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“Don’t worry about it. Let’s get out of here before anyone sees my car.”
He started the engine and pulled out onto the street. “Please tell me there’s another dog in the back there. Some dog other than Frisky. A big, hulking, scary dog like a Rottweiler or a pit bull.”
“Sorry, Kent.”
“This may be the worst night of my entire life.”
“It’s not that bad,” she said in a cajoling way that only irritated Kent more. “I know from experience that when it’s dark and you can’t see, dogs can sound bigger than they are. Running away like you did is natural. And Frisky probably sounded pretty vicious.”
She did, Kent thought. And that only made it worse. What could the silly little dog have done to him? Nibble off a toenail?
Phae sounded thoughtful as she continued. “What I can’t get over is that Frisky somehow escaped her pen and managed to track you for so far. I thought I had her calmed down when I left her. She’s usually so placid. Hey, that ditch where we found her, was that one of the places where you hid from those cars?”
Kent pulled the car to a careful, calculated stop then turned to look at the chatting ninja.
“Do not say another word.” He kept his voice as low and threatening as he could. “Pay close attention to what I’m about to tell you. We are nearly at your apartment. When we get there, you are going to let us in and then you’re going to change out of that Mission Impossible getup and wash that paint off your face and neck—”
“You can’t—”
“Apparently, I’ve done everything you wanted me to do tonight, so now you will kindly do what I want. After you wash off that junk, you and I are going to have a long discussion. Wait. And take down that Judy Jetson hairdo you’ve got going on there. Then we’ll talk. But until then, not another word. I’m tired, filthy, sweaty and I’m completely out of patience. Please do me a favor. If you really do want to make me feel better, say nothing more and do as I ask.”
She crossed her arms over her chest and bit her bottom lip in consternation. Then she nodded and stared out the windshield.
Kent drove the rest of the way in blessed silence.
Chapter 13
PHAE STRIPPED OFF HER GEAR and stepped into the cool shower. As she re-pinned her hair, she recalled Kent’s Judy Jetson dig back in the car. He’d been downright surly.
She relaxed under the soothing spray. The face paint ran off her and swirled in dark clouds at her feet. An ominous sign?
After she finished and dried off, she defiantly dressed in a pair of old sweatpants and a t-shirt. She could hear Sylvie in the back of her head admonishing her for not pulling on something sexy, to soothe the savage beast. Or was that food? Music? Phae couldn’t remember.
To hell with that, she thought. If she had to seduce Kent to get him to stop acting like an ass, well then … wait, what exactly was wrong with that line of logic?
She did want him. No, she REALLY wanted him. Sweatpants and t-shirt suddenly seemed like a bad plan.
No. She didn’t know what was actually wrong about that line of thought, but it seemed wrong, and at the moment, that was good enough for her. She didn’t want Kent if all he was on the lookout for was sex.
“Here goes nothing,” she whispered as she headed for the living room.
Kent lay stretched on the sofa, one arm thrown over his face.
“Taking a nap?” Phae asked.
He jerked his arm away and lifted his head. “Good. You’re back to normal.”
Phae pointed to the empty glass sitting on the coffee table. “I’m glad you got yourself something to drink. Did you find the juice in the fridge?”
Kent shook his head and sat up. “Water’s fine.”
“I can get you some juice.”
“No, just water … please.”
Phae shrugged, picked up his glass and went to the kitchen.
Kent’s mood hadn’t improved much while she’d been showering. She tried to think of something to make him relax, something that would help him listen calmly to her explanations.
Pasting a smile on her face, she refilled his glass and returned to the living room.
She handed the drink to him then sat in the easy chair. “Are you hungry?”
Kent took a deep drink. “No.”
“Want some music?”
He gave her a funny look.
Phae hurried on and surveyed the man’s rumpled, filthy clothes. “I have a washer and dryer in the shop. Why don’t you take a shower and I’ll wash your clothes? You’ll feel better once you’re clean.”
“I don’t want to feel better. And I’m not going to hide in your bathroom while I wait for my clothes to dry. All I want is for you to explain why you spend your nights acting like a strange do-gooder ninja.”
“I’m trying to be civilized, but you’re not helping matters with your attitude. Go take a shower. I’ll find something for you to wear while you wait for your clothes. Think of how nice it will be to feel clean again.”
He frowned. When he began a serious study of the rim of his glass, Phae knew she had him.
She rose from the chair and walked toward the hallway, hoping Kent would follow. “Come on. Let’s find something for you to wear.”
He heaved himself up off the sofa and followed her. In her bedroom, Phae opened one drawer after another, trying hard not to think about how close to her bed they were, and how big and close Kent was, standing beside her.
“I know it’s in here somewhere,” she babbled as she rifled through drawers. “Dad accidentally left behind a pair of sweats after he showered here the last time he visited. We work out together whenever he’s here. I saw them a few days ago when I cleaned house. They’re in here somewhere. Wait. This is them. Here you go.” She held them out triumphantly, convincing herself she wasn’t being a rambling twit.
Kent held the gray sweats in front of himself.
“Well,” Phae said, “They’re a little too short, and a lot too wide, but they have that drawstring. It’ll work, don’t you think?”
Kent mumbled what she thought was an affirmative.
She tossed him one of her largest t-shirts. “The bathroom’s across the hall. Towels are under the sink. Toss your dirty clothes into the hall so I can get them started.”
“I don’t suppose you know how to remove gum from jeans, do you?”
“Gum? Where? Oh, I see. How did you get gum on your—” She stopped short, noting the dangerous glint in his eyes.
“So? How do you get rid of it?”
“Go take a shower already.” She pushed on his shoulder, finding him to be an unmovable goliath of hard muscle.
Without a reply, Kent stalked off and closed the bathroom door.
Phae sighed and tried to remember he was tired and cranky. And didn’t he have a right to be a little angry? All of this must be a shock. She certainly knew how shocked she was at having been discovered.
When Kent tossed his clothes into the hall, Phae gathered them up and quickly went to work. She tried using ice to pry the gum off his
jeans, but it was too mashed into the fabric to pull off cleanly. She did the best she could.
After shoving everything into the shop washing machine, she relaxed into her easy chair, a tall glass of orange juice in her hand, and waited.
It wasn’t long before she heard the water shut off. He’d bathed quickly, not a good sign for her sooth-the-cranky-beast plan.
“Don’t be nervous,” she told herself. “Be honest. Remember, it’s like at the fair. He didn’t run away. He’s still here.”
She propped her feet on the table, sipped her drink and waited. A few short minutes later, Kent came into the living room.
She’d expected to see him wearing the clothes she’d given him, so she wasn’t prepared for what she saw.
Kent wore nothing but one of her bath towels wrapped around his hips. She swallowed hard. Day-umm. He looked good. Better than good.
Droplets of water still shimmered on his wide, tanned shoulders. His hair was damp, mussed and spiky in attractive disarray.
Phae tried not to stare at his impressive six pack and bulging biceps as he walked past her, but once he was past, she got a nice long look at his tight butt snuggled under the towel, and his thick, muscular thighs.
She swallowed hard again and had the crazy thought of, “What if he’s trying to seduce me the way I should have tried to seduce him?” If so, it was working. She almost laughed out loud.
Kent didn’t look at her as he seated himself on the sofa. He picked up his water, took a drink then turned to her. “You were right. I feel better.”
“I’m glad. Are you hungry now?”
“No. The first thing I want to know is why you supposedly let me follow you tonight.”
“Guess we’ll get right down to it, then,” she said wryly. “There’s no ‘supposedly’ about it. When I saw you were tailing me, I realized I didn’t have any choice. It’s not like I could turn around, go home and pretend I’d been out on a midnight walk wearing all that gear.”
He didn’t smile or respond in any way, so Phae continued stoically. “I noticed you following me almost immediately. When I saw it was you, I knew that you had to have been hiding at my house because there was no way I could have run into you accidentally. Now it’s your turn. What made you suspect me?”
