Chapter Twelve
LYLA
Wiping sleep from my eyes, I opened the door to my bedroom and stepped out into the hallway just as the bathroom door swung open. Adam appeared, wearing only a towel around his waist, water dripping down his bare chest.
I could feel the heat creeping up my neck and into my face as I stared at his sculpted torso, my eyes tracing the ink that ran up his arm and over his chest. I itched to reach out and let my fingers follow the same path.
“You’re up early,” he said.
My gaze whipped to the smirk that broke out on his face. I understood what he said, but for some reason I couldn’t form words. I shook my head slightly.
Jesus. Pull it together.
But, damn. Couldn’t he put on a freaking shirt?
I tried not to let my gaze drift back down, but failed miserably. The towel he wore hung dangerously low on his hips, showcasing the deep V of his lower abs.
“Lyla?”
I could hear the concern and amusement in his voice and forced my gaze back up to his face. “Yeah… I, um, woke up.” I cringed at how lame that was. What the hell was going on with me?
He chuckled and took a step forward. His lips still held a playful smirk, but there was something a bit deeper—darker—shining in his eyes. “I see that.”
I held my breath as he stepped even closer. And maybe I was hallucinating, but he seemed to lean down toward me, invading my space.
“Excuse me.” There was a deep rasp to his voice that caused heat to pool in my belly. “Can I get to my room?”
What? His room? Oh my God. I glanced over my shoulder toward his bedroom. I was blocking the narrow hallway.
“Oh. Sorry. Yes, of course.” I shifted sideways and he squeezed past me.
“Thanks, love.”
I froze. Did he just call me love? He’d never used that term before. That was… weird. This whole exchange had been weird. Maybe I was dreaming or something.
I let out a breath and chalked it up to strange sleepiness invading my brain, then headed to the kitchen.
Shaking my head to clear the very odd encounter from my mind, I opened the refrigerator, grabbing bacon and eggs to make some breakfast. I wasn’t sure if Adam ate anything before going into shift.
The guys made breakfast at the station, but I usually had something small before heading in just in case a call came in right away. Did he do the same?
As I placed the last of the bacon on a plate and started whisking the eggs together in a bowl, Adam entered the kitchen.
I sensed him come up behind me, so close I could feel the heat coming off him.
I stiffened as he leaned forward over my shoulder and reached around me, grabbing a piece of bacon from the plate.
He took a bite. “Mmm. So good.”
I stared at his lips as he put the rest of the piece in his mouth. I blinked, breaking the connection and pulling my attention away from him. What the heck was going on with me?
Turning back to the eggs, I focused on getting my lady parts under control. It wasn’t like I didn’t know how gorgeous he was, I just usually didn’t pay it any mind. Because we weren’t like that.
So why then was I suddenly super aware of his proximity?
The way he smelled. How I couldn’t erase the image of his insanely toned chest and stomach from my mind.
Not that he didn’t look just as hot in his uniform polo he wore now, especially with the top button undone and the sleeves tight against his biceps.
I finally relaxed as he moved away to the other side of the small kitchen.
“Want me to make you a cup of coffee?”
I nodded. “Sure. Thanks.”
We moved around the kitchen together, and it all felt so domestic. I couldn’t put my finger on it, but something felt different between us.
I turned toward the fridge to put the milk away, then spun back, colliding right into him. His hands grasped my waist and mine pressed to his hard chest. His fingers trailed up my sides, sending a shiver coursing through me.
He smoothed his hands up and down my arms and tipped his head behind me. “Sorry, just need to get the creamer from the fridge.”
“Okay.” Even though my brain told me to move, my feet didn’t obey.
“You good?”
I nodded. “Yeah.”
Finally, I forced myself to move around him. I added the eggs to the pan and began scrambling them. Probably with a little too much aggression, but I was frustrated at the way my body seemed to be reacting to him. He appeared next to me, leaning back against the counter and holding a mug out to me.
“Thank you.” I took it from him, taking a small sip before placing it down on the counter and finishing the eggs. “You want a small plate?”
“Sure.” As he got down two plates, his phone rang from his pocket. He pulled it out and his jaw locked as he looked at the screen. He brought the phone to his ear and walked out of the kitchen, answering with a terse, “What’s up?”
I strained to hear his part of the conversation. His voice was low, but it held a lot of frustration. I divided the eggs and bacon between the two plates as he reentered the kitchen.
“Sorry.” He reached for the plates, tension apparent in his shoulders now that wasn’t there a few moments ago. “I’ll carry them to the table.”
I followed him with my mug in my hands, waiting until he returned with his coffee and took his seat before asking, “Everything okay?”
He studied me, uncertainty swimming in his eyes. “I’m going to hang out here for a bit before going in.”
I narrowed my eyes at him. “Why?”
He sighed. “Dylan said it’s probably nothing, but patrol just drove by and spotted a car in the parking lot that matches the description of the one that followed us the other day.”
I raised a brow. That was hardly suspicious. There were probably lots of blue cars out there. “Okay…” There had to be more he wasn’t saying.
His jaw clenched. “Once patrol pulled into the lot, the car sped away.”
“Maybe they were late for work.”
He huffed. “If Dylan truly believed that, he wouldn’t have given me the heads up.”
I couldn’t argue with that. He was right. If Dylan called about it, he obviously thought it might be a threat. Because while he was known to be cautious, Dylan wasn't an alarmist.
“But he has a car out front now, right? So you don’t need to stay. I’ll be fine.”
He shook his head. “They have a make and model and a partial plate and he has all available units out looking.”
“I’m safe inside the apartment. What is he going to do?”
Adam’s brows shot up to his hairline. “Oh, I don’t know. He’s a fucking arsonist. Maybe set fire to the building?”
I pressed my lips together into a thin line. There was no need to bring up the fact that he could easily do that with Adam here, or could have done it any time in the last week. I went back to eating my food until he let out a long sigh and I looked back up at him.
“Truth is…” He sighed and scrubbed a hand down his face. “I wouldn’t be focused at the station if I was worried about what was going on here. So I’m just going to hang out until Dylan gives me an update.”
That I could understand. Being distracted could cost him his life, or someone else’s. I sent him a slight smile and nodded. “Okay.”
Honestly, I’d never seen him so intense or so on edge before. He was always the levelheaded one, calm under pressure. But as I stole little glances over at him, he seemed anything but those things. I didn’t know what to make of it, and it began to make me just as uneasy.
Maybe I could help take his—and now my—mind off the danger he thought was lurking outside.
“Want to continue our game from the other night?” I waved to the cards still sitting on the table.
“Sure.” His lips lifted slightly into a smirk. “If you’re ready to lose again.”
I rolled my eyes. “Just remember, the last time you got cocky, I ended up winning.”
“Only because you played that spell that destroyed all my creatures.”
“I still won.”
“Well, I’m confident you’re not winning this one.”
He nodded to the table and I picked up my cards. “I guess we’ll see, now, won’t we?”