“M’kay.” Trudy kissed Jethro’s neck and then turned for hermother’s arms.
Jethro took the hit to his heart andremained stoic.
The two disappeared down the hallway, and Wolfe stood there, grinninglike a lunatic.
“What?”Jethro snapped.
“You’ve got it bad, dude.” Wolfe turned and tried to set the door back into place. “Um, don’t tell Dana about this, okay?”
Jethro just rubbed his aching ribs.
* * * *
Gemma had just finished settling Trudy back into bed when her phone dinged. She hustled back into her room to read the text and then grabbed a sweatshirt she’d borrowed from Serena and pulled it over her head before walking back out to the livingroom. “Jethro?”
He stood at the door, trying to settle it back into place. The muscles in his back tightened withhis movements.
Hermouth went dry.
His broad shoulders tapered to his waist, showing twin dimples above his low-hanging sweats. She’d only seen those in pictures on the Internet and had never imagined they weren’t added in later. Then he turned, and his muscular chest caught her eye before her gaze traveled down. Holy crap, he had a clearly defined inguinal crease—that amazing V-shape that showed off his amazing abs. She’d thought only Mark Walberg had those.
Not to mention a six-pack. A clearly defined six-pack.
She couldn’t breathe. Her head spun. “Um.”
Jethro pushed his thick hair away from his face. “It’s the best I can do with the door tonight, but I’ll fix it tomorrow with more locks. We’re more than safe here, though.” He frowned, his face sharply angled and all male. “Did your phone buzz?”
“Phone?” She looked down at her hand. “Oh. Yeah. Phone.” She shook her head, glad she’d thrown on the sweatshirt. Her nipples were betraying her, and her body felt flushed. Head to toe. “It was an automated message. School is closed tomorrow due to weather.”
Which meant no flight for her. Any other options that stayingwere now gone.
“That’s good. Since Fletcher found you, I was going to suggest you work remotely anyway.” He crossed his arms, and damn if more muscles didn’t flex all over. “You lookdisappointed.”
She blew out air. “One of my options was to make a run for it again.” Might as well tellhim the truth.
“Interesting.” He loped toward the kitchen, all dangerous, muscled grace. His expression hadn’t altered one iota with her proclamation.
She gulped. “Aren’t you mad?”
He stopped, turned, and faced her. “Mad?” Those sparklingeyes glittered.
She almost took a step back. “Yes,”she whispered.
He tilted his head. “Yeah. I’m mad.” He looked at the broken door. “I have no clue at this point if I have a right to be angry or not, but I am. Nobody I know will hurt you. I have you in a safe place.” Heheld up a hand.
She cringed.
“Shite,” he muttered. Then he dropped to his knees before sitting flat on his butt, crossing his legs.
She blinked. Heat flared into her face. “Whatare you doing?”
“Looking harmless,” he said.
Amusement bubbled through her. “You don’t look harmless.” A bruise was forming on his chin from his fight with Wolfe, making him appear evenmore dangerous.
“Oh.” He looked at the hardwood floor. “I could lie down on my stomach, but that will make it difficult to talk.”
She couldn’t keep her smile from emerging. He really was cute in a sexy, deadly, 007 way. “What about on your knees like you were before? That’s how they get the bad guys off balance on television.” Now she was teasing him? When was the last time she’d just goofed off?
