Black Heart (Cursed Hearts #1)(65)

When he could only stand there staring at her, probably like an idiot, she turned right back around and headed upstairs, disappearing around the corner and leaving him more confused than he'd ever felt before.

"Shayne?" he said quietly, knowing that he was probably close by.

"Aye, lad?" Shayne asked, materializing right next to him.

"Is this a trap?" he had to ask.

"I'm not sure," Shayne admitted, sounding unsure, which wasn't exactly comforting at the moment. "Maybe ye should make a run for it, lad."

Tristan turned a glare on the man. "How exactly is that helpful?" he demanded in a harsh whisper as his eyes darted back to the top of the staircase to make sure that they were still alone.

"That's all I have right now, lad," Shayne admitted sheepishly.

"It's not very helpful," Tristan said, slowly exhaling as he considered his options.

"It is what it is, lad," Shayne said with a shrug.

"Well, it isn't much," Tristan said, deciding that he'd rather get this over with. He didn't want to do this, but he'd hurt her and he'd do anything that he could to make things better.

He forced himself to walk up the stairs as dread filled him.

"Don't let me f**k this up," he prayed as he walked towards his room.

He didn't see her as he walked into his room. As he was turning around to leave he spotted her shoes on the floor. A few feet away from those he spotted her nylons and a few feet away from those he spotted her pinstriped skirt lying in the doorway of his bathroom. More than a little curious, he followed the trail of clothing and pushed the bathroom door open as his eyes followed the rest of the trail to the foot of his tub where the trail ended with her bra.

He looked up and couldn't help but groan when he spotted Marty surrounded by bubbles in his tub as she absently twirled a pair of lacy pink panties on her finger. When she saw him, she gave him a teasing smile as she sent the panties flying in his direction with a simple flick of her hand. He caught them as he leaned back against the doorframe.

"I thought you wanted to talk," he said, wondering just how much she was going to want to know and if he could give it to her.

"Not unless you do," she said with a shake of her head as she leaned back against the tiled wall and closed her eyes.

"I don't," he admitted softly.

"Then we won't talk," she simply said.

"Then what do you want to do?" he asked, wondering where they were supposed to go from here. Thankfully, Marty had an idea.

"You could start by getting me a beer," she said in a teasing tone that relaxed something deep inside of him.

"A beer?" he repeated, wondering how he managed to win over a woman that he clearly didn't deserve.

"Mmmmhmmmm, ice cold," she said with a cute little sigh as she settled more comfortably into the tub.

"I think I can handle that."

*-*-*-*

"Help me, please!" a woman cried, startling Marty wide-awake.

She frantically looked around the large bathroom, but didn't see anything. After a moment she nervously laughed it off even as she strained her ears for a television or a radio, anything to explain the fluttering in her chest and the tiny hairs standing at attention on the back of her neck.

After a moment she shook it off. She'd obviously been dreaming, she told herself, feeling foolish. She laid back in the tub and just started to relax when she heard movement in the bedroom.

"Tristan?" she said, wondering what was wrong with her and why she was reacting so strongly to a dream.

"Sorry it took so long. Mom called and wanted to know if we wanted her to bring over some food," he said, chuckling while he walked into the room, carrying two longneck bottles of beer as self-preservation kicked in and made her forget all about the strange dream.

"You told her no, right?" she asked, already moving to climb out of the tub and make a run for it just in case. She really didn't think that she could take anymore of Beth's meddling tonight.

"I did," he said, sighing as he handed her a beer. "It took a while and my father's help to get her to listen," he explained as he pulled his holster off his belt and placed it on the counter.

"So, she's not coming here?" Marty clarified, knowing the woman would probably embarrass the living hell out of them with more questions and suggestions.

"No, but you should probably know that Denny tried screwing us over by sending her over here so that he could make his escape," he said, chuckling as he toed off his shoes.

"That rat bastard," she muttered, twisting the cap off her beer and taking a small sip.

"Yes, he is," Tristan agreed with a grin as he yanked off his shirt and revealed an incredible chest, but that's not what had Marty hungrily licking her lips. It was that smile of his, that bad boy-relaxed-make-her-blood-boil smile of his. He didn't smile nearly enough, but she was glad that the stressed expression that he wore earlier was gone. As she watched him remove his pants, she couldn't help but wonder if that smile was because of her.

"We won't have to worry about anyone bothering us for a while," Tristan murmured absently as he moved to place his pants on the counter, but after a slight hesitation and a nervous look, he placed his pants on the floor by the tub. It was a little odd, but nothing worth mentioning.