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Ransom
Pretty Woman, Give Your Smile To Me
I gave up sleeping around dawn.
There had been no cuddling in the night like a damn romance movie. In fact, I’d ended up checking on her a few times since she didn’t move at all. If anyone had bet me she wasn’t just as chaotic in sleep, I’d have lost a million dollars.
And here we were in my massive bed, and we hadn’t even mussed up the sheets once.
Pathetic.
I shut my eyes for a few more minutes, hoping I’d doze off. Restless energy hummed under my skin. When I started distinguishing between the types of birds chirping outside, it was definitely a sign to give up.
I got ready quickly and left her to sleep.
Midnight gave me some side-eye. Instead of following me, he spread out next to Chaos and draped his big head over her legs.
I couldn’t blame him, since her legs were one of my favorite parts of her too. Before I crawled back into that bed and woke her up to burn off whatever was jangling through my system, I stalked out of the room.
I was too wired for food, but an extra large thermos of coffee was in order. As I was locking the front door, I doubled back to leave a note about my whereabouts in case she got freaked out.
It was weird to worry about someone else, but there were going to be some growing pains in this new arrangement.
I checked my emails and found a few new tidbits from Poe, as well as a tracking number for some new surveillance equipment Aidan had sent for my network. He’d included a few small cameras that rivaled Clay’s technology. I had a feeling some of them were a benefit of his military connections. They were encrypted and hard to to hack, according to Poe.
I could set them up at my house and a few at the orchard for an added layer of protection. I didn’t think this guy was into anything other than watching Willow right now, but I preferred to be over-prepared when I didn’t know my enemy.
By the time I finished my perimeter walk, the sun was bleeding through the trees and taking the edge off the morning chill. I unloaded my truck and put her boxes and her mattress in the garage. We’d figure out that whole mess later.
I should set her up in the attic. A smart man would remove the temptation from the equation. But I’d made my bed and now I had to lie in it, even if it included a redhead who made me insane.
Putting one problem aside for now, I concentrated on my new collection for RID since production took months of prep work.
My family focused mostly on manufacturing and real estate. When I’d gotten out of the Army, I hadn’t been interested in jumping into the family business, which had suited my mother. She wasn’t ready to groom a successor just yet. According to Jean Douglas, she was in the prime of her life. My father certainly believed he was. Too bad his idea of prime included younger and younger mistresses.
After my sister Marigold had disappeared, my mother had become even more driven. My younger sister Maple had escaped into the modeling world as soon as she turned eighteen, effectively scattering all the Douglas children across the world.
At this point, I pretty much only worked when I was drawn to. RID turned enough profit to keep my mother happy and leave me alone. I’d invested well and my work with Clay had netted me more money than I’d be able to spend in three lifetimes. My father was enough of a drain on the family fortune. Besides, I preferred to make my own way.
I wasn’t sure how long I’d been at the lathe when the chime of my phone finally dented all the noise. I’d been working on spindles for a prototype sideboard. Dining room pieces weren’t generally my focus, but I’d been itching to add on to the small nook in my kitchen. I didn’t have a lot of storage in the old house, requiring built-ins or structural changes. Unique pieces always won in my book.
When my phone started blaring a second time, I picked it up and saw Clay’s name. “Yeah.”
“Open the damn door. I’ve been out here forever.”
“Then why didn’t you just walk in?” I clicked off the phone and shoved it in my pocket, then I opened the garage door. “What are you doing here?”
“Rachel is losing her damn mind.”
“So, Chaos is in the house. Go talk to her.” I went back to my bench and checked the spindle. It was crooked as fuck. I tossed it in the kindling pile for upstairs and pulled out another piece of wood to start again.
“Why didn’t you guys come over this morning?”
“It’s still morning.”
“Barely. It’s after ten.”
“Really? Shit.” I stood up again and cut the power to my tools. “I was supposed to check in with…” Jesus, I really was sleep deprived.
