Under Pressure (Body Armor #1)(33)

“I’m glad you’re more serious about this than Sahara.” She knelt to look in a cabinet, found big bowls and stood again. “I can use one of the phones?”

“Yes.” He watched her go on tiptoe to open another cabinet. Her body was slim but supple, looking leaner as she stretched.

This cabinet held staples like salt, flour, sugar and spices. None of that interested her though.

Curious, Leese folded his arms and asked, “Who do you want to call?”

She rolled one shoulder. “My brothers first. I don’t know if they’re worried or not, but just in case...” She opened a drawer and found a pen and paper. Drawing them out, she asked, “Can you cook?”

“Sure. You?”

“Pretty much.” She wrote on the paper, then went back to checking cabinets.

Leese stepped closer to read: cereal, milk, cookies, cola... He shook his head. “You’re going to kill yourself eating that—”

“Shush it.” After glancing in the freezer, she said, “Put ice cream on there too, will you? And maybe chocolate sauce. Or ooh, whipped cream.”

No, he wouldn’t. “Why don’t you let me take over meals?”

With an exaggerated shudder, she said, “Because you’ll have me eating tofu or something nauseating like that.”

“I promise that’s not true.”

She closed the freezer and opened the fridge. “I need my junk food in times of stress, and Leese?” Glancing over her shoulder, she emphasized, “This is definitely a time of stress.”

Gently, he wrestled the refrigerator door from her and closed it, then with his hands on her shoulders, he turned her to face him. “Who else will you want to call?”

On a groan, she said, “So many people.”

“Let’s hear it.”

“People at the school. The boy who usually shovels my walk and driveway. I have a neighbor who probably wonders what happened to me. At least he’ll be able to tell me if my house is okay.”

Every possessive instinct came to attention. Leese tried to ignore the unruly urges, even as he repeated, “He?”

“Mike. He’s like... I don’t know. Eighty-five or so. Scrawny little guy but real protective. Sometimes he’d walk over in the morning with coffee. See, he belongs to this coffee club and sometimes he likes to share.”

And she was kind enough to make time for her elderly neighbor. Nice. Hell, everything about her was nice.

Leese knew he wasn’t only attracted to her physically. So far, he actually liked everything about her.

He considered her a job. His responsibility. In some ways, he already considered her...his.

Dumb. Dangerous. But looking down at her, needing to protect her, wanting her, he couldn’t deny the truth of his feelings.

“If you call your neighbor, it’s going to lead to a lot of questions about where you’ve been. It could even put him in danger. So how about I go by your house instead? I can check it over, make sure—”

“What?” Eyes flaring, she insisted, “No. Absolutely not. Don’t even think about going to my house.”

Mystified by her reaction, Leese asked, “Why not?”

Her hands fisted in his shirt. “Promise me right now that you won’t.” When he didn’t answer fast enough, she tried to shake him.

Silly.

He untangled her fingers from his clothes. “Settle down, Cat.”

That earned him a punch in the ribs. Not that she had enough strength to hurt him, especially without room to really draw back.

Going on tiptoe, she said straight into his face, “They know what you look like, damn it! By now they probably know who you are. You can’t go poking your nose around places where they might be.”

Leese wasn’t sure if he wanted to kiss her or set her straight. He decided to go with setting her straight first. “I’m not worried about them.”

Her eyes widened even more. “Oh my God, you were going to poke around, weren’t you?” In a huff, she started to turn away.

He caught her, then trapped her smacking hands behind her. Irked that she thought so little of him, Leese growled, “Let’s be clear on something here.”

Uncaring that he’d hampered her with his size and strength, she snapped, “I won’t be a part of your suicide.”

That was one insult too many. Leaning down, Leese said an inch from her face, “Just because I’m holing up here with you—to keep you safe—don’t expect me to run from them. Because, Catalina, I can promise you that’s not going to happen.”

Temper sent her voice higher. “You won’t have to run if you don’t get within shooting distance!”

Irritation deepened his voice. “How damned incompetent do you think I am?”

“I didn’t say you’re incompetent!”

Only slightly mollified, he asked, “Then how do you figure I’d get myself shot?”

She tightened her mouth. “You’re too naive to realize how bad they are.”

Oh hell no. In a deadly whisper, he repeated, “Naive?”

“Yes!” She struggled against him, but finally stopped to glare. “Man-to-man, sure, you can beat up any one of them. But you won’t get that chance because they don’t play fair. You’re not familiar with guys of their caliber.”