anywhere near while the phone rang once, twice, and a breathless girl answered with a cheery hello.
“Hi,” Kylie said, licking her dry lips. “Is Megan there?”
“Who is this?”
“This is Kylie.”
Silence. Kylie waited it out.
“Kylie who?” the girl asked.
Kylie sucked in a breath. “Kylie Donovan.”
“I knew you weren’t a college student and you insisted you were. You lied to me.” Dani hung up on her.
“Crap,” Kylie said, hanging up on her end and dropping her head into her hands. Her towel fell forward, twisted around her hair, and weighed heavy as it hung to the floor.
Her cell phone rang and she struggled to untangle the towel, then tossed it on the bed as she grabbed her cell and stared at the name on her phone. She’d never deleted Dani’s cell phone number and it was calling her now. Apparently the teenager felt she had a right to chew Kylie out more.
“Hello,” Kylie said, and headed to the bathroom for her brush before her hair dried in a tangled mess.
“Why did you lie? And you left without even saying goodbye? Do you have any idea how badly you hurt my uncle?”
“Dani, I came back here for him. But he won’t come see me. Do you have any idea-”
“You came back here for him?” Dani interrupted.
Kylie swallowed, realizing she was dumping everything she had held in the last few days on the teenager, or at least was ready to until she’d been interrupted. “Yes,” she admitted.
“Then why are you calling here?”
“Dani, he knows I’m here. He knows what hotel I’m at and what room I’m in, and since the night I arrived he hasn’t sought me out. He talked to me the night I arrived and he was so cold to me. I thought I could talk to all of you. If it is true that he isn’t interested, I’ll leave.”
“You need to tell my uncle that. He’s stubborn but not stupid. I have to go. The bus is here. Bye-bye.” Dani hung up without waiting for Kylie to tell her goodbye.
It took a teenager telling her what she knew all along. Kylie dressed quickly, keeping it simple with a pair of jeans and a sleeveless blouse, and left her hotel before she lost her nerve.
It was already hot outside but she wasn’t ready to show off her scar yet by wearing shorts. Hiding in her room wouldn’t resolve anything. She had an appointment at four o’clock this afternoon. Time was running out on determining her future.
A calm came over her as she pulled into Perry’s driveway. One way or another, very soon she would be able to lay out plans for her future, maybe even the rest of her life. No more riding in limbo. No more hiding and trembling. Her resolve returned to her as if a dam had broken inside her, returning her confidence and determination. She’d gotten this far in life reaching out and taking what she wanted. There was something else she wanted, and now was the time to take it.
Kylie parked her car, turned off the engine, and got out. His Jeep wasn’t in the driveway. She looked at her watch: eight AM. He either had left for the day or wasn’t home yet. She hoped it was the latter. It would suck if she had to break and enter and wait for him for eight hours. Kylie smiled, imagining a concerned neighbor calling Dispatch to inform them that the good cop Lieutenant Perry’s home was being broken into.
Testing the doorknob on the back door where he’d entered with Kylie before, she wasn’t surprised that it was locked. The garage was locked, too, as was the front door. Kylie would have been surprised to learn otherwise, but checking helped her kill time. She walked around to her car again, glancing at her cell phone to see the time. Fifteen minutes had passed. If he worked the night shift, he would be here in less than half an hour.
Kylie kicked the thought out of her head. The connection they had was too strong. From the moment they’d met up until her leaving, the feelings between them were so intense they created charged currents in the air. It was more than a sexual attraction. At least she knew it was for her. More than once while she was in the hospital, the last thing she could have done was made love, yet she still craved being with him. Too many times she wanted to call him. And she’d chickened out.
Her chickenshit days were over.
Kylie leaned against the back of her Toyota, crossing one leg over the other, and watched large green leaves rustle in the trees, as a warm breeze seemed to bring everything around her to life. Why was she just now noticing how gorgeous this part of the country was?
Eight fifteen passed, then eight twenty. She studied her fingernails, the way her shoes looked on her feet. She stared up and down the quiet street. Maybe he did work the day shift, even though he’d worked the night shift a couple days ago. She would give him five more minutes.
She heard the engine before she saw his Jeep. Perry came around the corner slowly, their eyes locking immediately. Her stomach twisted into so many knots she couldn’t breathe. But nor could she take her eyes off his. Perry wasn’t wearing a hat any longer. He didn’t have on sunglasses. She locked gazes with his, drowning in that dark, commanding stare that never left hers.
He parked behind her car. She wouldn’t be able to leave until he moved it. Was that a good sign?
Kylie dragged in a deep breath, which got stuck around the lump in her throat. Perry turned off his car but then sat there, staring at her, his long fingers wrapped around his steering wheel. She’d come this far. She wouldn’t go any farther. Perry would get out of his Jeep and come to her. She wouldn’t walk to him.
Maybe he read her mind. When he stepped out of the car, his uniform clinging to him as if he’d sweated a lot during his shift, or for some reason had been wet, she couldn’t help dropping her gaze and appreciating the bulging muscle easily viewed through the taut material.
If anything, his dark hair seemed a bit longer, with slight curls covering his ears and looking sexy as hell. His green eyes were so intense they stole her breath, but his slow, quiet way he stalked her reminded Kylie of a predator moving in on his prey. It was almost too much. She felt her wounded leg quiver and worried if she stared much longer she’d drool down her jaw while her legs gave out and turned her into a puddle of pent-up desire at his feet.
Perry stopped within a few feet of her, crossing his arms over his chest and taking his time letting his gaze travel over her. Kylie’s skin prickled. There wasn’t disapproval on his face. If anything, his relaxed features looked less guarded than they did the night she drove into town.
“Did Dani call you?” She broke the silence.
“Nope.”
Kylie nodded. He wasn’t going to make this easy. But then she already knew not a damn thing about Perry Flynn was easy. “I need some answers, Perry.”
His green eyes darkened, causing her insides to tremble with nervous anticipation.
“I need a shower.” He jingled his keys in his hand. “And I haven’t eaten since yesterday. We can talk in a bit.”
Perry started to the door and she walked as far as her car door, not sure whether she was invited inside or not. But when he unlocked his door, he stood to the side, looking her way. Kylie did her best not to limp toward him.
“What happened to you?” he asked from behind her, closing the door and then following her into his kitchen.
Obviously her limp was more noticeable than she wished. “I got shot.”
“Where?”
She didn’t know if he meant where as in where had she been when she got shot or where on her body. She placed her hand gently over her outer thigh just below her right hip. “Right here while I was in Nicaragua.”
“How bad was it?”
“I was in the hospital for two weeks.” She wasn’t sure if telling him more would open up the conversation or simply make her appear the damaged goods she felt like she was half the time now.
When he didn’t say anything and she turned around, he lifted his gaze to her face. Kylie wasn’t sure whether he was looking where her injuries were or somewhere else.
“I’m going to take a shower. Make yourself at home.” He walked through his house, leaving her standing in
