car? If I check out, I don’t want to leave it there and have to pay the fee for it.”
“Where did you rent it?”
“Agency at the airport.”
“Unless you think you’ll need it, we’ll get it taken care of. Give me the keys and I’ll leave them in an envelope at the front desk. Someone will get it returned for you.”
She quirked an eyebrow. “Someone?”
“One of the guys will take care of it.”
“One of—”
“Unless I’m moving too fast here. If I am—”
“It’s fine, Blaze.” She touched the tips of his fingers to her lips. “I’m good with it. Let’s just go ahead and get my stuff.”
She sensed him relax just a fraction as they pulled up to the hotel entrance.
“We’ll just be a few minutes,” he told valet parking. “Keep it ready, okay?”
And that was all it took. She was an efficient packer and as anxious as he was to get out of there. She sensed the impatience rolling off him in waves while he waited for her to check out at the front desk. After putting her things in the car, they headed for his townhouse.
“I think I need a drink.” Blaze stood in the doorway of his bedroom, watching her unpack. “Would you like one?”
She started to say no, but then realized she could probably use one as much as he did. The tension that had been building in Tom Hernandez’s office was now almost a tangible thing.
“White wine?” he asked.
She started to say yes, then changed her mind. “Actually, I think I’d rather have whatever you’re pouring for yourself. Bourbon, right?”
“Yes.” A smiled teased at his mouth. “Something with a kick? It has been quite a day, hasn’t it?”
“Pretty much so.”
She closed the drawer on the last item of clothing and carried her toiletries into the bathroom. Scanning the long counter, she decided that if she kept everything in one corner, they’d be out of Blaze’s way. What would he think if she told him she’d never spent more than one night in a man’s apartment?
She turned to head back into the bedroom and nearly bumped into him standing in the doorway, holding two rocks glasses, each with a decent amount of bourbon. He handed one to her.
“Here’s to getting past all this shit.”
“Sounds good to me.”
The smooth blend only burned slightly as it slid down her throat, and its soothing fingers reached to calm her frazzled nerves. Blaze took a healthy swallow of his own drink. The tic of the muscle in his cheek and the way he clutched the glass told her he was just as tense as he’d been in the law office, if not more so.
Peyton took another tiny sip from her glass, then set it on the nightstand, walked over to Blaze standing in the doorway and took his drink from his hand.
“You are wound up so tight your body twangs when you move.”
He lifted an eyebrow. “And you think you can fix this?”
“I do. Come on.” She managed a smile. “What can you lose?”
For a moment he resisted her, but then let her lead him to the bed, where she pushed him to sit down. Standing between his thighs, she tugged at his T-shirt, pulling it from his slacks and jerking it up until she had it over his head and could toss it to the side. He just sat there, no expression on his face, but in his eyes, she could see the smoldering embers of long-buried rage.
She took a moment to admire the sculptured line of his shoulders, the definition of muscle in his arms. The flat pecs with that dusting of dark hair that had so intrigued her last night. The tempting plane of his hard chest, eased just enough by the soft hair scattered over it.
“Relax.” She climbed onto the bed behind him and began massaging his shoulders. God, he was so tight his muscles felt like cement. “You feel harder than a concrete pillar.”
“Yeah? You want to feel something hard, come around in front and I’ll show you.”
She bit the lobe of one ear. “We’ll get to that after a while. Close your eyes.”
Blaze grunted. “Bossy little thing.”
“Maybe that’s what you need right now.”
She continued to massage his shoulders and neck, occasionally placing light kisses along the nape or nipping an earlobe. Slowly, in tiny increments, he relaxed. By the time she worked her way down his spine to his waist, massaging slowly and steadily and punctuating her touches with a soft kiss now and then, his