burning questions filling my mind to focus on the drive.
When I passed the curve and saw my house, I noticed something was different. It took me a minute to figure out what it was: there were curtains in the window of the connecting duplex. Someone had moved in.
I parked in the garage and walked to the front door of the other home. I knocked but nobody answered. Twisting the knob, I found the door unlocked. The home was furnished almost the same way as mine but in darker, more masculine colors. When I saw the old mandolin resting on the leather couch, my nagging suspicions were confirmed. Ren was moving in.
I walked through the kitchen, found the pantry and refrigerator empty, and saw that the bottom half of the back door had been refitted with a huge swinging flap.
Hmm . . . won’t keep burglars out. They can crawl right in. But, I guess they’d get a surprise if they tried to steal something here.
I hurried back to my house, closing the door behind me, not even bothering to look upstairs or check his closet for the designer labels I knew were there. There was no doubt in my mind that Ren was my new neighbor.
In fact, I’d just slipped out of my shoes and coat when I heard what could only be the Hummer making its way up the drive. I watched him from the window. He was a good driver. He somehow managed to maneuver the giant vehicle between the protruding branches that might’ve scratched the paint. He parked the Hummer in the other garage, and I heard the crunch of his footsteps on the frozen path as he made his way to my front door.
Leaving it open for him, I walked into the living room, sat down in my recliner with my feet tucked under me, and folded my arms across my chest. I knew that body-language specialists said it was a classic defensive pose, but I didn’t care.
I heard him close the door, shrug out of his coat, and hang it in the hall closet. Turning the corner, Ren walked into the living room. He searched my face for a brief moment and then ran a hand through his hair as he sat down across from me. His hair was longer than it had been in India. Silky black strands fell over his forehead, and he brushed them back in annoyance. He looked bigger, brawnier than I remembered. He must be eating better than he used to.
We looked at each other silently for several seconds.
Finally, I said, “So . . . you’re my new neighbor.”
“Yes.” He sighed softly. “I couldn’t stay away from you anymore.”
“I didn’t think you were trying to stay away.”
“You asked me to. I was trying to honor your wishes. I wanted to give you time to think. To clear your head. To . . . listen to your heart.”
I’d definitely had time to think. Unfortunately, my thoughts were about as confused as they possibly could be. I hadn’t been able to think clearly since I’d left India. And I hadn’t listened to my heart since I woke up next to Ren in Kishkindha. I’d shut myself off from my heart months ago.
“Oh. So then, your feelings haven’t . . . changed?”
“My feelings are stronger than they ever were.”
His blue eyes studied my face. He pushed his hair out of his eyes and leaned forward. “Kelsey, every day you were away from me was agonizing. It drove me crazy. If Mr. Kadam hadn’t kept me busy every minute, I would have been on a plane the next week. I sat patiently through his instruction every day, but I was only a man for six hours. As a tiger, I wore a path on my bedroom rug from pacing hour after hour. He almost got out a safari rifle to shoot me with a tranquilizer. I couldn’t be appeased. I was restless, a wild animal without . . . without his mate.”
I fidgeted and shifted in the chair.
“I told Kishan I needed to train to get my fighting skills back up to par. We fought constantly as both men and beasts. We trained with weapons, claws, teeth, and bare hands. Fighting with him was probably the only thing that kept me sane. I’d fall onto my rug every night bloody, exhausted, and drained. But, still . . . I could feel you.
“You were on the other side of the world, but I often woke