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Ransom
Gone
I woke to banging and music.
Startled, I sat up. How the hell had she gotten out of bed without me noticing?
Especially since I’d been wrapped around her like a lovesick teenager. I scrubbed my hands over my face then rolled off the bed.
Dragging on a pair of sweats against the cool morning air, I took the time to wash my face and brush my teeth before heading downstairs.
The noise level seemed to indicate she was fine. Unless she was weirded out and had needed to get out of bed.
Christ. I wasn’t used to worrying about the morning after. Namely because I didn’t bring women into my house.
One and dones were usually easier to handle at the woman’s place. Or a hotel back when I’d been on assignment. Even better when I was on leave.
I slowed as I went down the stairs. As usual, my kitchen was in shambles. She had a tripod set up on some rickety version of a stand. She had it clamped to an apple box—God only knew where she’d found that—and a plastic bin full of my backup dog food from the closet for height.
Her hair was up in one of those fluffy knot things on top of her head. She’d stolen my Army sweatshirt again, but she’d gone at it with a pair of scissors, opening the neckline to slide off her shoulder.
A black tank peeked out as she leaned forward to put the finishing touches on something with a pile of berries.
My gaze tracked to the fact that she was missing her damn pants. My sweatshirt was big enough to cover all the vital parts, but still.
Jesus. All that damn leg was going to kill me.
Especially since they were encased in some sort of long…socks? Was that even the right word? They were nearly the same green as my sweatshirt and looked as soft as a cloud. They climbed up to her thighs, making her look like a cozy dream come true.
She looked up from her food masterpiece and smiled at me. The sun streaming onto the kitchen island made her glow, for fuck’s sake.
“You’re just in time to try my newest invention.” She blew her hair out of her face and swiped confectioner’s sugar onto her face with the back of her hand.
“You didn’t wake me.” Inwardly, I winced. Lovely. Now I sounded as if I was whining.
She shrugged. “You were out.”
“You should have stayed with me.”
Straightening up, she grinned widely, making my gut drop. She had no right being that damn beautiful. “Did you miss me?” Her laugh was bright and bawdy, but she didn’t call me out any further. “I only uploaded enough videos until tomorrow. Wanted to get a few done before I went to see Rach for lunch.”
I hit the bottom stair. “Hmm.”
She rolled her eyes as she popped a raspberry into her mouth. “Wedding stuff is gonna be a thing. You can’t cuff me to the bed.”
“I can’t?” I came closer and slid my arm around her waist.
Her eyes danced. “We can try it. Not that your headboard is set up for such things.”
“I’m creative.” I lifted her hand to snag one of the raspberries from her fingers, then I brushed her cheek with my thumb. “Got a little something.”
“Oh, gosh.” She wrinkled her nose. “Powdered sugar gets everywhere.” She rubbed at her face with one of my oversized cotton towels. This time, she streaked raspberry juice on herself instead.
“You’re a mess.”
Instead of being embarrassed, she just laughed. “This is definitely going on my bloopers reel.”
I pulled out another towel from my drawer and wet it to swipe at her cheek. “Bloopers?”
