t you come near me. I’m trained in Krav Maga.”
I straighten. “What?”
The woman nods aggressively, the chestnut hair that frame her face bouncing with the movement. Then she puts her hands up in a fighting stance. Or at least whatshemight call a fighting stance.
“Yup. So go on, get out of here. We’ve got nothing butflowers on this farm. No money, no liquor. You got your warm shower, now get out of here.”
It hits me that this woman has no idea who I am. Interesting. Figured her sister would have warned her about me, considering how distrustful she’s been. Or maybe her mom.
The nosy people in this town can’t help but run their mouths, so she must not have stopped anywhere before arriving at the farm.
For what seems like the thousandth time today, I ask myself why I’m still here. Why I stayed after Peter Darling died. It’s certainly not for the money. The only reason I said yes to Peter in the first place was because of my sister, Billie, and my nephew, Quinn. They deserve a place like this, a safe place to land. Which is exactly what the farm was—until this woman walked in.
I really didn’t think she’d come back. The way everyone talked about Peter Darling’s youngest daughter, it seemed like she was addicted to the road.
“Stop casing the joint. There’s nothing here you want.” The woman’s words draw me back to the present. When I focus on her, I find her amber eyes trailing around the room. With her attention not on me, I take the opportunity to study her. Wearing a pair of jeans that mold to her curvy hips and small waist and a green ribbed sweater that dips down low, exposing perky breasts that would more than fill my hands, she makes it hard to focus on anything else. Wild caramel waves almost hit her elbows as she continues the slow perusal of my space.
“Not much I want here, either,” she whispers to herself.
“Exactly. So why don’t you go on and get back to where you came from?” The words slip out gruff. My voice is gravel—staring at this woman has my throat dry and my heart beating rapidly. Every second I spend in her presence I find another thing attractive about her. Long black lashes that flutter in surprise, a golden ring hanging from her neck, dipping between her breasts. Pouty lips that pop open in rage.
I don’t normally censor myself, but from the look on her face, I know I’ve fucked up. I was supposed to be easing her into the truth, letting her come to terms with the fact that this was no longer her room, before kicking her out.
Except a few seconds in the presence of a pretty girl already has me forgetting the plan.
Her eyes widen and then she’s back to screaming again.
Ah, hell.
“Tally!” A voice hollers from downstairs. Thank fuck someone is here to talk some sense into her. Footsteps thunder up the stairs and then Penny appears in the doorway, out of breath and holding her chest. “Tally—” Her head falls forward as she tries to catch her breath. “There’s a man staying in your room.”
Tally glares from me to her sister. My hand grips the towel tighter, and I realize just how naked I am in front of both of Peter Darling’s girls right now. Something I promised him would never happen.
“Why?” is all Tally grits out.
