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As Lindsay came down the stairs, heavenly smells wafted towards her from the direction of the kitchen. She’d taken longer than usual, but she’d also quickly packed a suitcase and stored it in the bathroom. Hopefully she’d manage to sneak out tomorrow morning before Blake woke up.
He was standing with his back to her in front of the grill, a kitchen cloth over his shoulder. In a white short-sleeve T-shirt and low-slung jeans, which fitted perfectly around a sexy ass, he looked right at home behind the stove.
His hair was still wet; he’d also taken a shower. Images of his wet, naked body flashed in front of her eyes. Her knees buckled and she had to hold on to the kitchen counter to make sure she didn’t fall flat on her face. Ever since the extreme close-up she’d had with Blake, she hadn’t been able to get those few seconds out of her head.
“Ready for a glass of wine?” he asked as he turned around.
She nodded, unable to utter one word. For one, her mouth was way too dry and her brain seemed to have stopped working altogether. He handed her a glass of wine and their fingers touched.
Quickly she turned away. “Salad. I’ll make...” But in her haste, she knocked over a small jug and the contents spilled out all over the counter. “I’m sorry...” She reached to grab a dishcloth to clean up the mess.
But hers hadn’t been the only hand reaching for it, and Blake’s warm fingers grazed her skin. They both inhaled sharply and chocolate brown eyes met hers.
“I...I’ll clean it up,” she got out, not quite sure what she was talking about. His beard looked soft. She could test and make sure. Maybe if she lifted herself on her toes...
“Don’t look at me like that,” he said softly, and took the cloth from her. “I’ll clean up. I’ll make more sauce for the steak. You go make the salad.”
With her heart hammering away like crazy, Lindsay got the ingredients for a salad from the fridge. The light in Blake’s eyes... Her poor heart wasn’t sure whether to skip, tumble, or just stagger to a halt.
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By the time they sat down to eat, Blake’s jaw was hurting from gnashing his teeth. If he didn’t break a few tonight, it would be a miracle. Damn, he hadn’t behaved like a hormone-filled teenager in a long time, but around Lindsay, his body seemed hell-bent on taking over the workings of his mind.
He had to finish his dinner and get away from her, for both their sakes. Everything in him was urging him to pick her up and take her up the stairs and show her what she was doing to him. He’d never been good with words, but he could express what was inside him with his hands and mouth and body and...
Grinding his teeth again, he tried to focus on his food. But he couldn’t touch her. Ever. Once would never be enough with her. Besides, apart from the fact that this was a tension-filled situation and the desire he saw in Lindsay’s eyes was probably only because of everything that had happened since she’d heard from her ex, he’d long ago decided anything long-term wasn’t for him.
Love and family could never be part of his future. He wouldn’t know how to be a husband or a dad.
Husband? Dad? Where the hell had that thought come from?
All he knew about love and family was the short time he’d lived with Miss Betty. Even though he’d been an angry and bitter teenager, trying to make everyone’s life around him as miserable as his own had been, she’d shown him kindness and loved him and had gradually managed to tear down the walls he’d erected around his heart.
And then she’d died. He’d been eighteen and finally able to escape the system. That was when he’d joined the army and eventually ended up with the FBI, where his partner Will Miller became his family, his brother, his friend. Until Will had died, too.
Pushing the memories away, he gulped down his dinner in record time. He’d probably end up having indigestion, but it was a whole lot better than doing something he knew he’d regret later.
Wiping his mouth with a napkin, he quickly got up. “Excuse me. Jason was going to find out about the shoe print under your window...” He swallowed the rest of his words, but it was too late. Oh, damn, he hadn’t wanted her to know about it.
Startled blue eyes looked up at him. She’d hardly eaten anything yet. “What shoe print?”
“On the ground under the window outside your studio.”
Slowly she got up, as well. “Why didn’t you tell me? And why ask Jason? Why not tell the police?”
“I...know Jason well. We’ve worked together before and I know he’ll go the extra mile. I trust him. I didn’t tell you because I was going to wait until I hear b—” Before he could finish, his phone rang. “It’s him.”
“Please put it on speaker,” she said firmly, and moved closer.
He pressed the speaker before he answered. “Jason. Lindsay is also listening.” Jason would get the message not to reveal anything that might upset her.
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Blake was holding the phone and had turned his hand so that Lindsay could also hear what Jason was saying. She’d seen the tall, lanky man around town, but she’d never actually met him. What kind of work had Blake and Jason done before? Would their previous job be the reason Blake had disappeared over the past few months?
“Okay, so it was a size twelve shoe, but we have to wait to hear from forensics if they can get anything else from the print,” Blake was saying. “What about the license plates?”
“Fake, of course,” Jason said.
Blake sighed. “Of course, they would be. Damn it.” Blake lifted a hand, rubbed the back of his neck. “Anything else?”
But Jason didn’t have any other news. The two men began to talk about the dojo. She should move away; there wasn’t any need for her to stay this close to Blake. But her feet felt heavy, ignoring all the messages from her brain as her eyes focused on Blake’s long fingers, moved up his forearm, and then even farther up to feast on his broad shoulders. And when she turned her head slightly, the outline of a perfectly muscled six-pack under the white T-shirt was right in front of her eyes. Would it feel as hard as it looked?
“I’ll see you tomorrow,” Blake was saying, and she looked up. His eyes were on her. He ended the call.
“Go to bed, please?” His voice was low, sending shivers down her spine.
Why was she standing so close to him? Mortified, she turned away. “I’ll clean up.”
For a few minutes it was quiet.
“See you in the morning.” His smooth whiskey voice nearly made her turn around again. The next minute she heard footsteps leaving. Fast.
She sagged against the kitchen counter, feeling light-headed. That had been a very close call. If he’d stayed a second longer, she’d have flung herself into his arms. Her legs refused to keep her upright any longer and she pulled the chair out. She’d hardly touched her dinner. But food wasn’t going to help. The ache in her belly had nothing whatsoever to do with food.
Thank goodness she was leaving tomorrow. There was no way she could stay in the same house as Blake for another day and not do something very stupid.
Rubbing her temple, she exhaled slowly. Think. Be logical. Her reaction to Blake was quite understandable. He was ridiculously attractive and sexy, and she hadn’t been with anyone for a long time. Add the very stressful situation they were in at the moment and her intense emotions and wayward hormones could be explained.
Surely once Mark had been caught, she’d be able to forget about Blake within a day or so. Okay, she hadn’t forgotten about him while he’d been away for those three months, but there were all sorts of explanations for that. With Charlie getting married...
Which reminded her, she’d been meaning to let Charlie know about her plans to visit them, but this morning she’d been so flustered and this afternoon she’d been focused on finishing filling the jars.
With still unsteady fingers, she picked up her phone. Her sister answered after one ring.
“What happened?” Charlie asked, her voice immediately laced with concern.
“I’m fine. But we think Mark was around this afternoon while I was working in the studio.”
“What do you mean you ‘think’?”
Quickly, Lindsay explained what had happened earlier and the footprints Blake had found in the flower bed.
“Oh, Linds,” Charlie cried out. “Why can’t the police find and stop the bloody man?”
“Good question. And that’s why I’ve decided to go with Eleanor and Brooke tomorrow when they visit you guys. I’m quite happy to stay elsewhere if you don’t have enough room...”
“Don’t be silly. There’s more than enough room for everyone in Logan’s apartment, and I’ll feel a whole lot better if I have eyes on you. But, Linds, is that the best thing to do right now? What does Blake say about your coming to Seattle?”
“Blake can’t forever be stuck here with me; he needs to get on with his life and so do I. So how’s Baby?”
Charlie laughed. “Talking about Baby isn’t always going to work. But Baby is fine, growing by the day.”
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Blake’s body was still not back to normal when he headed down the stairs again. He wanted to check the street again while Lindsay was in the kitchen. How he’d managed to walk away from her minutes earlier, he still didn’t quite know.
No woman had ever had this effect on him. He liked sex, loved kissing women, but this weird connection, for lack of a better description, he felt with Lindsay was way beyond anything he’d experienced before. And he knew if he kissed her it wasn’t going to end there.
As he neared the lower steps, he heard Lindsay’s voice.
“Blake can’t forever be stuck here with me; he needs to get on with his life and so do I,” Lindsay was saying. “So how’s Baby?”
Frowning, he opened the front door and walked outside. The “how’s Baby” meant Lindsay was talking to Charlie. But why would she mention he needed to get on with his life? An uneasiness settled in his gut. She was up to something. The question was, what?
Outside, he walked out into the street and looked up and down. He’d made a mental note of the types of cars Lindsay’s neighbors drove, and at the moment there weren’t any strange cars in sight.
As he walked back towards the house, Lindsay’s words replayed over and over again. Getting on with his life...
Once Mark Taylor was caught, there wouldn’t be any reason to be in Lindsay’s life. A hole the size of Texas opened up inside him. Rubbing his chest, he swore. He wasn’t getting involved with Lindsay or any other woman. Ever.
Maybe if he kept reminding him of his resolve, these strange feelings would eventually go away. They had to.