Ignite (Cloverleigh Farms #6)(13)

Fuck. She’d probably just heard me yelling at Naomi. Exhaling, I moved toward the door and opened it.

“Can I help you?” I asked, more tersely than intended.

She looked a little nervous, not that I blamed her, as she held out a small pink box of Band-Aids. “I had these lying around and thought Luna might want them for her knee. Band-Aids sometimes come off in the shower, so . . .”

I reached out and took them from her, noticing she was careful not to let our fingers touch this time. “Thanks.”

“That’s it—I just wanted to—um, okay, have a good night.” She turned to leave, and I probably should have let her.

“Wait a second.”

She faced me again, her expression still wary.

“I’m sorry about that.” I gestured over my shoulder with the pink box. “My ex-wife—the girls’ mom—knows how to get a rise out of me.”

“Oh, that’s okay. It’s none of my business, and I didn’t really hear anything.” It was obvious she’d heard everything.

I nodded slowly. “Well, thanks for the Band-Aids. Luna will appreciate it.”

Her smile was back, along with that stutter in my chest. “Good. Enjoy your night.”

“You too.”

She turned around and went down the steps, cutting across the lawn to her place with that same youthful bounce in her step. Glancing down at the box, I shook my head—of course she had a whole thing of pink princess Band-Aids. I shut the door and trudged up the stairs to get the kids cleaned up.

Hallie went first, after a brief attempt to get me to let her wear socks in the shower. As usual, I refused, explaining again that the entire house had been thoroughly cleaned before we moved in, and I’d been here yesterday to make sure of it.

While she was getting dressed, I made sure Luna washed her hair and used soap, then helped her get dried off. After hanging up their towels, I double-checked that they’d chosen appropriate clothing and was just about to get in my own shower when I heard a series of high-pitched beeps.

“What’s that?” Hallie said, scrunching up her face.

Instantly on high alert, I put my hand up. “Shh.”

I heard it again, and recognized it as a smoke detector going off, but not in our house—we were hearing it through the walls. “Stay here.”

I raced out of their room and took the stairs down three at a time, jumping to the bottom with five to go. Barreling out my front door, I ran over to Winnie’s and knocked. The alarm was clearly coming from inside her unit, and when she didn’t answer the door, I made a split-second decision to bust in.

Fortunately, the door wasn’t locked.

I shouldered it open, relieved when I didn’t see or smell smoke right away. Winnie’s townhouse was laid out exactly like mine, and I immediately realized the detector going off was upstairs. Racing up the steps three at a time, I reached the master bedroom doorway just in time to see Winnie climbing onto a suitcase, one hand reaching toward the ceiling to disconnect the unit.

My jaw dropped.

She was totally naked and dripping wet.

One hand was clutching a small towel to her chest that didn’t fucking hide anything. Behind her, steam from her shower billowed from her bathroom, which must have been what set off the alarm—some detectors are that sensitive. Behind me, I heard clamoring on the stairs, and a second later both Hallie and Luna rushed into the bedroom.

Startled, Winnie looked over and saw us. Her eyes went wide as she screamed, lost her footing, and toppled backward off the suitcase. She landed hard on her ass, arms and legs flailing like a rag doll.

Averting my eyes, I strode over and disconnected the unit while she scrambled toward the bathroom on her hands and knees, presumably in search of a bigger towel.

But then she slammed the door . . . and didn’t come out.

The eighty-five decibel alarm had ceased, but the sirens in my head continued.

I looked at the girls. Luna had her hands over her mouth. Hallie’s eyes were wide, and she pointed to the bathroom door. “Winnie was naked,” she whispered. “We saw her bum.”

“Quiet,” I scolded angrily. “You two were supposed to stay at our house. You didn’t follow my orders.”

“But Daddy, we were scared,” Luna said. Her hair was still wet and tangled. “We came to find you.”

“We’ll talk about it later, but when I tell you to stay put, you stay put—especially in an emergency. Understand?”

They nodded.

“Now go back to our house, both of you.”

“But what about Winnie? Is she okay?”

I went over to the bathroom door and knocked, trying not to picture her naked. The shower wasn’t running anymore. “Winnie? Are you okay?”

“I’m fine!”

“Are you hurt?”

“I’m fine!” she repeated in the same false, bright tone.

A tiny smile inched onto my lips. “Are you sure?”

“Uh huh!”

“It must have been the steam that set off your smoke detector.”

“Yes, it happens sometimes when I forget to open the windows in here.”

“It’s good that it’s sensitive, but open them now, okay? I should hook this back up.”

“I will.”