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She heard him move the rocker back into place and he was almost out the door when she found her voice. “Carson, wait!”
“I’m trying to do the right thing, here, Eva.”
“So I didn’t misread the signals?”
“Lord, no. This just isn’t the right,umm, timing.”
“Timing?”
“Yeah.”
He had her so amped up she was willing to pick a fight. Worse, she was ready to beg. She clamped her lips shut on that unacceptable urge and put her back to the door.
***
Carson waited another few seconds, then bolted for his own room. If she’d said anything, he would have leaped into her bed, to hell with the consequences.
He checked the safety on his sidearm and then slid it under the edge of the mattress.
Timing? What kind of coward offered up a lame excuse like that?
In bed, he stared at the dark, listened to the night, and prayed for sleep. It was a futile effort.
She was the one. He’d known it this afternoon when she’d kissed him instead of taking the revolver. Something had changed, shifted deep inside when their lips met, and he’d just known.
It sounded sappy in his head, but it was simply the truth.
He tried to tell himself that kiss had been sympathy on her part, a way to soothe the raw edges after the fight. Sympathy wasn’t what he wanted from her, wasn’t what he wanted to give either.
Rolling over, he punched the pillow. He could practically hear his brother mocking him if word ever got out about this.
What man in his right mind walked away from a lap full of a woman like Eva Battaglia?
But he didn’t want to be the quick diversion she used to get over a nightmare. He wanted to be there, beside her for the long term.
How that might work was too complex for his sex-addled brain to figure out right now. All he knew for sure was his gut instinct told him jumping in too fast would backfire.
His body ached and the need nearly drove him back across the hall. He practically dared the universe to send an intruder this way now so he could channel the sexual frustration into a more productive outlet.
With grim visions of a fistfight running through his mind, he finally fell asleep.
Chapter 14
Evagotupearlyafter a restless night and prepared a casserole for breakfast so Carson could eat whenever he came downstairs. No way was she subjecting herself to sharing a meal with him after last night’s humiliation.
Her dreams—full of Carson, naturally—were as disruptive as the nightmares. The only consolation had been knowing the attraction was mutual.
Why wouldn’t he act on it?
She supposed it wasn’t the most pressing question facing her today, but it sure as hell felt like it. He’d been so damn nice, tucking her into bed when she’d done everything but strip naked and throw her legs over her head.
After her cold shower, she’d patted concealer under her eyes and applied plenty of mascara and a shiny lip gloss. Anything to hide evidence of her sleepless night.
Lighting up the computers, she decided if timing was his issue, she’d solve this pain in the ass case and remove the obstacle.
She hadn’t gotten anything useful out of the video feed Bakr had put on Matheson. The taunting text messages had ceased for the moment. Ross assured her Bart and everyone else involved on that mission were now in safe locations.
It was progress and it narrowed his focus on her.
