“Apparently.” Then she had a stab of sickness hit her. How many women had googled this beautiful chest, touched this beautiful chest, or gone silly over this beautiful chest? Cruz was such a show-off, flirt, and player, that it was like every woman had the rights to him. Every woman but her.
She quickly yanked one of the wipes out of the bag and ordered, “Turn around.”
Cruz’s wide grin showed he knew exactly how he affected her, but he had no clue that she was getting farther away from him emotionally. With a lot of prayer tonight, she could be strong around him, treat him like a friend, and think of him as a thoughtful person who was sleeping outside to catch her creeper. That was all.
He slowly turned around, giving her plenty of time to admire him front to back. Meredith took a steadying breath. She unfolded the small wipe, reaching up and starting at his shoulders and wiping along the top then slowly working her way down. Did all men have ridged muscle like this along their backs? As she worked her way down to his tapered waist, she felt almost indecent finishing along the band at the top of his shorts. She was going to have to pray for strength and probably pray for forgiveness for wayward feelings. Her dad wasn’t a hellfire kind of preacher. He was very loving and understanding, but still he’d taught her what thoughts were inappropriate before marriage. She was pretty sure she was having those thoughts.
“Done,” she managed to squeak out.
Cruz turned slowly around, giving her a smoldering glance with his blue eyes that wasn’t helping her wayward thoughts at all. “Thank you,” he said in a deep, husky voice. “You did a perfect job.” He extended the bag of wipes again. “Do you want to do my chest as well?”
Meredith’s breath stuttered, and she put a hand to her heart and begged, “Oh, saints above, help me now.”
Cruz grinned happily at her as if her desperate prayer was funny.
She needed him out of here right now. She planted her hands on his chest, momentarily distracted from her purpose by how mind-boggling those well-defined pec muscles felt under her palms. Praying for strength, she shoved at him. “Get out of here, now!”
Cruz lifted his hands and backed up. “I’m going. I’m going.” He winked as he stepped onto the porch.
“It’s not funny, Cruz,” she tossed at him.
“Come on. It was a little funny.”
“Goodnight, Cruz.”
“Goodnight, beautiful Meredith.”
She had no choice. She slammed the door in his face again. And once again she heard his deep chuckle reverberate through. Meredith stalked through her living area and into her master suite. She washed her face, brushed her teeth, read her scriptures, and prayed and prayed and prayed. A warm, peaceful feeling came over her. She hadn’t done anything wrong, and though Cruz seemed to be enjoying mindlessly flirting with her, he was only being a friend by watching over her. If she had to continually fight a surge of disappointment that he couldn’t be more than a friend, the Lord would help her.
She settled into her comfortable bed but heard movement outside her window. She usually loved to have her windows open, especially at night, but since the kidnapping, hearing the vehicles driving up and someone walking around outside her bedroom at night, she’d kept them closed while she slept.
Gently sliding the window up, she heard the movement cease and then Cruz’s voice, “Hey, beautiful. Are you going to keep that open to make sure I stay safe?”
It was dark inside and outside the house, so she couldn’t see more than his outline, and she didn’t think he could see her. It was sweetly intimate to have him close while she was heading to bed. The wood, plaster, and paint provided a nice safe border between them, so she wouldn’t be able to throw herself at that beautiful chest of his.
“Thanks for being here, Cruz,” she said, rather than rise to his teasing.
“Of course. I’ll always watch out for you, Meredith.”
Meredith’s neck tightened. She loved his words, but she knew they weren’t true. Even if he wasn’t a shameless player and a flirt, his busy career took him around the world. He wasn’t going to settle down in his hometown and watch over her. She and his family hadn’t been enough of a draw to keep him here twelve years ago. What made her think anything could change? She had to constantly remind herself of the stories Josh had told her about Cruz and all the women she’d seen him with online. He would break her heart when he ditched her for a better model. He wasn’t for her, no matter how much she wished he could be.
When she didn’t respond, he said, “Are you going to run or hike in the morning?”
“I’d like to go,” she admitted. “I missed my hike this morning.”
“Can I come with you? For … safety?”
She smiled. Even though whoever walked outside her window at night unnerved her, they had never hurt her, and she prayed she was safe in her valley. Iris’ new boyfriend was some kind of super spy and had promised them he’d keep their valley safe. She’d take Cruz’s offer though. It would be nice to hike without clutching her pepper spray, and she wanted more time with him. No matter how bad it might hurt when he left again.
“Sure. See you in the morning.”
“Goodnight, beautiful, sweet Meredith.”
“Night.” Handsome, irresistible, fun, love-of-my-life Cruz. Luckily, she kept all those descriptors to herself.
Chapter Six
Cruz slept horribly. He’d slept on his top-of-the-line cot with his comfortable sleeping bag and travel pillow many times and slept great. His life had been fulfilling and happy since he’d escaped his mother’s net—busy, fun, and crazy with his staff and fans who loved him. He fell into bed at night wherever he was, crashed for seven to eight hours, then woke up, and went hard again.
Even though his day on the lake yesterday had been an intense one, he could not sleep. Maybe he was worried he’d miss the perp coming around Meredith’s house, but he thought the more likely reason was the gorgeous, irresistible woman resting inside the house. It was quiet enough in her wooded lot, with only the water from the lake lapping against the shore line and some insects buzzing, to hear her breathe if he concentrated. He liked that.
When she’d rubbed the mosquito repellant on his back, looked at him as if he’d hung the moon, and then prayed to the saints above for help to resist him, he was certain all his teenage and young adult daydreams about Meredith Francis were going to come true. Then she’d shut the door in his face again. Slammed it, actually. He loved teasing with her, but he was ready to take this past teasing.
He felt like for their relationship to proceed he had to first of all find out what Josh had told her and dispel the nonstop rumors about him being a “player.” He hadn’t had the opportunity to bring it up casually tonight but tomorrow he would. It should be easy to convince her to trust him. He and Meredith had been friends their entire lives, and she didn’t even know Josh. Why would anyone believe that guy or any of the social media posts women constantly put up or online magazines that ran articles speculating about Cruz dating somebody different every week? Maybe Meredith was grasping for an excuse not to date him. He didn’t like that idea at all.