Benning cleared his throat. Hiking her duffel into his good hand, he nodded down the hall. “You’re welcome to take my room. It’s not much, but you won’t have to sleep on a twin-size bed that may or may not have cookie crumbs in the sheets.” Benning shifted his weight between both feet as a smile pulled at the edges of his mouth. “Owen doesn’t think I know he gets up in the middle of the night to steal cookies out of the pantry. He’s not very quiet, for one, and he usually has a chocolate mustache in the morning.”
“Has problems with authority, huh? Good luck with that.” Her gaze met his, and the smile relaxed as his own words settled between them. Something was missing, and it had been since the night he’d been knocked unconscious on this very floor. Hints of her sultry scent filled the space between them as she faced him, her hand grazing his arm. Bruising darkened the thin skin along the column of her throat as she stared up at him, and he rested his uninjured hand against the markings. Her pulse raced under his touch, and he couldn’t help but revel in the knowledge he’d done that to her. He’d affected her, just as she affected him. “Benning, you don’t have to do this until you’re ready. We can get a couple rooms in town or find another safe house—”
He lowered his mouth to hers.
Hell, she was so damn perfect, so damn strong. She stood there as though everything that’d occurred hadn’t fazed her when his entire world had been ripped apart. She was everything he needed right now—his anchor, his confidante, his motivation to keep going—and he’d almost lost her. Again. Only this time had been different. This time he’d truly believed he’d never see her again, and that knowledge, combined with Olivia’s pleas to turn the SUV around, nearly had him putting his daughter’s life at risk to go back for her. Her hand latched on to his arm as though she’d needed him as much as he’d been craving her, and he brought her fully against his body. Desire burned through him as she rose on her toes best as she could to get that much closer. His uninjured hand gripped her waist as he maneuvered her backward toward the hallway. “End of the hall.”
Her exhales mingled with his as she nodded confirmation.
The Tactical Crime Division was still running background checks on Britland Construction employees, trying to find a weakness that would lead them to a suspect in this case. Confirming his nanny had been the victim recovered from the fireplace and the discovery of the charm that might have significance to the Samantha Perry case, solidified his hunger for the woman in his arms. With all the chaos and fear spreading around them, this was what they needed. A chance to block it all out, to escape. To remember. There was nothing left for them to do tonight. Nothing that could keep them apart, and for the first time in seven years, he’d have exactly what he—
“What are you doing?” a familiar voice asked.
Benning jumped as he realized his daughter had been standing less than a foot away, his heart jerking in his chest. He fought to control his breathing as he stepped back from Ana. Running a hand through his hair, he tried to put a lid on the heat exploding from behind his sternum, but it was no use. He’d never been able to control himself when it came to Ana Sofia Ramirez. “What have I told you about sneaking up on people?”
Bright blue eyes that matched his own shifted from him to Ana and back. “How am I supposed to be a private investigator if I don’t sneak?”
Ana’s laugh raised his awareness of her all the more. She tried to hide the tint of red climbing from her neck into her cheeks with one hand, and he couldn’t help but feel a bit of that embarrassment. “She has a good point.”
“I thought you were supposed to be in bed.” Crouching, he wrapped Olivia in a one-armed hug and tried not to think about the fact he’d nearly undressed the federal agent assigned to protect them without knowing his daughter had been in the room.
“I want to have a sleepover in your room,” Olivia said.
“Baby, Ana is going to sleep in my room tonight, and I’m going to be in Owen’s room.” At least, that was the plan now. Benning raised his gaze to Ana as she gave them some space as though she didn’t want any part of the conversation. He hadn’t exactly been dedicated to the idea of filling the hole Owen and Olivia’s mother had left behind when she’d died, but Ana was as much part of this family as his wife had ever been now. Maybe even more so considering what’d happened over the past three days.
“No, that’s okay.” Ana reached for her duffel bag, pain filling her expression as she hauled it to her side. “You guys can take the big bed, and I can sleep in Olivia’s room. I’ll be fine.”
“We should all sleep over in Daddy’s bed!” An exaggerated gasp filled the living room. Excitement lit Olivia’s features as she bounced in his arms. A brightness he hadn’t seen in days filled her eyes, and he couldn’t help but enjoy the effect. Three days. Her twin brother, the person she’d never lived a single day of her life without, had been missing for three days. Benning would take all the smiles and jumping he could get out of her.
Then he realized what she was asking. “Honey,
