Now they were sitting in the floor in front of the fire having a gourmet lunch while the kitten roamed around the room. Occasionally he would come back, rub against Zara as if to make sure she was still there, then he’d roam a little more.
“Is he going to pee on my things?” she asked, popping a grape into her mouth.
Braden shrugged. “Maybe, but I found a box in your kitchen and brought it up. Put a towel or something over there and he’ll be very happy. Cats love boxes.”
“Really?”
Nodding, he tore off another hunk of cheese. “Trust me on this. Granted, he’s still a kitten, so he’ll stick close to us, or you as the case may be, but once he gets comfortable here, that box will be his new home.”
Zara stared as the kitten snuck beneath her bed. “I’d rather he find a new home.”
“Aww, now don’t be like that with your new best friend.”
By the time they’d devoured the assortment, Zara leaned back and stretched her arms high above her head, pulling her sweatshirt up just enough to draw his gaze down to her creamy skin and the slight roll over the band of her pants.
“I wish the electricity would come back on,” she stated, dropping her arms, oblivious to the knots in his gut. “I have so much work to do. My laptop may only have a couple hours left of charge.”
“What are you working on?”
“I have an event scheduled for a client in four weeks. I need to adjust some things on the spreadsheets and set up another schedule for an event I’m working on for a bridal party.” Zara started picking up the garbage and bundling it all in the empty bread sack. “Plenty of work to do with no Wi-Fi, but I’m going to get backed up if I can’t get some emails done in the next few days.”
Braden listened to her talk of the event scheduled a week before his next party. Zara was efficient, and the passion for her work came through in her tone. She definitely was career driven, but was that all there was to her life? He’d not heard her mention friends and he knew there was no boyfriend. He’d never met a woman who remained so closed off on a personal level.
“Why don’t you work?” he suggested. “I’m going to head to my car, charge my phone and turn it on to make some calls.”
He needed to check in with Ryker to see if he’d located the missing art piece in London. Then he needed to see if Mac was stuck at the main house, most likely since Mac’s flight back to Miami would’ve been canceled with this weather. Braden would have to call his sister, too, because...well, he worried about her even though she hated her older brothers fussing over her.
Hopping to her feet, Zara nodded. “Yeah. I need to do something. I’m not one to sit still and do nothing. After I draft my emails I’m grabbing a shower.”
“With cold water?” he asked.
She smiled down at him. “I have a gas hot water heater.”
His eyes raked over her body, and the very last thing he needed was an image of her naked, soapy and wet body with only a thin door separating them.
Rising to stand before her, he took the trash from her hands and headed for the bedroom door. “I’ll be in my car for a while. I’ll throw this away on my way out.”
He left the room before he would give into temptation and join her in the shower. He needed to let Mac know that, so far, nothing had turned up. This house was damn big, but the secret hidey-holes were literally bare, save for the yellow chair and romance novel.
After throwing away the trash and bundling up, Braden tried to get through the mounds of snow to his car. There was no way to get there without soaking his feet once again because the snow was up to his knees; but he needed to check in, and once the engine warmed up, he could put the heater on full blast.
Most likely his battery would’ve been fine to talk inside the warm house, but he couldn’t risk Zara overhearing his conversations.
Powering up his phone as he slid behind the wheel and tried to ignore his freezing wet feet, Braden watched as seven texts popped up on his screen. Mac had sent two, and the other five were from a frantic Laney asking if he was all right.
He decided to call her first because an angry woman, especially an angry Irish woman who happened to be his sister, was not someone he wanted on his bad side.
“You better be in a ditch with little cell service,” she answered.
Braden laughed. “Not quite in a ditch, but I’m stuck at a friend’s house and the electricity is out.”
“What friend?” she asked, skepticism dripping from her voice.
“You don’t know her.”
“Her? So you’re shacking up and can’t return my texts? I had you lying in a ditch bleeding and with the roads closed, and no one saw you and you’d died all alone.”
Braden pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. “I assure you, I’m fine, and I’m not shacking up. To be honest, I’d feel better if I was.”
Laney laughed. “Whoever she is, I want to meet her. Someone has you in knots. I like her already.”
He wasn’t in knots. Really, he was completely knot free and in total control. Just because he’d had to physically remove himself from the house since Zara was going to shower didn’t mean he couldn’t keep his wits about him.
“I’m at Zara’s, okay?” He tried to keep his tone level so she didn’t read any more into what he was saying. “I was worried about the roads, so I offered her a ride home. On the way, I got pulled over by a deputy and was informed there’s a level two snow emergency on the roads and I was to stay put. So here I am.”
“Aww, poor baby. Stuck in a house with a beautiful woman. Don’t think I didn’t see you two dancing at the party. And great job getting into the house, by the way. If I didn’t know better, I’d think you had some weather god on your payroll, as well.”
“Yeah, I’ve turned up nothing. But I’m not done yet. I’m hoping to loosen Zara up enough to get her talking. She may not even realize she knows something useful.”
“You sound crankier than usual,” Laney mocked. “No scrolls, no sex. I hope you’re not acting like a bear toward your hostess.”
Cranking the heat up, Braden dropped his head back against the seat. “Now that you know I’m alive and sexually frustrated, can we be done with this call?”
Laney laughed even harder. “Only because I love you am I letting you off the hook. Don’t think I won’t be discussing this with Mac.”
“I’ve no doubt you’ll do so as soon as we hang up,” he muttered. “Are you okay? You’re home?”
“I’m fine. Carter stayed over last night, which was a good thing because I couldn’t get my generator started.”
Well, at least Carter was good for one thing, but Braden still considered Laney’s boyfriend a prick.
Braden bit his tongue, because if Carter kept treating his sister as if she should be thanking him for a relationship, Braden was going to step in. He’d seen too many times how Carter would act as if he was doing Laney a favor by being with her. He’d even hinted once that she’d be lonely without him. No way in hell would Delaney O’Shea be lonely. She was gorgeous, she was successful and she was a member of the most powerful family in Boston. They were never alone.
He said his goodbyes before he said something that would drive a wedge between them. He’d much rather deal with Carter on his own terms. But, at least the guy had been there during the storm, and his sister was safe. Braden would keep that in mind when he actually confronted him...and that day was coming sooner rather than later.
Braden turned the heat down, now that he was thawed out and his feet weren’t so chilled. He quickly dialed Mac, only to get his voice mail.
“Hey, man. I’m stuck at Zara’s house, little cell service. I’ll call back when I can, but nothing has been found yet.”
He disconnected the call and stared back at the house. He wondered just how long he’d have to sit out here to avoid seeing her glowing, damp body from the shower all under the pretense of letting his phone charge. He had plenty of charge to go back in, but he figured he’d let it fill up.
He needed to keep a little distance from her because he was having a hard enough time controlling this ache. He didn’t like the unfamiliar need that seemed to grow stronger with each passing moment.
No need in going back in just yet, because he knew without a doubt that once he saw Zara partially nude again, there would be nothing holding him back.
Eight
Feeling refreshed after her shower, Zara found another pair of sweats and fuzzy socks. More armor to fight off the sexy man with seduction on the brain.
Okay, fine. Sex was on her mind, too, but she couldn’t let herself settle too far into that part of her brain because, honestly, the sex she’d had with guys in the past had just been...meh. And she wasn’t about to risk her job on some mediocre moment. Besides, if they had sex now, what if he was stuck here for two more days? Seriously. Talk about a new level of awkward. Added to that, would he expect a replay? Was he a one-and-done man?
Zara groaned as she took out her frustrations by towel-drying her hair. Why was she overanalyzing this? She wasn’t shedding her fleece, no matter what tricky moves he put on her.