“What?” He looked down at her bag and then released it just as quickly, like he’d completely forgotten he’d been holding it. He frowned as she slipped her phone haphazardly through the opening before slinging the bag over her shoulder. “Shouldn’t you be careful with how you’re handling that? The gun could go off.”
“Are you worried?” she teased.
“Yes,” he rumbled in answer. “I don’t like guns, and the thought of you getting hurt because of one is upsetting.”
Her eyes softened at his admission. “I’ve been going to gun ranges since I was a teen, Murphy. I can handle a weapon just fine. The pistol is in a holster, and the safety’s on,” she assured him softly, turning back to the front door. She made sure it was fully closed, grabbing the keys stuck in the lock and twisting until her home was secure.
“Who took you to gun ranges?” he asked curiously.
Nessa paused, bombarded by hundreds of memories all at once. The painful ones made her chest hurt, but that pain only deepened as she recalled each happy memory that now seemed tainted.
“My brother, Angelo,” she whispered.
Turning back to face Murphy, she studied him, determined to push her brother from her mind. His stubble was more pronounced this morning, and he looked far more tired than he had last night, which was saying something.
“I take it you didn’t come all this way to discuss gun safety with me. Or to scare the crap out of me, though you’ve already accomplished both. So what’s up? Is everything okay?”
Murphy’s eyes flashed gold for a brief second, and her breath caught. He blinked, shaking his head as if to clear it. “My bear was restless all night. He missed your presence,” he explained, his deep voice sending a shiver of delight down her spine.
A second later, that delight turned to disappointment, and her heart sank. Was it necessary to iterate that hisbearhad missed her? And why did that make her feel so miserable?
Determined to ignore it, Nessa sent him a small, probably awkward smile. “Are you implying that you want to hang out with me? Sorry—that yourbearwants to hang out with me?“ She smirked. “I am amazing, so I can’t fault him for his excellent taste in companions.”
“You’re humble, too,” Murphy replied with mock seriousness, stepping off the porch and onto her front lawn before turning to face her.
This time, when Nessa smiled at him, it was genuine. “Oh, definitely humble.”
She followed him onto her lawn, the need she’d felt to race to work completely erased in the wake of Murphy’s arrival. She enjoyed their banter and didn’t really want to bring it to an abrupt end by getting into her vehicle and driving away.
Besides, if his bear needed her closeness right now, she refused to leave him alone. Murphy obviously needed her help.
Yes, that’s why you don’t want to leave him. It’s strictly for his sake,a voice whispered sarcastically in her head.
“Can I interest you in some tea and snacks?” Nessa asked nonchalantly, moving toward her driveway. “I happen to know a fantastic establishment that serves both.” And considering the sweets she’d spotted in his pantry last night, she had a feeling he’d love the options at her teahouse.
Murphy fell into step beside her. “Can I exchange tea with something actually good, like coffee?”
Nessa gasped, clasping her heart dramatically as they reached the driver’s side of her SUV. “You’ll crush me if you say another disparaging word about tea, Murphy.”
“Crush you?” Murphy tsked. “I can’t have that, Nes.”
At the sound of her nickname, butterflies took flight in her stomach. Before she opened her car door, she turned back to him. “So you’ll come to the teahouse then? There’s not a lot of traffic in the morning, so you probably won’t have to deal with anyone but me.”
The last thing she wanted was to bring him into a hectic environment that might further irritate his bear.
“I’ll go anywhere you want,” Murphy replied absentmindedly, his gaze focused on her hair. He seemed fascinated by theridiculous color, which she never would have expected given how disciplined he was with his own appearance. He reached out, twisting a long strand around his finger. “You’ve dyed this recently, haven’t you? It’s different from when I first met you.”
He’d noticed that?
Nessa nodded, her pulse quickening as he stepped closer, the heat from his body surrounding her. “I darkened it a couple of shades a few weeks ago. It was more of a turquoise before,” she explained, her voice growing faint as his gaze traveled from her hair to her face, the sudden intensity in that look making her knees weak.
“I like it.” His eyes heated as they locked onto her lips, looking at her as hungrily as he had last night while he’d watched her eat. Her thighs clenched as that same delicious pressure built up in her core once more, need coursing through her.
Murphy’s nostrils flared, his eyes turning a fierce molten gold that had her panties soaked in a single second. Sexual tension sparked between them, so startling in its ferocity that Nessa choked on a breath, frozen in place like a deer caught in headlights.
Holy—
Murphy pushed into her space, his hard, hot body blanketing her as his large hands found her waist. Her palms were suddenly on his chest, though she couldn’t remember placing them there. Instead of feeling trapped or scared by his proximity, by his touch, her only concern was whether her underwear would burst into flames as sparks slid over every inch of her.
