Hot and Bothered - Erika Wilde Page 0,23

waited for her to push her arms through the sleeves, then handed over her panties for her to slip into.

Once she was decently covered and she’d unclipped her hair, he led her back into the adjoining room. His movements were quick, efficient, and economical, with no room for anything sexual to intervene. He pulled down the covers on the bed, patted the cool sheet, and she obediently crawled up onto the mattress.

Despite the magnitude of his longing for her, his actions were as honorable as the oath he’d made to protect and serve his country when he’d joined the Marines. He pulled the covers up to her chest, and just when he thought he was in the clear and would escape the room without further incident, Natalie wrapped her arms around his neck and looked up at him with a sultry invitation in her gaze.

She drew his head down and skimmed her lips along the corner of his mouth and across his cheek, her breath warm and sweet. “Come to bed with me,” she whispered.

Every cell in his body screamed yes. Heat flashed through him, making him ache with raw desire, and he clutched the bedspread in his fists to keep him grounded, physically and mentally. He knew without a doubt she didn’t have sleeping on her mind, and he also knew he was precariously close to giving in to what they both wanted so badly. It would be so, so easy to crawl under the covers with her and sink deep into her willing body. To lose himself in her heat and softness and finally quench the feverish hunger burning inside him.

He couldn’t be so selfish with his needs, not when there was so much more at stake—foremost the risk of her regretting having sex with him once she regained her memory. With his hormones rallying in protest of his decision, he strove to let her down gently, in a way she wouldn’t construe as an outright rejection.

“I’m expecting a call from Bobby.” Unwinding her arms from his neck, he placed a kiss in each of her palms. “You get some rest and I’ll be back up in a little while, okay?”

An adorable pout puffed out her bottom lip, but she issued no argument, just sought for a kernel of reassurance. “Promise?”

He nodded, unable to refuse her simple request. “Yeah, I promise,” he said, sealing his own fate when he’d originally intended to crash on the couch downstairs for the night.

Satisfied that he’d return later, she snuggled deeper beneath the blankets, sighed and let her lashes drift shut.

Noah went back to his office, knowing it would be hours until he joined Natalie in his bed. He wanted her deep asleep and unaware of him before he dared to slip under the covers with her.

Ten minutes later Bobby called back with the information Noah was waiting for.

“This guy isn’t stupid,” Bobby said, a thread of disgust in his voice. “He paid cash for the flowers and gave the cashier what I highly suspect is a bogus name and an address that isn’t his.”

Surprised, Noah asked, “You ran a check already?”

“Yep, and you’re not going to like what I’m about to tell you.”

Feeling distinctly uneasy, he stabbed his fingers through his already mussed hair. “Give it to me straight, Malone.” The request was unnecessary. Bobby wasn’t one to bullshit around with something so serious.

“The guy who placed the order used the name Richard Haynes, who just happens to be a prominent surgeon in San Francisco who is squeaky clean, so I’m fairly certain that isn’t the perp’s real name, though I’ll follow up on that tomorrow.” He paused for a moment, then revealed, “And the contact address he used on the form came up as none other than Natalie’s apartment.”

Noah’s stomach cramped as though he’d been sucker punched. “He used her address?” he asked incredulously.

“Appears so. How’s that for being ballsy?”

Noah rubbed his fingers across his forehead. “It’s fucking unbelievable.”

The guy, whoever he was, knew where Natalie lived. The knowledge stunned and infuriated Noah, and while he hated the helpless feeling of not knowing the true identity of the stalker, he was grateful that she was safe with him at his house.

“Thanks for the info, Bobby,” he said, grateful, too, for his friend’s connections and support. “I owe you one.”

“Buy me a beer once all this blows over and we’ll call it even. In the meantime, watch your back. And Natalie’s.”

“I plan to.” He hung up the phone, and turned his