They searched around a little longer but didn’t come up with anything more. Back in the truck, Justin suddenly shifted from reverse to park, exited, and loped back toward the building. She watched him grab a piece of scrap lumber and had an ‘ah-ha’ moment when he marked off the size of the footprint on the wood before returning.
“Figured we could get a size off it, just in case
.” He handed the two by four to her so he could shift gears.
“Good thinking,” she said, wishing she’d have thought of it. In her defense, she was tired. She’d really pushed herself on that run in hopes of being able to pass out into her bed tonight and actually sleep. It seemed a good idea at the time.
But the closer they got to the house, the more nervous she became. The last time he’d been there, she’d been ready to sleep with him. Now he’d definitely spend the night, but…
Nothing’s going to happen unless you want it to.
Problem was, she wanted it to. Terrifyingly enough, more than she’d wanted anything in her life. But without him knowing the truth about Nate’s involvement in his grandfather’s death, everything became a lie. Being intimate with him under those circumstances would cheapen what they shared—dirty something that should be special.
She didn’t want her first time to be contaminated by such an ugly deception.
Chapter 18
Justin stretched out on Nate’s bed, his borrowed tee shirt a bit tight, but the sweatpants were okay. Marley had directed him to Nate’s room before informing him she was taking a shower, and she’d see him in the morning.
He’d stared after her, annoyance at her distant attitude mingling with disappointment. Not that he’d expected anything, but it would’ve been nice to sit and relax with her. Talk a little.
He rolled his eyes and shifted on the bed. Idiot, just admit it. You were hoping to pick up where you left off last time. Sure, hoping, but not expecting, so disappointment was allowed, wasn’t it?
The noise of running water ceased, underscored by the slide of a shower door. Images bombarded him. At a time when he should be considering the strange twists in his life, he could only imagine Marley stepping from the shower. He pictured swirling steam and little rivers of water running down her body until she soaked them up with a towel.
Never in his life had he imagined he’d be jealous of a towel.
He rolled on his side, away from the wall closest to the shower, and thumped the pillow. It was going to be a long night.
The sound of the door closing across the hall drew his attention moments later. That’s when it dawned on him that lying in Nate’s room, with two closed doors between them, wasn’t the way to go about protecting her from whatever possible danger Nate had warned agaist.
He pushed off the bed, snatched the pillow and strode to the door. In the hall, he came face to face with Marley in a navy blue terry-cloth robe and bare feet.
He stared at her freshly scrubbed, glowing face, her wet, sexy-as-hell hair tumbling wildly over her shoulders, and wondered what she was—or wasn’t—wearing underneath that robe.
“What?” she asked when he continued to stand there without saying a word.
“Nothing.”
She pulled her bedroom door closed behind her and headed down the hall.
“Shouldn’t you go to bed?” he asked.
Without pausing, she tossed over her shoulder, “What are you, my father?”
Thank God, no. He watched the sway of her hips in front of him. “It’s after midnight,” he pointed out, making an effort to focus his gaze elsewhere as desire began to stir things best left alone. “You should get some rest. There’s a lot to do in the morning.”
“I’m too keyed up to sleep.”
In the kitchen, she reached to flip on the light over the stove, then took a mug from the cupboard and filled it at the sink from what he assumed was a hot water dispenser. After she selected a tea bag, she cast him a glance from under her lashes while leaning a hip against the counter.
“Don’t let me keep you up.”
After a look like that, sultry and innocent all rolled up in one, he was up no matter what. He shifted his weight, and the pillow, and shrugged. Her attention lowered to the pillow with a frown.
“What’s that for—protection?”
He grinned even though she’d infused the question with derision. First, because currently, that’s exactly what he used it for, and second, he imagined himself beating an intruder with the feather-filled rectangle.