I should wait. This was my house. I walked into the bedroom. “I’m in the bedroom, for fuck’s sake don’t come out naked.” I heard a yelp and then silence, but the water was stillrunning. “The windows are alarmed; don’t open them until I reset the system in the morning. If you want fresh air tonight, I suggest you move to another state.”
“Keep the windows closed, noted,” she retorted tersely. “Anything else?”
Since I was currently idly looking at her clothes pile, or lack of clothes, I wondered what she’d actually brought with her. “If you sleep naked, tell me now.”
“I don’t.” She sounded pissed off.
“Sleepwalk?”
“No.”
“Do you plan to go downstairs again?” I asked her as I held up a lacy bra curiously before I dropped it.
“I don’t know, why?” She was losing her temper.
“Because I set an alarm and I’m going to bed,” I explained patiently.
“Then no, I’m not going downstairs.”
“Fine. The pool in the basement is heated if you wish to swim in the morning. Swimwear’s in the top right of the closet if you need.”
I heard her sputtering as I left the bedroom and headed back to my own. I hadn’t had a guest in my house since my brothers were here for Sunday Night Football. I wasn’t keen on people in my space who weren’t family, and even then, it was limited.
After completing my nightly routine and brushing my teeth, I sat on top of my bed and opened my laptop. Cooper didn’t hang around, and he would already be processing what he’d taken from her house.
He’d started writing notes, keeping us up to date with what he was doing, what samples he was taking, and what he was testing for. She lived in a good area — safe. Safe areas had vigilant neighbors, so someone would have seen something even if they didn’t know it.
Satisfied that Cooper was on it and that Charlie was prepared to check the area tomorrow, I took it upon myself to check the CCTV.Hackedwas such a harsh word; I preferredappropriated, and even then, it was misleading. It wasn’t as if I wastakingsomething; I was merely watching. As I connected to the cameras that were around her neighborhood, I almost missed the soft tap at my door.
“What?” I asked as I finished my beer and kept clicking. Toothpaste and beer didn’t mix well. Angel opened the door and stood behind the doorway, not realizing the full-length mirror showed her perfectly. “Stop lingering and come in.”
“Are you decent?”
“Never,” I snorted.
I heard her huff of amusement as she tentatively stuck her head around the door. “Can I get a drink?”
“I don’t know, can you?” I asked her without looking at her.
“God, your mother either has the patience of a saint or she’s as difficult as you are,” she said as she came further into the room. “Are the alarms set for downstairs, or can I go down?”
“Can you go down?” I watched her reaction to the obvious innuendo. “Bold of you,” I murmured just to fuck with her. Chuckling at her discomfort, I relented. “I haven’t set them yet. Bring me back a water.”
“Get it yourself,” Angel snapped.
At her tone, I leveled her with a flat look as I considered her as she stood there. Hovering. Her PJs were white and virginal. Unlike her. “What was that? I didn’t quite hear you over your deafening gratitude that tonight you’ll sleep soundly knowing you’re safe.”
Her cheeks flushed. Whether from embarrassment or anger, I didn’t care which. “Fine.”
I heard her muttering all the way down the stairs, and when she shrieked at the alarms going off, I grinned as I disarmed thealarms from my laptop. Sometimes, she was just too easy, which was why it was still amusing to mess with her.
Heavy thumping announced her climbing the wooden staircase, and I kept my eyes on my laptop as she came storming into my bedroom, thrusting the bottle of water at me, waiting impatiently for me to take it.
My attention was on the surveillance, and when I saw her go to put the bottle on my nightstand, my hand shot out to grab her wrist. “Don’t even think about it,” I warned her as I dropped my hold on her and, reaching out, picked up a coaster.
“Wow,” she muttered.
“Come here,” I ordered.
