I turned onto the long drive that led to the back of the property and as I passed by Hank’s house, a ping of disappointment stabbed through my chest. There were no lights on.
It had been two days since I’d gone over to his house to thank him for the birthday party. Two days since I’d had the best sex of my life. Two days that my body had been craving his touch, pining for his kiss, hungering to feel his skin against mine.
He hadn’t come over since that night. I wondered if that was because my sister was still in town or if he just wasn’t that into me. A lot of the projects he’d been working on were complete now. Luna had asked about him more in the past forty-eight hours than she’d ever asked about her own father.
In the back of my mind, several questions kept niggling at me.
Had I made a mistake sleeping with him?
Would he have come over and things would still have been the same if I hadn’t crossed that line?
Was he avoiding me because he didn’t want me to get the wrong idea about his feelings, or lack thereof, for me?
Had I screwed this up, not just for myself, but for Luna?
Maybe I had. But even if that was the case, I still couldn’t bring myself to regret the time we’d spent together.
Even forty-eight hours later, my body was still alive with tingles. All I had to do was close my eyes and I could feel the roughened texture of his palms and the strength in his fingertips as they gripped my hips. I could still feel the heat of his breath as he whispered dirty nothings into my ear. I could still hear the growl in his voice as he told me exactly what he was going to do to me.
I’d never felt so in tune with another person.
Being with Hank had been more than just sex. It was something else. Besides the obvious pleasure he’d given me, being with him had opened up my eyes to a level of intimacy that I’d never known actually existed.
For those precious hours, he’d transported me to a different plane than the rest of the world. A world where only the two of us existed. It was transformative in the most beautiful way. Every time I closed my eyes, I was back there, in Hank’s bed, where I wished I was now.
As I walked up the front porch steps, my mind was totally preoccupied with visions of things a lot dirtier than sugar plums dancing in my head. I opened the door and was disappointed when I didn’t see any signs that he’d been over. I thought that maybe since Ashley was gone, he would’ve stopped by and left me a note but after checking the fridge, I knew that wasn’t the case.
I grabbed a carton of Ben & Jerry’s from the freezer and told myself that it was not because I was trying to eat my feelings. This middle-of-the-night splurge had nothing to do with the fact that I was feeling rejected and ignored by Hank.
It had been two days. Two days was nothing.
I’d almost convinced myself of that fact when I heard a sound like someone was at the front door.
Was Hank here?
Had he seen me come home?
Giddiness spread through me as I walked out of the kitchen expecting to see Hank standing on the porch, but when I looked out the sidelight window there was no one there.
That’s when I heard it.
Glass shattering in the sunroom.
Fear replaced the excitement I’d just felt.
Were they here?
Had whoever broken into my condo in Seattle found me?
I ran to my purse that was sitting on the kitchen island to grab my phone to call the police or Hank, Hank was closer, and when I did I saw a man in a hoodie at the kitchen door trying to open it.
“I’m calling the police!” I called out as I fumbled with my phone and it fell to the ground. I fell on my knees scrambling for my phone when I heard my name.
“Skylar! It’s me!”
I stilled when I heard my name coming from a voice I recognized. Slowly, I stood up and flipped on the light, and saw the last person I would have expected to see standing on my back steps.
“Richie?”
CHAPTER 34
Hank
Grass and twigs crunched beneath my feet as I ran as fast as I could across the field. It might’ve been the fastest I’d ever run in my life. My steps were pounding just as loudly as my heart.
I was sound asleep when my phone alerted me that the alarm went off in Skylar’s house. It took me a second to realize what it was, but when I did, I jumped out of bed and raced out the backdoor as I tried to call her. It had gone straight to voicemail.
My head was racing even faster than my legs at the different scenarios that could be happening. I tried not to let my mind run wild with images from those damn true crime shows Pops used to love to watch. But I couldn’t help it. My brain’s default was going to the worst-case-scenario.
I tried to work with the reality of the facts I had. Her Explorer was parked outside, the kitchen light was on, but the blinds were shut so I couldn’t see inside. When I got closer to the house, I heard voices. Plural. One of them was a man.
I’d made it to the first step of the porch when I heard Skylar shout, “You need to leave. Now!”
Before I’d even processed what I’d heard my instincts kicked in. With all my might I put my shoulder into the door frame and burst through it. The wood around the lock splintered as the door flew open.
“Ahh!” Skylar screamed and her hands flew to her face. It took me a split-second to realize that she was screaming at me. She wasn’t the only one who screamed, the man standing in front of her did as well.
I moved so that I was standing between them, Skylar behind my back. And that’s when I got the first look at his face. His eyes specifically. They were Luna’s eyes staring up at me.
Skylar must’ve thought that I was going to attack him—which I might’ve done if I hadn’t recognized who he was—because she grabbed my shirt and tried to pull me back as she yelled, “Hank! No! This is Richie. He’s Luna’s father.”
I stepped to the side no longer blocking her from him and looked down at her. “Are you okay?” I sensed that there was no real threat here, but I needed to look in her eyes and make sure.
“Yes.” She nodded emphatically. Her hand was on her chest as she looked up at me like I was a madman. Which, in fairness, wasn’t a total leap considering I’d just broken into her house. “What are you doing?”
“The alarm,” I explained as I lifted my phone. When I’d installed the security system, I’d told her that I was going to send an alert to my phone as well as the response center. “I tried to call you but it went to voicemail. Were you on the phone with ADT?”
“What? No.” She picked up her phone which was on the ground. “Oh it must have shut off when it fell.”
She powered it back on and a voicemail alert was on her home screen. “They called but I didn’t answer so they left a message.”
“The police are probably on their way.”
“What? No!” Richie shouted.
“Relax,” I told him before turning to Skylar. “You call the alarm company. I’ll call Dawson.”
It was Tuesday night, so I knew exactly who was on duty. I walked to the door and checked to make sure that the deadbolt still worked before walking out onto the porch. It did which told me that it hadn’t been locked when I’d busted in. I was going to have to have a talk with Skylar about that.