But she didn’t mind having Zander Landry looking out for her.
She just had this nagging feeling that he felt obligated and didn't want to have this responsibility.
He liked her. At least she was pretty sure he did. He definitely wanted her physically. Their attraction was undeniable.
But she was an unexpected complication and she'd dumped a further problem in his lap when Brantley had shown up last night. She couldn't blame Zander for wanting to get her out of town as soon as possible.
Caroline frowned. What the hell had Brantley come to town for? Zander had said he was looking for something that he needed back.
The jewelry and lion cub were truly the only things that came to mind. But why was he skulking around in the middle of the night for those things? He could have his damn jewelry. But she would never let him near that animal again. Maybe that's why he had come sneaking around in the night. He had to know how upset she was.
But it made no sense that he’d been trying to sneak into her room. Obviously, she wouldn’t have the lion cub literally with her at the bed and breakfast. It wasn't like Brantley was the brightest bulb in the light string, but that all made her think that it wasn't the lion, he was after. Unless he'd just been planning to make her tell him what she’d done with it.
Caroline blew out a breath. She really didn't know what Brantley was thinking. She'd known the guy most of her life. Brantley and Christopher had been friends since they'd been five. But all she really knew about Brantley was that he was spoiled and thought she was hot.
She gave a little shudder. She couldn't go back and pretend they were madly in love. She couldn't go back and pick up where they'd left off with their fake engagement. Well, fake on her side anyway. Any groveling or apologizing she did would simply not be sincere and even Brantley would probably be able to see through it.
What was she going to do?
Zander strode back through the bedroom door just as she was starting to get worked up about her future plans again.
Her heart gave an extra hard kick in her chest when she saw him and her thoughts immediately shifted and her heartbeat suddenly wasn't racing because of anxiety.
His hair was damp though he’d already pulled it back again. He wore gray athletic shorts and was shirtless. Which meant now she could see all of his tattoos. The ink went from his left wrist to his shoulder, then crossed his broad chest, where her head had rested last night, and wrapped around his right shoulder and biceps. She wanted to explore every one of those lines and swirls. And she really hoped some of them extended onto his muscular back.
She took in every inch of his chest, shoulders, the thick arms that had held her and made her feel safe and sexy at the same time, and the planes of his flat stomach that ended at the elastic band of the loose shorts that sat low on his lean hips.
Her tongue seemed stuck to the roof of her mouth and she had a hard time swallowing.
“Come on,” he said.
“What?” It came out as almost a croak.
“Coffee’s in the kitchen. Are you a coffee drinker?”
“Yeah. In the morning. If you don't have tea.”
“No tea.”
Yeah, he didn't seem the hot tea type.
“You can get tea at my grandma's when we get up there though.”
“We’re going to Ellie’s? Together?”
He hadn’t been up there even once when she had been over the past few days and she’d heard one of his brothers—or was he a cousin? There were a lot of Landry men—comment that Zander never stayed away from Ellie’s like that. She’d concluded he’d been avoiding her.
He sighed. “That’s where Spencer is.”
She smirked. Now he couldn’t avoid her. Ha. “You don't have to make me coffee. I can wait until we get up to the restaurant.”
“Caroline,” he said firmly. “I need you to get out of my bedroom.” His expression was partly amused and partly pained. “I need to get dressed and having you half-naked in my bed isn't doing me any favors.”
Without meaning to, she looked down at the front of his shorts. He was hard. Her body reacted to the evidence of his desire immediately. She felt her nipples tighten and a warm swirl danced through her lower belly as she remembered his hands and mouth on her and how his body, particularly that part of his body, had felt against hers.
“I've been half-naked in your bed all night,” she reminded him.
When the heat flared in his eyes and his jaw clenched, she thought that maybe she should not poke the bear.
The heat swirled faster through her and dipped between her legs as he approached the bed.
Or maybe she should absolutely keep poking the bear. God, he looked hot when he got all growly and intense.
Sleeping with Zander was a bad idea. She knew that. On some level anyway. It would be a fling at best and would lead to nothing, and… Yeah, that was all she had.
But having it leading to nothing was a good thing. The last thing she needed was a long term…anything. She didn’t know where she was going to be or what she was going to be doing in a week, not to mention a month or more from now.
But he wasn’t proposing. Why couldn't she have a fling? He was a good guy and she was probably never going to see him again. She hadn't done something irresponsible and fun in a very long time. Too long for her to really remember. She was always too caught up in worrying about the greater good and saving her father and brother from themselves and making sure justice was done and a whole bunch of other high-and-mighty-greater-purpose thoughts and intentions.
Why couldn’t she blow all of that off just one time?
A hot fling with Zander Landry sounded like a great idea.
Max would be here in the next day or so and could help Caroline get her thoughts in order and get a plan in place. Then maybe she and Zander could spend a couple of hot sweaty hours together right here in this bedroom before Caroline packed up and left town.
“You need to go down to the kitchen, Caroline,” Zander told her, his voice low and firm.
“Could I use your shower first?”
He shook his head. “Nope.”
She widened her eyes. “I can't shower now while you get dressed?”
“I can't have you naked while I'm here,” he said as if it was obvious.
She felt a smile teasing her lips. “Oops. That’s awfully close to admitting that you lack some self-control, Officer Landry.”
He simply nodded.
She raised both eyebrows. “You're willing to admit that?”
“You're willing to play dumb and pretend you don't already know that?”
“So we can talk openly about the fact that we have an incredible attraction that's very hard to resist?”
“I don’t think we should pretend that our physical attraction isn’t very strong and real. We both need to acknowledge it and that it could be a problem, so we can deal with it.”
“It could be a problem? How?” She liked the way he made her feel and liked that he was willing to admit that she made him feel things too.
“Well, last night I brought you here to protect you, but instead of just letting you sleep safely and watching the door and being ready to take care of any threats, I kissed you, touched you, and spent the night thinking about all the ways I wanted to make you come.”