Chapter 22
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
THE LIGHT OF DAY
I wake up, wondering what day it is. I blink my eyes rapidly to avoid the blinding light coming from my bedroom windows. I should have shut the damn curtains last night.
Last night? I roll over to see a mass of auburn hair on my extra pillow and a bare back of porcelain skin scattered with freckles. I touch one and trace my finger around, connecting the beautiful dots.
When she groans, I know I’ve woken her up. I’d love to fuck her again, but she wore me out last night.
She rolls over and blinks her pretty baby blues at me. “Morning,” she says in a husky morning voice.
Well, maybe I could muster it up one more time today.
“Morning, beautiful. You hungry?” Okay, something you should know: I never, and I mean never, feed breakfast to the women I sleep with.
I’ll buy them dinner, but then once we’re done in bed, I send them on their way.
This is the first time I’ve looked at the woman in my bed and had an unwavering desire to keep her there forever.
“I could eat,” she croaks. “Do you have coffee? ’Cause I need coffee, stat.”
“Stat, huh?” I chuckle. “Well, I’ll get right on it, ma’am.”
I hear her giggle as I stride out my bedroom door.
I look back just as I exit my room to see if she’s watching me.
She is. The fact that I’m still bare-ass naked was probably the reason.
I make my way into the kitchen and grind up some of my Sumatra beans into the grinder.
I pour the ground coffee into my maker and press Start.
While I wait for it to brew, I pick up my phone. Gill’s left me five text messages.
Gill: Boss? You there?
Gill: Boss? We got a problem. Call me.
Gill: Shit. I don’t want to call you. I know you have company. Shit.
Gill: I’ll just tell you. The camera picked something up at the house. Movement.
I note the time of the four messages. The first three were at two thirty, two thirty-one, and two thirty-two in the morning. The fourth was at two thirty-five.
Gill: Tell me what you want me to do, boss.
The final message was left at two forty-five. I press Gill’s number and barely hear one ring. “Yo. Finally.”
“Sorry, man. Busy night.”
“She with you?”
“Yes. What you got?”
“We caught someone moving about the property last night. The camera didn’t pick up anyone entering through the front gate, so I’m assuming they came from the back wall. That thing is ten feet, at least.”
“Did you go check it out? Was there more graffiti?”
“Negative to both. We knew you were together, so we waited to hear what you wanted us to do.”
“Okay. I’ll take her home in sixty, and I’ll let you know what I find.”
“Need backup?”
“No. I don’t want her to know what we’re up to. At least not yet.”
“Okay. Call if you need me.”
I hang up and look around the room. “What the hell am I going to do about this?” I mutter.
“Do about what?” she asks, walking into my kitchen wearing one of my old T-shirts. This one has a Chicago Bears logo on it. She looks amazing in it. It falls to her midthigh; her bare legs are there for my eyes only.
“Oh, um, how was I going to make pancakes without any batter?” I lie.
“Do you have eggs? I could cook for you this time.”
“Oh? You can cook?” She slaps my bare chest. Yeah, I’m still naked. “Let me get you a cup of coffee before you expire. How do you take it?”
“Got any cream?”
I grab my nondairy creamer from the fridge. “This okay?”
“Ooh, the good stuff,” she coos. “All right, you go sit down and let me cook you breakfast.” She moves around my kitchen as though she’s cooked in it a million times.
I love that idea. She whips up the eggs, puts toast in my toaster, and cooks both at the same time.
In a matter of minutes, I’m eating fluffy scrambled eggs and buttery toast.
“Delicious. Thank you,” I say between bites. I lean over and kiss her on the tip of her nose—one of my favorite places to kiss. One of them. There are several others, too.
She smiles as she eats and then blushes as she looks down at my lap. I look down, then at her. I shrug. “You have that effect on me.”
She giggles and bites into her toast. “You have that effect on me, too.”
We eat in companionable silence. Once we’re done, I take her plate and set it in the sink. Georgia, my cleaning lady, will be here today, so I’ll leave these for her. “Let’s get you home, MacKenzie. I’ve got a few things I need to get done today.”
“Yeah, I’ve got to work on some jewelry. I’m way behind.”
While she gathers up her clothes and changes, I dress as well. I’m anxious to get to her place to see what the hell happened last night.