Page 32 of Love Bomb

With no other option, she sneaked back into the hotel, locking the front door firmly behind her and resetting the alarm. Maybe that would deter him.

Unfortunately, once she got to her room, she realized she’d bolted the door too late. The horse was already inside. In other words, Bain was waiting for her. And yes, she was aware she’d screwed up the idiom, but it was early in the morning and her brain was cold.

“I see you stuck with the ski mask look,” he drawled.

“Too cold to take it off. Let’s go down to the bar and talk.”

“Nope. We’re talking in there.” He cocked a thumb at her door. “You can unlock it, or I will.”

“I don’t want to wake Tom,” she said.

“Tom is a cat. Open the door.”

She sucked in a breath. “You know?”

“Yeah, and what kind of name is Tom for a cat?”

“Before I got him he was literally a tomcat. The woman at the pound said he calmed right down after he was neutered.” She smiled brightly at him. “Have you ever considered that as an option?”

He stared at her for a moment before shaking his head.

“Never mind,” he said. “Open the door. You’re turning blue and I’m exhausted because I just spent most of the night watching an idiot break into my lab. Can we please go inside?”

“Whatever.”

She fumbled in her pocket before bringing out the old-fashioned key and unlocking the door. Dougal didn’t do keycards. He believed that rooms shouldn’t be opened with plastic. Pity, because she was pretty sure Bain didn’t know how to pick a keycard lock.

Before she could raise another protest about Bain coming inside, he strode past her. Tom Cat was curled up in the middle of the bed. He raised his head, meowed, and went straight back to sleep.

“I can see Tom is greatly disturbed,” Bain said, heading for the bathroom.

She heard the shower come on. He’d come over to bathe?

He came back out and pointed at the bathroom. “Shower and warm up. I’ll get us some hot chocolate.”

“I’m fine,” she said stubbornly. “I’ll shower later.”

“Not later, now,” he said firmly. “I saw how much time you spent in the snow—some of it flat on your face. By the sound of it, you sat in it too. It’s freezing out there. Warm up before you get sick. I’ll be back soon.” He held his hand out. “Gimme your key. I’ll lock up while I’m gone.”

“There’s hot chocolate here.” She pointed to the room kettle, not that she wanted him to stay while she showered.

“Not that cheap packet stuff. Dougal has the good stuff behind the bar. Don’t worry, I won’t wake anyone.”

There was nothing else to do but hand over her key. The whole scene felt far too familiar to her. Bain looking after her and bossing her around, her giving in while secretly reveling in the fact someone cared enough to get grumpy over her wellbeing.

It was far too easy to fall into old habits with the man, and to forget that she was all grown up now and didn’t need anyone looking out for her. She hadn’t needed it for a very long time. Not since she’d left Invertary and learned the hard way that she was perfectly fine on her own.

Tom meowed with disgust. Obviously, he thought she’d given in too easily. But then he wasn’t the one who couldn’t feel his backside.

“I wouldn’t start off with the water too hot,” he told her. “You’ll feel like your skin is on fire. Let it warm up gently.”

“I know,” she said pointedly.

This wasn’t the first time she’d got caught in the snow. Although, it was her first time doing it in the middle of the night.

Bain shook his head and left the room, locking it behind him.

By the time Rona got out of the shower, dressed in her warmest purple tartan pajamas and wrapped in a thick terry robe, Bain had returned. And he’d made himself at home.