Blood flew south as he stood up, walked past, and then exhaled when he closed the bathroom door behind him. A workout could wait. A shower could ease some of the muscle tension. It wasn’t taking all his considerable willpower to force his body not to act on its own accord.
Would she welcome his touch? His kiss?
Rather than fall down that rabbit hole, he took a cold shower and threw on a pair of pajama pants. Normally, he wore boxers to bed. He’d packed the lounge pants for her sake.
Blaize cut off the light as he opened the door and realized he was in complete darkness. It was fine. He’d memorizedthe layout and could navigate getting to bed all right without tripping over anything as long as he kept one hand on the wall.
His phone sat on the desk. He made his way over without bumping a shin—a miracle. Carys’s soft, steady breathing said she was already asleep. She probably conked out the second her head hit the pillow.
After dimming his screen, he slipped underneath the covers. The temptation to pull her into his arms was a physical ache.
He closed his eyes and refocused. Tires. Those were the least sexy things he could think about. He needed to get new tires on his Jeep in the near future.
As though sensing his mental battle, Carys rolled over and settled into the crook of his arm. She slung her leg over his. He was thankful for the thin layers of material preventing skin from touching bare skin. That would be his undoing.
Eventually, he drifted off.
THE SUN PEEKEDthrough the small slit in the curtains Blaize had kept open. Blackout curtains threw him off too much. He didn’t know when to open his eyes if they were closed all the way. It was disorienting. He needed the sun as much as he needed the expansive Texas sky.
Carys’s warm limbs entwined with his. Her hair splayed across the pillow. She smelled like a field of wildflowers.
Caffeine. Blaize needed to untangle himself or risk waking her, and he sure as hell couldn’t stay there while his fingers burned to touch every curve of that beautiful body.
With effort, he managed to slide away and out from underneath the covers. A glance at his phone said it was half past nine in the morning. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d slept this late no matter what time he went to bed.
The sun was bright. He moved quietly through the room, made coffee, and washed up. After a cup, he could figure out what to do about food. There was probably a power bar in his backpack tucked in the front pocket. He usually kept that or a small bag of trail mix for easy access to keep from starving.
After sitting down to nurse his coffee, he checked the address again. He looked it up using the map feature on his phone. The house was listed on a popular real estate site five years ago. The pictures were still up. The two-bedroom light yellow house had a one-vehicle carport and black metal bars on the windows. Electric cables ran on the street out front. The yard was small, not giving much separation from the busy street. A small tree blocked much of the house from view.
Inside, the front door led straight into the living room. The kitchen was eat-in. Both bedrooms were in the back of the house. The place was surrounded by low trees that could offer some coverage as they approached.
If the occupants had a dog, they would be busted walking up. Could he and Carys come up with a reason for being there? Knock on the front door? Put on some type of maintenance jumper?
Where would they get one? It wasn’t like they sold uniforms at the local big-box store.
Then again, he wouldn’t know. It wasn’t like he spent a lot of time in those places. He got in and out as fast as possible on the occasion he needed to go inside one.
Back to the phone screen, he studied the layout of the home. He “walked” the neighborhood as best as he could to get the lay of the land. Once on the ground, they needed to appear they knew what they were doing or risk drawing attention. Could they walk down the street holding hands? Pretend to be a couple like they had last night? The move was starting to feel a littletoo natural with Carys, like they had a rhythm and had been together in another lifetime. Or something like that.
Hell, he didn’t normally go full-on romantic. She had a way of bringing out a different side to him. Or maybe he was just trying to rationalize an attraction that was never meant to be understood.
It had been so long since he’d been on a date, would he even know what one looked like now? Not to mention the fact Carys was almost ten years younger than him. Were they too far apart in age? Did they want different things at this point in their lives?
Funny. He didn’t want anything except to save the ranch and keep Kit where she belonged. Forty-eight hours made a helluva difference in life. With Lynn, he was reminded that life could change on a dime. With Carys, he saw that as a good thing.
“What time is it?” Carys asked, sitting up and gently rubbing her eyes.
He glanced at the clock. “Ten fifteen.”
“I overslept,” she said, pushing the covers off and throwing long legs over the side. He couldn’t help but remember how good it felt when she’d entwined them with his.
“No, it’s fine.”
“Are you sure? You must be starving by now,” she said as she stretched. He forced his gaze away from the way the cotton pressed against her breasts.
“I’m good. I haven’t been awake for very long. This is my first cup of coffee, and I’m about to make my second. Would you like one, or do you need food first?”
“What do you think about ordering room service?”
