Biology being what it was, and everything.
Then his good hand was beneath the back of her own shirt. Toying with the hook on her bra. Brushing against her skin. Scorching her. The man was hot, after all. It was rather hard to miss.
She pulled back and looked at him. If they were going to do this… “No backing out. No getting scared of the big bad Madison at the last minute. We’re both adults here. Whatever happens here, stays here. And between us. We can figure out the rest later.”
It was about time she took the reins of her life once again. Stopped being afraid.
And went after what she wanted.
She had wanted nothing more in her life than she wanted the man in front of her to hold her.
Until the night was replaced by morning.
Was that so much to ask?
Then her man was touching her, and nothing had ever feltmore right.
71
Dom held her there,on the couch, all night. He’d thought about carrying her to the back of the house and tucking her into the bed in the master. But he didn’t want to disturb her while she was actually sleeping.
And he had a lot to think about. He didn’t know what to do next. He couldn’t let her go. And if they went forward, what did he have to offer her? A plain apartment he was rarely at? Him working longer and longer hours for the TSP every damned year? He was cranky, moody, consumed with whatever was going on in his head at any one time, he knew himself well. His ex had hammered it home, too.
He wasn’t exactly the kind of man a woman stuck with long term. At least not a decent woman anyway.
All he knew was no one on the planet had ever mattered to him more than the woman he was holding. Dom didn’t have a clue what he was going to do about her now.
If he screwed this up any more than he had, it would mess up everything he valued in this world.
She shifted in his arm. Dom pulled her close. They’d dressed after they’d finished. He hadn’t wanted to be caught off guard,just in case. He hadn’t slept much, just dozed. He hadn’t lost sight of the fact that they’d basically committed a crime even by being here. That was something he’d have to square up with the Colesons. He’d replace the packages of snack crackers and jar of peanut butter they’d found in the cabinet later. The house had shown signs of relatively recent occupancy and repair work. Madison had said the man was getting the house ready to list or something.
It had just been damned convenient here. He knew she was afraid.
He would do his damnedest to protect her, going forward.
But when he got back to Finley Creek, it was time to find the bastards who had done this, in the first place. Dom was going hunting. Because those bastards had been a bit too close to her. And no one was going to hurt her ever again.
He heard a sound. An engine—a quiet one, but someone was out there.
He jerked from the couch, waking her. He pulled her close and whispered in her ear. “Quiet. Someone is out there.”
“What do we do?”
“You go upstairs. Hide in the attic. I’m going to see who it is.”
It was most likely the damned Oklahoma cops. Someone had probably seen something they shouldn’t. Now they were screwed. If the cops in this town turned them in—Dom couldn’t predict who the TSP would send to get them. Or if they’d rot in an Oklahoma jail waiting for it to all be sorted out. And they’d be separated.
He wasn’t going to let that happen.
“Oh, no. Not happening. You are not shaking me that easily. You aremycaveman now, and I am not letting you escape.”
They didn’t have time to argue. Besides, if they needed to run for her car—he wanted her where he could get to her. But…that would put her too damned close to whatever was about to happen. “Stay close to me. No matter what.”
He went to the window and looked out. No one was there. But he’d heard something. He was sure of it.
The sound of the door opening in the kitchen was all the validation he needed. He put his body between Madison’s and the kitchen door. They didn’t have time to get out now. Not before they were seen.
Confrontation was the only real option.
