Chapter Eighteen
Rick
God, she smelled incredible.
Rick’s arms gripped Kaylee to him, his mouth pressed against the top of her head, and he tried not to think about the curve of her ass nestled against his cock, which was straining against the front of his jeans.
Comforting women wasn’t part of his job description, but Kaylee’s pain called to him, her sobs drawing him in, and he couldn’t resist holding her.
He needed to show her that she was always safe with him.
That, as angry and frustrated as he might be with her, he would never let anyone harm her.
A rhythmic thumping from the cage to his right distracted him, and when Rick glanced over at the guinea pig, it was lunging forward. Rapid chattering and a high-pitched whine erupted from it, like an engine whirring when someone pressed the gas and the brake at the same time.
“What’s wrong with your rat?”
Kayle looked up and laughed. “He doesn’t like you touching me.”
Rick grinned wickedly. “Really?” He playfully started running his hands over her face and hair, messing it up, then over her arms, even tickling her ribs until she squealed, and he mocked the guinea pig. “Oops, I’m touching her. What are you going to do about it, huh?”
Kaylee smacked at his hands, shaking with giggles as she watched him through a curtain of disheveled hair. “Oh my God, stop! You are not seriously taunting Pumpkin!”
“He’s challenging my authority!”
Kaylee pushed her hair out of her face, scoffing. “What authority? This is his house, and you are accosting his mama. He has every right to defend my honor.”
“Honor? I’m not violating your honor. I was comforting you. I was being nice.”
Kaylee pointed to the cage. “He doesn’t know that. All he sees is some stranger touching me, and he’s never seen that before. Of course he’s upset.”
Her words hit him like a stack of bricks. “How long have you had him?”
“I got him a few months after I moved here.”
“And you’ve never had a man over?” Why did that make him so damn happy?
Her cheeks flushed red. “No. Dating isn’t exactly a priority for me.”
Rick wasn’t sure whether analyzing his satisfaction at that was wise, especially since she was still cradled in his lap. “Wait, you named a male guinea pig Pumpkin? Maybe he’s pissed off at you.”
“Shut up,” Kaylee said, but she was smiling. No wary shutter in her eyes or angry twist of those full lips. Things had shifted, and he wanted them to stay like this between them.
“Maybe you should have called him Sweetpea or Pipsqueak?”
The little tyrant stomped and chattered louder as if hollering at Rick to shut up.
“I don’t think he cares for your input.” Kaylee finally swung off his lap and climbed to her feet, taking her warmth with her.
“I’d better feed him. I don’t want him thinking he can try to chew through the enclosure to get to you in the middle of the night.
With enough determination, he might escape and eat your face off. ”
“That’s a horrifying thought,” he said, running his hand over said face and giving the rodent side-eye. “I like my face without guinea pig bite marks, thanks.”
“Maybe you should stay at one of our lovely inns to avoid danger.”
Rick lifted his arms and positioned them behind his head, smirking. “And miss waking up to Zombie Kaylee making coffee in the morning? Not a chance.”
She sighed. “If you’re going to stay here, the least you could do is buy your own food and replace my eggnog. Darigold is very popular and hard to find. The stores usually sell out before Christmas, and they can’t get any more.”
Guilt zinged through him at the disappointment in her expression. He’d chugged it as a way to needle her, but he didn’t realize it was something special. “I’m sorry about that. I’ll hit the grocery store tomorrow and try to find another carton.”
She nodded, turning as if she were about to leave the room, but hesitated. With a furrowed brow, she asked, “Can I ask you something?”
“What?”
“Why not just have a judge order me back? Why all this couch crashing and stalking?”
Rick snorted. “Stalking is illegal and something creepy, unhinged people do.”
Kaylee wagged her finger at him like a scolding teacher. “Just because you’re handsome doesn’t make it less creepy. Ted Bundy was handsome, and look what he did.”
A grin spread across his lips. “Handsome, hmm?”
She rolled her eyes and left the room, coming back with a bag of salad.
Pumpkin stopped making angry sounds and switched to high-pitched chirps.
She opened the top and sprinkled the lettuce around the enclosure.
Rick could see the guinea pig go after the closest leaf, chewing happily, although he thought the small creature was still keeping a watchful eye on him.
“I think you might be right,” Rick called after her when she disappeared into the kitchen, listening to the refrigerator open and close. He is plotting his escape so he can end me while I sleep. You should let me take your bed since I’m a guest—”
“You are not a guest!” she scoffed as she reentered the room, picking up a throw pillow that had fallen on the floor and launching it at him. “You are an unwanted squatter who has upended my life.” She sighed loudly. “I’m going to bed.”
Kaylee turned, but before she reached her bedroom, Rick called after her, “You asked why I didn’t have a judge come after you?
It’s because we need more. Even with your eyewitness account, we haven’t recovered the …
bodies. We’ve had eyes and ears on the Pit Vipers, but they’re slippery.
The judge won’t let me force you back until we have evidence we can use to nail their asses to the wall. ”
She spun around, her expression murderous, her voice shaking. “Why? My word isn’t good enough?”
Rick hesitated, afraid anything he said would support her determination to run. “Witnesses can be bought. They can be intimidated, and they—”
“Can die,” she finished for him. “I’m all too aware.”
“Kaylee,” he said, getting to his feet, intending to reassure her again, but she held her hand up.
“Don’t, okay? Please don’t make promises that you cannot keep.”