He felt that stir in his blood again, the one that was almost indistinguishable from lust.
Apparently, stealing from Haseya wasn’t the only high he could get off on.
Moving around the side of the house, he kept his steps light and his head low. In his ski mask and black hoodie, he was a shadow within shadows.
The gate to her fenced-in backyard hung drunkenly at an angle. He kicked it with the toe of his boot.
It gave easily, issuing the only invitation he needed.
He stepped into her domain, keeping close to the house. He sidestepped a pile of construction debris—mostly demo work, from what he could tell. On the back deck, a saw had been set up with trim pieces of varying lengths scattered around it.
He eyed the back of the house, trying to decide which window would give him a clear view of her bedroom. Potentially, of her.
His body flushed with heat in the cold night, surprising in its intensity. The winter grass was sparse, and his boots squelched through mud as he crossed the steps of the deck.
His footsteps didn’t make a sound on the wooden slats. He was a mountain lion stalking a sleek winter fox, cloaked by night. Sly. Unseen.
Hungry.
His heart thundered inside his head. His perception swam liquidly through the haze of his excitement.
He didn’t realize he was standing at her back door until his breath fogged the glass of the half-light entrance.
He didn’t realize his hand was on the knob until it turned under his hand.
Unlocked.
He heard his own sharp, ragged breathing. He hadn’t planned this, any of it.
And yet…she’d left the door unlocked. Open.
For him.
He pushed the door wide. The rusted hinges gave a plaintive shriek.
The alarming bay of a dog’s howl brought him up short of entering Haseya’s silent abode.
Chapter 9
Nick propped his head against his uninjured hand. He felt like he was still floating on the sedative, heavy and listless.
Sassy plonked a coffee mug on the table beneath his nose.
He grunted in gratitude.
“How’d you sleep, caveman?” she asked as her hand came to rest against his shoulder.
Was what he’d done last night in her guest bed sleeping? He’d had to climb and claw his way out of it. When he’d finally managed to open his eyes, it had felt like his eyelids were doing dead lifts. He’d half expected to find himself locked inside a coffin, six feet under.
Summoning the energy to answer her inquiry, he lifted his wrapped hand in an empty gesture and winced when the pain gnawed at him. The swelling had gone down somewhat, but the discomfort wasn’t going anywhere anytime soon.
“You were pretty out of it last night.”
He dragged his gaze up to hers. She snatched her eyes away from his in a guilty motion that made no sense. Wetting his throat, he gripped the handle of the mug and noted the half-moon circles under her eyes. “What kept you awake?” he rasped.
She avoided looking at him again. “I don’t know,” she said, concentrating hard on the spoon she dragged through the coffee to mix in her go-to caramel creamer. “I just…couldn’t settle.”
He frowned. So not only was he burdening her with his presence, her worries over him were keeping her up at night. He scowled at the ACE wrap.Nice going, jackass.
