“Did you know I was coming instead of Joel?” he asked abruptly.
Her reflection started at the sound of his voice. “No.”
She started toward him, and he swung around just as she offered the navy blue towel bunched in her hands.
Colton accepted the towel, dried his face, then raised his arms to roughly towel his hair. “He sprained his ankle pretty bad a few days ago and couldn’t drive.”
“That’s what Noah just told me. Joel never said a word.”
He heard the confusion in her voice—felt it himself—and wondered why Joel hadn’t told her—
He lowered his arms to chest level as a few things suddenly clicked into place.
Joel, standing after being thrown from the horse—then feeling pain in his ankle; asking Colton to wait outside the room while the doctor cut off his boot to check his injury; letting his pregnant wife baby him in front of the kids from the teen center instead of acting the tough guy as usual.
Colton’s fingers fisted in the towel. That last one alone should’ve clued him in. Interfering son of a bitch—what the hell did he know?
A small kernel of
hope exploded in his chest. What did Joel know? Enough, apparently, to sacrifice his favorite pair of boots—right? Uncertainty reared up, quicker than the hope, and twice as strong. Well…there was only one way to find out.
He raised the towel for one final swipe where he felt a drop of water making its way down behind his ear, then held it out to her. “Thanks.”
“Keep it.” She glanced out the window and turned away. “Looks like you’ll need it.”
“For what?”
She looked over her shoulder, halfway between him and the apartment door. “Noah said you ate already, so I assume you’ll want to get a full night of sleep before heading back to Colorado. There’s some hotels only a block or so from here, and since your truck is already parked, there’s no sense moving it.”
“I didn’t plan on moving it.”
She continued to the closet and withdrew the umbrella again. “You can take this, too; I’ll get another one.”
“I don’t want your damn umbrella, Kendra.”
Her eyes narrowed. “Fine then. Get wet…or wetter…I don’t care. Lee can give you the names of the hotels that are—what are you doing?”
He’d started unbuttoning his soaked shirt.
“I’m not going to a hotel.” He peeled off the clinging material and walked toward her in his damp jeans. An echo of thunder from outside drowned out the sound of his boot heels on the hardwood floor. Her breathing grew shallow as she backed up against the closet door. For one terrible moment, he worried he’d frightened her. But then their gazes locked with his next step closer and relief tingled through him. Awareness widened those beautiful brown eyes of hers, not fear.
Good. She wasn’t immune to him.
Kendra wished she could draw enough air into her lungs to breath normal. But the sight of Colton’s half naked body made it impossible. He stopped a few feet away, then broke eye contact when he dropped to one knee next to a duffle bag she hadn’t noticed until just this moment.
An odd feeling of disappointment eased her breathlessness as he withdrew a white T-shirt and a pair of black shorts. She’d thought he was coming to kiss her. Wanted him to so much it was a physical ache inside.
The tightness in her chest returned when he stood and their gazes connected once more. His eyes were that darkened shade of green she’d only seen when he was angry, hurting, or—
She sucked in a breath and declared, “You can’t stay here.”
His brows rose, their arch openly challenging. “A place this big, there must be room for me…somewhere.”
She immediately pictured him in her queen-sized bed down the hall and felt a flush of heat in her face. Flickers of desire flared as erratically as her pulse. But what could she do if he refused to leave? And why would he? Refuse—that is. Flickers became flames and she feared she’d make a fool of herself.
“Fine, take the couch.” Her tone was sharper than the situation warranted, but she couldn’t help her sudden nerves. “I’ll be right back with a pillow and blanket.”
Unable to stand his heated scrutiny any longer, she brushed past to head for her bedroom on the opposite end of the apartment from Noah’s room. Thunder rumbled ominously. Just inside the door, she pressed her palms to her stomach to take a few deep breaths. She’d get through this; he was only here to drop off Noah. No matter the desire in his eyes now, he’d leave her all alone again in the morning. He was good at leaving her alone.