“Haven’t.” His hand smoothed over her hair, then tucked it back behind her ear with a tenderness she felt in her heart. “There’s a difference in being home alone and knowing a woman sleeps just downstairs.”
His temperature seemed to have risen, sending his heated scent to envelope her. “This is nice,” she murmured.
“Very.” He pressed a kiss to the top of her head. “Now sleep.”
Held against his body, listening to his deepening breaths, Kennedy felt his hold loosen as he fell asleep.
There couldn’t be another man like Reyes anywhere.
Without thinking about it, she whispered, “It’s a good thing you don’t want me, or we wouldn’t be able to do this.”
His arm immediately snuggled her closer, and his husky voice, low and rough, sounded very near to her ear. “I’ve wanted you from the first time I saw you. Make no mistake about that.”
Her eyes popped open wide.
“Since we enjoy sharing the bed, from now on you sleep with me. Only sleep. And if you ever want more, just let me know.” Putting a final kiss to her ear, he breathed, “Now sleep. If we talk about this much longer, I’m gonna get hard and that’ll bother you and we’ll never get any rest.”
He wanted her. Enough that he could get an erection from talking? Kennedy had no idea what to say. She stared into the darkness, her eyes rounded, her heart galloping...and the strangest sort of thrill curling around her heart.
Huh. Reyes McKenzie had done the impossible.
He’d sparked her interest. Now she needed to figure out what to do about it.
* * *
THE WEEKEND ROLLED AROUND, and Reyes walked through the house whistling. Who knew he could be so happy with sexual frustration? Being celibate with Kennedy made all the difference. For several days now she’d slept with him each night.
Each day, she tried to figure out when and how she could leave. He understood that. Their investigation had come to a grinding halt with no new clues and no new leads to follow. She wanted to get on with her life.
Each day he became more determined to keep her around a little longer.
How long, he didn’t know. Sooner or later, she’d need her own place, yet every time he thought of it he got a bad feeling. Something wasn’t right. Whoever had come after her was just lying low. Eventually they’d crawl out of the shadows again, and when they did, he wanted to be with Kennedy so he could ensure her safety.
Sitting at the kitchen table, sipping yet another cup of coffee, Kennedy looked lost in thought.
He’d learned to make an entire pot instead of only a few cups. Sometimes it seemed she sustained herself on worry and caffeine, along with the determination to help others avoid her fate.
“It’s Saturday,” he said, aware of her gaze lifting to his body. As she’d requested, he’d gone back to wearing only his boxers in the morning, at least until he dressed for the day. More than a few times, he’d caught her looking him over.
He wasn’t quite sure what her intense scrutiny meant. With another woman, yeah, he could assume. But this was Kennedy, and she had a troubled past.
“I know.” She smiled at him. “The pancakes were amazing. Give me a few more minutes and I’ll clean up.”
“You’ve done all the cleanup, lately. It’s my turn.”
“I clean because you always cook.” As if that bugged her, she said, “I know how to cook, too, you know.”
As he carried plates to the dishwasher, he said, “No biggie. You can do dinner whenever you want.”
“That’s not what you said the last five times I asked.”
He shrugged. “I didn’t want you to feel obligated. But sure, if it means that much to you, I don’t mind. Just not tonight. It’s Saturday, so I figured we’d go out.”
She perked up at that. “Out? Out where?”
He heard the excitement in her voice and felt like a dope. Of course she wanted to get out. Other than their one breakfast at a restaurant, the entirety of her social life had been going to the gym and back. Her life was literally on hold, the danger still out there with no way for them to address it.
“Dinner and a movie?” he suggested.
Standing, she carried her now-empty cup to him. “I’d rather visit this Bernard person so I could see Chimera. You keep telling me you still have the cat, but in all this time, I haven’t seen her. And,” she stressed, when he started to speak, “you refuse to take me to see her.”
“Because it’s complicated.”
Adorably cute in her pajamas, she growled, “Either you have the cat or you don’t.”
“Fine.” He gave up. “You want to see Chimera? I’ll talk to Bernard today and see when we can visit.”
Narrowing her eyes, she looked at him askance. “You make it sound like some grand concession.”
Yeah, because he’d wanted to take her out, not drag her to his father’s house, where she’d be dissected and where his relationship with her would be up for discussion. He could already hear his dad lecturing him.
Who needed that shit?
“Look,” he said, ready to launch into something, probably something obnoxious, that was interrupted by the doorbell.
Before Kennedy could get all panicky, he cursed. “My sister. And damn it, it looks like she has Sterling with her.” More or less stomping out of the kitchen, he went to the door and shouted through the intercom, “I’m not dressed. Give me five.”
“I won’t look,” Sterling said, then she snickered.
Aware of a blur behind him, Reyes watched Kennedy dart toward the guest room. “No hiding,” he called after her.
“Just getting dressed,” she assured him, seconds before she disappeared from sight.
Fuck it. He opened the door to let in his sister and sister-in-law. “Coffee’s in the kitchen. Kennedy is changing out of her pj’s. I’ll be right back.”
Sterling boldly stared at him, then snorted. “Those boxers are no different than the shorts you wear for working out.”
Madison, not in the least interested in what her brother wore, headed to the couch with her laptop. “I’m here to see Kennedy anyway.”
That brought him away from the stairs and back into the living room area. “Why?”
“The cops did a massive, coordinated statewide search of missing youths. Found a lot of them, too, and in the process, they also arrested several suspected traffickers. I want Kennedy to check out the photos to see if anyone looks familiar.”