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The two men dapped before Carter stepped back inside, locking and bolting the door. The fact that he had been able to breach her faulty ass lock so easily had him rethinking being there. The only saving grace was that no one would come looking for him at McKenna’s place.
Chapter Two
“McKenna, it’s Carter. Carter Reed. I figured it might help if I start with my name.”
She leapt from the edge of her bed where she had been sitting for the past ten minutes, waiting, feeling like she had signed her death certificate by yelling and storming off the way she had.
“Ay, I know you’re not feeling this and want me out of your place but right now you’re all I have. I can’t go anywhere for the next few days but I give you my word that if you do what I ask then you don’t have shit to worry about,” Carter spoke from the hallway but she didn’t say a word.
Silence.
McKenna paced back and forth, staring at the door. The man on the other side was a problem. One she wanted nothing to do with, no matter how attractive he was. Why did he have to be so attractive? Too perfect for words with his tight jaw and hard muscles. McKenna had only been blessed with shadowy images of his features but the flashes of him she experienced paired with his stormy energy made her feel like she was spinning helplessly in a tornado of him.
His presence was big and overwhelming. A feeling that called out to McKenna and had her body thrumming and muscles tense with anticipation. The good kind of anticipation, but he was a criminal. One who took lives. Or so she assumed because of her experience so far. She would be willing to bet there were missing persons’ reports and news stories to back up her assumptions.
When Carter didn’t get a reaction, he attempted a different approach.
“I’m going to pay. You can use the money…”
That got McKenna’s feet moving and she snatched open her door, face tight and body thrumming with anger. Carter stumbled into her room, the only thing preventing him from landing on his ass was McKenna’s quick movement. She struggled with the weight of his lengthy, solid frame but managed to balance him enough to assist until Carter was able to stand on his own. Once she let go, she was in his face.
“I don’t want your money and you don’t know shit about what I need. You don’t know a damn thing about me.”
Carter’s eyes squinted from the pain while his nostrils flared. Their bodies were close but he depleted the few inches she left, staring hard with his chin dipped into his chest.
“McKenna Smith, twenty-eight years old. This house used to belong to Moses and Olivia Smith, your parents, who moved to Florida six years ago. You’re behind on the taxes and at risk of losing this property which I’m guessing your parents don’t know about. I might not know you personally but I know about you. I also know for a fact that you do need my money. We both need something. Now are you going to play nice or do I have to resort to other measures to get what I need?”
With her chest heaving, McKenna opened and closed her mouth several times, unable to find the words she was looking for. Her mind was reeling.
How? How does he know so much about me?
“Answer me!” Carter barked, feeling his body shutting down. He needed to rest but couldn’t do that without her blessing. When he said he needed McKenna, he wasn’t lying. She was his only option at the moment.
“Why…why me?”
“Because I’m not connected to you. No one will come looking for me here and I need a few days to fly under the radar, undetected by anyone who might know how to find me.”
“And you promise you won’t—”
“I’m not going to hurt you, McKenna. I need rest and to let this shit heal a little before I can move around again. If I’m out there like this, I don’t survive. Only a few days. That’s all I’m asking. Can you give me that?”
She thought long and hard before responding with a nod. “Just a few days?”
“That’s it. Now can I shower?”
“You don’t have clothes. And I don’t have any to give you.”
“It’s covered. There’ll be a bag outside your door by the time I’m done.”
“You can stay in my guest bedroom. There’s a bathroom in the room across the hall. I’ll get some stuff for you to shower.”
Against her better judgment, McKenna decided to go along with the idea of having a stranger in her home for the next few days. Half of her felt as if she didn’t have a choice and the other half felt an unusual pull to the intruder who had barged his way into her home. Carter was calm and chaos. Both radiated and expanded to the point of drawing her in with the need to feel what happened when those conflicting energies collided. She couldn’t deny him and maybe stupidly, however her mind was made up. The mixed emotions had to be sorted out but for now she decided to offer some leniency.
When she stepped away and her back was to Carter, she heard his voice one last time. “I’m trusting you. I need you to trust me too. That’s the only way this works, McKenna.”
“You want me to trust you but you’re saying that with a gun in your hand.”
McKenna froze in place, glancing over her shoulder and the look she received had her conflicted yet again. This man—who she knew, in her gut, had done horrible things—was asking for her trust and in return was offering his. Something deep within allowed her to believe she could trust his word so she simply walked away to get the things he needed to shower.
