Patti left to make dinner, and I leaned against my pillows, pulling the laptop closer on my lap. I logged on to the video chat server. Butterflies danced inside me as I dialed Kaidan. His image popped up, and I sucked in a breath.
“Ah, there’s my bird.” He sat at the desk in his bedroom with no shirt on, wavy wet strands of brown hair around his angled face, five o’clock shadow lining his jaw, blue eyes heating me through the screen.
Wow. Just . . . wow. I kind of wished I’d taken time to reapply my lip gloss or something.
“Hey,” I said in a small voice, because even through the screen he reduced me to gooey girliness. I eyed his chest and the top of his firm abs. “You’re not really naked, are you?”
He waggled his dark eyebrows. “Shall I stand?”
My eyes widened. “Seriously? You’re not naked.”
“I just got out of the shower, luv.” He wore an unapologetic grin.
No way. He was just messing with me.
“You should try it,” he said. “It’s safe fun.” When he winked, my chest, neck, and face heated. I glanced toward my closed door, and Kaidan laughed. “You’re considering it, aren’t you?”
“No,” I said, trying not to smile. “I just don’t want Patti to overhear your naughty mouth. Now hush, and listen.”
I told him my college news and he nodded, running a hand through his damp hair to move it back from his face.
“Good. Glad you’ll be away from there. I wish you could leave sooner.”
“Yeah.” I chewed the inside of my lip. “When do you think they’ll come after me?”
His entire face darkened. “I don’t know. Maybe you should leave sooner than three weeks. Stay in a hotel or something.”
“I’ll see what Dad says after their meeting tonight.”
We stared at each other.
“You’re so bloody cute,” he whispered, his voice all low and yummy.
Blood whooshed through my body. A Kai buzz. Oh, he was totally using the bedroom eyes . . . all heavy lidded and seductive. I don’t even think he was trying. I suddenly felt shy. Even from the other side of the country, this boy was dangerous.
“Behave, Kai.” My voice sounded more sultry than I intended.
“I didn’t say a word.” He wet his lips, and I thought of that mouth on my body several days ago. We’d only been apart one day, and already it felt way longer.
“Okay, stop,” I said.
He grinned. “Stop what?” As if he didn’t know. Kaidan Rowe was anything but innocent, and well aware of his allure.
His phone rang from the nightstand behind him.
“Just a sec, luv.”
He spun in his chair, and when he stood I got a flash of toned, bare butted hotness. I let out a yelp before dissolving into a fit of giggles, and covering my eyes.
“It’s Blake,” he said.
I whisper-yelled, “You’re really naked!”
“I told you I was. . . . Hey, what’s up, mate? . . . Talking with A. . . . No news. Maybe tonight. . . . Yep. Later.”
I heard movement, and Kai said, “You can look now.”
I peeked through my fingers and saw only his handsome face. Dropping my hands, I tried to look serious. “You are so bad.”
“You like it.” He leaned back and kicked up his big feet on the desk. “You should try it sometime, little Ann. Just with me, of course.”
Without taking his eyes off me, he picked up a pen and began weaving it through his fingers. Only Kaidan Rowe would sit naked on the other side of the camera, completely nonchalant. It was rather . . . distracting.
I watched his chest slowly rise and fall in a sigh. He set the pen down. “I dreamt of you last night. That you were still here with me.”
I rested my cheek on my hand, letting his words settle over me like warm sunlight. I still couldn’t believe he was letting this happen—letting us be together—letting me love him.
“Thank you,” I said.
“For dreaming of you?” He chuckled.
Talking via camera was weird. Ironically, I felt exposed. Every word and expression seemed magnified.
“Just . . . for everything.”
“No, gorgeous. Thank you.”
Again we stared in silence. For a millisecond I even forgot he was nude. And then I remembered.
“What?” he asked. “What’s that look for?”
I wished I didn’t embarrass so easily. He rolled his chair to the side and I heard him get up.
“Okay, luv. All better.”
He’d put on some running pants, slung low so I could see the V at his hips.
Drool.
“It’s not fair, you know,” he said, sitting again and leaning in.
“What’s not fair?”
“That’s twice you’ve seen my arse. And zero times I’ve seen yours.”
I shook my head. My face was permanently on fire now.
“Come on,” he urged. “Just a quick peek.”
I laughed. “No!”
Now he laughed, too. “You know I’m taking the piss with you, luv.”
I shot him a fake glare and he kept chuckling, with those sexy, crinkly eyes. He hadn’t teased me this much in person, but I guess technology provided a safety net that made him more brazen.
I could maybe get used to it.
I needed to get used to it so I’d stop freaking blushing and wanting to hide.
My phone dinged, and I opened the text message. It was a single question mark from Marna.