Chapter 9
CHAPTER 9
A gainst her better judgement, Lark did agree to uncuff Ren twenty minutes later. After all, if he was going to hurt her, he’d had roughly seven hundred opportunities to do it. So, she figured she was safe with him for now.
The fact that he looked like he could break out of those cuffs with little to no effort but chose to remain restrained for her comfort helped, too.
Then there was the complete, naked, open sincerity he had in his eyes when he told her he’d do anything to protect her.
She was willing to bet there wasn’t a woman alive who wouldn’t be swayed by that kind of sentiment coming from a man who looked and sounded like Ren. And she was only human, for fuck’s sake!
Plus, she was exhausted. She was halfway convinced she could fall asleep right here on the couch. Which brought to mind yet another question…
“If I’m going to be here for a while, can I go home and grab a few things?”
The look Ren gave her was dangerously close to pity. “No. The assassin will have eyes on your house at all times. But I can get you anything you need. There’s plenty of stores close to here.”
The thought of Ren strolling the aisles at Target to buy her tampons, contact lens solution, and panties was horrifying. He must’ve read that in her expression, because he added, “Or I can have Tenley pick up stuff for you.”
There was no reason, none whatsoever, why she should feel a sharp stab of jealousy at the thought of other women in Ren’s life. But she did. Damn it. “Tenley?”
He nodded. “My friend. We work together sometimes.”
There was no lust or heat in his expression when he talked about Tenley. So, it stood to reason that she really was just a co-worker. She could ignore the annoying jealousy that was still licking at her skin.
Just like she could ignore how she had no idea what Ren actually did for work .
But that was a problem for another day, because she was too tired to delve into all that before she’d had a good night’s sleep. “Do you have a T-shirt or something I can sleep in tonight?”
And that’s when the heat darkened his eyes. His friend Tenley didn’t turn him on, but there was something about her—or the idea of her in his T-shirt—that did. Had he felt the same spark of lust when they first met that she had?
“Yeah,” he said after a lengthy pause. “You can take my room. I’ll leave some clothes on the dresser. Oh, and I’ll change the sheets while you’re getting ready for bed. There’s a new toothbrush and some contact solution in the medicine cabinet in the bathroom for you.”
Such an accommodating kidnapper. How lucky she was.
Lark hurried through her bedtime routine. A couple swipes of the toothbrush, a few splashes of water on her face, and a half-assed soap application and rinse, followed by tugging her hair into a messy bun and securing it with a rubber band she found in one of the vanity drawers. That was plenty for tonight.
When she wandered to the bedroom, bleary-eyed and tired all the way down to her soul, she nearly stumbled into Ren, who was busy tucking a new fitted sheet under the mattress. She wasn’t sure what looked better: a big, sexy man doing a basic household chore, or that big, sexy, pillow-top mattress of his.
Ren’s bedroom was the manliest bedroom Lark had ever seen in her life. Everything from the simple iron bed frame and sturdy-looking walnut dresser to the serviceable, plain black comforter lacked any kind of feminine touch. There wasn’t a single decorative item in the entire room. It all had a clear purpose. No more, no less.
Strangely enough, Lark liked that. She’d feel super weird about sleeping in his bed if Ren clearly shared the room with another woman.
Plus, it was super clean, which helped. Because while she didn’t want to sleep in a bed Ren shared with anyone else, she really didn’t want to sleep in a gross bachelor pad.
She’d probably be able to admire it more after a good night’s sleep, though.
Lark grabbed the black T-shirt, black boxers, and black sweatpants he’d laid out for her. She supposed she’d be rocking a goth aesthetic until she was able to get her hands on some new clothes. That was fine. The color (or lack thereof) suited her current mood.
“Thank you,” she muttered, crawling under the comforter. Maybe if she just sat there for a second, she’d eventually find the strength to change clothes.
“You’re welcome.”
“Ren?” she asked when he turned to go.
“Yeah?”
“I can trust you, right?”
She wasn’t sure why she’d asked him that. It’s not like he couldn’t lie if he wanted to. She’d already decided she at least trusted him not to murder her. But something deep inside forced her to voice those words. For whatever reason, she needed to hear his answer. See his expression when he gave it to her.
He looked her right in the eye without a speck of shiftiness or hesitation and said, “You can. I’d do anything for you.”
If he wasn’t telling her the truth, she’d eat her shoe. That’s how sincere he looked and sounded. The why he felt that way about her, a complete stranger, was a mystery she’d have to save for another day.
“OK,” she whispered.
Ren gave her a quick nod, then gave Dammit George a sharp command before leaving.
The bed dipped under Dammit George’s considerable weight as he snuggled up against her side, facing the door, which Ren had pulled mostly closed behind him.
As she changed into Ren’s T-shirt (a shirt that smelled so heavenly—like laundry detergent and hot male skin—she was never going to return it to him), she thought back to her high school French classes, trying to figure out what command had earned her a nice, squishy bedmate.
Her head hit the pillow, and she started drifting off to sleep almost immediately. But not before she remembered the translation of the words Ren had said to the dog.
Protect. Friend .
Yeah. There was definitely more to Ren’s story.
And she would figure it out. Of that , she was certain.
“I need clothes. Women’s stuff. Maybe, like, a couple weeks’ worth.”
There was a loaded pause on the other end of the phone before Tenley said, “I always thought you’d look super cute in a nice little sundress. But finding your size won’t be easy.”
Ren pinched the bridge of his nose. Damn it. He’d walked right into that one. If given the opportunity, Tenley would always choose snark. On a typical day, Ren appreciated that about her.
But this was not a typical day.
“The clothes aren’t for me,” he explained patiently. “They’re for Lark.”
Another pause on her end. “Ren…did you… kidnap Lark?”
Hearing the k word out loud like that was jarring. “Technically, yes. But I didn’t have a choice.”
He gave her the quick rundown of everything that had happened, including the fact that Lark was with him of her own free will. Kind of. Mostly.
When he’d spilled the relevant highlights for her, Tenley whistled. “Wow. And I thought I was hard to keep out of trouble. Lark has me beat by a mile.”
Which wasn’t true at all. Lark was only causing him trouble now. Tenley had been giving him headaches for years .
They’d both been scrawny, neglected foster kids when Ren met Tenley. She’d forced her way into his life by saving him from a bunch of bullies who’d been trying to stuff him into his locker (he didn’t hit a growth spurt until high school, ok?), and no matter how hard he tried to keep her at a distance, she refused and became the only person in the world to know the real him. More importantly, she knew he was a distrustful, paranoid, socially stunted, reclusive asshole and accepted all that about him.
So, he’d been watching out for her and helping her commit whatever crimes she felt like committing ever since. The amount of help she needed had changed some since she met and married her husband, Knox, but he watched out for her, nonetheless.
Ren used to consider Tenley his only friend. But after all this time, she was more like a sister. She definitely annoyed him as much as a sister would.
But telling Tenley she was a pain in the ass to protect didn’t suit his current purpose, so he kept that info to himself. “Can you get her some clothes and stuff, or not? I could go into town while she’s sleeping, but me buying a bunch of women’s clothes is bound to throw up red flags on someone’s radar.”
Tenley snorted. “Of course, I’ll get the clothes. But you’re kidding yourself if you think your purchases would be what was throwing up red flags. You look like a Bond villain on a good day.”
Normally, that kind of statement wouldn’t bother him. It was true, after all. He was big and rough looking. He’d used that to his advantage for as long as he could remember. But now, with Lark in the next room, he didn’t want to be judged based on his appearance. He didn’t want her to look at him and see a Bond villain.
He wanted her to see someone she could love.
Which was ridiculous. He knew that. Someone like Lark could never love someone like him. She was sunshine and rainbows. He was…thunderstorms and starless nights. Not exactly a match made in heaven.
And none of that made him stop thinking about her in his bed, wearing his clothes, snuggled up to his dog. Like she belonged there.
“Do you know her style preferences and sizes? Or am I winging it?”
He rattled off her height, weight, and a quick description of her typical wardrobe as easily as he’d rattle off his own stats.
“Alrighty-y then,” Tenley said after yet another long pause. “Just out of curiosity…do you know my height and weight?”
Ren thought for a minute. Short-ish? Curvy-ish? “Umm…no.”
“Yeah. That’s what I thought. Look, I know we don’t talk about our feelings and stuff.”
He was kind of nauseated at the thought. “Thank Christ for that.”
“But I feel like I have to say…be careful, OK?”
“I’m always careful.”
“No. I mean, be careful with your heart. And hers. If this thing goes pear-shaped—and I don’t mean the killer, I mean the attachment you have to her—I don’t want to see either of you get hurt.”
He understood what she was saying. When this was over, things couldn’t go back to the way they were. Not now that Lark knew she had a stalker. Not now that he’d been close enough to do more than just watch her.
Everything was different now.
“I’m always careful,” he repeated quietly.
Ren could only hope he hadn’t just lied to his one and only friend. Or to himself.