Chapter 11
Eleanor gaped at Bastian. “With… With you?”
“You heard me. Hurry up.”
She opened her mouth—
“Look, sugar, I don’t want you here longer than necessary. You’ve seen enough.”
Her expression morphed into a glare, but he didn’t back down. In fact, he welcomed that sass. Better that than the alternative, given what happened to her apartment and neighbor.
“I can stay with friends.”
“No.” He ran a hand over the shaved side of his scalp. Fucking hell. What the fuck was wrong with him? This was not how things were supposed to happen.
He was supposed to put more space between them. Not less. But that was before this.
He didn’t trust anyone with her safety. Not when someone clearly wanted to harm her. She’d said his name earlier. Luke. The piece of shit who’d hurt her.
As far as he was concerned, anyone who harmed women deserved the worst kind of pain, and he was eager to find this asshole—make sure he felt it.
Eleanor finally blew out a breath and nodded. “Okay. Fine.”
He deflated, glad this wasn’t about to become a battle of wills.
A yowl sounded, followed by a series of hisses. He spun on his heel right as Eleanor dashed forward, pushing past him. “Oh my, God. Teddy?!” She reached for the white cat currently being carried from Peter’s apartment. “Stop. That’s—give him to me,” she insisted.
The WBI employee eyed Bastian a moment, as if asking for help. He lifted his eyebrows as if to say, better listen to the woman, and the investigator relented.
The cat tumbled into Eleanor’s arms, immediately wedging its head beneath her chin. He gawked at her. What the fuck?! She closed his leather jacket around the frightened creature.
Oh, hell fucking no. Now he’d get it back covered in cat fur. Great.
“You poor thing. Poor baby,” she cooed, nuzzling it. Her eyes filled with tears and she squeezed them shut. “I’m going to take care of you from now on, okay? Everything’s going to be all right,” she whispered, bouncing the damn thing like it was a baby.
He grumbled, forcing himself to focus on the sight of her cuddling it. If she wanted something to cuddle, he was standing right fucking here. His jaw ticked. Jealous of a goddamn cat. What the fuck was wrong with him?
All he could think to say was, “Sugar, we are not taking a cat home.”
She rounded on him, expression morphing to anger. “Oh yes, we are! Teddy’s coming with us. Otherwise, I’m not going.”
“Mother fucking fuck,” he muttered, rubbing his temples.
She lifted her chin and squared her shoulders, all five foot eight inches of her. Her fierce expression silenced him from further protest. “Fine. Go get your shit. We’re leaving.”
“I’ll need to get Teddy’s stuff too, his litter box and whatnot.”
His head lolled back, gaze lifting toward the ceiling. This fucking female. She went from cute to irritating at the drop of a hat. “Get whatever you need,” he bit out, straightening up, willing patience into his tone. “I need to talk to a few more people before we go.”
She nodded, then hesitated. "Bastian?" He turned back. "Are you sure about this? Me staying with you?"
The vulnerability in her voice caught him off guard, softening him. "I'm sure, sugar. Now go pack."
Ten minutes later, Teddy was in his cat carrier.
Bastian held the carrier in one hand, a duffle bag of cat things thrown over his shoulder—fucking cat things!
—while guiding Eleanor by the elbow through the gathered crowd.
She wheeled a massive suitcase behind her in one hand and carried an empty litter box in the other.
A few camera crews had been allowed on the scene. Their equipment was already set up to capture whatever they could. Newscasters held mics to their mouths, explaining what had happened. It would be all over TV by the evening.
“Don’t talk to anyone,” he warned, tipping his head low to her ear. The scent of her shampoo—the stuff he kept in the guest bathroom—swirled around him. It smelled good on her. He’d been doing that a lot lately, putting himself close to her, closer than necessary.
He steered her toward the truck, putting Teddy’s carrier into the bed—
“Don't you dare put him back there! Teddy rides with us.”
He opened his mouth, then snapped it shut, giving a jerk of his head.
Grabbing the carrier, he flung the truck doors open and deposited a yowling Teddy into the back seat, tossing the duffle in after him.
Then he hauled up the massive—unnecessarily massive—suitcase of Eleanor’s things.
His gaze shot skyward, begging for mercy.
What the fuck had she brought? Her entire damn wardrobe?
Once they were situated in the vehicle, she buckled herself in. He reached over and gave her belt a tug, ensuring it was latched, which earned him another glare. Fuck. All right, then.
The engine revved to life. Minutes later, they were driving through the city in silence, punctuated by periodic sighs from a certain female in the passenger seat, and the pathetic mews of an unhappy cat behind him. He had no interest in conversation.
A vibrating phone broke the silence. Eleanor jerked, then pressed her phone to her ear. “Vivi?”
He inhaled sharply. His hand shot out, reaching for her phone.
She wrapped her fingers around his wrist. Heat shot up his arm, her touch burning through every rational thought.
Their eyes locked, and for a heartbeat neither of them moved.
Her pulse hammered against his skin where their bodies connected.
“I won’t say anything sensitive, Mr. Paranoid,” she bit out. “What are you, my bodyguard?”
Bodyguard. It made his chest expand. Protecting her, keeping her safe, being responsible for her body—fuck. He yanked his hand back, out of her grip.
“No, no,” she said into the phone. “Sorry, that was…this guy I’m with.
No, God no! You know, the one I mentioned from the coffee shop?
Yes, that one.” His head jerked in her direction.
“No, Vivi. I’m okay. Yes, someone broke into the apartment.
I know, I was just there… No, I don’t know much yet.
No! Of course I’m not staying there. I’m not an idiot.
” She sank lower in the seat. “I know, I thought about Kaylee… No. He said I can’t stay with any friends. ”
She fell silent, listening to the voice on the other end of the line. She hummed. With his goblin hearing, he could make out Vivi’s words, but he wasn’t going to tell Eleanor that. He tuned them out, trying not to eavesdrop.
A few words of “Yes” and “Right” from Eleanor. A few nods. Then, “I’ll be careful, I promise. Love you, girl.”
Vivi said she loved her back.
The call ended.
His lips pulled up at the corner. “Told your roommate about me, hmm?”
She tutted. “Just that you ruined my favorite shirt.”
“Me? I seem to recall someone wasn’t paying attention—?”
“If you hadn’t been there, stalking me. I bet you orchestrated that entire thing, didn’t you?
” she accused. He kept his lips pressed together because, yes, in fact, he had.
He’d purposefully placed himself in her path.
Hadn’t moved out of the way when she barreled right into him.
Had used his magic to ensure the coffee wasn’t scalding so it wouldn’t burn her skin when she bumped the mug.
“I knew it,” she hissed. “You owe me a new shirt.”
“Fine.”
She hesitated, perhaps not expecting him to agree so readily. “Thanks.”
Silence fell for several moments until he said, “So, Vivi is your roommate?”
“Vivian, yeah. She’s gone. Flew back home yesterday, thank God. I can’t imagine…”
He glanced at her. “No point in stressing over what might have been, sugar. Let it go.”
“Right.” She folded her hands in her lap, fidgeting with her fingers. “So, what now?”
“Now? I’m going to get you home and settled. Can’t stay for long. I got some stuff to take care of. You’ll be safe at the house.”
“Okay.”
He glanced over his shoulder. “That cat is house trained, correct?”
She made a sound of disgust. “Yes, Bastian. What do you think? That he was shitting and peeing all over Peter’s apartment?
Coughing up fur-balls all over the couches?
” He winced at the thought—his designer furniture ruined.
“I’ve house-sat for Teddy plenty. He’s an absolute sweetheart.
Trust me, by tomorrow, you’ll be cuddling him. ”
“No, I fucking won’t.”
“Not a cat person, huh?”
“Not an anything person,” he snapped.
He didn’t bother admitting that he volunteered several times a year at Walton City Animal Shelter. Not to mention the shelter’s annual holiday party. He dropped a cool five grand, sometimes more, in financial donations to that place on a yearly basis.
“Well that’s unfortunate for you,” she tsked. “You’re completely missing out on the unconditional love animals have to offer.”
“Guess so.”
They fell silent for the remainder of the ride.
He retreated into his thoughts, going back through all the information they’d gathered, tying it together.
He needed to visit the coroner’s office again, have another look at Professor Miller’s body now that he’d seen Peter’s.
There were too many similarities. He also needed to have a nice, long talk with Eleanor about the Luke-issue.
He had a bad feeling everything was connected.
And yet, that almost felt too coincidental.
He’d been involved in plenty of investigations where the most obvious suspect turned out to be innocent.
His house loomed before them. Yesterday, Eleanor had seemed both surprised and impressed by it. That both pleased him and royally pissed him off. She probably thought he’d hired a decorator, but in truth he had enjoyed doing it all himself.
He didn’t park in the garage, putting them right at the porch.
“I’ll get the cat,” he said, shutting off the ignition and climbing out of the truck.
He keyed in the code, gave it his fingerprint, and opened the door.
She followed him inside where he deposited the cat carrier.
“I’m serious, sugar. Make sure that thing behaves. ”
“He’s not a thing,” she whined, bending to release Teddy, who crawled straight into her arms. “I know you miss him,” she cooed.
He stared at her, studying the gentle way she coddled the animal.
Warmth spread through his chest. Her lips pulled into a cute little pucker and a crease appeared between her brows as she said, “I know, baby. I know. It’s going to be okay.
I’m going to take care of you now. We’re going to stay here for a bit, okay?
In this nice man’s house.” She threw him a glare to emphasize her point, before turning back to Teddy.
“You’ll see. It will be just fine. You can even sleep in my bed tonight. ”
His lips parted at those words. Sleep in my bed. He inhaled, nice and slow, then let it go. “Make yourself at home,” he said, mostly to distract himself. “Let me know if you need anything. There’s food in the kitchen, if you’re hungry. Feel free to use the TV, or whatever.”
“Can I explore?” She asked, keeping her eyes on Teddy. A flash of heat coated his skin. It was just a fucking cat. It shouldn’t have irritated him to see her pay it so much attention. And yet, she hadn’t looked at him once since walking in.
He hesitated. “Fine. Explore wherever you want. Just…stay out of my room.”
“Sure.” She glanced up. The tightness in his chest eased the moment her eyes fell on him. “Is the house still…locked or whatever?”
“Yes. It’s got a solid security system—a hybrid form of witch tech. You won’t be able to get in or out without me. We can fix that once I know you’re safe. But until then…”
“Right. I guess that’s fine, since I’m going to nest.”
“Nest?”
“Yes, it’s what you do when—”
“I know what fucking nesting is, sugar.”
“Okay, then why are you so surprised?”
Because his goblin brain seized on that word like a drug—nesting, claiming, staying.
A female making herself at home in his space, arranging his things to her liking, settling in for the long haul.
Every possessive instinct he possessed was purring with dangerous satisfaction.
He blew out a breath, trying to get his shit together.
She’d had a bad night, seen her dead professor’s house this morning, and discovered her apartment destroyed, her neighbor murdered.
He needed to stop being such an asshole.
“Fine. Do whatever you need. Like I said, make yourself at home. It’s your house too, for the time being.
” Tingles spread through his limbs at those words.
He ignored them. “Let me know if you need anything.”
“Sure.”
He turned to the stairs, climbing them.
“Bastian?” Her voice was soft. He stopped and looked over his shoulder at her.
She licked her lips, drawing his gaze there briefly. His fist clenched.
“Thank you. I know I called you an asshole. And I mean, you kind of are.” He huffed.
“But it's really nice that you're letting me stay here when you don't even know me.
I'm sure it's purely professional—can't have your business partner getting murdered—but…” The sarcasm dropped, sincerity bleeding through her next words. “I appreciate it.”
His chest tightened at the way she'd dropped her walls and shown him her soft vulnerability underneath all that fire.
He swallowed, hard. "No problem, sugar." Then he turned and fled up the stairs before he did something stupid.
Like tell her that what his body was feeling for her wasn't professional at all.