“I think he’s right, pretty girl. Come on, I’ll walk you back.” He reached down and grabbed my hand. Before I could fully appreciate what it felt like to have a man’s hand in mine, I found myself standing next to the table.
I blinked. “You think I’m pretty?” I heard a snort come from Gage and glanced at him just to see him shaking his head. My face fell at the knowledge that the most gorgeous man I’d ever seen thought that I was ridiculous for even asking if I was pretty. “Right,” I sighed. I looked back up at Ry. “I’m good to walk, you don’t have to bother.”
“It’s no bother, Parker,” he said with a frown.
I just shook my head. “It’s okay. I can make it a few hundred yards, remember?” I turned to face Gage, careful to keep my expression neutral and professional, and held out my hand. “Goodnight, Gage. It was nice meeting you.” I watched as he stared at me with a strange expression. At his hesitance to shake, I closed my hand into a fist, letting my fingernails dig into my palm, and dropped it to my side. “Okay,” I muttered. “Goodnight, Detective Nakamura. I’ll see you in the morning,” Isaid, not really meeting his eyes and just wanting to escape the tension that had built in the room again.
Without waiting for a response, I turned and headed for the front door, certain that I could find my way out of the huge house. I almost made a wrong turn once, but caught myself before fully committing to the mistake. I was proud of myself when I saw the big, glass door.
Just as I opened it, a large hand came to rest on my shoulder. I looked up to see bright blue eyes staring down at me from a golden, tanned face and froze.
“It was nice meeting you, Parker. I look forward to seeing you tomorrow. If you would like breakfast, you’re more than welcome to join us in the morning.”
All I could do was nod. It was more of an acknowledgement of his invitation than an agreement to come to another meal, and he seemed to recognize that. There was a flash of what looked like regret in his eyes, but it was gone before I could be certain.
Gage stepped back, allowing me space to finish opening the door. “Good night, Parker,” he said softly. I saw Ry step to his side, and both men reached out to each other, just as I turned and began walking across the wide porch and down the steps. It was a short walk to my cabin, or cottage. Whatever it was, it was a small wooden building that I would be sleeping in.
I heaved out a heavy breath as I finally stepped onto the much smaller, yet still impressive porch. I sank onto the top step and stared up at the impressive star-filled sky. Dinner was an experience I wasn’t eager to replay. I couldn’t help but think that I’d made a massive fool of myself.
As I sat there staring up at the cosmos, I wondered if I would ever get over the embarrassment of the evening. Suddenly, the silence was broken by the sound of a door opening. I turned in the direction of the cabin beside mine. I hadn’t thought it was occupied, because unlike mine, it had no flowers hanging fromthe awning. Frankly, it looked empty. But there was definitely someone stepping out onto the porch.
The sound of footsteps as the person walked across the wooden boards sounded strange, almost like metal was hitting the wood every other step. It took me too long to figure out that the sound was made from the man’s prosthetic leg.
My curiosity grew, and I found myself trying to see through the darkness, but it was just too dark out. Suddenly, there was a bright flare as the man lit a match and brought it close to light a cigar clenched between his teeth.
It was as if time froze as I took in the impressive figure. His chest was bare, showing off an impressive play of muscles and deep lines of an Adonis belt at his narrow hips. His hair was pulled back into a bun at the back of his head. But what had me gasping was the thick scars that ran down his left side from his jaw, his arm, and finally disappeared under his sweatpants.
I hadn’t seen his facial features with the way he’d been standing, but at my gasp, he turned to look in my direction. He had a straight, regal nose and a sharp jawline that seemed to be even sharper as he ground his teeth together in agitation. I couldn’t see his eye color, but I would guess that he had dark eyes. His lips were hidden by the cigar he held between them.
I couldn’t help but wonder if this were him, the man they’d mentioned at dinner. “Dante,” I whispered. Just like that, the flame died, and we were plunged back into darkness even thicker than before. I didn’t have to wonder if the man was pissed. In the next second, I heard the front door to the cabin slam shut.
Chapter 10
Gage
Istepped out onto the porch behind Ry and watched with him as the FBI agent walked down the driveway until she reached the porch of her cabin. It was dark; only the porch light gave enough light to see that she hadn’t immediately entered the cabin, but instead sat down on the porch step.
I was about to turn around and face Ry’s wrath that I could feel brewing behind me, but the door opening to the cabin next to the FBI agent’s had me freezing. There was no telling how Dante would react once he realized that the woman had been housed directly next to him.
“Oh shit,” Ry mumbled quietly.
Yeah, that was a suitable reaction to the situation. Dante would never physically hurt a woman, but he had stopped caring about hurting anyone’s feelings a long time ago. We watched silently as Dante stepped out onto his dark porch. Unlike the woman, his porchlight was off, leaving him in a shroud of darkness.
There was a flicker and then light from a match held in Dante’s hand. I couldn’t hear anything from the distance wewere standing from them, but I imagine the woman, Parker, must have made some noise because Dante froze with the match held to the tip of his cigar.
Time itself seemed to freeze as we held our breaths. Suddenly, the light disappeared, leaving the darkness, thicker than ever, to once again take over the porch. In the next instant, the door to Dante’s cabin opened and then slammed shut loud enough to be heard over the ranch.
I winced at the sound. A part of me worried about the structural integrity of the doorframe after an impact like that. The other part of me worried for my friend. Sighing loudly, but glad that he hadn’t reacted worse, I turned around to face my boyfriend. With my shoulders back, I eyed him, not surprised to see a glare on his handsome face.
“Alright, hit me with it.” Ry continued to glare, making me sigh again. “Look, I didn’t mean to hurt her feelings, alright? I was just trying to figure her out. One minute she was laughing hysterically, the next she was acting weird.”
“She thought you were making fun of her when she asked if she was pretty,” he accused. “You know fucking well she’s gorgeous. Why did you have to put her down like that?”
I grimaced and rubbed the back of my neck. “I really didn’t mean to,” I repeated. “I’m not good at this shit, okay?”
“Then,” he poked my chest with a finger, really reiterating his words, “when she tried to shake your hand, you refused to even touch her.”
I frowned. “She didn’t give me a chance.”
