by Jody Holford
When he let himself back into Shay’s apartment, he felt a restlessness consume him. He didn’t like it. He stared down at the water fountain in the courtyard while Shay slept. In the glass, he saw his faint reflection, like it was a silhouette of a real person. Maybe it was Shay or maybe it was time, but he had an overwhelming urge to be solid again.
The time undercover had been hard. He’d been cut off from everyone except drug dealers, pimps, and other criminals. He’d managed to get into the inner circle of Benny DeMarco, who had a fondness for beating on women and providing drugs to the underage crowd. Wyatt had to restrain himself every time he was in the man’s presence. There were times that he’d been physically ill after watching Benny slap a woman around or close a drug deal that Wyatt just knew would end up with the user dead. Bigger picture. That’s what his superior had said every time Wyatt called in. The bigger picture was getting charges laid on Benny that couldn’t—and wouldn’t—be dropped.
Maybe if Wyatt hadn’t gone stupid with lust over Benny’s sister, he would have saved more people. He would have done his goddamn job. He wouldn’t have failed.
When he turned away from the window, once again disgusted with himself, Shay was watching him. Everything else fell away. She pulled him in with her eyes, like an invisible hand guiding him closer. He sat down at the end of the couch.
“Are you okay?”
Wyatt huffed out a small laugh. “I’m fine. How are you?” He clasped his hands together and let them hang between his knees. Anything to avoid touching her. Touching her was magic. Just having his fingertips graze the gentle skin on the nape of her neck earlier had made all the darkness inside him vanish. He wasn’t sure he’d ever wanted anything quite as badly as he’d wanted to kiss her in that moment. Thank God for restraint. She would definitely test it.
She sighed, like she was still pulling herself out of a dream. “Mmm. I’m fine.”
“Are you still tired?”
Opening her eyes, she nodded. “It’s silly, really. I’ve done nothing but sleep for hours.”
Standing, Wyatt helped her into a sitting position. “You should lay low. Not do anything strenuous.”
One side of her mouth tipped up. “Yes, doc.”
“I need to borrow your computer. Is that okay?”
“Sure. I’m going to shower,” she said, standing up. She waved off his hand when he attempted to steady her.
“You shouldn’t shower alone.”
The air froze between them, which was strange since Wyatt was suddenly so hot he couldn’t breathe right.
Her smile started on one side and then took over her face. Her hair was sticking up at odd angles, and her clothes were rumpled from lying in them. Still, she was the sexiest thing he’d ever seen. “Are you offering?”
He nearly swallowed his tongue. That had to be what was lodged in his throat, blocking coherent words from escaping.
In a garbled tone, he began muttering. “I…uh… Work. I need your computer. You shower. Leave the door unlocked. I… You. Just be careful and call out if you need me.”
Her laughter was like fire. Mesmerizing as it danced over his skin, heating every inch of him.
“Another time, then.”
She walked away with measured steps and all Wyatt could think was, Hell yes. Fortunately, he managed to keep the words tucked inside, but that didn’t stop the thoughts from bouncing around in his head as he logged onto the department database and began to look around.
Chapter Ten
A week ago, she couldn’t have seen herself sitting in the passenger seat of Wyatt Daniels’s car as he drove them to Baby Emporium. She hadn’t actually told him the name of the store because it did not seem like a place he’d willingly drive to. Her stomach still spun like a ballerina when she thought about him telling her he wanted to be by her side all day. He’d taken off work, and she doubted it was something he did often. He could say it was because they were giving the friend thing a try, but that didn’t stop her brain from feeling like it was an overloaded circuit board of emotions.
When her phone chimed, she reached into her purse and pulled it out. Pressing her lips together, she made a split-second decision and tapped decline. Wyatt gave her a quick glance as he switched lanes.
“Avoiding phone calls?”
She leaned her head back against the seat. His car smelled like his cologne. She hoped the scent stayed on her clothes later. “Don’t feel like talking on the phone.”
“Annoying ex?” He glanced at her again.
Shay turned her head—which didn’t hurt nearly as much as it had yesterday— and grinned. “Is that your way of asking me about my exes?”
Wyatt turned down Pointer Street— Shay was trying to remember areas and places so she could navigate Boston on her own.
“That’s how this works, right? We tell each other all our juicy secrets.”
Shay’s mouth dropped open. “I don’t know what I’m more intrigued by—your strange view of friendship, or your juicy secrets.”
Wyatt glanced at her, giving a quick, heart-stopping grin. “You try painting my nails and I’m out.”
A giddiness swelled in Shay’s chest. If not for the heightened sense of awareness she felt in his presence, he actually would make a great friend. “How about your hair? Can I do that?”
His response was not very pleasant, but it made Shay laugh nonetheless. Which made her head hurt. She pressed her hand to it, which, of course, he noticed.
When Wyatt pulled into the parking lot of the store, he found a spot immediately. Shay started to gather her things, but he put a hand on hers.
“Look at me.”
When she did, she tried hard to press down the want that surged through her when he looked at her in just that way—like she was all that he could see.
“You sure you’re up for this?”
Shay narrowed her eyes. No want for him—just checking on her because he was protective by nature. “I’m fine.”
She got out of the car and started walking, but his long stride made it easy for him to catch up. He grabbed her arm when she didn’t slow down. Facing him, she kept her face neutral. The hint of a smile played on his lips, and she wanted, in equal measure, to quash it and bring it out.
“Are you mad because I was concerned about you?”
“No.” She sounded like a pouty child.
“You are.”
“I don’t need your overprotective hovering,” she told him. It was hard to focus when she could feel every one of his fingertips digging into her flesh. Not in a rough way…just in a way that made her imagine them elsewhere, without the restriction of clothing. No. No. No. Those aren’t friend thoughts.
“I don’t hover,” he said, finally letting go of her arm. They walked side by side.
It seemed unfair that she was rattled and he was at ease. “So, juicy secrets. Tell me one.”
His quick smile surprised her. “Uh-uh. You get to tell me first. But it doesn’t have to be this minute. There’s no rush—to talk. There is, however, a need to hurry up this shopping trip. I think the number of stuffed animals and onesies in that store are going to give me a concussion.”
He bumped her with his hip as they walked through the double sliding doors of the emporium.
She grabbed a cart when they got into the store.
Wyatt groaned. “Really? You need a cart?”
“Not really. Just habit, I guess. I’m only looking for party favors and decorations. I promise it’ll be painless. Hey, how do you know what a onesie is?”
They walked down the center aisle of the massive store. He’d been right, there were stuffed animals everywhere. Hanging from the ceiling, in mesh tubs, and along shelves. Wyatt sidestepped a toddler racing around with a tiny broom.
“I have a nephew. This is actually where I bought him his Star Wars Lego set last year for Christmas.”
“Jonah?”
Wyatt looked at her and arched a perfect eyebrow. “How’d you know that?�
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“Because your sister said his teacher was hot.”
He scowled and followed her when she turned down the aisle for baby bottles. She was going to fill them with different colored candies and put them on the food table.
“Abigail should not be saying his teacher is hot.”
“Because she’s married?”
Wyatt stood by the cart while she looked for the most bottles at the best price. Abigail had emailed and said there would be about fifty people at the event.
“She’s divorced. Guy was a creep. Cheated on her more than once and threatened to sue me when I helped him move out of her house.”
Shay looked up from the price tags and stared. “Helped how?”
He shrugged. “I carried him out and told him his stuff would be on the lawn shortly. Abigail wasn’t too impressed, but what was I supposed to do? Let him stomp all over her heart? More than he already had?”
Laughter bubbled up in her chest. It wasn’t funny—it was actually quite sad that Abigail had endured that, but she could see that Wyatt didn’t feel like he was in the wrong. His protective gene ran wide and deep. She didn’t want to think about that right now because the similarity to her own brothers was troublesome. It was interesting to see it from a different brother’s perspective. The truth was, if someone hurt her siblings, she’d be irate as well. Was she too hard on them for wanting the best for her? Unlike her brothers, though, Wyatt actually thought she was capable of taking care of herself.
“It’s strange he didn’t appreciate that,” she said, putting the bottles in the cart.
“I know. It’s not my fault he tripped over my foot and fell into the mud in his thousand-dollar suit. Who buys a thousand-dollar suit anyway?”
Now she did laugh. Maybe he was more like her brothers than she wanted to believe, but his heart had been in the right place. So maybe theirs are, too. “No one I know. Though one of my brothers paid four hundred once. He’s in real estate and said he had to look like he could buy any house he sold.”
Wyatt pushed the cart out of the aisle while Shay read the signs. “I’m sorry about your sister. Being cheated on is hard on the self-esteem, even when you know the other person was wrong.”
Two kids argued over who was a better superhero as Wyatt and Shay walked by. “You know this from personal experience?”
Her stomach cramped. She wanted to do this, but she didn’t know if she was ready to talk about it. Would Wyatt see her as clueless for not realizing what had been right in front of her? When she’d told her mother, her first words were, “Oh, honey. How could you not know?”
But she hadn’t had any idea her professor was married. It was a line she’d never willingly cross.
“Shay?” Wyatt stopped the cart on the side of the wide passageway.
“Yes. Though, technically, no.”
He tilted his head as he gazed down at her and put a hand on her arm. “Well…that makes perfect sense.”
Like ripping off a Band-Aid. “He was one of my professors. I don’t even have to tell you the story, because it’s so cliché everyone already knows it.”
She looked down at her feet. Wyatt tipped her chin up with his hand. “Tell me anyway.”
Looking around, she wished there were kids nearby—it was a toy store for goodness sake, but they’d stopped near the baby toiletry shelves, and apparently, no one needed anything there just now.
“I just did. He was an instructor in a course I took. I never finished it. He said he was divorced and predictably, I believed him.” Even now, the fact that she had sickened her. She started to walk, and Wyatt must have known she needed to because he did the same. When they reached the decorations, Shay put a hand on the cart to turn it in that direction. Of course, no little ears in that section either.
Shay sighed and then met Wyatt’s patient stare. His eyes held hers, and she realized there was no judgment in them. “The worst part is that after I found out, he said we could still see each other. That since I knew, there was no reason to stop. We’d just have to be careful.”
Wyatt’s tone was calm, but Shay didn’t miss the way his knuckles lost color as he gripped the bar of the cart. “How old were you?”
“Twenty-two. Old enough to know better.”
Because she didn’t feel like talking about it anymore, she started looking at some of the napkins and colorful paper plates. Wyatt’s hands came to her shoulders and squeezed. It was an innocent gesture, one meant to offer support. It did that, but it also sent sparks flying from the point of contact all the way through her body.
“Trusting someone doesn’t make you the guilty party.”
She shrugged, which dislodged his hands. “Bet you wouldn’t have been taken for a fool.”
“You’d be surprised,” he said in a low, intimate voice that whispered over her body like a gentle touch.
She shivered and turned to face him. They stood almost toe to toe and the memory of his lips touching hers made her mouth tingle. Like he knew what she was thinking, his eyes focused on her lips as she asked, “Oh yeah?”
Two people walked into the aisle, one of them a staff member. “Here we go. Just so you know, anything with a blue sticker is on sale,” the teenaged employee said.
Wyatt went back to the cart. Perfect. Now there was an audience.
Shay grabbed cutlery, paper plates, and napkins, wondering if she should have gone to a dollar store instead, but the prices at the emporium were pretty comparable.
“How much longer do we have to be here?”
Shay smiled. “I just need to find tiny plastic babies.”
The cart stopped. “I’m sorry. What?”
Her smile turned into a full-on grin. “Plastic babies. It’s for one of the games. You freeze them in ice and then when the ice melts, it’s like the water has broken. Whoever has their water break first wins.”
Wyatt’s face scrunched up, making Shay laugh. “That’s just weird. That’s what you do at those things? Submerge tiny toys in ice for kicks?”
She pulled at the cart, still laughing. “I found the idea on Pinterest. It looked fun.”
“On what?”
Looking over her shoulder, she saw he was serious. “You don’t know what Pinterest is? Do you live in the dark ages? It’s an online bulletin board. People have these wicked ideas and you just pin them, well, save them now, but you can create all these boards and then you have ideas for everything. Like, every single thing. Dinner parties, recipes, home improvement. It’s awesome.”
“I’ll take your word for it. I guess I prefer the medieval cork board.”
Shay poked his shoulder, enjoying her tasks all the more with him there. “You are older, so maybe that makes sense.”
Wyatt shook his head, his expression once again unreadable. “Low blow.”
They found the plastic babies, which Wyatt claimed were frightening. Shay thought they were cute. As Shay checked her list, Wyatt put a hand to Shay’s back. “Please say we’re almost done here?”
She nodded, and they headed for the checkout. As they waited in line, Wyatt glanced at his phone and texted. Shay tried not to be nosy, but she wondered who he was texting. None of your business. He looked up to find her watching him.
“Sorry. Work. Do you mind if I swing by the station? I need to pick something up.”
“Of course not.”
He smiled distractedly and even though the logical part of her understood, she couldn’t help but feel like the tone of day had just shifted.
Shay waited in the car for Wyatt while he ran into the station. She checked her own messages and emails. With the jobs she’d booked, she’d been able to upgrade her data plan. Without listening to her mom’s message, she dialed the number she knew by heart.
Her mom answered on the first ring. “It’s been forever, Shay,” Mom said.
Or barely two weeks. “It hasn’t, Mom. I’ve been busy. I’m sorry.”
“I miss you. How are things in Boston? Is the apartment nice,
or did it end up being a dive? They can put any picture they want on the internet, but that doesn’t mean it’s what you’re going to get.”
“It’s beautiful, Mom.” Shay’s head was starting to hurt, and she hoped she wasn’t overdoing it. She really wanted to spend the rest of the day, and evening, with Wyatt. If it had to be as two neighbors getting to know each other, she’d take it. There was something about him—maybe his reluctance to see his own good—that made Shay want to know him better.
“Is it safe? Is there a doorman? Simon said he’s coming for a visit. It’ll make me feel better to know he’s checked it out.”
Of course. Because Shay couldn’t possibly judge for herself whether or not the building was safe. She bit her lip, realizing the irony. She was nursing a headache from being attacked. She almost mentioned Brady because she knew it would put her mother’s mind at ease. They’d love to know she’d met a sweet guy who also made sure locks got changed in a timely manner. For reasons she didn’t want to examine too closely right now, she didn’t say anything about him.
“He’s coming for his reading break. I’ll FaceTime you and show you around, but I’m not home right now.”
“Your father is getting an award next week for excellence in teaching.” As an esteemed professor, it wasn’t the first award her father had gotten.
“That’s wonderful.”
“There’s a dinner being held by the chancellor. He’d like you to attend.”
Guilt tugged, but Shay was determined to stay strong. There’d be more awards. She could take this time to get herself organized and solidly planted before she saw her parents. If she went home now, they’d find a way to make her stay. Between the hit on the head, the costs of moving, and a too-sexy-for-his-own-good neighbor, home seemed almost easier.
