Page 30 of Beautiful Killer

CHAPTER TEN

Sunny

I jolted at the sound of someone banging on my front door. Putting my empty cereal bowl in the sink, I glanced down the hall to the door. Maybe it was Julia?

More knocking.

Shoving down the stupid nerves in my belly, I hustled down the hall and peeked through the peep hole. The wide chest I got an eye full of was a familiar one.

“It’s Zeke,” I heard muffled through the door.

And there was no mistaking his voice.

Crap.

Attempting a small smile, I unlocked the door and opened it.

Zeke stood there, stare intense. Despite my best efforts not to, I ate up the sight of him.

Stop it, Sunny.

His jeans were worn and sat low on his hips and his T-shirt was navy blue, firm across his chest, but looser across his abs. Abs I knew from personal experience you could do washing on, they were that defined. My belly did a whoosh then a flip at the sight of him. I forced myself to look away and at the man standing behind him. He was tall, with dark scruff on his jaw and piercing blue eyes. His shirt had “McBride Security” on it. I’d seen the business name before but I couldn’t pinpoint where. “Hey,” I said to both of them, though neither had bothered with a greeting.

“This is Cage,” Zeke said. “He’s gonna check out your security.”

“Right,” I said.

Then they both walked in, forcing me back several steps.

Van said he wanted to send someone over, but I hadn’t thought he meant the next day. I also hadn’t expected Zeke to show up at my door. And truthfully, I wasn’t prepared for it. I sure as heck hadn’t recovered enough from the impact of it. Coming face to face with him again after nothing for two months had been startling. I’d known nothing about him while we were sleeping together. Now I knew he was a private investigator. I didn’t know exactly what a P.I. did, but going by the scars on his body, their job was a lot more dangerous than I thought. I’d been sleeping on the couch ever since the break-in, but I’d been kept awake even later than usual last night. My mind wouldn’t shut the hell up. So many questions about the quiet, intense man who’d given me the best sexual experiences in my life. A shiver moved through me and I quickly shut the door on those thoughts.

Not helpful, Sunny.

I stood in the entry way, not sure what to do as I watched Zeke show Cage around like he lived here, pointing out what he considered “weak spots” and going over what they’d do to improve what I already had. I tried, but I couldn’t stop looking at him. He was lean and tall, cut like a perfect sculptured piece of art. His arms were muscled and bulging, and every time he pointed at something, my eyes were drawn to the veins and tendons running up his forearms. I forced my gaze back to his face and had to swallow the lump that formed when I took in his mouth surrounded by that sexy beard, remembering how his lips felt against mine, moving over my skin.

Look away, Sunny.

“Would either of you like a coffee?” I asked. If Zeke could act like nothing had happened between us, so could I, or I could fake it, anyway. But I needed caffeine first. Stat. Then I needed to finish getting ready for work.

They both turned to me, and it took a lot not to take a step back at the way those direct stares seemed burn into me. The pair of them in my house made it feel tiny. Zeke lifted his chin and Cage grinned. “Yeah, that’d be good.”

“Sugar, cream?”

They both shook their heads no. Somehow that didn’t surprise me.

I turned to go to the kitchen, and with my nerves on the jittery side, I managed to trip over my own feet. Someone grabbed me around the waist, stopping me from landing face-first on the hardwood floor.

“Easy now, Sunshine,” Zeke muttered against my ear.

I stood frozen in his arms. We seemed suspended in time, but then he released me and stepped back.

I mumbled my thanks, not wanting either of them to see my burning cheeks, and rushed off to make their coffees. When I walked back into the living room with their drinks a little while later, they were discussing sensors for my windows and doors. I felt Zeke’s eyes on me as I handed the coffees over, and I was pretty sure they were still on me when I headed back to the kitchen.

I grabbed my own drink and carried it upstairs to my room and into my bathroom. I needed to finish putting on my makeup and I hadn’t decided what jewelry I wanted to wear, out of the pieces I had left, with the fitted white top and jeans I was wearing. I put my coffee on the bathroom counter, came back out, slipped on blue stiletto ankle boots, then went back to the bathroom. I was putting on mascara and purposely trying not to think about the fact Zeke was in my house, during the day, checking out my security system, because he was a freaking private investigator, when I felt someone watching me.

I turned to the door and watched Zeke walk in, then keep on coming, crowding me, in what I thought was a decent sized bathroom, until he was in it with me.

He took the mascara wand out of my hand and put it down.