Chaos & the Geek (Grace Grayson Security #1) - Elizabeth Stevens Page 0,23

“Thanks. We had a couple of…other mishaps this week.”

She snapped at him in Spanish and he coyly shrugged as he replied. There was something adorable in the way he was letting himself be chastened by this fierce little woman.

Carmel gave me that look again like she’d strangle him if he wasn’t a favourite and shook her head. “Honestly, how hard is it to put bloody clothes in the sink? Blood stains you know.” She threw her arm up and muttered some more as she wandered out of the kitchen.

We both watched her until she’d disappeared into Kit’s room.

“So…” I started. “She’s fun.”

Kit huffed a laugh. “Yeah. Carmel’s good people. She’s not joking, by the way. Anything you need, whenever you need it. She’ll do it.”

“Shopping, though?”

He nodded. “Yeah, she keeps me stocked. She says I give her something to do during the day, so she won’t hear of you shopping.”

“I suppose the money is a nice incentive.”

He ran his hand through his hair and huffed self-consciously. With a shirt on, the action was distracting. Without a shirt, I felt in need of a cold shower.

“Yeah. I got lucky. And that means I can compensate my staff accordingly.”

“If only Principal Whethers could see you now,” I mused mock-wistfully.

And I made a mental note not to try to make jokes around him again.

He broke out into the most gorgeous full smile and those rich brown eyes sparkled. It did all sorts of funny things to my stomach that I’d hoped I’d grown out of, but had realised only moments ago I definitely had not. It wasn’t just the ‘jump me now’ things, it was the ridiculous giggle things, it was the heart beating erratically things, it was the shallow breath things. It was all the things.

“Yeah,” he laughed. “That would be sweet. Shame I missed the reunion.”

“I’ve got my five year later this year, I could catch him up?” popped out of my mouth without licence as I seemed to have forgotten I was talking to Kit not Patrick.

That smile widened and I had to force myself to breathe. “Sure, sounds good.”

Carmel appeared, muttering in Spanish again. Kit gave me that rueful smirk and went over to her. I, meanwhile, hurried off to my room to get changed and cool down after the force of that smile.

“You are in so much trouble, Amber,” I told myself as I pulled on my tracksuit pants.

How was I supposed to live with a guy who turned my brain to mush and killed my respiratory system? Because my lungs and my brain didn’t care that he was all kinds of levels of unattainable. They didn’t care that there were about a thousand boss levels before I got anywhere near his league. And that was presuming I ever got out of best-friend’s-weirdo-little-sister-zone.

Not that I wanted to.

Not really.

What the hell would I do if a guy like Kit ever looked at me twice?

I’d turn into a ridiculous puddle and that would be the end of it.

Besides, I wanted a guy who wanted a relationship. Right? Not just one night.

And guys like Kit did not want relationships. They only wanted one night.

So there it was. Easy to remember.

Kit was off-limits and out of my league. I was a hot mess and wanted something more.

“Say it with me now,” I muttered to my lungs and my brain, hoping repetition would make it true.

6

Kit

I was starting to think maybe she didn’t hate me, hate me. I wasn’t going to suggest she liked me. But I was going to go out on a limb and suggest it wasn’t that she hated me.

We saw it all the time with clients. Well, we saw it enough with clients.

Those ones who came to us for self-defence classes, the ones who looked over their shoulders all the time no matter where they were, the ones who felt something – someone – behind them no matter how safe they were, the ones who were running or hiding from something.

Amber was running or hiding from something. Or someone.

I couldn’t remember a time when she wasn’t the way she was, so I didn’t think it was this last arsehole. But I couldn’t think of anything that Hawk had mentioned that could be the cause of it.

But I knew what could help it.

It was amazing what a bit of confidence did for you.

I saw the transformation with all those people who came to Tank for self-defence classes. They arrived with that uncertain demeanour, the one that masqueraded so well as