He slipped his hand over hers and slowly massaged her skin with his thumb. A gentle back and forth that had her mesmerized as she looked up into those green eyes.
“I would point out that if not for my men, the person who broke in here still could have been in your place when you got home.” His voice dipped lower. “I can’t tolerate that.”
She tried to gasp in more air, to get her lungs to function, but she felt winded and a little dizzy. “Don’t try to scare me either.”
“I’m trying to get you to be practical. Speaking of that, I can put you in a hotel.”
She leaned in until her lips hovered over his. “I can put me in a hotel.”
He lifted his other hand and tucked her hair behind her ear. Let his palm skim over the side of her head. “It wasn’t a comment on your financial stability.”
She struggled to keep up with the conversation while her heartbeat galloped in her chest. “Yeah, I know.” Her breaths came out in pants now. “I really just want to be in my own house.”
“Then my people aren’t moving.”
“I . . .” This close the brightness of his eyes stunned her. The shade came close to that of newly mowed grass in summer. So clear. So unblinking. “Okay.”
His eyebrows lifted. “I expected a fight on that.”
She couldn’t raise any anger. Her thoughts were jumbled. Trying to process it all at once with so little space to think—Wren having her followed, someone in her house, her whole life getting turned upside down—sucked the life out of her. “I want to say it’s because I’m not a martyr and not stupid, but I fear the real answer is that I’m too exhausted to go to battle with you.”
“That’s almost disappointing.” His fingertips skimmed over her shoulder.
The whole touching-her-but-not-enough thing started a revving deep in her stomach. Not that she wanted him to stop. Chalk it up to adrenaline, emotional upheaval or too much caffeine. Something inside her kept changing the more time she spent with him.
But she wasn’t a pushover, and he needed to know that. “At some point we are going to have a long discussion about boundaries.”
“That’s more like the answer I expect from you.” He gave her arm a squeeze. “But must we?”
He was right there. All compelling and tall and kissable.
Yeah, that couldn’t happen. She backed up as she inhaled nice and deep. Tried to force the smart, defense-oriented part of her brain to click into action. “I’m sure tonight was some weird fluke thing. Mistaken identity or whatever.”
“The lock wasn’t broken.”
Her insides froze. “Your point?”
“I was just making a comment.” He straightened his tie. “Now I’ll go.”
A change came over him. She watched it happen but couldn’t really say what shifted. He didn’t get taller, because that just seemed silly, but he suddenly took up more space.
The low mumble of talking from the other room filtered back to her. The thought of being alone, even if his men watched . . . she’d never sleep. “Do you . . .”
“Yes?”
“You know.”
He shook his head. “Actually, no. I don’t.”
Just once he could make a conversation easy instead of hard. “You’re going to make me ask.”
“Mind reading is not one of my skills.” But he knew. That hint of a smile suggested he did. “In addition to that, I’ve been accused of being controlling, along with other things. I’m not going to presume anything.”
She shifted her weight from foot to foot. She wanted to kick the cycle where she saw him, her insides started dancing and then the fidgeting began. She dealt in high stress situations all day and never shifted around like a nervous teen. Not until him.
“I never ask anyone for anything. That’s sort of my thing.” He had her babbling. She bit down on her bottom lip to stop.
“Understood.”
She was hoping for more of a response than that. “I don’t really want to now.”
His smile grew a little bit wider. “But you’re going to have to say the words. I don’t want any confusion. You’ve already used the word creepy at least once tonight.”
“With good reason.”
“Emery, ask.”
“Fine.” He could get her whipped around and ticked off faster than anyone else she knew. “Would you stay and help me direct the police traffic in and out of here?”
“Of course.” He nodded. “I’ll stay until you’re comfortable enough for me to leave. But my guards stay no matter what.”
Relief whooshed through her. But he got his role here all wrong. He didn’t make her feel comfortable. The exact opposite. She got all tingly and her brain went haywire. But when he said he’d keep her safe it felt like a vow. One she could count on.
“You still scare me a little.” She didn’t know why she admitted that, but it was absolutely true.
There was no mistaking his smile now. “The feeling is mutual.”
CHAPTER 12