CHAPTER SEVEN

VALERIE

It was hot.

Too hot.

The walls felt like they were going to start closing in on me. Fighting the heat had been pretty easy during the day.

After coming back from the gym, I had spent most of the day swaying back and forth on the comfy hammock as I read and actually relaxed.

Until I heard Bryan come in around eight. His phone was to his ear as he mumbled agreement or disagreement with whomever he was talking to, so I was able to sneak into my room.

But now, after eleven, not even the ceiling fan was helping. My neck was slick with perspiration as I lay on my back. I needed a glass of ice water. Badly. But in my sneaking away, I didn’t plan ahead and bring amenities with me.

Hungry and dying of thirst, I got out of bed and looked down. I’d gone to bed in my underwear and a tank top. Normally, living with Vaughn, I wouldn’t have thought twice about what I was wearing or what I wasn’t. But since it was a little after eleven thirty, it wasn’t late enough to ensure Bryan was asleep in his room. Slipping on a pair of black cotton shorts that hit maybe and inch higher than mid-thigh, I opened my bedroom door slowly and slipped out.

The house was quiet and dark as I sneaked into the empty living room that was what felt at least ten degrees cooler than my bedroom. Reaching the kitchen, still looking behind me, I was about to laugh at how ridiculous I was being.

Avoiding Bryan. What am I, ten?

“Hey,” Bryan’s deep voice chimed the moment I turned the light on in the kitchen, scaring me half to death.

“Shit!” I hissed, holding my hand to my chest, my eyes adjusting to the sight of him sitting at the old, worn-in dining table.

“Sorry.” He shrugged, not looking at all sorry.

“What are you doing?”

“Sitting.” He pointed down at the table and chair he sat on, and I swallowed hard.

“Oh.” I tried to think of something witty to say and failed. Giving up, I sighed and walked to the fridge.

“You?”

“Just getting something to drink and then I will be out of your hair.”

“You hungry?” he asked. I looked over my shoulder. He looked really good. Shirtless and in what looked like another pair of gym shorts. Though these were navy versus the grey ones he’d worn the night before.

“Umm, I—“

“I was thinking about grilling up some burgers.”

“Burgers?

“Yeah, outside.”

“We don’t have a grill.”

“We do. I brought one over earlier.”

“Oh.”

“So?”

“Umm, I don’t want to intru—“

“You wouldn’t be,” he shared, standing up and walking over to me the moment I closed the fridge, a cold water bottle in hand.

“It’s a little late to cook and eat this, umm, late—“

“That doesn’t even make sense.” He grinned and took the bottle out of my hand, placing it smoothly on the top of the fridge next to the boxes of cereal.

“I, umm…” I stuttered, noticing he smelled good. Like manly body wash and just him. It was probably laced with some kind of weird voodoo potion, because it was wreaking havoc with my brain.

As he caged me in with my back against the slight coolness of the refrigerator door, I started to drown in the light grey-blue pools of his eyes. “Miss me today?” he asked arrogantly, and I rolled my eyes trying to stay strong and seem indifferent.

“It’s too hot to cook,” I pointed out, ignoring his question.

“You’re right,” he agreed, taking his arms away from the kitchen appliance behind me but not moving away. “It is too hot. Did you get my text?”

“About the HVAC guy?”

“Yeah.“

“Yes,” I lamely mumbled and could see the way his lips twitched. I was definitely amusing him tonight.

“He’ll be here tomorrow.”

“Good. I should probably grab my water…” I said, hating that it sounded unsure. I was not the kind of woman to be unsure around anyone, especially not men. Not ever. Only it seemed I was when around Bryan and his sexy, tanned muscles and beautiful eyes. “And, umm…”

“Put on some shoes.”

“What?”

“Put on some shoes and come on,” he said as he stepped back, a light in his eyes highlighting the blue and shining over the grey. I was more than mesmerized by it.

“Shoes?”

“Yup.” One side of his lips went up and he stepped away from me, his back to me as he walked out of the kitchen. I followed. He picked up his keys and pulled a t-shirt that had been thrown on the couch over his head.

“Shoes?” he asked challengingly, and I bit the inside of my lip.

“I just… it’s late and I just needed some water…”

“Okay. No shoes works, too.” He stalked toward me, catching me by surprise.

Next thing I knew, he had me over his shoulder and my hands were on his back as he walked out then locked the front door of the house and settled us into his SUV. “What? What are you doing?” I asked him.

“It’s too hot to cook.”

“And?”

“In-N-Out is open.” All he had to do was mention the place, and my stomach rumbled and I could smell the delicious burgers.

“Fine. In-N-Out. But we can only do a drive thru. I’m not wearing shoes,” I reminded him.

“Fine. But I want it noted, I did tell you to put some on.” He smirked and started up the car, the engine roaring to life.

“Fine.” I shrugged, a smile playing over my lips as I stared out the passenger window while he drove us away. Wondering how or why he seemed to make me smile when I least expected it.

BRYAN

She is too fucking cute for her own good, was all he could think as he drove to get something to eat, an immediate plan stirring in his mind.

He hadn’t wanted to go to work on his first day off. Especially not on a day where he had been able to wake up to her in his arms, her mouth on his skin, and she had agreed to let him take her on a date. But he’d had no choice. A lead in a case was exactly what they had needed to catch a group of burglars that had hit up a certain area of the city.

Between the lead and all the damn paperwork that followed, he hadn’t had a chance to even call her. Not that he was even sure she would actually answer his calls. Hell, she hadn’t even texted back a simple okay when he had messaged her about the HVAC guy.

He hadn’t lied to her. After his divorce, he had not dated. But the occasional woman he had picked up always texted back. Hell, he’d had to ignore a couple.

But his little blonde was unlike any woman he had ever met. Ever. Hell, he could only imagine her around the women in his family, and he was sure she could give them a run for their money, which was saying something.

“What do you want?” he asked without stealing a glance at her.

“A burger.” Her sarcasm was a turn-on. He must be sick, really sick in the head to get turned on by her wit.

“They only make burgers,” he pointed out, looking out into the darkness of the night.

“Not true. They make grilled cheese sandwiches,” she answered, and he couldn’t help the chuckle that made it out of the back of his throat.

“That’s on their secret menu.” He took advantage of the red light to look at her.

She turned her eyes, bright with a big smile, as she shook her head, a small wisp of hair coming lose from the ponytail she’d thrown the mass of hair she had in. “No, it isn’t. Animal style fries and burgers are on the secret menu. The flying Dutchman is on the secret menu. Even the Neapolitan shakes are on the secret menu. But the grilled cheese sandwich is on the regular old menu.”

“Why do they even have a secret menu?” he asked. He liked the way her green eyes seemed to glitter and her cheeks flushed with enthusiasm.

“I know, right? And who do they think they are tricking, anyhow?” God, she was beautiful. He opened his mouth to say something, but the car behind him honked at him, letting him know the light had turned green.

Turning to pay attention as he drove, he asked her again, “So, what do you want to eat?”

“Why?” she asked, a small giggle escaping

“You getting out of the car?”

“Like this?”

“Yeah.” He glanced at her and knew there was no way he would let her out like that. She was in tiny freaking pajamas and had no idea how hot she looked. All long, tan legs and curves that made his mouth water. Mine. Yup. No way in hell would anyone see her like that, but he wasn’t about to let her know that. Tearing his eyes off her, he coughed trying to clear his throat. “Yeah, why not?”

“You didn’t let me put on shoes.“

“I warned you. Plus, this was your idea.”

“What? It was, huh?” she asked with wide eyes, and he sighed playfully when he could see she was fighting a smile.

“Yup. You woke me up out of bed where I was having this dream about Disneyland—“

“Disneyland?”

“Yes. Anyhow, you woke me up and said, ‘Handsome, we need to go get some burgers,’ and I was like, ‘But Blondie, it’s late,’ and you were like, ‘Who cares, old man. I need it and I need it now.” Her infectious giggles filled his space, and his hand roamed to the center console.

He didn’t fight the cheesy-ass grin that graced his face when her hand covered his.