Chapter 26
TWENTY-SIX
T
he air seemed charged as they stared at each other.
Without saying a word, Tripp made her pulse beat faster. At first the scars on his face had been a shock. Now she found them almost beautiful, a physical testament to his strength and resilience. “I really appreciate you staying.”
His gaze was steady, his demeanor calm. As though he volunteered to stay at freaked-out women’s places in a potentially dangerous situation every week. He hadn’t mentioned he was seeing anyone, but was he dating?
“There’s no way I would leave you with this going on.”
Butterflies took flight in her abdomen, their wings brushing against her insides like velvet.
She ran a hand through her hair, feeling a little sheepish now that things had settled down. It wasn’t like she was in physical danger. “I guess I’m just a bit rattled, not knowing if this is all connected or not. And whether I’m being watched.”
“I get it. But nothing’s gonna happen to you while I’m here.” His tone was firm and sure. A reminder that he had serious military training and combat experience.
His protectiveness made her melt. “Thank you,” she murmured, wishing she could curl up in his lap and drink in the feel of his solid arms around her. Except she was pretty sure she wouldn’t stop there.
“Rafe’s on top of it,” Tripp said. “He’ll get you some answers as soon as he can, and I’ll make sure everything’s secure in the meantime. You don’t need to worry.”
She nodded, but still couldn’t help feeling a little unsettled about all this.
It was beyond creepy to think someone might have been watching her or caught her on camera earlier without her having a clue.
Worse yet to think they might have followed her into town and waited until she left before breaking into her vehicle to steal the backpack. Again, without her noticing.
“Do you still have a picture of that paper you took?”
“Yeah.” She picked up her phone and found it. Enlarged it to zoom in. The text was slightly blurry. “It’s in a weird sort of code. Must mean something important, to go to the trouble of encrypting it and then laminating it. Any ideas?” She handed it over.
He studied it for a minute. “No clue what any of it means.” He sat back in his chair, his quiet, masculine presence soothing her rattled nerves.
Looking at him, she was reminded yet again of what he’d faced overseas in the Army, and later as a military contractor. He’d been in command of Peyton’s unit in Syria when they’d come under attack. Her situation was almost ridiculously benign in comparison.
“The break-in could have been random, someone hoping to steal something that would get them some quick money. And even if it wasn’t that, whoever took the backpack might not have been trying to recover the sheet. They might have just been looking to find out what you’d taken.”
“True.” She picked up her cooled tea, downed the last of it in one gulp. He’d already finished his. She had no idea how much longer Rafe would be in the woods out back. “Want more?”
“No thanks.”
“I’ll go make up the bed in the guestroom for you.”
“I can bunk on the couch.”
“No, you’re sleeping in a bed.”
Amusement gleamed in his dark eyes. “I’ve slept in a lot worse places than on a couch.”
“Exactly why you deserve a comfy spot. I’ll just go grab the sheets from the dryer. I didn’t get a chance to take them out before I left. I got the best memory foam toppers for the beds,” she said over her shoulder on her way to the laundry room down the hall. “They feel like sleeping on a cloud.”
“Okay, that makes me want to climb into bed right now.”
And just like that, all she could picture was that long, powerful body lying in her guest bed—right on the other side of the wall from hers.
Or even better, in her bed beside her. On top of her.
Her internal temperature went up twenty degrees at the ideas swirling around in her brain.
Banishing those mouthwatering images from her mind, she busied herself with pulling the sheets from the dryer and making up the bed. The sheets were bamboo for breathability and to stay cool against the skin during the summer heat, but hopelessly wrinkled after being left in the dryer all day.
She smoothed them out on the bed as best she could, telling herself Tripp wouldn’t care that they were wrinkled. When she was done she draped one of her grandmother’s quilts on top.
“I’ve got some spare toothbrushes in the guest bathroom down the hall,” she called out, propping the fluffed pillows against the headboard.
Somewhere over the past few minutes, a new edginess had taken hold.
Caused by knowing she would be alone in her house with the object of her fantasies all night.
She grabbed some towels from the closet. “I’ll put some fresh towels on the—” She squeaked to find Tripp filling the doorway behind her, one muscular shoulder propped against the jamb as he watched her.
“You scared me,” she said with a little laugh, ordering her heartbeat to settle. Oh, he was delicious.
“Sorry.” He straightened, his dark gaze intense. “You’re nervous.”
Shit. “No, I—Just a little off-kilter at the moment.” But not for the reasons he probably assumed. “I’m glad you’re here,” she clarified. “There’s no way I would ever sleep if you weren’t.” Him staying over was a double-edged sword, that was all, and her nervous system was already overloaded.
“You sure?”
His deep, quiet voice made her forget whatever she’d been about to say. He was so close, his stare unbearably intimate as the silence enveloped them.
She couldn’t look away. Couldn’t resist the urge to move closer, pulled toward him by some invisible force. Inescapable.
Inevitable. Four years of feelings and repressed desire finally bursting free.
Tripp’s hand came up to cradle the back of her head. Willow stared into those dark, hypnotic eyes, unable to move. Unable to think or catch a full breath as her heart thudded painfully.
They both jumped apart when Rufus erupted into a warning howl from the kitchen. From nothing to DEFCON 1 in an instant.
“Holy hell,” Willow said, putting a hand to her slamming heart as she and Tripp both hurried to the kitchen.
“It’s just me,” Rafe called out over the barking a moment later from the other side of the closed front door. Neither of them had heard him come up the wooden steps, too lost in each other and the breathless moment of that almost kiss.
Rafe had shitty timing.
Willow grabbed Rufus’s collar, tried unsuccessfully to shush him as she dragged him to the front door while Tripp let Rafe in. “Sorry.” She made Rufus sit and told him to be quiet. “He’ll calm down in a minute.”
“I tell you what, he’s better than an alarm system,” Rafe said. “Heard me when I was partway up the driveway.”
“Good boy, Rufus.” Tripp reached down to stroke the dog’s head, and to Willow’s surprise, Rufus didn’t shy away from him, too busy staring warily at Rafe.
“We didn’t find anything else back there, but we’ll take another look in the morning just to make sure.”
“Find any cameras?” Tripp asked. “Or tracks?”
Yes, whoever it was must have left tracks.
“No, but we’ll get a better idea in the daylight.” Rafe looked at her. “You gonna be okay here on your own?”
“I’m staying the night,” Tripp said.
Rafe looked at him, then back at her. “All right. Good, then you’re safe as a kitten with a personal bodyguard and an early warning system,” he gestured to Rufus. “Anything else I can do before I take off?”
“Don’t think so. I appreciate you coming out.”
“I would’ve come even if it weren’t my job. I’ll send a couple deputies back in the morning to have another look around. I’m tied up in meetings again tomorrow until the afternoon, but if anything else comes up, just call the station. I’ll let you know if I hear anything on my end.”
“Sounds good.”
“Try not to worry, and get some sleep.”
“I will.” But only because Tripp was here. Although she would feel even safer with him wrapped around her in her bed.
Willow let Rafe out, then locked the door and turned to face Tripp. The moment in the guestroom had passed. Now that she was thinking clearly, it was for the best that they’d been interrupted before they’d crossed any lines. “I’m gonna take a shower. Wash the saltwater off me before I crash.”
He nodded, that penetrating stare stirring all kinds of emotions as he crossed the room and stopped in front of her. His hand settled on the left side of her waist. She felt the imprint of his long fingers as they curled around it.
He leaned in to press a gentle, lingering kiss on her forehead that she felt right to the soles of her feet. “Sleep well.”
She released a slow breath as he walked away and disappeared into the guest room, her heart aching as much as the rest of her.
Suddenly exhausted, she went to her own bedroom, reminding herself of all the reasons why she couldn’t risk crossing the line with him. The light click of toenails on the hardwood floors followed her into her room.
She shut the door, turned to find Rufus standing beside his bed under the window, watching her.
He was so damned adorable, and she loved that he was so attached to her already. And truth be known, she was extra grateful for his presence tonight, along with his natural alertness and sensitive ears—even if he could be an annoying lunatic with his reactions sometimes.
She took a hot, soothing shower, climbed into bed and patted the chenille coverlet. “All right, come on up.”
Rufus hopped up eagerly, wagged his tail as he circled the foot of her bed before flopping down and curling up at the end of it with a loud sigh. She reached down to give his soft head a stroke before switching off the lamp.
Having Rufus here was nice. But she wasn’t going to sleep anytime soon. She was too preoccupied with Tripp lying in his own bed, so close yet so far away.