Behind Closed Doors (21 page)

She was suddenly awake. She never opened her eyes, but her breathing changed. Her body pressed down into his touch. “Chris!” She gasped as he continued, not relenting.

He felt her body tighten seconds before she screamed. When she calmed down, he removed his fingers, rolled her over, and gave her a deep kiss. “Good morning.”

She wrapped her arms around his neck. “Good morning,” she said with a sigh.

“How did you sleep?”

She laughed. “Like the dead.”

“Hmm,” he said, nuzzling into her neck again. He really liked it there; liked her reactions. “Are you hungry?” he asked in between kisses.

“Uh huh.” She gasped as he nipped and sucked on her skin, and he laughed, loving her reaction.

Forcing himself up, he got out of bed and pulled her with him, wrapping his arms around her, somehow fearing if he didn’t keep a physical connection with her, she would become self-conscious again. He was hard as a rock, but he wanted this morning to be about her. She needed to feel comfortable. The last thing he wanted was for her to change her mind and think last night had been a mistake.

She sighed and returned his embrace.

“Why don’t you head on into the bathroom while I make us some eggs?” He smiled against her hair. “I’m feeling the need for lots of protein this morning.”

She chuckled.

He released her, and immediately saw the reaction he’d been fearing. She glanced down at her naked body and reached for the sheet to cover herself.

As much as he wanted to, he didn’t stop her. Instead, he waited for her to tie the thin fabric around her body before leaning in to give her a soft peck on the lips. “You don’t need to cover yourself in front of me, you know.” He took her hand not holding the sheet against her body and brought it between them, letting her feel first-hand what the sight of her did to him. “I would gladly look at your naked body all day if I could. Well, maybe I’d want to do more than look.” He smiled.

Her eyes were wide as she stood staring at where her hand was on his body. He saw her swallow and thinking that maybe he’d pushed enough for now, released her.

She hesitated a moment before clutching the sheet with both hands and walking quickly across his bedroom. Her hips swayed seductively all the way, although he doubted it was a conscious action.

Nevertheless, he had to stifle a groan at the sight. She was a temptress even if she didn’t know it. He quickly dressed and left to cook breakfast as he’d promised.

She realized the moment the door shut that she had forgotten her clothes in the other room. It was stupid really, he’d seen her naked last night and again this morning, but she waited until she heard him leave before going back out to get her dress.

She debated taking a shower, not knowing how he’d feel about her invading his space like that, using his soap and shampoo. A memory of the first and only time she’d used Jared’s shampoo came to the forefront of her mind. She’d never made that mistake again.

Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath and reminded herself for what felt like the millionth time that Chris was
not
Jared. Her gaze drifted to the door that led to his bedroom where this morning he’d woken her up with an amazing orgasm. She’d expected him to roll her over and take her then, but he didn’t. Instead, he left his arousal unfulfilled.

The continued contrast between Chris and Jared left her head spinning. Jared was all she knew. She’d learned his rules and had walked the line as closely as she could. Now she felt like a fish out of water.

Her mind went once again to Chris’s unselfishness this morning. Would he really care if she took a shower and used his things?

The conclusion came to her almost instantly. No.

Without second-guessing herself, she grabbed a towel out of the linen closet, and turned on the water.

After her shower, she slipped her dress back on, and went in search of Chris.

She found him standing over the stove in a pair of faded blue jeans and nothing else. He looked like something out of a magazine. He didn’t see her at first, so she was able to take a few moments to admire him.

She must have made some kind of noise because he whipped his head around, and when he saw her, he smiled. “The eggs are almost done. Can you get the juice from the fridge?”

“Sure.”

She didn’t realize how hungry she was. She ate the eggs and toast Chris had prepared and still didn’t feel full. As if reading her mind, Chris stood with his plate. “More?”

“That’s okay,” she said, not wanting to seem like a pig, especially if he was planning to see her naked again anytime soon.

“You sure?”

When she didn’t answer, he just turned and went back to the stove, turning the burner back on and cracking more eggs. “What are you doing?”

“Making more. I’m still hungry and so are you.”

“How did you know?

He sighed. “I have no idea what kind of lies that husband of yours put in your head, but there is nothing wrong with your body. You’re hungry and you need to eat. End of story.”

She felt a little embarrassed. He’d read her so well. And he was right, she did have to stop letting what Jared said affect her so much. Chris seemed to have no problem with the way she looked, so why should she?

When the new batch of eggs was done, he took her plate and filled it without another word. She didn’t protest.

“Do you have plans for the day?” he asked as they put the dishes into the washer.

“Not really. I just need to go to the store for some food at some point. And of course Jan is expecting us for dinner this afternoon.”

He turned and looked at the clock. Ten. They still had plenty of time. “I need to stop by the office and pick up some paperwork. I was wondering if you’d like to come with me. We can stop by the store to get your groceries on the way back.”

She smiled. “I’d like that.”

“Good,” he said, pulling her into his arms for a quick kiss.

Twenty minutes and a lot more kissing later, they were leaving after she ducked down to her apartment and changed into a pair of jean shorts and a T-shirt. For once, she’d not thrown a loose fitting dress shirt or jacket over her outfit. After dressing, and seeing how it outlined all her curves, she’d almost changed, but one look at Chris’s expression, and she was glad she didn’t. He looked as if he was about to throw her over his shoulder and march them right back up to his bedroom and keep her there.

The stop off at the office was quick. Chris had left the drawings he’d been working on last week and wanted to check them out again. It was the project from his friend Bryan. The new drawings had been finalized, and they’d already broken ground even though the homeowners were still nailing down the details on the interior. He hoped their indecision wouldn’t push back construction any more than it already had.

When they arrived at the supermarket, he followed along as she went down each aisle placing things in her cart. He enjoyed watching her here just as much as he did in the office. The view from behind wasn’t all that bad, either.

It was after twelve by the time they returned home, and he insisted on carrying her bags into the house, which was ironic considering their first meeting was in a very similar and yet completely different situation.

She was in front of him as they walked back out to his truck for another load. They’d been talking about her love of all things chocolate when she stopped.

He stepped around in front of her, and when she looked up at him, he saw the fear in her eyes. “What is it?” he asked. She nodded toward her car.

It took him a moment to see it, but there, tucked underneath the windshield wipers was a white envelope.

“Go in the house.”

“What?” she said startled.

“The house.” He didn’t wait for her to respond. Instead, he positioned himself behind her and guided her forward. Once in the foyer, he went directly to Jan’s door and gave two hard knocks.

Jan took one look at them and her face paled. “What happened?”

“Can we come in?”

“Of course,” Jan said, moving out of their way.

Chris quickly went to Elizabeth, taking her face in his hands. “I want you to stay here. I’ll be back.” He leaned in to press his forehead to hers. Before she could protest, he walked out the door.

Even though Chris was fairly sure there was no physical danger, he didn’t want to take any chances. He scanned the area quickly, making sure he didn’t see anyone lingering in the tree line, before checking to make sure nothing was connected to the envelope that would trigger something far more dangerous.

Seeing nothing, he took a deep breath and reached for his cell. After the last time, he’d put the detective’s number in his directory. 

“Detective Stephens.”

He swiftly informed the detective of what they’d found. After a few additional questions, and conformation that Chris did have gloves handy, he was instructed to carefully remove the envelope and check its contents.

As soon as he had it in his hand, he knew there were pictures inside. Trying not to damage the envelope any more than was necessary, he opened it to peer inside.

The first picture was a side view of Elizabeth and Trent from last night. They were standing in a crowd with him standing behind her with his arms wrapped around her waist.

Although the sight of his brother with his arms surrounding her sent a spark of jealousy through him, his fear overshadowed everything. Someone had followed her last night.

Quickly, he flipped through the rest of the pictures. There were ones of them walking into the restaurant, down the street, through the park. More still of them sitting on a park bench, Trent leaning into her as if he was moments away from touching her.

“You still with me, Mr. Daniels?”

“Yeah. I’m still here. It’s pictures taken last night when Elizabeth was out with my brother, Trent.”

“Do you have a large plastic bag you can put everything in? We may get lucky and snag a print.”

“I’m sure Jan has something,” he said absently, still staring at the picture of Elizabeth sitting on the bench next to his brother.

“Good. I’ll get there as soon as I can, but it will probably be a good hour or two. Any chance your brother is around?”

“I can call him.”

“You do that. I’m gonna want to talk to him too.”

After the detective hung up, he glanced back at the house before he dialed his brother.

“Hey! Didn’t expect to hear from you today.”

“Trent, did you notice anyone following you last night?” he said, cutting to the chase.

“What?”

“Someone was following you last night, taking pictures. I have them in my hands. Now I ask again, did you notice anyone following you last night?”

“No,” Trent said, his voice hard. “Why would someone be following me?”

His head fell into his hands as he leaned back against her car. “They weren’t following you. They were following Elizabeth. It’s a long story.”

“Then I suggest you start talking.”

A little over an hour later, Trent arrived. He was dressed in khaki shorts and a polo shirt with Daniels Landscaping embroidered over his heart.

As soon as he noticed her across the room, he walked over. “You okay?”