Ultimate Courage (True Heroes #2)(47)

She’d prefer not to try the option. Instead, she hustled into the bathroom and splashed her face with cold water. Then she grabbed the hem of her sleep tee and started to pull it up over her head.

A quiet knock sounded at the door. “Elisa, are you awake? It’s Alex.”

She yanked the tee back down. Turning to Souze, she asked, “Did you know he was here?”

Souze only gave her a doggie grin.

Maybe that was why the dog had woken her. Gah. Either way, she needed to get a bra on.

Or maybe there were other priorities. Giving Souze a look, she rushed to the door, scooping up the leash. Undoing the deadlock and the lighter lock on the doorknob, she cracked open the door. Alex stood on the other side, dressed in a black Revolution MMA tee and gym shorts. It’d be interesting to ask him how many of those he had later. She shoved Souze’s leash through the door. “Here.”

Alex regarded the leash. “Um. There’s supposed to be a dog attached to the other end.”

True. And she had no idea whether Souze would let her put it back on again. “Give me five seconds to get into the bathroom, then you can come in and grab Souze. I’ll meet you both downstairs.”

There was a pause. “Five seconds it is. Should I count out loud?”

Oh, Alex was extremely entertained. She could hear the amusement in his voice even if he wasn’t outright laughing. “Out loud can’t hurt.”

With that, she bolted past Souze for the bathroom, slipped inside, and shut the door.

Good for his word, Alex counted out loud. He even gave her a play-by-play account of what he was doing once he finished counting.

“I’m coming in now.”

“I’ve got Souze.”

“We’re leaving now, and I’m closing the door behind us.”

Great. Fantastic. She still waited until they both left to actually go to the bathroom.

*



Rojas made it downstairs and caught sight of Cannon. There were chances that’d passed Rojas by over the years, and this was one of those moments he didn’t want to let pass him by just because he was too much of a gentleman to give a woman an option she hadn’t considered.

“Hey, Cannon.” Rojas waved the man over. “You owe me from yesterday.”

“Huh?” Cannon walked over. Luckily, the man still had his shoes on.

“Do me a favor and take Souze out to do his morning business. When he’s done, he can come back here and hang out over in the corner while you guys train.” Rojas turned to head up the stairs. Cannon was a capable handler for a little while. Souze would be fine.

Cannon called a question after him, but he didn’t answer. He didn’t care what anyone thought, and possibly he’d be right back down in about thirty seconds. But he was hoping not.

He knocked on the door and heard a very muffled surprise squeak. After a few seconds, Elisa opened the door, her hair in adorable disarray. Her eyes were narrowed. “Did you forget something?”

He cleared his throat. Not exactly the reception he’d been hoping for. “Did I do something wrong?”

Her cheeks colored, and she looked anywhere but at him. “No. You just have…interesting timing.”

Oh, now there were some possibilities.

“Well, if I’m timely, maybe there’s something I could help with.” He smiled, nice and slow, enjoying the way her gaze zeroed in on his mouth when she finally looked at him.

“I do not need help getting my shirt off.” The words tumbled out, and her eyes widened as she clapped a hand over her mouth.

It surprised a laugh out of him. “If you don’t need help, can I watch instead?”

She narrowed her eyes again and uncovered her mouth, which was good because he liked looking at it and imagining naughty things. “Almost every time I’m about to take off my shirt, you’ve managed to knock on the door.”

“I am sincerely sad I wasn’t aware of this situation.” He took a chance and stepped forward. She gave way, letting the door open and allowing him inside the room. “Is there any way I can make it up to you?”

Heat flashed in her eyes, and her lips parted. His groin tightened in response, and he decided it’d be good to lock the door after he closed it behind him. Uncertainty flickered across her expression then and he froze.

Reining in his raging hormones, he said slowly, “Any time you want things to stop, I will. I promise. I won’t be angry. I will back off.”

She swallowed, and a fraction of tension left her shoulders. “I don’t want to lead you on.”

“I want to be here.” He smiled, gave her time to gain confidence again. He found her grumpy morning personality hot, challenging, fun. “We go as far as you’re comfortable, and I will consider myself a lucky, lucky man.”

The heat came back into her gaze, and she licked her lower lip. “I was going to take a shower.”

His cock came to attention immediately. “That is a great idea.”

And none of the knuckleheads downstairs would hear a thing. Not that he cared for himself, but for her sake, they didn’t need to know what was going on or even that she was up here. Not this morning.

He waited, though, and thought he might strain a muscle holding still until she took a hesitant step, then another toward him. He held out his hands to her, and she placed hers in his, gently tugging him toward the close privacy of the bathroom.