The Dangerous Thief (Stolen Hearts #3)(12)

Things had gotten... complicated. He knew he had no one to blame but himself too. That goddamn dance. He was better than that. He was a professional. But for just a few seconds, he had seen her dancing and he had forgotten almost everything. All he could do was stand there and watch her moving those curves and force himself not to let his base instincts take over. Even though he’d managed to keep himself in check, it was becoming more and more evident that she had noticed his struggle.

Willa had kept quiet about it and she hadn’t seemed extra standoffish around him, so he was hoping they could keep moving on, but apparently it wasn’t exactly over yet. He opened the closet and still didn’t look back at her as he said, “This is the most secure location in the house.” He pushed the hanging clothes out of the way to reveal the rack of semiautomatic weapons and handguns. One of the multiple stores of weapons in the house.

He waited until he heard Willa’s soft steps step into the room before he turned around. “I brought some of your books in and the television is here. There’s no cable, but there’s a DVD player.”

She pursed her lips and eyed the moderately sized TV he had set up on the wall. “Action movies?”

“Some action comedies.”

She nodded but it was hard to tell whether she was okay with that or not. “So what? We’re going to hang out together and watch movies?”

“You’re going to hang out and watch movies. I’m going to monitor the property and keep in touch with Toni to see if there are any new developments.”

“Wait, you’re leaving? I know that in town there weren’t any threats, but things have changed. Now that we know there could really be a problem, you’re running out on me?”

He walked over to the windows and pulled up the blinds to reveal the shuttered exterior. “No one is getting in through these windows.” Then he walked over to the door and pushed it shut, revealing that the inside was coated in steel. “And no one is going to shoot through this. You’re at the safest spot in the house.”

He started to leave, but he could feel the unease radiating off Willa. For someone as reserved with her emotions as her, he knew that wasn’t good. He turned back to see whether there was anything specific that was bothering her.

She opened her mouth and closed it. After taking a breath, she started again. “How can I get a hold of you? If anything happens?”

“I know everything that happens here. Trust me. If anything happens, I’ll already be on my way.”

She sucked in her bottom lip and even though he was supposed to be in protection mode, he found himself staring at the motion. He tore his gaze away and left the room. He ran his hands through his hair as he moved farther away. Fuck, he needed to get it together.

It had been too long since he’d been with a woman, an unfortunate symptom of living out here.

And the women he was normally with were nothing like Willa. Hell, he didn’t think he’d ever met anyone like Willa before. He liked women who could be his equal, in and out of the bedroom.

Willa really didn’t seem to be equal to him in any way. She was too everything. Too rich. Too social. Too sheltered. Maybe it was because she was so young. Maybe it was because of who she was. And he kept on waiting for her to fall into the stereotypes that should fit her, but Willa was just... Willa. He didn’t know how to define her and it was damned annoying. He liked things that fit into their neat little boxes, where they belonged.

Because in his line of work, variables were deadly.

He made it to the computer room. The computer chair wasn’t comfortable, but it would have to do, because he wasn’t leaving here until he was damned sure they weren’t about to come under attack.

And if him being here happened to keep him away from Willa, that was just a side benefit.

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Willa lay back on the bed and closed her eyes. Which immediately popped open when she realized that James was all around her. She shot up to escape the smell of him, but it had already made its way into her brain.

Damn it, that shouldn’t make her want to lay back down. It should skeeve her out that she was lying in someone else’s bed. It should be gross that she could smell him at all. But this wasn’t a gross smell. It smelled like soap and James. Why would she know what James smells like? Damned if she knew. It must’ve worked its way into her subconscious sometime during the trip across the country.

And now she was supposed to sleep in that? Maybe she could make a bed on the floor.... She shook her head at the strange thought. Come on. She was an adult. She’d slept in strange beds before. Thanks to her party days, she’d take any soft location available some nights.

But this was different for some reason. Stupid crush. God, when was the last time she’d developed a crush on someone?

Maybe it was a survival mechanism. She was so stressed and terrified half the time, her developing a fixation on James was her mind’s way of distracting her from the crap that was her real life at the moment.

Yeah, that made sense. She lay back down, secure in the knowledge that this was just some temporary insanity. Once she got the mess with her father sorted out, she could move onto some healthier coping mechanisms. Maybe she could kick up her workout routine and run a marathon.