Finding Faith (Return of the Dragons)

And Lord, that honey smooth voice with the barest hint of gravel… it sounded even better to her than it had the day before. She’d clearly lost her mind, but as she stared into his twinkling chocolate eyes, she couldn’t seem to make herself care.

A small furrow appeared between his brows, and it sent a jolt through her. Shit, how long had she been staring at him without saying a word?

Her dragon clucked her tongue. That must be a new record. You couldn’t even make it a full minute without the weirdness returning.

Ignoring her animal, she forced a smile as she opened the door wider, back up to give him room as she gestured for him to come inside. “Good to see you again too, Cody. Come on in.”

His smile grew just a bit as he nodded. “Thanks.”

He walked by her and she shut her eyes, exhaling as he went by. She needed to find her composure and act like she had more than two brain cells in the next few seconds. Otherwise, if—or rather when, since there weren’t exactly any other options—they hired his company, she was going to force Paisley to take her place so she could be the one hiding all day.

Opening her eyes to find him surveying the living room, she quietly closed the door behind her. “You said yesterday that you knew where the house was, but have you been inside before?”

Walking over to inspect the old boarded up fireplace, he nodded absently. “Years ago. I had a friend in high school whose grandparents lived here. Probably the same guy you bought the house from.”

“The realtor said the man who owned it before lived out of state,” she murmured with a frown, a hint of suspicion and unease winding through her.

Cody turned toward her, his smile inching a little higher. “Yeah, Rob moved away for college and never came back. Not everyone wants to stay in a little town like this after graduation like I did. He put the house on the market after his grandparents passed.”

Relief washed over her, and she lectured herself on feeling suspicion at all. It hadn’t been directed at Cody, really, but more toward the realtor and previous owner of the home. But it made no sense, no matter who it was directed at. There’d been no reason to be uneasy at all, even if the previous owner did still live nearby.

The past clearly had a tighter grip on her than she’d thought.

“Makes sense,” she murmured, hoping her question hadn’t seemed too strange and out of place. “Is it as bad as you were expecting so far?”

“Well, I’ve only seen one room, but it’s actually not as bad as I thought it would be. That doesn’t mean the other rooms won’t be worse, though.”

“Understood.”

Falling quiet, she let him finish inspecting the living room, discreetly studying him as he went. He was such a big guy, in height and build. She wasn’t really on the short side, but the top of her head might not even reach his lips if they were standing next to each other.

Her eyes traced down his arms and torso, appreciating the way his worn work shirt hugged him. His muscles weren’t ostentatious, but they weren’t exactly small, either. But what she could hardly stop looking at were his hands and forearms.

They’d always been her kryptonite… and his were the best she’d seen. His hands were large and capable looking, with veins she was delighted to see worked their way up his thick forearms.

Her sister always made fun of her for thinking a man’s hands and forearms could possibly be more important than his ass, but Olivia bet she’d change her tune if she saw Cody.

And then he turned to walk down the hall, and when she turned to trail after him, her eyes fell to his ass—and she immediately choked on her own tongue. Literally.

He stopped and turned, looking at her with concern as she coughed. “Are you okay?”

Her face was flaming hot, and she knew she was blushing as she nodded. Thank God she’d pulled her eyes away from his ass before he turned around.

“Fine,” she wheezed, stopping to clear her throat and wave her hand around. “Dust and all, you know.”

“You head on into the kitchen and get some water, wash that away. Can’t have you choking. I’ll check out the half bath under the stairs and then be right in.”

She wanted to protest and insist she was fine, but his eyes were still concerned, so she nodded, quickly brushing past him and walking into the kitchen. Grabbing her water bottle, she uncapped it and took a healthy swallow, then fanned her face, hoping her blush died down by the time he arrived.

Sweet baby Jesus, maybe Fiona was right, and asses really were the best body part on men. She thought about Cody’s arms and hands again, and quickly amended that to if not the best, maybe an extremely close second.

Hell, probably a three-way tie all around.

Closing her eyes, she shook her head in exasperation. Why was she even thinking like this? Okay, maybe it was all right to be attracted to him—but this much? So soon after what she’d gone through with Fernandez and his guards?

Had she learned nothing about what could happen when the wrong man was trusted?

It wasn’t that she thought Cody was untrustworthy, necessarily. But she didn’t want her attraction to his body to blind her to who he might really be on the inside. Sure, he seemed like a good guy, but she’d known him all of two days and only spoken to him for maybe fifteen minutes, max.