“Okay.”
Realization struck. Angling her head back, she peered up at him, squinting to make out his features in the dim light. “You know I love you, right?” The declaration came fast and breathy, but at least she got the words out. At last.
His lips twitched, but he didn’t smile. “Took you a damn long time to figure it out.”
Unperturbed by his cockiness, she burrowed back into his embrace. “You love me too.”
“I guess we’re even.”
Reassured, she hugged him harder, hoping to steal some of his body heat. “I’m also cold.”
“Me too,” he whispered, brushing a kiss over the top of her head.
“I wonder if we can be clueless and scared but warm in your bed.”
“Maybe.”
Heaving a reluctant sigh, she peeled herself away and stood, offering her hand to him. His fingers were cool but still warmer than hers. She heard the pop in his knees and Ty’s quiet groan of pain as he rose from the low-slung chair and made a mental note to kiss those creaky knees once she had him at her mercy.
“Let’s get inside.” Ty allowed her to pull him toward the sliding doors but stopped short. When she slid him a questioning glance, he only ducked his head and shuffled his ginormous feet.
“What?”
“I locked myself out,” he confessed in a low voice.
Not sure she’d heard him right, she cocked an ear in his direction. “What?”
“The door. I must have accidentally hit the thumb lock when I came out here. Mike has a spare set of keys. I was going to call him to come let me in, but…” He let the rest trail off, then stepped forward to cup a hand to the glass. “My phone’s inside.”
Shaking her head in disbelief, Millie moved to the door and peered through the treated glass into the darkened great room. The television flickered, casting its eerie, blue-white glow over the empty armchair. Sure enough, she picked out the rectangular shape of a cell phone perched on the arm.
“Why did you come out here?”
He shrugged. “Chambers was yammering on NSN. The house was empty. I’m having a kid with a woman I don’t love, and I couldn’t even call the woman I do love.” He pursed his lips as if deciding if he’d covered everything. “I guess I needed some air.”
She studied him. “Have you had enough?”
“Enough what?”
“Air? Sulking? Self-flagellation?”
“Can anyone ever get enough self-flagellation?”
His quick response made her grin. “Nope.”
“But I would like to go inside. With you,” he said, his expression earnest. “If you’ll let me borrow your phone, Mike isn’t too far from here.”
Millie snorted derisively. “We don’t need Mike.”
“We don’t?”
She gestured to her feet. “I have the perfect footwear geared to breaking and entering. Sturdy but stylish.” She pursed her lips and studied the house before heading toward the slope along the side. “You never close the bedroom window, but it’s too high for me to reach. I’m gonna need something, or someone, tall to climb, but I can get in.”
Ty chuckled as he followed her to the side of the house. Stopping under the partially open bedroom window, he stooped and made a cradle out of his hands. “Never thought I’d be helping someone break into my own house.”
“Yeah, well, I never thought I’d be so hard up as to seduce an innocent single dad, but here we are.” She placed her hands on his shoulders for balance and looked him straight in the eye. “Thank God the alarm is disarmed. I’m in no mood to play spin doctor tonight.”
“How about plain old doctor?” he asked as she took a practice bounce on the ball of her foot.
“Okay, but I hope you’re up for a super-invasive examination. Possibly stirrups.”
He snickered but held steady. “Who said you get to be the doctor?”
“Because I’ll be the one controlling the locks.” She pressed a quick smacking kiss to his lips, then flexed her knee. “Ready? Here we go.”
Millie pinwheeled her arms as she flew into the air like a circus acrobat. Grabbing hold of the windowsill, she yanked at the screen one handed. “This looks so much easier on TV.”
Ty pivoted to position himself under her. Seconds later, she felt him pressing up on the soles of her boots. She glanced down as the pressure on her straining arm muscles eased. He had her. And together, they could handle anything. Even custom windows with screens that fit like a glove.
The corner of the window screen popped free from its frame. Millie wrested the remainder from the tracks with a growl of triumph. Ty’s voice floated up to her.
“This is turning me on. Is that wrong?”
“Not at all. I’m the hottest cat burglar in town.” With another grunt, she leveraged the window up as far as it would go. “Doing okay?”
He peered straight up her legs. “Best view ever.”
Millie chuckled as she adjusted her hold on the sill. “And I’m not even wearing a skirt.”
“In my mind, you are.”
“Get ready to push, big guy. I can see the bed, and I want in.”
“Tell me you love me, Millie.”
She scoffed. “Now is not the—”
“Tell me.”
“God, you play dirty,” she hissed down at him.
“I play for keeps. Now, tell me you love me, Millie, then crawl your fine ass through my bedroom window. I have sixteen fantasies playing out,” he said through gritted teeth. “They all start the same.”
Millie couldn’t help but smile. His stubborn streak was almost as wide as hers. They were going to have a damn good time together. “I love you, Ty.”
“And you’re in.”
He thrust her up and through his window with a growl that seemed to come straight from his soul. Her palms hit hardwood. She tucked her head and rolled, coming up into a neat little crouch worthy of a Hollywood stunt double. “Damn, I’m good at this,” she whispered to herself.
As if he could read her mind, Ty shouted up from the grass below. “Stop plotting your life of crime and let me in.”
Millie casually strolled through the main
