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“You were?”
Corbin nodded and dropped his hand, laying it on my thigh in a protective nature. “You were up against something big, but you’re also strong. The first day, your strength was bigger than I realized. You didn’t break down, cry, beg, or even rationalize what had happened to you. You took everything the Grandmaster threw at you and handled it with uncanny ability.”
I wanted to thank him or argue with him about how I may not have outwardly cried, but inside I broke down every moment. He didn’t give me the chance. Corbin’s lips fell against mine, and I repositioned myself so we were closer, our chests together.
CHAPTER16
CORBIN
Sunlight stretched across the hardwood floors to the open windows, and I stood from the couch. Hazel had fallen asleep in my arms again. I’d never actually slept beside a woman before, but as I tucked her head on my neck and lay my chin on top of it, I fell into the most blissful, restful sleep I’d ever experienced.
It was hot having her so close. The tiny couch forced me to hold on to her with all my might so one of us didn’t fall off, but it was perfect. So wonderful. I never wanted to leave, but unfortunately a few hours later, she twisted in her sleep and woke us both.
The readout on the machine said ninety-two percent complete. We barely made eleven percent in the three hours we’d slept. I waited, staring at the screen, wishing for the bar to move faster. My shoulders relaxed when it clicked over to ninety-three percent.
I had confidence in my program. It never failed me before, but still, the closer we got to completion, the more my nerves ripped into my spine in a nervous excitement. I wanted to see what was on the disk, but I knew once we uncovered the documentation, a government agency would show up knocking on the door and force Hazel to decide if she stayed with me or sought government protection.
No way would she hand over whatever we found on the thumb drive and not be offered a position in WITSEC. If given the choice with her life on the line, I’d force Hazel to choose safety. It wasn’t worth the risk for anything less.
“Do you want to borrow another one of my shirts?” I called out, hoping Hazel heard me from where she dressed in the bedroom.
She’d stolen items of my clothing yesterday, and each time I caught her wearing something, she froze expecting me to yell, but I had no such plans. Seeing her decked out in my clothes only cemented the belief that Hazel was mine. I even had Cyrus return to Pierce’s place to grab her a bigger selection.
She popped her head out of the bedroom and smiled, shaking her head. “I already did,” she said.
A low growl died in my chest as she walked out of the space wearing a pair of my black track pants rolled up twice at her waist and a gray Harvard T-shirt I’d bought last year when we returned for alumni weekend.
“I approve,” I said, opening my arms until she leaned down, allowing me to give her a sweet kiss on her lips.
The clothes were too big. They hung off her in certain areas but looked as nice on her as the black leggings she’d worn in the woods. She’d look good in anything.
But I didn’t have time to fantasize about it then. I had to break the encryption, download the files, and then take my clothes off her. I spared a glance at my laptop and saw it hit ninety-five percent complete. Only five more percent and I’d put my plan into play.
I envisioned what her skin looked like under those clothes and rubbed my hands together. Someone knocked on the kitchen door, interrupting my ogling. It was a regular knock. Not the special code Drake and I worked out. Two knocks with a slight pause before two more knocks.
“What time is it?” I asked, knowing it couldn’t be Cyrus already.
“9:05,” Hazel said, checking the watch she wore on her wrist. “Who would be here this early?” She paused on the couch beside me, her body rigid as she pieced together the knocking on the door more than likely came from someone who shouldn’t have known we were here.
But if someone was here to kill us, they wouldn’t take the time to knock.
Still, I refused to risk Hazel.
“I don’t want you to have to find out,” I said, standing up from the couch in one movement and pulling Hazel with me. They made it past Drake stationed out front, and that worried me. “Hide in the bathroom,” I said, forcing her in that direction.
“Not this again,” she said, stopping at the bathroom threshold and holding her hands out like I’d push her.
“Babe,” I said with my hand on the small of her back. This was not the time for her to argue with me. “Now.”
The person knocked three more times. Each fist against the wood growing louder.
She must’ve heard something in my words because her shoulders fell. She released her hands from the threshold and then took two giant stomps into the bathroom.
I smiled at her, hoping she read in my eyes that I’d reward her for the good behavior later, and then closed the bathroom door to her scowling face. “Lock it behind me.”
I waited until I heard the lock engage and then turned to the kitchen door. I pulled back the little lace curtain and stared out the window to see the porch. On it stood an older woman, her long gray hair pulled back into a loose braid, and Tabitha, the woman from the bakery and Ridge’s wife.
Oh no.
