“I like them on you too.” His tone was slightly amused, but the huskiness was sexy and there was a touch of affection as well. “Too much, probably.”
“Is it?” she asked. She looked over at him. “Is there a reason we shouldn’t do this?”
“Probably several.”
“And you never do things you shouldn’t?”
“Didn’t say that.”
That made her feel better. She didn’t really want to be something he shouldn’t do but did anyway. When he thought about her in the future—and she did hope he would, which was a weird thought to have—she didn’t want him to have regrets.
“You should go to sleep.” His voice was soft, but there was something in it that made her wonder if he knew what she’d been thinking.
Yeah, she probably should. Sex with Zander would have been a nice distraction, but now that was off the table, her options were sleep or lie here and think about all the decisions she was going to have to make now.
Did she try to go home? That would require apologies she didn’t want to make. But if she didn’t go home, what was she going to do? She could start over but what would happen to her dad? If she wasn’t around, keeping track of the corruption around him and pointing it out, would he get truly sucked into it? What about Christopher? What was he getting into? And she’d been doing this for a few years now. Was it really making a difference? Were these people—
“Caroline,” Zander’s voice rumbled. “Go to sleep.”
She felt her mouth curve. Yeah, she needed to do that.
His hand still rested on her hip, his forearm a warm weight on her lower belly.
“Okay,” she finally agreed.
She closed her eyes and took a deep breath and focused on Zander. She breathed in his scent, absorbed his heat, focused on the solidness of him next to her. She thought about how he’d come back to the bed and breakfast with clothes and money—and options—for her, how he’d believed her story, how he’d taken her for coffee, how he’d brought her more of that same coffee the last two mornings, how he’d come for her again tonight when Brantley had shown up and brought her here.
She felt more cared for by this almost-stranger, who didn’t feel like a stranger at all, than she had by any other man.
She also felt more thoroughly kissed by him than by any other man. His hands on her set her nerve endings on fire. His voice, his eyes, his gruff-protective-but-annoyed attitude made her smile. But it was him just showing up again and again, even when this was the last thing he’d expected or wanted on his doorstep, that made her really like him. He was a good guy and she was really damned glad she’d walked into his grandma’s bar.
10
Zander’s phone ringing awakened them the next morning.
But neither of them jerked awake. Caroline's eyes blinked open and she realized that she had slept deeply for several hours. And Zander’s hand was still resting on her hip, his forearm across her lower belly.
She was warm and felt a sense of contentment that she couldn't recall ever feeling before.
She rolled her head to look at him and found his sleepy gaze studying her.
His phone stopped ringing.
“Hi,” she said.
“Hi.”
He seemed different this morning. He'd been gruff and intense and bossy, but also protective and funny and sexy. Now he seemed relaxed and almost thoughtful. She liked all of those sides of him.
His phone started ringing again.
“I should probably get that.” His voice was sleep roughened, but he made no move to get out of bed or even reach for the phone.
“Okay.”
They looked at each other for a long moment. Her gaze dropped to his mouth and the memories from the night before flooded through her.
She came toward him at the same moment he leaned in, their mouths meeting.
The kiss was instantly hot and deep. Zander's tongue swept into her mouth, stroking against hers as he rolled her back, bracing himself on his elbows on either side of her head. She bent one knee, cradling him between her hips and arching her pelvis up toward his morning erection.
He ground into her and they both moaned.
But when his phone started ringing for the third time, he lifted his head and stared down at her. “Now I really need to get it.”
She nodded. She hadn't been expecting this to progress any further. Zander was…honorable. She supposed that was the best word for it. She wasn't used to being around men who put other people's needs in front of their own.
That wasn’t entirely fair, she told herself the next moment.
Her dad used to be that way. Charles Holland had been a hard-working family man at one time. She had every reason to believe that he’d taken extreme pride in his work, and had done everything he could to impress his superiors. Eventually, that had all been rewarded when James Horner left Charles the entire company in his will.
She knew that everyone in their social circle, his business circles, and even outside of the business still talked about it.
But his change from hard-working family man to wealthy CEO trying to impress people who didn’t deserve his respect or earnestness made her sad.
Zander stared at her for another long moment before pushing off of her and rolling to the side of the bed. He reached for his phone, glanced at the screen, then tapped a few buttons before lifting it to his ear. He listened for a moment, she assumed to a voicemail.
She sat up, pulling the sheet around her waist, and wondering what exactly her next step should be.
“Spencer’s in town,” Zander told her, lowering the phone a moment later.
“Oh good.” The cavalry. Finally.
“He’s up at my grandma’s bar for breakfast with everyone. Wondering where the hell I am.”
“You’re not the type to sleep in?” She gave him a little smile. She already knew the answer.
“That’s one way to put it.” He glanced at the clock. It was 9 a.m. “I’m gonna shower and change. I’ll run next door and get you some more clothes to borrow. Then we can head up and talk to Spencer.”
“Great,” Caroline said, perking up. She couldn’t wait to give the FBI all her information and get this moving. She did understand jurisdictions and the fact that there might be limits to what Zander could do, but she refused to believe that no one could do anything about Brantley.
Zander seemed to want to say something more, but pushed up off the bed and strode from the room without a word.
Caroline took some deep breaths and thought about what her next step was. But really, she didn’t have a lot of choices. She didn’t have any clothes here, her phone was still back at the bed and breakfast, and she was dependent on Zander for…everything at the moment. She had a vague recollection of driving from the bed and breakfast to his house, but she wasn't exactly sure where she was in town.
Not that she felt the need to strike out on her own and walk back to the bed and breakfast. Zander was going to take care of her. She knew that and it felt good. She was a very independent person. She’d felt on her own for years now. She played the part of the needy, dependent-on-her-daddy socialite, but it was an act. She was resourceful and knew how to take care of herself. If she had a plan.