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Her eyes took in his body, and he couldn’t help the instant male reaction. “Zara—”
Those heavy-lidded eyes snapped up to his. “You have got to put clothes on.”
“If I thought you really wanted me to, if you weren’t just looking at me like you wanted me again, I would throw on those damp things and put you at ease.”
She stared for a moment before a bubble of laughter escaped her. “At ease? That’s the last thing you’re trying to do here.”
When she tried to step around him, Braden moved to block her. His hands gripped her shoulders, and he tipped his head down to look her in the eye.
“You’re even more withdrawn than you were before we slept together. Care to tell me what’s going through your mind?”
Those bright eyes darted to his, then to the bed where the kitten lay stretched out. “I’m just trying to keep this from getting too awkward. Okay? We need to go back to boss/employee.”
Braden released her, took a step back and nodded. “That doesn’t mean I wouldn’t have helped you with the box.”
For now he let the subject drop, but he wasn’t leaving anytime soon, and no doubt they’d revisit their status again. Whether he had clothes on or not, she was strung so damn tight no matter how he looked. And now that he’d had her in every way, he wanted her again. So much for getting her out of his system.
“What’s in the box? I thought you were going down for a notebook.”
She maneuvered around him and pulled on the folded flaps until they sprang open with a puff of dust. Coughing and waving her hand in front of her face, Zara turned to face him. “I’ve been putting off going through some of my grandmother’s things. They’ve been boxed up for a while. Long before her death, she wanted to downsize, so she started packing things away and putting them in a storage unit. I only had them brought back so I didn’t have to keep paying the unit fee. This house is more than big enough to hold all her things. I have no clue what all she’s put away and I’ve been too busy to look through them. I figure now would be a good time since I’m stuck here. Maybe after I go through her stuff, I will start unpacking my own.”
Braden heard every word, but he focused on the fact her grandmother had boxes packed away, and now they were back in the house. These boxes wouldn’t have been in here during the search Ryker did. Did he dare hope he could uncover the scrolls that were somewhere so simple as packed away in a box?
Braden leaned forward, glancing into the box. “I can get the other boxes and bring them up here for you.”
Zara knelt down on her knees and started sorting through the newspaper-wrapped goods. “They’re actually down in the basement. And let me just say, if you think the first floor is cold, that basement is frigid.”
Braden laughed, more out of his own anxiety and nerves over the potential in the basement, but Zara relaxed at his actions. “Tell you what, I’ll go down and bring up more. You start going through this box.”
She crossed her arms and rubbed them, most likely trying to get rid of the chill from being downstairs. “I hate to have you do that. I can get them later.”
No way in hell was he backing down on this, not when everything his family had wanted could be right within his reach. “Which boxes am I looking for? Are they all needing to come up?”
“Now who’s stubborn?” she asked, lifting her brows and smiling. “Fine, you can get them. They’re on the far wall. I believe there’s about five more. All the others are mine, but they’re under the steps.”
Braden nodded and barely resisted the urge to rush out the door. Then he remembered he was wearing only his underwear.
Zara glanced up at him; her gaze roaming over his body only heated him even more, making him want to put those boxes on hold and give into that look of desire staring back at him.
“You’re going to freeze your important parts off if you don’t put something on.”
His inflated ego took control as Braden propped his hands on his hips and grinned down at her. “Worried about my parts?”
“You’ll be needing them again.”
He continued to stare until her face flushed.
“With someone else, I mean. Not with me,” she quickly added. “I just meant... Wipe that smug look off your face and put your damn pants on.”
Laughing, Braden went over to check, and sure enough his pants were nearly dry except for the damp waistband. He could handle that. After dressing, he glanced at the items she was pulling out of the current box. So far just a few old pieces of pottery. Not the scrolls.
