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“How about now?”I asked as I lifted her up and twirled her around playfully.
She laughed.“Okay, okay.I give.You can have one bite.”
I put her down and took a spoonful.“Mm, that is good.”
Then she leaned over and brought her lips to mine as I did only seconds ago.“Sharing is caring,” she said as she brought her lips down on mine and kissed me.
* * *
We sang along with the music on the radio and let the joy wash over us.I hadn’t had this good of a time in a while.In fact, I almost couldn’t pinpoint an exact moment.I just knew that being with her, singing and laughing in the car on the way to her apartment felt right.There was nowhere I would’ve rather been.
“Do you want to come in?”Scarlet asked as we approached the door to her place.
I scanned her face to make sure this was really what she wanted and then decided to just ask, “Are you sure?”
She playfully bit at the corner of her lip and nodded.“Yes.I want to be with you, Colt.”
I rested my hands on her waist and leaned my forehead against hers.“There’s nothing I’d rather do than make you mine.I just want to make sure you’re really ready.That this isn’t moving too fast for you.I mean you did just say goodbye to your brother today.”
“Colt, I said goodbye to him a long time ago.Yes, I am sad, but I’ve made peace with it.I just want to feel good.You make me feel good,” she insisted.
I searched her face, looking for a tell and finding none.“If you’re sure.”
She didn’t respond, just kissed me.This time feeling different, more urgent and fast.Like we needed to be together to survive.“Do you need me to say it again?”
I cleared my throat.“Yeah, I wouldn’t mind if you repeated that for me.”
She smiled and then turned to put the key in the door.Instead, as soon as she touched it, it swung open.Scarlet just stood there, frozen.
“Scar, you didn’t leave the door open when we left, did you?”
She shook her head and swallowed.“No, in fact I distinctly remember locking it.I always do.I never leave it open.Ever.”Her hands began to shake and the look in her eyes were full of fear.
“It’s okay,” I tried to calm her.“Let me check things out.”
She grabbed my arm and tried to pull me back.“No!”she protested hastily.“You don’t know if someone’s still in there.”
I looked into her eyes and wished I knew exactly what to say to make her feel better.“Scar, I’m trained.I know what I’m doing.I’ll be fine.”
“But you’re not armed.”Then she questioned, “Are you?”
“Of course not, we only went dancing,” I reminded her.“But I don’t need to be.”I cupped her face and quickly added, “It’s going to be okay.I’m just going to take a quick look around.Make sure it’s safe.”
She nodded.“‘Kay.”
I slowly walked into the dining room on full alert.Trying not to startle the intruder if they were still hanging around, I watched my footing and made my way down the hallway, turning first into what was Brandon’s bedroom and then Scarlet’s.No one was there.As I made my way out of Scarlet’s room and into the bathroom, I heard a noise and then heavy footsteps.They were running.I ran, too, catching them as they jumped on the fire escape and raced down the stairs.There was no point in telling them to stop or put their hands up.They were never going to listen.The hoodie they were wearing fell down and all I caught was the back of a bald head.It was definitely a man, not that I wasn’t sure that was the case thanks to those heavy footsteps.He was a muscular and tall guy, but not an altogether smart guy, to practically get caught like he did.I stopped chasing after him once he was out of sight.“Shit!”
I ran back up the fire escape and in the apartment.Outside, Scarlet was sitting on the floor, looking confused and terrified.“I know who it was,” she whispered.
“Nick?”
She gulped.“Nick wouldn’t get his hands dirty like this.This has Rafe written all over it.And Rafe sure as hell didn’t come all the way to Miami to do this.He had someone do it for him.”
I still didn’t know who the fuck Rafe was, but that was going to have to wait.But just for a second.Because once we got the hell out of here, Scarlet was going to tell me everything, whether or not she wanted to.“Come on,” I said, lending her my hand and hoisting her up.“We’re getting out of here.”
She backed up.“No, Colt, I can’t.”
“And why the hell not?”I furrowed my brows.“It’s not safe here.You think he won’t break in again.The next time you might not be so lucky.You could be home, or sleeping.”I knew I was scaring her because I could see the color drain from her face, but I was trying to get through to her.The situation was not black and white.It was complicated, and we didn’t know what his next move was going to be.
