Chapter 8
CHAPTER EIGHT
Savanna stared at the pile of clean clothes stacked on the leather armchair by the bed. She was in the second-floor guest room where Griffin had deposited her last night. Or, more accurately, today, since it had been one in the morning. She’d immediately taken advantage of the en suite bathroom and stood under the waterfall of a hot shower until she’d almost fallen asleep standing up. Yesterday had been one of the longest days of her life, and she’d not only needed to decompress, but she’d also wanted to wash away the dried sweat and dirt clinging to her skin from literally running for her life, as well as the stench of death in her nose.
Just the thought of Griffin rifling through her bedroom, picking out those clothes, including her underwear and bras, was enough to make her blush all over again. And why was she always blushing around the man? She reached for the plain white cotton panties and matching bra and tossed them onto the bed beside the jeans and white V-neck she’d already picked out.
For some reason, he’d opted to pack only her boring undergarments, bypassing all of the lace and frilly stuff sitting right alongside it in her top drawer back at home.
The clock on the nightstand indicated it was only seven in the morning, so she wasn’t sure if Griffin was awake yet, but she’d barely slept and was hoping Jesse or Griffin’s teammates would have some news soon. How long would she have to stay in this romantic custom log house with the sexy man?
She peeled off the oversized tee she’d slept in, the one that Marcus had bought her on one of their trips to Myrtle Beach years ago, her thoughts slipping back to last night and the moment she and Griffin shared by the fireplace. And it was definitely a “moment.” The way his firm hands had grasped her hips while he’d stared deep into her eyes had stirred something she hadn’t felt in years. But then he released her like he’d been burned, and the “moment” shattered.
Probably for the best. He reminded her too much of Marcus. The dark hair with a hint of a wave. The golden skin and deep, soul-piercing brown eyes.
However, unlike Marcus, Griffin gave off a “wicked” and “dangerous” vibe. That, along with his rugged looks, shockingly hard jawline, and amazing body, was proof positive that the heroes in romance novels did exist in real life. But he was dangerous, and Savanna felt that in her bones. Not a danger to her physically, unless you considered a broken heart a physical injury. No, he would protect her with his own life, of that she was sure. Her heart though . . .? They’d been together for less than twenty-four hours, and the magnetic pull he had on her already, even if it was purely sexual, was scary.
“Forget it,” she mumbled under her breath while stepping into her jeans. Forget the way he looked at me. How it felt to have a man touch me.
She went through the motions of getting dressed, still in somewhat of a daze, then slipped into her ankle boots, the ones she’d worn as she tore through the yard at Jesse’s last night, fearing for her life.
The smell of coffee was the first thing to hit her once in the hall. Much better than the stench of death, that was for sure.
Each step Savanna took in her boots announced her descent on the stairs like a hammer hitting wood, so she wasn’t surprised to see Griffin waiting for her.
Gripping the railing for support, she stopped three steps from the bottom, her mission to seek out coffee forgotten as she took in every inch of the man standing before her.
The first thing she noticed was that he was shirtless. That alone almost did her in. The next thing she noticed was that he was glistening with sweat, causing his dark brown hair to appear almost black, the messy strands going every which way. Black running shoes and loose-fitting black gym shorts hanging on his hips completed the look.
The biggest gulp of her life followed as she tracked the ridges of muscles on his core. The hard, deep cut of his abdominal wall was most definitely romance-novel-worthy. And the partial sleeve of black ink from his left shoulder to elbow had her knees going weak like she was Belle the moment she witnessed the Beast become a man for the first time.
Savanna didn’t even like tattoos, despite Marcus having had them, but wow, oh wow, oh wow . Why did the ink on Griffin’s body make him even more attractive to her now? God, the man looked lethal.
Yup. Dangerous , she reminded herself, eyeing the black tattoo of the large bird feathers, or maybe angel wings, at the top of his shoulder.
He was holding a dark green mug in one hand, and the lip of the cup hovered near his mouth as he studied her before taking a sip. And, of course, his bicep bulged in the process, the ink-free one.
“You just finish working out?”
He lowered the mug and advanced across the living room, skirting the brown leather couch to get to where she remained glued to the step. “If you want to call it that, sure. I did a perimeter sweep of the property and checked to ensure all security measures were in working order.”
He smiled, flashing her his pearly whites. Yeah, they were always pearly and white in books, right? You’re losing it, Savanna, her inner voice chided.
“Over four acres, so despite the cool morning, I got hot.”
Not to point out the obvious, but you were already hot. Savanna lifted the hand not clutching the banister and feathered her fingers across her collarbone as she took in all that hotness.
“I didn’t expect you to be up so early.” He glanced at the thick black watch on his wrist she hadn’t noticed until then. “There’s coffee. Folgers. Not exactly the fancy stuff you’re probably used to. No food, though.”
She needed to say something soon. How long could she gawk at this beautiful man? No, beautiful wasn’t the right word. Beautiful wouldn’t call forth the achy, needy tingles going on down south, between her thighs. It was the chiseled body and handsome face and those intense brown eyes that made everything inside her come alive. Just a body. Just a face. I can do this.
Griffin stilled at the bottom of the staircase, dark eyes steady on hers as he held the mug away from his mouth. “You okay?”
“I just, um . . .” She trailed off, not knowing what in the world to say. He had actually made her speechless.
This man needs to quit screwing with my head and get down to the business of screwing my . . . Oh my God, what in the hell was going on with her? Just a body. Just a face. I can do this, she replayed what might need to be her new mantra if he came near her shirtless ever again.
“Savanna?” His dark brows tightened with worry.
“Fine. I’m fine,” she answered, relieved she’d managed to finally speak. “Just hungry. Didn’t sleep much.”
“Yeah, I was thinking we could grab some food at the store and cook here. I’d rather not take you into town, but I don’t want to leave you alone either.”
“Any word from the guys?” There. She’d said something important. Whoop, she felt like she just earned herself a triple word score playing Scrabble.
“Yeah, Carter is still working on getting the two men to talk, and Oliver is going through your, um, husband’s boxes to see if he can find anything about Nick.” Griffin’s eyes briefly lifted to the rustic beams overhead as if searching for Marcus there. “Is it okay if Oliver reads the letters Marcus wrote to Nick?”
The letters.
She’d never read them, but . . .
“If Oliver thinks it’ll help, then yes.” What choice did they have? People were potentially at risk because of her.
“Gray and Jack are focused on digging into Nick’s whereabouts over the past few years, and if anyone he met in prison might connect to him now. Or to what’s happening to you,” he added when returning his focus to her face.
“Have the Feds arrived at Jesse’s? How’s Jesse handling all of this?”
“Jesse had Beckett make some calls last night, just to be proactive about it. Beckett didn’t mention what happened at your townhouse or that you were ever at Jesse’s home. We’d prefer to keep your name out of this.”
Her body relaxed a bit. “Makes sense, I suppose.”
He nodded, his mouth drawing into a tight line as his gaze briefly took a detour to the V of her shirt. “I’d rather go to the store now while it’s still early. Less chance of anyone seeing us.” His eyes found hers again. “I’ll just take a quick shower.” He cocked his head, a request to navigate around her on the step.
“Right. Sorry.” She turned sideways instead of doing the rational thing and just going down the last three steps, so in order to pass her, Griffin had to step sideways as well.
His sweaty, towering frame now faced her, his sculpted chest right at eye-level. She got caught up in the slight dusting of dark hair on his chest and glanced down to the waistband of his shorts, wondering if that hair continued on down to . . .
But to her credit, as much as she wanted to reach out and touch him as he maneuvered around her, she refrained. Good girl.
“Be down soon.”
Last night he’d told her that the master was downstairs, but he preferred not to sleep in his dad’s bed. She hadn’t exactly wanted to, either, which was for the best considering she’d had a few naughty runaway thoughts about Griffin while she’d tossed and turned last night.
Once he was out of sight, she decided to check out the rest of the downstairs. She preferred to grab different coffee when they went shopping, so she’d hold off on the cup of java for now. She was a bit of a snob when it came to espresso.
The blinds covering the big windows in the living room were slanted to let in some natural light, enough for her to get a good look at the room—the furnishings were stylish but looked comfortable, and the home was spacious. It was either relatively new or recently renovated. She took a left down the second hall, remembering Griffin had said the first hall off to the left of the kitchen only led to the master bedroom.
Ella had always said Savanna was nosy, but she considered herself merely curious. Upon opening the first door in the hallway, she discovered a cozy office, and the blinds were open to reveal a beautiful view of the foothills off in the distance.
She was about to pull the door closed when a bookshelf on one wall caught her attention. The chance she’d find something to read was a long shot, but why not try?
Military history books and autobiographies lined the first few shelves, and she smoothed her hands over the spines. It was somehow comforting to know his dad enjoyed reading, even if his choice of reading material would be more useful to her as a sleep aid.
But then, jackpot. Was she hallucinating?
Savanna crouched for a better look at the bottom shelf of familiar-looking paperback novels. Closer inspection revealed they were all written by her favorite historical romance author. She carefully extracted the first book on the shelf and stood. Ironically, this particular one had popped her historical romance cherry, and she’d loved them ever since. After she’d devoured every book in the author’s backlist, she’d binged a dozen other authors who wrote in the same genre. At the time, Marcus had been deployed, and it was their first year of marriage. These books kept her sane. They transported her to another time, another part of the world. The characters became real when she was immersed in their story, and their lives kept her from worrying about her own every second of every hour of each day.
Maybe she could distract herself with a book or two later? Better than being constantly tempted by Griffin and all his sexiness.
“What are you doing?” Griffin’s voice had a rough edge to it that she’d yet to hear since they’d met. And damn, the man showered quickly.
Griffin brushed past her and took the book from her hand as though it was a rare first edition, and she was about to dog-ear a page. What was that all about?
He knelt and returned the novel back to its place. “Did you open it?” he asked while rising.
“I’m sorry, what?” She planted her hands on her hips and stared at him in confusion.
His hair was still wet from the shower, and had he even dried his body before pulling on that white polo with his black jeans? The fabric clung to his chest, outlining his muscles like a delicious tease, and it had her forgetting his accusing question and weird behavior for about two seconds.
“Are these books special to your dad? I’m sorry.” She turned to the bookshelf, realizing that it appeared his dad owned every single book by that author. Twenty-four, to be exact. Savanna followed her on Instagram and remembered she’d announced last month that she was writing book number twenty-five. “He must be a fan. Or are they your mom’s books?” She faced him again, confused once more to see him breathing heavily. “You keep referring to this place as your dad’s, so I assumed your mom didn’t come here, that she didn’t like hunting or something.” But he said it was his mom’s money. Hm.
“They’re . . . his,” Griffin said hesitantly. “She doesn’t come here.” His eyes went to the window over the desk. “Not anymore.” Tilting his head toward the door, he said, “Can we go?”
Her shoulders collapsed. She hated feeling as though they were having a fight, but that was the vibe she was getting.
“Are you mad at me?”
Griffin raked his fingers through his thick locks a few times before meeting her gaze. “Why on earth would I be mad at you?”
“Because you’re Mister Moody now.”
The grumpiness slipped away in a second, and one of his handsome smiles replaced the downturned lips. “Mister Moody, huh?”
“Would you prefer I call you Sugar?” she teased, walking toward him, feeling a bit more confident in her ability to behave herself now that he had his shirt on.
“I’d like to see you try,” he said darkly.
Her stomach flipped at the provocative way his eyes were eating her up, just daring her to call him Sugar, so he could shut her up by covering her mouth with his. Or put her over his knee. Or something equally naughty.
Maybe she couldn’t behave even with his shirt on after all?
“Mm-hm.” She smiled. “Roger that.” She’d hoped to come across as sassy, but her body was mush with his sexy eyes and smile pointed her way, and so she’d pretty much only whispered the answer.
“Savanna, Savanna, Savanna.” Griffin strode over and surprised her by brushing her hair over her left shoulder while staring down at her. “What ever am I going to do with you, Sugar?”