“No,” he gasped in horror.
“They sent me a photo of me coming back in the states. I just ran; I couldn’t bear going home.”
“What are you going to do now? Move somewhere else?”
“I’ll come back in a few days. A friend is looking into the photos to see if they can track the person down who took them.”
“A friend.” David’s tone stiffened. If Fiona had to guess, she would almost say David sounded jealous. She had always known David had a crush on her, but she had been firm in the beginning that they would only ever be friends. She thought of him as a brother more than anything else. And just like a brother, he got defensive when there was mention of someone knew in her life. As if she was going to replace him.
“He’s just a friend, David, relax.” Fiona rolled her eyes, though she knew David couldn’t see it.
“He? Who is this guy? Does your family know about him?”
“David, stop,” Fiona snapped. “I get enough questions from my family; I don’t need it from you too. He works with my brother who trusts him.” It had been a mistake to call David. He was turning into a worrywart and was stressing her out more than relaxing her. “I have to go.” She hung up on him and turned the phone off for good measure. Great, now she was wound up and very much awake. There was only one thing she could think of to do now to relax.
After shutting all the lights off and checking the doors, she tiptoed upstairs. Her gaze flicked over toVincent’sroom as she entered the guest room and closed the door. She’d made it clear she would not sleep in her brother’s room. It would feel too weird. She wondered how many women had slept on those sheets, and god knew what else he had done in that bed, and she shuddered. There were just certain things a sister should never know about her brother.
Oh god, was her bed any safer? She hadn’t thought about that before falling asleep in the bed this morning.
Fiona went back out into the hallway, opening and closing doors, looking for spare sheets. She would never get to sleep if she had to keep wondering what she was sleeping on. After the third try, she found spare sheets tucked in the bottom of the closet shelf. Score!
Fiona went back to the room, stripped down the bed and placed fresh sheets on it. She left the comforter off, making a mental note to do laundry tomorrow. Fiona got ready for bed in record time. She was glad she went shopping earlier and bought a spare toothbrush. AllJoaquínhad in all of his cabinets was condoms. Seriously, how many condoms did one man need? Every drawer in the bathroom had boxes upon boxes of them.So gross.
Fiona lay in bed on the fresh, clean sheets and pillowcase, staring up at the ceiling fan. She had hoped the bedtime routine would help convince herself it was time for bed, but she was wide awake. There was only one thing that helped her fall asleep each night. She chewed on her thumbnail, debating if she should or not. She needed the sleep after the long trip that took until this morning and only getting a few hours of sleep before Vincent had scared her awake.
Just as she was getting up the nerve to play with herself so she could sleep, she heard a door open down the hall. Fiona froze. Vincent had emerged. She stared at her door as she heard his footsteps come down the hall. She wondered if he was going to check on her. Hope bloomed in her chest but quickly died when the footsteps continued down the hall to downstairs without pause.
Shedidn’tthink it was a coincidence that hedidn’temerge until she was in bed. He was purposely avoiding her. She should take that as a hint, but shehadn’tmissed all the come-ons during the day or the hard-on when he ran away from her. He wanted her, he was just trying to avoid her. Idiot probably thought he was being noble or some stupid shit. It was sweet, but what she wanted was him. She always had and she would always regret if she never tried.
Fiona jumped out of bed and was standing in the threshold when she stopped. Now wasn’t the time to go chasing after him. He would just come up with some stupid excuse of why they couldn’t sleep together if she brought it up. She had to seduce him. Wear him down. Tomorrow, she needed to make a plan. Fiona locked the door and padded back to bed. In moments she was sweating. The room was warm and the fan was doing little to cool her. Didn’tJoaquínhave air-conditioning? Fiona opened the window and stripped down to her tank top and panties, feeling instant relief. It was still warm but not as muggy as Florida could be. She would figure out the air conditioner tomorrow; right now, all she wanted was sleep. The past twenty-fours were catching up with her. If she was being honest, the past few weeks were catching up with her.
Chapter 10
Vince flopped down on the couch with a sigh. He had been going stir-crazy hiding in his room all day, and that’s what he had been doing. Hiding, from a woman. That was a first. Fiona affected him in a way that was completely foreign to him. He needed to get himself undercontrol or he was sure to lose his mind. Or have painful balls.
He had never walked around with a boner for so long before. He had stripped down to his boxers to alleviate some of the pressure. It wasn’t like Fiona was going to see him like this. He had made sure to wait until she went to bed before leaving his room. He was purposely avoiding her.
All because he was afraid he wouldn’t be able to resist her and would sleep with her. How pathetic was that? Itdidn’tmatter how many times he had told himself she was his best friend’s sister, or that she was younger than him, or, hell, that she was still a virgin. None of it mattered when he saw her. All his brain processed was that she was a beautiful woman and he wanted her. Plain and simple. But there was nothing simple about it. She was completely off limits. If Ortiz ever found out that he had kissed her, twice, he’d be a dead man.
He just needed to come up with some brilliant idea to keep his dick in his pants and not get hard every time he saw her so he could keep her safe, because hiding in his room was not going to cut it.
Maybe he should just cave in and get it out of his system.
That was a terrible idea. One, her brother would kill him. Two, he had a feeling once wouldn’t be enough, even if he did have a policy of never sleeping with the same woman more than once, and her brother would still kill him.
Vincescrubbed his hands over his face, wondering what he was going to do. None of his options were turning favorable for him. Ortiz either killed him or he died from blue balls. There wasn’t a chance of him hooking up with someone while he was staying with Fiona. That was a recipe for disaster and would leave Fiona vulnerable.
Nope, he would just have to man up and protect Fiona while keeping his hands to himself. A task that sounded easier than it really was, but hedidn’thave a choice. He promised Ortiz he would keep Fiona safe and he would.
Vinceturned his head and caught a whiff of her citrus scent. He couldn’t escape her anywhere in this house. He relaxed on the couch, bringing the pillow to his nose and breathing deeply. His dick immediately twitched. He really was just torturing himself. Maybe he should take Fiona’s advice and stay outside. It wasn’t like anything would get through him to get to her. She was on the second floor and there wasn’t any way for someone to get to her without going through a door or bringing a ladder. He was being paranoid in staying with her. Tomorrow he’d move out and give her some space.
Vince didn’tknow how long he sat there in the dark, staring at nothing while his mind wandered, when a blood-curdling scream rent the air.Vincewas up and running up the stairs before he knew he was moving. He took the stairs two at a time, reaching the top in seconds. Twisting the doorknob, his heart plummeted when he felt it locked.
“Fiona,” he yelled, banging his fist on the door. “Open up.”
“Help me. Don’t touch me. Help.”
Vince didn’tthink, he just started ramming his shoulder into the door until it swung in, breaking the door and frame. He’d fix it later. Ortiz would understand his sister’s life had been in jeopardy.
