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“You could come in for a whisky,” she offered.
“Kind of you, but I have whisky at home,” Bones replied with a straight face. She was the one who’d demanded celibacy. He’d give her exactly that until she requested otherwise.
“Of course,” Cat all but stammered. “Um, good night, then.”
Her embarrassment was so obvious that he extended an olive branch. “Back at the cave, I never had a chance to show you that I’m an excellent cook. I could make you dinner here versus going out tomorrow night, if you fancy.”
“Yes.”
Bones bit back a laugh as she glanced away after her emphatic response. Oh, yes, she was growing weary of her abstinence vow.
“Then I’ll see you tomorrow night,” Bones said, letting his gaze linger on her before he walked away.
“What groceries should I get?” she called out after him.
“None. I’ll bring everything I need.”
“I should dosomething,” she argued.
He glanced back with a wicked grin. “I’ll leave dessert to your imagination, then.”
Green sparkled in her eyes, and she drew in a sharp breath. He savored both before forcing himself to leave. She’d set the restriction. She’d be the one to lift it. From her reaction, that would likely be tomorrow night.
* * *
At six o’clock thenext evening, Bones pulled back into Cat’s driveway. He was an hour early, but he couldn’t wait any longer. Cat answered the door before he could knock. She was in sweats and a tee shirt, her long hair loose and damp.
“You’re early! I haven’t had time to get ready,” she said with a self-conscious glance at herself.
“Nonsense, you’re lovely.”
All true. The heat from her shower flushed her cheeks more effectively than the best rouge, her tousled, damp hair invited him to plunge his fingers into it, and the stray drops that clung to her skin absolutely begged him to taste them.
“Look at all this!” she said, interrupting those thoughts as she gestured at his five groceries bags.
Yes, he’d brought enough for multiple courses, although he had plans for the hot fudge that involved drizzling it across her body versus using it on the ice cream. Then, the nape of his neck suddenly tingled, a warning honed from growing up in the poverty-stricken streets of London, where even what little he had could be stolen away.
Someone was watching them.
Bones bent to pick up the bags, the movement concealing his gaze seeking out the source. Not there, where a neighbor glanced at them while the bloke walked to his mailbox. Not the nosy, elderly biddy that yanked open her curtains every time a car pulled up in the neighborhood, either. Ah…there.
A black Dodge Challenger was idling at the end of the street, its driver concealed by the bushes near the bend in the road that led to the cul-de-sac. Bones didn’t need to see him to know who it was. The car was distinctive enough. Bones had seen it coming and going from the compound several times while he’d staked out Don’s secret base, and he’d had Ted run full background checks on the owners of all employee vehicles.
This one belonged to Tate Bradley, and he and Bones had met before. Or, more accurately, Tate had shot Bones right before Bones used his own body to stop the car that was carrying Cat away. Then, Bones had drunk from Tate before hurling his body onto the highway’s shoulder. Judging by Tate’s newly hammering heart, he either recognized Bones from that brief, bloody encounter, or Cat had trained him to spot vampires at a glance.
Cat noticed Bones’s tenseness. “What’s wrong?”
“We’re being watched,” Bones said quietly.
Her whole body tightened, but she didn’t do anything other than pick up a grocery bag. “Ian?” she whispered.
“No. It’s your bloke from the highway crash that day. From the way his pulse just shot up, he knows what I am.”
Whether Tate knewwhoBones was remained to be seen. Tate had only glimpsed him for a moment, and people injured in serious car crashes tended not to remember all the details.
“Tate?” Cat sounded surprised. “Why would he be here? You think my mom called him about you?”
Bones picked up the remaining bags and used their bulk to usher Cat inside the house. Then, he shut the door, splitting his attention between her and the man down the street.
