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This was not a woman who ran or withered. She’d meet him head-on, not take his grumpiness personally. Question was whether she’d welcome him into her bed again. “She’s...special.”
“Agreed.” Shane held up a hand as soon as he said the word. “Don’t look at me like that. I mean for you. I like you two together.”
The anger welling up inside Holt died back down. Shane wasn’t blind and Holt understood that, but Shane didn’t quite get this point. “We’re not.”
“You gave up the couch last night. I know because I woke up and took it.”
Yeah, there was no way to dodge that fact, so Holt didn’t try. “She was upset.”
Shane leaned his head back against the railing. “You are not really going to use that excuse for wanting her, are you?”
“I don’t deny it.” Holt had to give in. Blaming Lindsey amounted to being a coward on this score.
Truth was he’d walked into that room, knocked on that door, because he’d heard the faint tap of footsteps. He only picked up on that because he was attuned to everything about her and looking for any excuse to get her to open that door.
“You can’t deny.” Shane pointed at Holt’s head. “It’s obvious in the way you look at her and watch her move around the room.”
That sounded kind of pathetic. Holt had seen Cam fall under Julia’s spell. Had heard all about the others treading water as they met these certain women. Like her or not, want to sleep with her or not, Holt still didn’t want to get sucked into that kind of mess.
“It’s an attraction.” That wasn’t a lie, so he went with it.
“No, man. It’s more than that.”
Holt refused to bend on this. “I am not Cam or the other guys. I’m not looking to get all tripped up by a woman.”
But the more he said it, the less he believed it. He tried to work up his usual horror at the idea of being trapped and tied to one woman. Not that he slept around or liked to lead women on. He absolutely didn’t. He lived by one simple creed when it came to women—treat them how he would want his sister treated. That meant with respect and honesty.
He always started off by making the parameters clear. Fun and nothing more. He tried to remember if he’d delivered that speech to Lindsey. They’d been racing on fast forward since they met. There had barely been room for any sort of understanding...and he couldn’t bring himself to suggest whatever he had with her would be fleeting at best.
The woman was tying him up in knots and he couldn’t get free. Now he had to figure out if he even wanted to.
“One thing?” Shane’s tone suggested this could be a kick-to-the-gut type of thing.
Holt knew he should say no. Should walk away. Maybe get in the truck and go for a drive to clear his head. “What?”
“Tonight when you go into her room—and you will, so don’t deny it—maybe test and see how deep that attraction goes.”
Holt’s mind zipped to the night and Lindsey in those near-see-through pajamas and his brain shut down. “You’re giving me love-life advice?”
“I’m trying to save you from running around in circles like Cam just did.”
Holt feared it might be too late. “That’s not something I would do.”
“Right.” Shane pushed off from the railing. “You keep thinking that.”
Chapter Ten
Late that afternoon Holt’s truck pulled into the driveway in front of what looked like an old barn. The inside had been converted. A brother and sister lived in there, watching over the camp from afar and feeding information to Lindsey whenever possible.
She’d helped them get out, but truth was they were about to run away from the place on their own. From time to time, she’d stumbled onto Kurt Noonan buying maps and stealing tips from the café she worked in. It had taken Lindsey forever to build up enough trust to move in and make contact. But she had and now Kurt and Kelly were out.
That’s why Lindsey liked the café. Her aunt had left her with enough to be comfortable with her conservative money-spending lifestyle, but Lindsey needed to fit in and be able to gather intel, and working part-time at the café proved to be the perfect place for that.
She shut the truck door and came around to the front to stand next to Holt. Together they stared at the peeling red paint and what deceptively looked like a door half off its hinges. Grass grew wild and the tree branches inched closer to the house.
No one would ever guess about the technology setup in there. That would teach Simon Falls to educate kids on computer warfare.
