“Are you going to stay the night?” She wouldn’t look him in the eye while she asked. He turned her face toward his and kissed her forehead then the tip of her nose. He couldn’t seem to stop kissing her.

“I should go, it would be best, for the both of us.” He reached over to turn on the bedside lamp, it clicked but didn’t light up.

“Hmm, maybe the bulb burnt out? I’d like you to stay but I won’t keep you if you want to leave.” She reached to turn on the light on her side and got nothing. “That’s weird. Maybe a breaker blew?” He had pulled on his shorts, so he got himself into his chair. It couldn’t hurt to flip the breaker before he left.

“I’ll get it. You snuggle in.” He pulled on his pants and watched her eyes dance across his chest. Yeah, a guy could get real used to that. Better for him if he didn’t. He rolled into the hall and flicked the light switch. What the hell? No light there either? This wasn’t a tripped breaker, though as small as the house was it might be. The wiring on some older houses could be a nightmare. The back of his neck tingled though, never a good sign. He patted the side pocket of his chair and felt the crisp outline of his .45. He moved to the kitchen, those were usually on a separate breaker. No response when he hit the overhead light, a quick glance showed the clock on the stove was out also, along with the ones on the coffee maker and microwave. Yeah, definitely not good.

“Candy, you got a flashlight handy?”

“In the drawer next to the door to the garage,” she yelled from the bedroom.

“I’m gonna go check out the box. You stay put.”

Finding the flashlight was easy enough, making sense of the box without a single breaker tripped was not. Something flashing outside caught his eye. Two balloons were wrapped around the connection at the pole to Candy’s house. They were the mylar kind with writing on them. One said ‘Love You Always’ and the other ‘Wish You Were Here’. Maybe it was an accident, maybe not. Didn’t matter either way because at that moment he was done playing around.

He tossed the flashlight on the counter on his way to the bedroom.

“What happened? What is going on?”

Her eyes went round when he pulled out his gun. “Get dressed. Get the dog. You’re staying at my place.”

“Where did you get that? I told you I don’t want any guns in here! I’m not going with you, you were just on your way out.”

“Still am, only I’m taking you with me. Get dressed, we’re leaving, now!” She dropped the sheet she had been covering herself with and he just kind of stared at her for a second. Fuck, she was just so damn kissable. All that flushed skin was a hell of a distraction. And all his instincts were telling him this wasn’t a good time to be distracted. She was staring back at him more mad than scared at this point. Fine, let her be mad as long as she was safe and every instinct he had said she wasn’t safe here.

He jammed the gun in the pocket of his chair since that seemed to be her biggest fear. “C’mere babe.” She swallowed hard but scrambled across the bed to him. He wasn’t expecting her to jump into his lap but he wasn’t idiot enough to complain about it either. Those warm, soft curves filled his hands. The scents of her surrounded him as she tucked her head under his chin, the spicy-sweet scent of her arousal, hell, the tang of adrenaline and sweat, but the kicker was that caramel smell that would always remind him of her. “Where are we right now?”

She looked at him confused, not that he could blame her. “My bedroom?”

“Exactly and what is rule one?”

She was catching on quick and smirked at him. “You make the rules in the bedroom. But, rule two is if there is anything I don’t like or scares me I’m supposed to tell you. I don’t like guns. I don’t want them in my house. And I don’t think I should have to go with you to your condo.”

“Your opinion has been duly noted. Rule three is that I can overrule anything to keep you safe. Now, we’re getting dressed.” He kissed her then mostly because he’d wanted to from moment she dropped the sheet, hell maybe even before, but if she balked he’d say it was to keep her quiet. He could feel the moment she gave in, going soft in his arms. “Come to my place with me. Please.”

She climbed off him while grinning in his face. “All you had to do was ask nice. Everything with you is an order.” He managed to pinch her ass before she could get away, but seeing the smile on her face eased the tight band around his chest.

As they pulled away from the house Candy thought she saw someone moving along the garage side of the house. She leaned in closer to him and stopped saying he was being overprotective. She wanted to call Snell which he vetoed. He’d have Axel take a swing by and again in the morning to make sure everything was clear. He’d already put a call in to the police who said it was just a coincidence. Didn’t matter if it was, she was staying with him until he got to the bottom of this.