In an effort to free herself from the last vestiges of the nightmare, she threw her arms around his neck in a near stranglehold, and he returned the favor around her waist. ‘It was a dream,’ she managed between efforts to breathe. ‘A dream.’
‘I got that,’ he said, smoothing her hair and reaching with one hand to turn on the bedside lamp and bathe the dusky room in welcome light. ‘Must have been one hell of a nightmare. You nearly raised the roof, and I thought you were going to flatten me before I could get you to wake up.’
‘I’m sorry! I’m sorry.’ She pulled away slightly and looked into his eyes. ‘Did I hurt your?’
He offered a wry chuckle. ‘Not this time. Though I’m not sure you’re rendered any safer when you’re unconscious. Is there any time when you are safe?’
She managed a weak laugh that sounded more like a kitten mewling. ‘I’m never safe, Garrett. Don’t you know that yet?’
He dropped a warm kiss onto her ear. ‘I have nerves of steel, Kendra. You can’t scare me, so you might as well stop trying. You want to tell me about it?’ His voice was velvety soft against her ear.
‘What I want is to get out of here. Don’t get me wrong, your house is nice. I love your house, but being cooped up like this with the press out front is driving me nuts.’ She pulled away enough that she could look him in the eyes. ‘Do you dance? I mean, I know you do ballroom, Dee told me, but can you – you know, dance?’
He raised an eyebrow. ‘You’ve talked to Dee about my dancing abilities?’
‘It came up in one of the conversations we had, yes. One in which she was being a good future sister-in-law, trying to convince me you weren’t the total asshat I thought you were.’
‘Bonus points for Dee,’ he said, offering her a pout she could have happily eaten off his face. ‘And yes, I can dance any kind of dance you want to dance. What did you have in mind?’
She smoothed the lock of unruly hair back away from his face. ‘A night out incognito that I think we could both pull off without ever being missed or found out.’
‘I’m listening.’
‘You’ll need to wear a tracksuit – preferably a ratty dark one with a hood.’ She ran a hand down the lapel of his shirt. ‘Or is everything you have designer?’
He stood and pulled her to her feet. ‘I can look as ratty as you need me to look, Kendra. Trust me.’
‘We’ll see about that,’ she said. She looked at the clock on the nightstand. ‘Timing’s perfect. We’ll go in early, and we won’t stay too late. But we should have plenty of time to burn off a little energy, you know, let our hair down, relax a bit, blow off a little steam before the crowd descends. And we’ll be back home before anyone even misses us. You go get changed and give me about a half an hour.’
‘Where are we going?’ he asked.
She was already shuffling through her bag for what she needed. ‘Ever been to the Boiling Point?’ she called over her shoulder.
‘No.’
The chuckle she offered him was practically evil. ‘Then you’re in for a real treat.’ She shooed him out with a wave of her hand. ‘Now go get ratty, Garrett. I would guess that’s something a chick magnet like you isn’t used to, so it may take you a while. Better get to it.’
Chapter Seventeen
Garrett felt like a naughty teenager as they sneaked out the back door, through the gate of the privacy fence, and down the alley. He wore a shapeless tracksuit with the black hoodie pulled up over his head and a scruffy pair of Converse sneakers that weren’t exactly designed for dancing. And Kendra, well, she hardly looked ratty, in his opinion. She wore low rider jeans, and where they weren’t hugging her body like a second skin, they were full of threadbare, flesh-revealing holes. The black sweat top she wore was cut short enough to show a tantalizing flash of her navel and hip bones when she moved just right. It slid off one shoulder to reveal the thin, lacy strap of a red bra. She wore all of her russet locks tucked up under a leather beret. Her fashion statement was topped off with black ankle boots. She looked very, very dangerous. And hot. Of course, she didn’t need to dress the part for either, he thought. He was already certain on both counts.
‘You live a little closer to The Boiling Point than Dee does.’ She took his hand and nodded to where the alley
T-ed with the street, and then gave way to the park on the other side. ‘She never goes there, of course. Well, she did once, but that was just for Harris, then he hated it.’ She giggled. ‘God, I wish I could have been there for that.’