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He took another bite, chewed slowly. Why was that so damn sexy?
“I have sisters. Y’all are sneaky.”
He’d turned up the dial on the southern drawl and it was her turn to laugh. “Sneaky is an important life skill.” And it had served her well. “I bet you did your share of sneaking.”
“Maybe.”
“Aha!” She swiveled the laptop to give him a better view of the cookie jar pictured on her screen. “What do you think?”
He leaned forward. “That’s it. Can we get it gift wrapped?”
“Sure. And delivered by Christmas too.”
“Should we send it to the Rooster or here?”
“I vote here.” She heard the hitch in his breath. “You’re worried about another incident.”
“What are the odds we’d lose two cookie jars to unwelcome guests?” He shrugged and unfolded himself from the chair. “Besides, we’re ready as we can be.”
“I can order two.” He didn’t laugh this time, just turned and walked back to the kitchen, with a slow shake of his head.
She placed the order online and followed him. “Go turn on a Christmas special or something. I’ll do the dishes.”
“I don’t want to keep you—”
She turned, found him closer than she thought he’d be. Her pulse jumped. It was breakfast all over again. By some miracle she managed not to leap into his arms. “It won’t bother me and you need a distraction too.”
He looked at her with enough heat she thought she might combust right there.
“Go on.” She cleared her throat. “I’ll bring in something for dessert in a minute.”
“I saw ice cream when I pulled out the lasagna.”
“Deal.” She shooed him out of the kitchen, pleased to catch a glimpse of his normal relaxed smile.
***
She really could work through any number of distractions, Carson realized, watching her pretending to be interested in the television show. Her fingers had been going, quietly tapping the keyboard, the whole time and that furrow of concentration between her brows had shown up frequently.
When the scowl hadn’t let up and the reruns got boring, he encouraged her to give it a rest and head up to bed. Surprisingly, she’d agreed and shut everything down.
Carson glanced up at the soft squeaks of the floor boards as she moved from bedroom to bath and back again. He wouldn’t head upstairs until he was sure she was in her room and effectively out of his reach.
He did another walk through the house, watched a late night comedian, and waited for the next scheduled check in from the guards posted outside before he even contemplated going upstairs.
That kiss was front and center in his mind unless he forcibly pushed it back. And why would he want to do that when it had been better than he’d imagined? He’d done a lot of imagining since she’d shown up in town.
It was dumb to get distracted this way. Having one of Bakr’s men in custody didn’t mean much. There were two more out there and Bakr himself was a completely unknown variable. Any feelings he was developing for her should wait.
Her scent lingered in the bathroom, tempting him to forget waiting and go knock on her door. He really needed to get control of himself. This wasn’t a romantic getaway, this was a security detail to protect her from a madman. She didn’t need Carson disrupting her sleep trying to charm her out of her pajamas.
Big mistake. Now he wondered what she wore to bed. Aggravated, he finished brushing his teeth and quickly ducked into his own room across the hall. In bed, he yanked the covers to his chin and tried to think mundane thoughts that had nothing to do with Eva while he waited for sleep.
The shouting came first.
Eva’s voice. A dozen scenarios raced through his head. All of them ended badly, with her disappearing. He threw back the covers grabbed his side arm and raced across the hall.
He rapped softly on the door. “Eva?”
