“What?” he asked sharply.
“Blackout. Everything just went dark. Really dark.”
“Are you okay?” he asked.
“Um, yeah, but it looks like you might be stuck here for a while.”
He was quiet, and she bit her lip. He certainly couldn’t think she’d orchestrated this.
She stepped down from the register where the phone was, and started to make her way across the store, but couldn’t find anything to focus on, and gasped in pain as she knocked into the corner of a display.
“Where are you? Are you okay?”
“Yeah, just having a lot harder time than you making my way around in the dark,” she said grumpily. It seemed the tables had turned.
“You stay put, but keep talking. I’ll find my way to you,” he said, and she thought she heard a slight smile in his tone.
“This isn’t funny.”
“I know.”
“I don’t know what to talk about,” she groused.
“Then sing something,” he offered, sounding closer.
“I don’t sing outside the shower,” she said, and then, a second later, felt his hand on her arm.
“There you are,” he said.
His strong fingers closing around her forearm reminded her of that morning, and memories swamped her.
She had been so frightened by his call, and then so relieved to find him with only a minor injury, that it had been easy to set desire aside. Well, mostly.
Not so now. Here, in the familiar setting of her store, where they had spent so much time together, it was harder to ignore her attraction to him, stupid as it might be. He obviously didn’t feel the same way about her.
His breath warm and close to her cheek in the dark. She had a feeling it wouldn’t take much to turn her face to his and lean in for a kiss.
“I guess we could go upstairs and wait it out. This can’t last for too long. I could get us something to drink,” she suggested.
“Thanks. I—” he started, and then stopped. Then started again. “I know this is awkward.”
“It is. Here, I can use my cell phone to light the way,” she said.
“Don’t use your phone as a light. It’ll kill the battery. I can get us there.”
“Okay.”
He grabbed her hand this time, his grip firm and warm, and she stayed close as he navigated perfectly to the stairs.
“You didn’t change any of the displays,” he commented as they climbed.
“I don’t, typically. I want people to find things easily when they come back for a second or third visit,”
she said. “I have an area for new items, and they know where to find those, too.”
“Makes sense.”
She did use her phone as a light for a quick minute to insert her key into the lock and let them in, finding her apartment as well in total darkness. It felt comfortable talking about the store, something neutral.
“We’re both pretty soaked from the rain,” she said.
It had been coming down so hard even the short walks to and from the cab had been drenching. “My brother left some things here after his last visit. They should fit you well enough, if you’d like to change.”
In spite of being soaking wet, the heat and humidity made the apartment muggy, and she felt a fine sheen of perspiration on her brow. Or maybe it was repressed arousal.
“I’d appreciate that,” he said simply.
“Wait here. I’ll get the clothes and some towels.” She carefully walked into the guest bedroom and found the Levi’s and a silky black T-shirt in a drawer where Tim had left them behind.
Her brother, a criminal defense lawyer in Chicago, wasn’t quite as broad in the shoulders as Jonas, but they were about the same height and weight, she figured.
She shivered in anticipation, in spite of herself. The storm didn’t seem to be letting up. Jonas might be here for the night.
Maybe … No.
There was no way she could sleep with him. He’d just think she was using him again, to get back at her father or for some blue-collar thrill, whatever. He’d memorized her home, her store, but didn’t he get to know her better in those weeks when he’d been guarding her?
Apparently not.
Could she have been imagining the chemistry between them?
She thought back to their encounter in his apartment, earlier in the day. It felt ages ago. He wanted her—he just didn’t want to want her.
Though in all honestly, she was partly to blame for what had happened to him. She wasn’t guilty of the things he accused her of, but she did bear some responsibilty. She’d set her sights on him, flirting, tempting, and did whatever she could to break his control.
That had backfired big-time. She also hadn’t believed in the threat that he was guarding her from, and he had ended up paying the price for that.
So maybe he had good reason to be angry with her. And maybe this was her chance to make amends.
“Well, I have the clothes, but as to skivvies, I don’t have anything like that on hand, unless you would like to try on something of mine,” she teased lightly as she entered the living room.
He did chuckle then, a gravelly, masculine sound that warmed her blood.
“Not necessary,” he said, and that turned her tease into a groan as she thought about Jonas and nothing between her and him but the thin denim.
Her mouth went dry as she put the clothes in his hands, and then the towels.
She licked her lips, impossibly turned on by him being here, so close and about to take his clothes off.
“You can use the bathroom,” she said quickly, turning back to her bedroom to change her own clothes, and promptly slamming her shin into the table leg.
“Are you okay?”
“Yeah. Though I feel stupid for not being able to find my way around my own apartment in the dark,” she admitted.
“It gets easier with practice. Maybe you should use your phone for light before you really hurt yourself.”
She frowned, but did light her way back to her room as he disappeared into the bathroom with no trouble whatsoever.
Stripping
