“Keep me posted when you can,” Mac said. “I changed my flight to next week. Obviously with the weather I’m not getting back to Miami anytime soon. And Ryker is stuck in London. He had a slight run-in with the cops.”
Braden rubbed his forehead and cracked his neck. “Define a slight run-in.”
“No charges were filed and the art is now in our possession. The rest of the details can wait.”
“There will be no backlash on us?”
“It’s taken care of,” Mac promised.
At least one thing was going their way for now, but Braden wasn’t giving up on his hunt for the scrolls. And he wasn’t giving up on this need that only Zara could fill. He’d thought for sure she would be out of his system, but she was in deeper than ever.
“I’ll text you if I find out anything,” he told Mac. “Hopefully I’ll be home by tomorrow.”
“Don’t come back without the scrolls.”
Braden disconnected the call just as he heard Zara behind him. Jerking to his feet, he replayed the conversation he’d just had with Mac and was positive he hadn’t said anything to give himself away.
She descended the stairs and barely threw him a glance. “I’m just grabbing a notebook from the office. Do you want me to take any food back up?”
She continued by him without even stopping. So she wanted to put this awkward wedge between them? He could work with that. He could handle anything she wanted to throw his way.
“I’m fine. I’m going to head up and check on my clothes.”
He didn’t wait for her to turn around or reply. Shuffling back upstairs, Braden was eager to get out of this makeshift skirt because he was going to have to revoke his man card if he didn’t get back into pants soon.
Once he was dressed, they needed to talk. Zara was closing back in on herself, and there was no way he was going to let that happen. He may not be the man in her life, but he wasn’t about to let her think that her feelings, her emotions meant nothing. Whatever pricks had taken her to bed in the past had let her think less of herself. Most likely they’d been selfish, too, and Braden refused to be lumped with those guys.
Regardless of what happened after he left this house, he wanted Zara to know her self-worth.
Braden placed the comforter back on the bed, smoothing out the edges, and pulled on his boxer briefs. They were damp but better than nothing. His pants were still wet, so he turned them and placed them even closer to the fire.
He’d called one of his contacts at the sheriff’s department before calling his brother. Apparently the road crews were working around the clock, but with the layer of ice beneath the snow, there wasn’t much chance of getting out within the next two days because the temperatures were still hovering below zero.
Perfect opportunity for him to keep up his search and prove to Zara that they were good together in bed. He wasn’t asking for her hand in marriage; he just wanted to enjoy her company while he was here, and who knew, maybe after he left.
He chuckled at the fact he was strutting around her room in his underwear. She may not find the matter funny at all, but it was. Braden was snooping like Ryker and seducing like Mac...a position he never thought he’d find himself in as head of the family.
As he took a seat on the bed and sent off a quick text to Ryker, the cat rubbed against Braden’s ankle. Reaching down, Braden lifted the fur ball on to the bed and started stroking his back.
The kitten let out a soft purr and flopped over on to his back. Braden continued to show affection, and his mind started drifting. He had no clue what he expected from Zara. Somewhere along the way he’d gone from wanting to use her, to wanting the hell out of her, to wondering more about her and wanting to uncover those complex layers she kept so guarded.
But he couldn’t let himself get too involved. He wasn’t ready to start looking for “the one.” What he felt for Zara had nothing to do with forever and everything to do with right now. When she’d actually let go, let him close, he’d seen a woman with pent-up passion. All of that desire she kept locked away was a shame. She deserved to be...
What? Used? Because that’s where he was right at this point. He was using her and justifying it by saying they had a physical connection. But damn it, he’d never denied himself anything before and he wasn’t about to start now. He still wanted Zara, but she deserved more than a man who wanted her in bed and to technically steal from her.
The bedroom door swung open, and Zara came in juggling an oversize box. Braden leaped off the bed and crossed the room, taking the box from her hold.
“Let me have it,” he said when she hesitated to let go. “You carried this up the steps when I could’ve done it.” Once he set the box down at the end of the bed, he turned back to Zara. “You should’ve asked for help.”
Her eyes took in his body, and he couldn’t help the instant male reaction. “Zara—”
Those heavy-lidded eyes snapped up to his. “You have got to put clothes on.”
“If I thought you really wanted me to, if you weren’t just looking at me like you wanted me again, I would throw on those damp things and put you at ease.”
She stared for a moment before a bubble of laughter escaped her. “At ease? That’s the last thing you’re trying to do here.”
When she tried to step around him, Braden moved to block her. His hands gripped her shoulders, and he tipped his head down to look her in the eye.
“You’re even more withdrawn than you were before we slept together. Care to tell me what’s going through your mind?”
Those bright eyes darted to his, then to the bed where the kitten lay stretched out. “I’m just trying to keep this from getting too awkward. Okay? We need to go back to boss/employee.”
Braden released her, took a step back and nodded. “That doesn’t mean I wouldn’t have helped you with the box.”
For now he let the subject drop, but he wasn’t leaving anytime soon, and no doubt they’d revisit their status again. Whether he had clothes on or not, she was strung so damn tight no matter how he looked. And now that he’d had her in every way, he wanted her again. So much for getting her out of his system.
“What’s in the box? I thought you were going down for a notebook.”
She maneuvered around him and pulled on the folded flaps until they sprang open with a puff of dust. Coughing and waving her hand in front of her face, Zara turned to face him. “I’ve been putting off going through some of my grandmother’s things. They’ve been boxed up for a while. Long before her death, she wanted to downsize, so she started packing things away and putting them in a storage unit. I only had them brought back so I didn’t have to keep paying the unit fee. This house is more than big enough to hold all her things. I have no clue what all she’s put away and I’ve been too busy to look through them. I figure now would be a good time since I’m stuck here. Maybe after I go through her stuff, I will start unpacking my own.”
Braden heard every word, but he focused on the fact her grandmother had boxes packed away, and now they were back in the house. These boxes wouldn’t have been in here during the search Ryker did. Did he dare hope he could uncover the scrolls that were somewhere so simple as packed away in a box?
Braden leaned forward, glancing into the box. “I can get the other boxes and bring them up here for you.”
Zara knelt down on her knees and started sorting through the newspaper-wrapped goods. “They’re actually down in the basement. And let me just say, if you think the first floor is cold, that basement is frigid.”
Braden laughed, more out of his own anxiety and nerves over the potential in the basement, but Zara relaxed at his actions. “Tell you what, I’ll go down and bring up more. You start going through this box.”
She crossed her arms and rubbed them, most likely trying to get rid of the chill from being downstairs. “I hate to have you do that. I can get them later.”
No way in hell was he backing down on this, not when everything his family had wanted could be right within his reach. “Which boxes am I looking for? Are they all needing to come up?”
“Now who’s stubborn?” she asked, lifting her brows and smiling. “Fine, you can get them. They’re on the far wall. I believe there’s about five more. All the others are mine, but they’re under the steps.”
Braden nodded and barely resisted the urge to rush out the door. Then he remembered he was wearing only his underwear.
Zara glanced up at him; her gaze roaming over his body only heated him even more, making him want to put those boxes on hold and give into that look of desire staring back at him.
“You’re going to freeze your important parts off if you don’t put something on.”
His inflated ego took control as Braden propped his hands on his hips and grinned down at her. “Worried about my parts?”
“You’ll be needing them again.”
He continued to stare until her face flushed.
“With someone else, I mean. Not with me,” she quickly added. “I just meant... Wipe that smug look off your face and put your damn pants on.”
Laughing, Braden went over to check, and sure enough his pants were nearly dry except for the damp waistband. He could handle that. After dressing, he glanced at the items she was pulling out of the current box. So far just a few old pieces of pottery. Not the scrolls.