Page 29 of Only Her (K2 Team)
“I have to be at the clinic by eight, so I’ll see you at six thirty. I drink my coffee with cream and sugar.”
“Damn, woman,” he muttered, watching her walk away, his gaze drawn to the long ponytail bouncing against her back. It was like an arrow directing his eyes down to her sweet ass, which he admired until it disappeared from view. After a slight adjustment to his jeans, he headed inside to take an inventory of his refrigerator.
When he reached the porch, he spied the scotch bottle. He’d fully intended to tie one on big time, but then Riley had appeared. Although he’d had a good buzz on, he hadn’t yet reached fall-on-his-face-drunk, and for that he was thankful. If she’d seen him in that condition, he never would have been able to face her again.
Now, he had a mission. Figure out what he was going to make her for breakfast while keeping an eye on her. There was no doubt in his mind that someone meant her harm, and he’d be damned if he would let that happen. As for discussing when they’d have sex, his mouth had gotten ahead of his good sense on that one. For her sake, he’d fully intended to leave her alone.
She was a determined little thing, though, and that appealed to him. Maybe she was strong enough not to fall in love or something stupid like that, only taking what she wanted and not expecting more than what they mutually agreed on. If they could come to an agreement, that was. He sure as hell hoped so because he’d never wanted a woman like he wanted Dr.Riley Austin.
What if you’re the one who goes and falls in love?He crushed that irritating voice in his head. “So not gonna happen.”
He picked up the bottle and his guitar, and ushered his dogs inside. After surveying his food supplies and doing a quick search on the Internet for a recipe that seemed to be easy, he turned out the lights and headed to the bathroom to take a cold shower. Hopefully, that would work in cooling the heat Riley had stirred in his blood.
An hour later, he stared at the ceiling fan, its spinning blades visible in the moonlight shining through the window. There were so many things crowding his mind that he thought there was a good chance he’d levitate right off the bed. In an effort to organize his brain into some semblance of order, he decided to deal with one thing at a time.
First, there was his job and what he was going to have to do to keep it. Staying with K2 was high on his priority list, so no matter how distasteful, he had no choice but to let the head doc in. Since he was damned tired of the nightmares, hopefully they would go away once he remembered whatever it was his mind wanted to forget. Seeing someone who could help him might not be such a bad thing.
He was using the drinking as a crutch to forget what he couldn’t remember, and although that shouldn’t make sense, it did. He didn’t think he had a drinking problem per se, as he didn’t crave the scotch. Actually, he could take it or leave it. It was the numbing of his brain cells that he sought. That had to stop. Tonight was his last binge, end of story. With that decision, he felt a little lighter. Not much but some, and that right there was something.
Layla. She was next on his list of things weighing him down. At some point, he was going to have to accept that she was lost to him. Since he wasn’t there yet, he needed to make a plan to expand his search for her. Not wanting to bother anyone else about a stray dog among many in that hellhole, he’d only asked Wizard to keep an eye out for her. It was time to make a last ditch effort and contact everyone he knew still in-country to ask for help in the search. Another decision that seemed to lighten the load he’d been carrying.
Last but certainly not least, there was Riley. He honestly didn’t know what to do about her. That there was enough chemistry between them to light his bed on fire was a given. He wanted her. She wanted him. Shouldn’t be a problem. But there was that miniscule part of him that demanded he leave her alone because he was fucked up, and he’d only contaminate her with his poison.
Cody let out a long sigh as he kicked off the covers. Just thinking about her got him hot and bothered. He wasn’t going to leave her alone. The only way that was going to happen was if he was tossed in a cell and the key was thrown away. Even then, he’d find a way out if she were the prize for doing so.
If that was the way it was going to be, then they had to set ground rules, ones that would protect her from getting hurt. He mentally made a list of what those should be. After covering every possibility, including that there would be no falling in love, he turned his mind to finding whoever was trying to hurt her.
Although she didn’t know it, she was now under his protection. She didn’t seem to want to believe that she was the target of some nutcase. The question was why had she been targeted? It seemed likely that it was the same person poisoning pets. For one, both things had started at the same time, and Cody didn’t believe in coincidences.
He had the make and model of the car, along with the first two letters of the plate, which was a start. He’d give them to Maria, see if she could narrow the search. He’d heard that she was downright scary on a computer, able to find things no one else could. That might mean a few questions from his friends at K2 on just what Riley Austin was to him, and he didn’t know the answer.
He jerked awake the moment the nightmare started. It was the first time he’d been able to do that. When had he fallen asleep? Glancing at the clock and seeing that it was five, he got up. The last thing he wanted was to nod off again and have the dream take up where it had left off. He dressed, ran eight miles with the dogs, came home, showered, used the trimmer on his shaver to neaten his stubble, and then got out his recipe for the breakfast he planned to make for Riley.
Riley groaned when the alarm clock buzzed, and she slammed her hand down on snooze. When it went off the second time, she blinked her eyes open. Pelli stared back at her from his perch on her chest.
“Hey, you.” He let out a plaintive I’m-so-hungry meow. “Poor starving baby.”
On Saturdays, she opened her clinic from eight to three for those who worked during the week. Picking up Pelli, she slung her feet over the edge of the bed. Arthur rubbed his body along her legs, and Merlin sat in the doorway with his back to them all. Riley glanced at the clock again, furrowing her brows. Why had it gone off an hour earlier than normal?
Then it hit her. She was having breakfast with Cody, and she jumped up, causing Pelli to dig his claws into her T-shirt to keep from falling to the floor.
“Ouch, Pelli, that hurts.” She dislodged him from her shirt and set him down. With a speed she wasn’t normally capable of in the mornings, she fed them, and then jumped in the shower. After drying off, she debated what to do with her hair. For work, she always wore it up in a ponytail, but she decided to leave it down for her breakfast with Cody.
Next problem, what to wear to a breakfast date where a discussion of when she and her freaking hot neighbor would have sex was on the menu? That he’d offered to make her breakfast had pretty much blown her mind since he didn’t seem like a man who would be comfortable in the kitchen. If he put a bowl of cereal in front of her, though, she planned to praise it like Chef Bobby Flay—her secret crush—had served it to her.
“Concentrate, Riley. Clothes.” Normally, she wore an old pair of jeans and a T-shirt to work in, with a lab coat over them. This morning, she wanted something special. She decided on black skinny jeans, black knee-length boots, and a red V-neck sweater. Underneath, she wore her new matching black bra and panties. Not that sex was also on the menu for this date, or whatever the hell it was, but she wanted to feel sexy. The lace trim around their edges felt foreign on her skin, yet stimulating. It was about time she was stimulated by something, and that something was a quick walk across the street.
At six thirty-one, she pushed Cody’s doorbell, her heart beating like she was racing in a marathon. Never had she been this excited and this nervous about being with a man. Her date with Mike—had it only been last night?—had been nice, and that had been the problem. She didn’t want nice. That was Cody’s fault. Before him, she was sure she would have enjoyed Mike’s company. Now, there was only one man she wanted.
The door opened, and Pretty Girl and Sally came tumbling out. They took a few moments to greet her before tearing off into the yard. Lifting her gaze to Cody, she sucked in a breath at the way he stared at her, as if he could gobble her up. The stubble on his face gave him the dangerous appearance that she loved on him. He wore a pair of jeans that looked old and soft, a dark blue short-sleeve knit shirt, and a pair of leather flip-flops.
“Hey,” she said, pleased that her voice didn’t come out sounding all breathy.
“I like your hair down.”
“Ah, thanks.”
“I like it in a ponytail, too.” He stepped back, waving her in.
