I slide the key card through the reader, and the door clicks open.
I open the door, walk in stealthily.
“Kelly!” I yell.
No response.
I look around for any signs of evidence that she’s here. A phone on the table. A purse hung over a chair.
But there’s nothing.
Not that I know what this apartment normally looks like. This is my first time inside.
I continue to walk quietly through the small hallway and through the living area past the kitchen.
The door to her bedroom is closed.
Dare I enter?
I knock.
Again no response.
She could be asleep, so I knock a bit louder.
And again…nothing.
I turn the knob and open the door. “Kelly?”
The door to her ensuite bathroom is also closed, so I walk toward it, swiftly open it and—
A bloodcurdling scream.
Coming from Kelly.
Naked Kelly.
A towel is on a puddle in the floor in front of her. Rather than clutching it, to her, she must have lost her grip.
I gape.
I can’t help myself.
She’s a goddess.
Gorgeous round tits with light brown nipples. And those nipples? They’re standing straight out.
A curvy hourglass figure, gorgeous legs that are long and shapely. Her red hair is wet and hangs in strings around her milky shoulders.
I gaze again at her legs. The scars. On her thighs. My God…
“Get the hell out of here!” she yells. “You fucking perv!”
Right. She’s absolutely right.
What am I thinking? Staring at her as if I’ve never seen a naked woman before. I leave, closing the door.
“God, I’m so sorry,” I say through the closed door. “I was worried. You didn’t answer when I knocked.”
No reply. Not that I expect one. She’s angry and rightfully so.
And damn, I can’t get the image of her naked body out of my head. I think it’s seared in there permanently, as if it’s branded into my brain.
I sit down on her bed to wait for her.
“Are you gone yet?” Her angry voice comes through the door.
“No. I’m waiting for you.”
“Then you’ll be waiting a long freaking time, because I’m not leaving this bathroom until you’re out of this apartment.”
“Fine. I’ll wait for you in the living room.”
“No. You will leave my apartment. Now. How the hell did you get in here, anyway?”
A valid question, and one I will answer honestly. “Reid gave me a key in case of an emergency.”
“Did he now? Leave your key on the kitchen counter. Then leave.”
“I’ll leave, but I won’t leave my key, Kelly. It’s important that I have it for emergencies.”
“What’s your excuse today? This is hardly an emergency.”
“Yeah, it is an emergency. I put you in a cab, and I should’ve gone with you. So when I got back, I wanted to make sure you were okay. When you didn’t answer your door, I was concerned, so I came in.”
“You mean you broke in.”
“No, I came in. I was concerned about your wellbeing. You’re my responsibility—”
“Let’s get this straight, Leif. I’m no one’s responsibility. I haven’t been anyone’s responsibility other than my own. No one has ever taken care of me, and I don’t need anyone to take care of me now.”
Her words strike me.
Just as I suspected, she has a backstory. Her childhood was less than great.
She’s never been anyone’s responsibility? Not her parents’? The state’s? No one’s?
Scary stuff.
I don’t know what she’s been through, but it was far from good.
“Kelly, I—”
“I can still hear you, so that means you’re still here. Get the fuck out!”
I could win this battle. She has to come out of her bathroom at some point. But she’s stubborn. So damned stubborn. She will stay in there for hours, and I have a stupid date tonight.
“Fine,” I say. “But this isn’t over. I will not be leaving my key, and you and I need to have a chat.”
“I see no need for a chat,” she says. “I don’t want to hear your voice again.”
“Fine. I’m leaving.”
I leave her bedroom and shut the door behind me, and then—not leaving my key card—I let myself out of her apartment and head toward my own.
And I try to ignore the hard-on I still have from seeing her naked.
20
KELLY
“Are you still there?” I yell from behind the bathroom door.
No reply.
Of course, he could be not answering on purpose.
Pervert, staring at me like he’s a starving dog and I’m a freaking turkey leg.
I have so many scars. And they’re not just from the island.
But my God, he was gaping at me like I was a feast on a platter.
Fucking degenerate.
“You better not be there!” I yell.
I wrap myself in a towel and carefully open the door from the bathroom into the bedroom.
Thank God. He’s not in my bedroom. He could easily still be in the apartment, but at least I can get dressed.
I hastily pull on some jeans and a T-shirt, and then I head back into the bathroom to comb out my hair. I’m not going anywhere for the rest of the day, so I let it air dry.
Linda told me I’d have to wear it up to work—either in a bun or ponytail.
Once I’m dressed, I pad out of my bedroom, quietly, expecting to find Leif lurking somewhere.
But, after casing the small place, I realize he’s not.
And for some reason…that irks me too.
Everything irks me.
Especially the fact that Leif Ramsey has a key to my apartment. I head back into my bedroom where my phone is charging and yank it off of the cord. Time to call Reid Wolfe.
“Wolfe Enterprises,” a robotic voice says into my ear.
“This is Kelly Taylor. I need to talk to Reid Wolfe.”
I’ll get right through. There’s a standing order at Wolfe Enterprises that any of us women from the island can get right through to whichever Wolfe we want to talk to, even if they’re in a meeting.
A few seconds pass and—
“Kelly? This is Reid. What can I help you with?”
“You can change the locks on my door. Make sure Leif Ramsey does not have a key card.”
“I’m afraid I can’t do that. I’m happy to change your locks if you feel there’s been a threat against you, but Leif will always have a key card.”
“He broke in on me today. Barged into my bathroom and saw me naked.”
Silence on the other end of the line. I get the distinct feeling that Reid Wolfe is holding back a chuckle.
“I’m sorry to hear that, Kelly, but I’m sure he had a good reason.”
“He said he was concerned.”
“And why was he concerned?”
“Because he knocked on my door and I didn’t answer. But did it occur to him that I might be in the bathroom? Which I was. I’d just gotten out of the shower. I didn’t hear anyone knock.”