5. Kiernan
KIERNAN
Iended the call with a sigh of relief and walked into my bedroom. My clothes were thoroughly soaked. I peeled them off and grabbed a clean t-shirt and jeans from my dresser.
The good news, they could come right away.
Bad news, I’d have to walk all the way back.
I hoped it would stop raining soon.
I would at least wait for Indie to finish her shower before leaving again.
Thoughts of her in my shower with water sluicing over every inch of her naked body had me feeling some kind of way.
Walking home with her on my back, she had readjusted her arms around my neck several times. I got a peek at a few of the tattoos on her hands. The one that caught my eye was a spider web with a fly next to it. How ironic, considering I felt so very trapped in the web she’d unintentionally woven for me.
I needed to get it the fuck together.
Unfortunately for my composure, she stepped out of the bathroom wearing my clothes and I was fully unprepared.
Seeing her in my sweats made me absolutely feral.
The way the fabric hung from her body sent my senses into overdrive. She looked so tiny in my too-big shirt, and I knew my joggers were likely barely hanging onto her small frame.
I could almost taste her on my lips as she walked toward me, and I wanted nothing more than to make that daydream a reality.
My mouth dried out. I closed it and opened it again, willing myself to speak before I did something stupid.
“The locksmith is on his way. Make yourself at home for a bit and when I get back I’ll take you home for a better change of clothes,” I told her.
She looked down at herself and gave a little wiggle. “What? You think a toddler in grown-up clothes chic is not work appropriate?”
The corner of my mouth twitched. She had no idea just how inappropriate it was. Seeing her in my clothes was downright sinful.
“I’ll be back in a few,” I said, pulling my shoes on. I would stroke out right then and there if I had to spend another second looking at her like this and not be able to touch her.
My mind drifted to the terrifying possibility of experiencing a stroke, each symptom playing out in vivid detail like a film projected onto the walls of my mind. I could almost feel the numbness creeping into my limbs, the confusion clouding my thoughts, and the fear setting in as I watched myself on this cinematic journey through a medical emergency. It was like being a spectator at my own potential demise, helpless and absorbed by the intensity of the imagined experience.
I shook my head in an attempt to rid myself of the spiraling thoughts. I looked back at Indie. If there was any indication I’d checked out there for a minute, she didn’t let on like she’d noticed.
The instances of my intrusive thoughts taking over were few and far between more recently, but that didn’t mean they were nonexistent. At least I felt like I had a better grip on them lately.
“Nice,” she said, walking toward the kitchen. “Can you show me where the mugs are before you go? I want to make coffee.”
I followed behind her—preparing to do just that—but before I could answer she spoke again. “Never mind, I’m probably just going to rifle through all of your things after you leave anyway.” The corner of her mouth twitched like she was trying not to laugh at the joke, but I did not doubt in my mind that she would actually rifle through all of my things.
“May the odds be ever in your favor.” I saluted her and turned toward the door, cringing at myself. What the fuck was that?
By the time I arrived back to the car, the locksmith had already successfully broken into it and cut the engine, so it took me no time at all to make it back home after changing the tire. What a fucking day.
I expected to find any number of things from Indie when I walked through the door, but what I didn’t expect was to find her curled up in a blanket asleep on my couch.
I kneeled next to her, in a trance. The gentle rise and fall of her chest, the way her white-blonde hair fell around her face; she was a work of art. The feeling of having her in my space like this was something I wanted to bottle up and save for later. I resisted the urge to wake her. We had work, of course, but if she wanted to stay there all day, I would gladly let her.
Her eyes fluttered open, and just like that she’d caught me staring like a creeper.
A smile curved on her lips. “Creeper.”
Wow. Facepalm.
“I am not a creeper,” I lied. “I was just about to wake you,” I lied again.
“Sorry,” she said, her face a bit flushed. Was she embarrassed? She had no reason to be. Not with me. “I haven’t been sleeping much lately and sometimes when I’m stressed I just shut completely down.”
“Why are you stressed?” Let me fix it.
“No reason in particular,” she brushed me off. “Let’s get me home, it’s lunchtime now and I’m in desperate need of some spicy noods if I want to accomplish anything at all today.”
“I… spicy nudes?” What.
She snorted. “Noods as in noodles. Get your mind out of the gutter. And while you’re at it, maybe consider stocking your kitchen with something other than barley and wheatgrass.”
I scrunched my forehead in confusion. “I have neither of those things.”
“No. But you do have 72 grilled chicken breasts, 97 boiled eggs, and broccoli. Lots of broccoli.”
I glared at her. “You’re a smart ass.”
“I’m aware,” she deadpanned, standing and walking into the kitchen to pick up her shoes from where they sat by the back door.
I snatched them from her hand. “These are still sopping.”
“You want me to walk barefoot?”
“No,” I said, wrapping an arm around her waist and hauling her over my shoulder in one smooth movement.
She shrieked and smacked my ass. “Put me down.”
“I will,” I said, maneuvering my hand so that I could open the door.
She wiggled persistently like a little brat and I had the urge to bite her thigh. It was right there.
And then she poked me in the side, tickling me. So I did.
“OW!” she yelped, then tilted her head and chomped down on the lower part of my lat.
Great. Now I had a boner.
“Watch what you do with that mouth,” I said, dropping her boots onto the pavement and opening the car door.
“Watch what you do with yours,” she retorted, releasing an umph as I plopped her onto the passenger seat.
I pulled the seat belt out and leaned across her to buckle her in. The heat of her body in such close proximity to mine—again—was crumbling the basically nonexistent restraint I had in place.
She stilled, and I don’t know why she was shocked. I also didn’t know what it was about her that made me want to take care of her so badly.
I knew it was a bad idea to pursue my employee, but I wasn’t sure how much I cared.
I mostly only cared that she cared.
I understood why she had her reservations. If things didn’t work out between us for whatever reason, work would be hard for both of us. She seemed to love this job and I loved having her around, so I wouldn’t jeopardize that for either of us.
Especially not for her.
With that thought, I pulled away and closed her door.