Page 16 of When He Fights
“Gray is typically not big on trust,” Kane said as he left the motorcycle and stalked toward her.What would she do if he kissed her?
Her gaze shot chips of golden fire at him.
Right.She’d probably slap him.A kiss might just be worth a slap, though.
“He trusts you completely.Have I been living in your house all this time?Have I been paying rent toyou?”
He’d actually been keeping her rent in a savings account for her.“Told Gray that you didn’t need to pay a damn thing,” he groused.
“Screw that.I pay my own way.”She spun away and bounded up the porch steps.
He followed, after making sure that the perimeter appeared secure.When he crossed the threshold and entered the house…
Home.
His gaze swept over the rooms as he trailed her through the place.She’d painted the walls.Refinished the wood floors.Brought in all kinds of furniture pieces that were just—interesting.They didn’t match, but yet, somehow, they did.As if that made sense.Some antique pieces.Some modern.All felt warm.Welcoming.
All felt like…
Ana.
“I knew it was too good to be true.I mean, first off…the view is killer.”She gestured toward the floor-to-ceiling windows at the front of the house.A view that showcased the sandy shores that waited right across East Beach Boulevard.
The house was on a corner lot.Not on stilts.Not that house and not the others near it.They all sported giant yards dotted with massive oak trees that had twisted and bent, but never broken during the previous storms.The house was on a slab, elevated by the terrain, above the flood zone and far enough back that itshouldbe safe from rising waters.All the houses on this stretchshouldbe safe.Provided a too-powerful storm didn’t sweep into the area.
Should be.Should be safe.
Because wasn’t that the way life worked?Youshould besafe.As in…Ana should have been living her perfect dream.With her killer view.She should have never needed to know fear again.Except her bastard ex had managed a full-on Houdini routine.
He must have had help.Gray’s suspicion.Kane’s, too.They both wanted to track down that help.Especially with the leak at the FBI about her location.Hacking?Nah.Full-onleak.
“The view is killer,” she repeated, “and the rent should have been astronomical.But I got a great deal.”A snort.A kinda adorable one.Or maybe he just found way too much about her to be appealing and adorable.“I was desperate, so I didn’t question fate.I was suspicious, though, when Grayson said the owner didn’t care if I painted the place.If I refinished the floors.When he said I could do anything I wanted, I thought—well, that’s unusual.Not typical at all with a rental, but, hey, I went with it.”She huffed out a breath.Braced her legs apart and faced him.“It’s your house.You’ve known I was here all along.And you never once reached out to me.”
He stepped toward her.Caught himself before herushedat her.“You left your old life behind.”
“You didn’t even say goodbye.”An accusation.
She’d been whisked away in an ambulance.Taken to a hospital.
“You didn’t even look back,” Ana muttered.
Those words cut him to the bone.He’d looked back.He’d freaking traveled to Gulfport over and over and stayed in the shadows.Watched her as she jogged along the sidewalk in front of the beach.As she did yoga at sunset.As she went to the ice cream shop that served the colossal milkshakes that she loved.
Fucking stalker, that’s me.As if that truth wouldn’t send her screaming from him.Kane sucked in a deep breath, then let it out slowly.“I wasn’t part of your new life.”
“Yet here you are.”A nod.“Because…what?Surprise, surprise, my old life is trying to drag me under again.”
Yes.His gaze swept over her.Mostly because he was desperate to drink her in.Ana.Delicate but determined.Golden skin.Brown hair with faint, red highlights.Shorter hair.Barely brushing over her shoulders.Cut in layers that framed her face perfectly.Her eyes were still big and wide and soul-stealing.Unpainted but full lips.Soft.Tempting.Cute little nose.
Toned body.High breasts.Legs that he knew—from personal experience—would feel great wrapped around him.They were only wrapped around me once, but they felt great.
“Grayson told me that he was sending me a guard.I might have hung up on him before he got to explain exactly who that guard would be.”A negative shake of her head.“I have no idea why you drew the short straw and got assigned to me again.I’m sure there are dozens of agents or marshals or—or whatever—that he could send to me.We will just ask him for a replacement.”
Yes, there probably had been plenty of other individuals who could have been assigned to her protection.But, they wouldn’t have done the job the same way Kane would.
Because, for him, it was personal.And Gray—tricky bastard that he was—knew that important fact.“Other agents aren’t me.”The other agents wouldn’t protect her the way he would.“I’m familiar with you.I know your secrets.”
She rocked forward onto the balls of her feet.“You knew me two years ago.You don’t know me now.”
