Forbidden Fantasies Bundle(204)
He stood at the door and tapped it quietly.
“What?” came the muffled voice from inside.
“It’s me. Can I come in?”
“Why, you want to take pictures?”
He closed his eyes and leaned his forehead against the door. He thought about last night. How it had felt to be with her, to care about her. “No, I want to apologize.”
“Great, thanks. That makes everything okay.”
“Right, you’re right. I was an idiot, and you get to be mad as hell.”
“What?”
“I said—”
“Oh, just come in, for God’s sake.”
He tried the door, but it was locked. “I can’t.”
“You mean to tell me between the three of you, you can’t jimmy a bathroom lock?”
“Hold on.”
He went back to the kitchen and asked Seth to lend him a hand. Boone knew how to get in using C4, but since that seemed a little much, he got Seth to use his handy kit. It took less then a minute, and Boone knocked once more before he opened the door.
Although his intentions were completely on the up-and-up, the moment he saw her naked in the tub, his body reacted. Even before the humidity got to him, he was sweating, and as he walked over to take a seat on the closed toilet, he felt the pressure in his jeans.
For her part, she just sat there watching him, her neck cradled in the pillow, the fragrant water holding up her breasts. Water droplets shimmered on her moist flesh, but she didn’t take notice. She was too busy staring daggers at him.
“I was a jerk,” he said.
“Go on.”
“I should have thought, and I didn’t. I was so focused on the job that I didn’t take your feelings into account. I’m sorry.”
Christie closed her eyes and let her head fall back. “Where are the cameras?”
“In the bedroom, the living room and the kitchen. I also have one on the front door and by the window in the guest room.”
“So basically, everywhere.”
“Yeah.”
“Did you actually see him come into my bedroom?”
“I did.”
“And?”
“There was no way to identify him. I got a general shape, size, but nothing concrete.”
She looked at him again, and he squirmed under the glare. “Did it ever occur to you that I might be able to figure out who he is? That his shape and size would ring a bell?”
“No, it didn’t.”
“Okay, so we know that you shouldn’t quit your day job to become a detective. Do you still have the tape?”
“Yeah. We’ll take a look at it as soon as you’re ready.”
She didn’t respond. She also didn’t stop staring at him.
“I don’t expect your forgiveness,” he said. “You say the word, and I’m out of here. Seth and Kate will take over. They’re damn good and they know the situation. You won’t have to worry.”
“You want to bail?”
“No.”
“Then don’t. But I swear to God, if you lie to me again, I’ll use my new skills with my gun to shoot you where it hurts the most. Is that clear?”
“Crystal.”
“Okay then. We’ll look at the tape together. Then we’ll get on with it.”
“Fair enough.”
“Do we have a plan?”
“We do. Seth and Kate are going to come back tonight, but they’re going to put on a show for the geek.”
“A show?”
Boone nodded. “They’re going to tell us to get ready. To pack up for an indefinite period of time. We want the geek to believe we’re going underground.” He kept his eyes on her face, because every time they dipped below her neck, he forgot what he was saying.
“And this will do what?”
“Force the geek to come inside the house.”
She sat up in the tub, revealing a lot more. “That’s it? That’s the whole plan?”
He focused. Again. “No. You’re going to tell him that you don’t care where you live because you and your boyfriend are going to be married. And then you’re going to show him your engagement ring.”
She looked at him for a long time. Finally, she sighed. “So where’s this ring?”
He watched a single drop of water quiver on the tip of her nipple. “Ring?”
“I’m going to wave an engagement ring around?”
“Yeah.”
“Boone, maybe I should get out of the tub and get dressed.”
“No, don’t.”
“Pardon?”
He jerked his eyes up. “Sorry, what?”
She laughed. “Good to know that no matter what the uniform, boys will still be boys.”
Boone stood, giving himself a mental whack on the head. He turned toward the door. It was just safer that way. “Okay, the ring. Yeah, we’ve got one. Kate brought it. Oh, and she wants to talk to you about a couple of men from your past.”