Shot in the Dark (Blackbridge Security #2) - Marie James Page 0,62

in all ways. “I know what you thought.”

She wiped everything from her computer before she left. She was running with no intention of coming back. The thought of never seeing her again makes my arms tighten around her until she squeaks from the pressure.

A throat clears behind me. Whitney jolts, but I’m more reluctant to release her.

“We’re going to head back to the office,” Flynn says.

The guys file out of my apartment without another word, and now that we’re standing here alone, the list of things I want to do with her are endless. I’d drag her to my room right now if I didn’t know just how exhausted she is. The hour-long nap on the plane wasn’t nearly enough.

Simon meows from across the room, still trapped in the backpack.

“Wait!” Whitney screeches as I cross the room to release him. “What about your bird? I’ve only had Simon for six months. I can’t guarantee that he won’t make a meal of him.”

“Puffy Daddy is back at the office. He enjoys the constant noise,” I assure her, reaching down to open the bag.

Simon hisses at me before jumping out and scurrying away like his ass has been set on fire.

“He’s going to hate me,” Whitney mutters. “I have so many things I need to get for him.”

“Follow me.” I take her hand, walking her down the hallway. “We grabbed most of his stuff from your apartment.”

“Really?” Hope fills her voice. “You wouldn’t believe how picky he is.”

I push open the cracked door of the guest bedroom. I didn’t want to be presumptuous about where she wanted to stay, and I know she’s got a lot on her mind. Making decisions about us while she’s going through this mess wouldn’t be healthy, so I’m giving her options.

“We set all of his stuff up in here,” I say, releasing her hand and walking into the bathroom.

I chuckle when we find Simon with his head buried in his food bowl, purring filling the air.

“Not exactly the dungeon I was picturing you having,” Whitney says after I follow her out of the bathroom back into the guest bedroom.

“Dungeon?” I laugh. Do I really put off a dungeon-owning vibe?

“Yeah, you know.” She looks around sheepishly, avoiding eye contact. “A place you can take your women and do filthy things to them?”

Her teeth dig into her bottom lip as she becomes overly interested in the table lamp beside the bed.

“I’ve never had another woman in this apartment, Whitney.”

She swallows, but her eyes look everywhere but in my direction.

“I’ll let you get settled in.” I press my palm to her back, running my nose up her neck before kissing her cheek and making a hasty exit.

I lean against the door at my back, willing myself to remember that she needs space. It doesn’t matter that coming here was the finish line I gave myself to keep from knowing what my cock felt like inside of her. Just like she wasn’t ready to welcome me into her apartment after our dinner date, she isn’t ready now. Maybe she is physically, but I need every level of her ready for that final part, because once I’ve had her that way, I’ll never be able to let her go.

Chapter 26

Whitney

Hot and cold.

That’s the easiest definition for Wren Douglas Nelson.

I grin against my hands at the memory of his nana yelling that at the wedding. Did that happen only a few days ago? It seems like a lifetime, years, since I felt pure happiness without the ominous threat of danger.

He wants me, can’t control his cock in my presence, yet I’m sitting alone on this stupid fluffy comforter.

Going by the time on my phone, it’s been an hour and a half since he dropped me in here and scurried away. The first thirty minutes went by quickly, but it always does when I’m on the phone with Sarah. I assured her everything was going to be okay to calm her fears while I questioned my own sanity for coming back here where I felt the least safe.

Thoughtful Wren stocked the bathroom with everything Simon could need, not that the entitled asshole sleeping beside me offered to show any trace of thankfulness. He ate, stunk up the bathroom to the point I had to turn on the overhead fan, and then proceeded to curl up—ignoring me the entire time—and pass out.

I’ve been watching him for the last hour, knowing Wren is close by but arguing with myself about going out to see him.