He turned halfway. She was not talking him out of this. “Yeah?”
“You have the keys if you change your mind.”
“Get some sleep.”
“I’d recommend the same for you, but I don’t think it’s happening.”
He waved. “I’ll manage.”
He watched the lights go off in the house, then shoved the seat back and pulled the blanket around his shoulders.
He’d manage a lot better out here on his own instead of in that house with that woman in the next room. The next bed.
Compared to that, watching the house from a cramped car for a killer was gonna be a breeze.
YELLOW STREAKED ACROSS the sky like a runny egg yolk, and Kieran’s stomach growled as he drank in the sight of the breaking dawn. His vigil over, he stretched his legs as far as the car would allow and cranked his head from side to side. He needed food. He didn’t need sleep.
He’d grown accustomed to wakeful nights, watchful nights looking for a means to escape. Looking for an opportunity to take revenge.
He avoided sleep. Sleep meant weakness, a loss of control.
The porch light died and a glow appeared at the front window. Devon rose early…unless she’d gotten a phone call from the hospital.
His gut twisted in unaccustomed anxiety-the curse of being a parent.
He couldn’t believe he was a father. He needed help, therapy, before he could ever take on the role. He’d have to suck it up and give it a go with Elena Estrada. Michael deserved that. He deserved a whole father, not a fractured mess of a man.
The front door swung open, and Devon charged down the steps, her pink terry cloth robe flying out behind her along with her tousled blond hair-like some kind of good witch from the West Coast.
He barely had time to unlock the car before she’d grabbed the handle and yanked open the door.
“Are you done out here?” She crossed her arms, yanking the robe closed at the same time. “I would’ve been just as safe with you indoors, in a bed, with your gun by your side.”
“But you were safer with me out here, watching the house and occasionally checking the perimeter.”
Her mouth dropped open and her blue eyes widened in that adorable way she had of feigning outrage.
“Do you mean to tell me you didn’t even sleep? You’ve been awake all night?”
He shrugged off the blanket and lifted his father’s.45 from the console. “Now what would’ve been the point if I were sleeping?”
Sputtering, she yanked the blanket from his lap. “Get inside right now and have some breakfast and about a gallon of coffee…unless you want to take a nap.”
“I don’t need a nap.” He swung one leg out of the car and planted his foot on her driveway next to pink polished toes. “But I will have that breakfast and gallon of coffee.”
Devon whipped up a mean breakfast of bacon and eggs. While she poured him a second cup of coffee, he asked, “Did you call the hospital yet this morning to check up on Michael?”
Her hand jerked and coffee splashed onto the saucer. “I did call. Everything’s fine, his lungs look good and we can pick him up at ten o’clock after we talk to Chief Evans. I’m sorry I didn’t mention it before. I’m not used to sharing Michael info with anyone.”
Kieran stared into the dark brown liquid swirling in his cup. Was she telling him to back off? Did the thought of a co-parent for Michael make her skittish?
“I don’t plan to be any kind of replacement for you in Michael’s life, Devon. Is that why you decided not to tell my parents and Colin about him?”
She turned away and her hair swept across her face, hiding it from his scrutiny. “I told you. I thought the news of Michael would cause them even more grief. I wasn’t sure your mom could handle any more.”
“I get it. I’m glad Michael’s okay.” He blew on the coffee and then slurped the warm, rich brew onto his tongue. “I’ll wait while you get ready to go, and then you can take me back to my parents’ place so I can get a quick shower and change of clothes.”
“Do you plan to sleep in the car in front of the house until the police catch the maniac who’s stalking me?”
“I plan to install motion-sensor spotlights around the house. It might upset some of your mom’s neighbors, but something like that will spook a prowler.”
“I’m still not sure he knows where I’m staying.”
“Maybe not, but he’ll find out.”
She dropped the dishes in the sink and turned, gripping the counter behind her. “Then we’d better find him first.”
While the shower ran, Kieran washed the breakfast dishes in the sink. The lights and maybe even a camera would help keep Devon and Michael safe, but they couldn’t replace hands-on protection, especially the kind he could offer. He’d have to sleep in the house with them, or at least stay here at night. He couldn’t sleep with them nearby. He couldn’t subject them to his version of a night in dreamland.
Of course, if he made love to Devon all night long, neither one of them would have to sleep. The sound of the shower taunted him. He could picture the warm spray hitting Devon’s naked body. The rivulets of water coursing over her smooth curves.
Drops of water splashed onto the floor, and he cursed. He’d let the soapy water fill the sink and it had crested over the lip.
So much for not needing sleep.
DEVON SETTLED ON the Roarkes’ comfy couch by the window so she could keep one eye on Columbella House across the street. She’d always loved that house, but now? Even its interesting history couldn’t wipe that gunshot from her mind.
She gasped. The diary. What had Kieran done with the diary when the shooting started?
He poked his head around the corner of the hallway, clutching a new set of clothes to his chest. “I’m going to hit the shower.”
She opened her mouth to ask about the diary, but he’d already disappeared.
Of course, whatever they found had to be turned over to Mia, but they could sneak a peek first. Mia wouldn’t mind. She’d divorced herself from Columbella House and all things St. Regis when she’d taken off in a huff after her twin, Marissa, had run off with Mia’s fiance.
At least
The shower blasted to life in the other room, and Devon closed her eyes. She thought she’d had Kieran last night. He’d be sleeping in the same house in the room next to hers with Michael safely at the hospital. What better scene for seduction?
Then he’d headed for the car.
She appreciated his commitment to keeping her safe, but really? He couldn’t have done that inside? In her bed?
She shook her head. He’d become a complex man. Sometimes he looked at her as if he wanted to devour her, and other times he couldn’t push her away fast enough.
He wore his secretiveness as a shield. He didn’t have to protect her from what he’d gone through in Afghanistan. She wanted to know. To know his recent trials would be to know him…this new Kieran. She felt just as lost as he did, and she didn’t even have memory loss.
The shower stopped and she closed her eyes to picture Kieran’s body-lean, muscled and hard. What other scars did he bear from his captivity? He had plenty that weren’t visible-and those would be the hardest to heal.
Several minutes later, a fully-clothed Kieran rounded the corner, sluicing a hand through his wet hair. “I think I need a haircut. I’m pretty sure I didn’t have it this long as a Green Beret.”
