Fury pushed up through her every other emotion, and it was a crowded field. “Law put you up to this. Don’t bother to lie. Tell him for me that I can take care of myself. Now get out of my house.”
“Can’t do that.” He shook his head as he bent to offer some love to a very confused Lily, who had taken refuge behind her alpha’s legs. “Like it or not, I’m here to keep you company for a few days.”
“Like hell.” She swung away and marched into her bedroom, slammed and locked the door.
She reached for her phone. Oh, right, it wasn’t there.
Without thinking twice, she opened the door, walked up to Kye, and held out her hand. “Your phone. I need it.”
“Why?”
“You’ll get it back. Undamaged.” When he’d handed it over she said, “Code?”
“Don’t go trawling through my messages. And don’t delete anything.”
“I wouldn’t dream of destroying your porno collection.”
When he’d given the code to her she turned, went back into her bedroom, and locked her door.
Sure enough, Law’s number was McGarren’s most recent call. She punched the number, not waiting for the word hello to be spoken when someone picked up. “Call him off, Law. If you don’t I’ll never forgive you for this. Never!”
“Yardley?”
The woman’s voice startled Yard for a second. “Jori? Put Law on.”
“He’s in physical therapy.”
“What?” No one had said anything about therapy to her. Law had lost a leg in Afghanistan and wore a prosthesis. Yard felt the anger drain out of her. “What happened?”
“He’s fine. A minor setback. I would have called but you know how your brother is. He never admits he’s got any problems, ever.”
“That’s true.” Even more reason she was glad Law had Jori in his life. She was good for him.
“Can I help? I know Law called someone to keep an eye on you. I don’t know what all this is about, but if the guy isn’t working out I can relay the message.”
“No. It’s okay.” Yardley swore soundlessly for having to tell that lie. “Only Law should have warned me.”
“Men, right? And yet we don’t want to live without them.”
Yardley didn’t reply to that. Jori was the second woman in twenty-four hours whose voice had gone all soft with emotion when she talked about her man. Had hers done that when she’d mentioned David Gunnar to Georgie last night? She doubted it.
“Tell my brother I don’t need a babysitter. Unless he’s heard something about Dr. Gunnar that I should know.”
“Don’t know anything about that, Yard. I did overhear him say something about the FBI but he clammed up when I asked. Maybe the guy he sent can tell you.”
Yardley slipped the phone into her pocket and glanced back at her closed door. Her biggest problem stood on the other side. How was she going to get rid of McGarren? No, first she needed to know what Law had told him about David. She’d bet it was some version of how she’d been kicked to the curb by a boyfriend and couldn’t accept his silence for “see ya” and had called the FBI.
Yard chewed her lip. Was McGarren here to keep her from making a greater fool of herself? Or continuing her search?
Her mind went back to their kiss. She was sure it was just a show of force. That’s all it could be. No matter how good it felt. The kiss had caught her unprepared. The sheer pleasure of it was both familiar and unique. Even he seemed a bit surprised by his own arousal. Well, that was his problem. She wouldn’t be caught off guard again.
The phone in her pocket vibrated. She pulled it out to see a text from Law about her. “I don’t think so.” She stuck it back in her pocket, where she intended for it to stay. There’d been way too much conversation about her private life already. Now she needed some answers.
She walked into the living room, not sure what she was going to say. If she succeeded in uprooting McGarren, he would report that to Law, and Law wouldn’t be happy. Yet if McGarren stayed, what would she do with him? Neither prospect had her jumping for joy. If he stayed, there needed to be ground rules.
Except it seemed the choice was already made. McGarren was gone.
She glanced around. Not in the kitchen. She doubted he would have gotten past Oleg, who was stretched out like a sheepskin rug before the doggy gate. And the door to the half bath was open. Surely he hadn’t had the audacity to go upstairs to one of her guest bedrooms?
From the corner of her eye she caught a tail wag. As she turned her head Lily hopped up on the back of her sofa and gave her a series of high-pitched yips. A bronze arm reached up and swept the dog back down out of sight. Yardley waited a few seconds and then heard distinctly the sounds of soft, deep snoring. Kye had stretched out on her sofa and fallen asleep.
She backpedaled before she could change her mind. She was sweaty from her jog. And shivering from the cold seeping through her damp running clothing, though she hadn’t realized it until now. She needed a shower. Then she’d decide what to do.