That husky laugh burst from her, and she gave him a friendly shove. “Fine. But only because you’re being cute.”
He didn’t feel cute. He felt bereft and a little betrayed that she wasn’t keeping his cock warm anymore. But that was what he’d requested, wasn’t it?
“As you can see,” she said as if normal conversation wasn’t difficult after that kiss, “everything around here is fine. You can get back to work.”
He frowned and looked around in confusion for a moment, not quite recalling what he’d meant to do. “I know how you are about your privacy, but if Veronica is going to be here for a few hours, would you let me take a closer look? Windows, doors, that sort of thing? There was a threat against the family. In fact—” he rubbed a hand over his face “—maybe it’d be better if you disinvited her.”
“No way,” Isabelle said immediately. “That girl needs a night out. Look at whatever you need to.” Her eyes narrowed just a little. “I don’t have anything to hide, Marshal.”
Damned if she didn’t lie almost as well as she kissed.
CHAPTER SEVEN
HE STILL SEEMED slightly out of sorts. She liked that look on him. The big, tall lawman confused by a simple little kiss.
Okay, so it hadn’t been little. Or simple. She’d been turned on before he’d even pressed his mouth to hers. And judging by the lovely size of his cock, he’d been pretty excited, too.
She’d found him attractive before, but now she knew how firm that stomach was and how his hard chest curved up so nicely into his shoulders. She looked him up and down, and her mouth watered.
“Stop it,” he muttered, taking another step back.
God, he really was adorable. “You don’t have to stand here and let me ogle you. Go on. Look around.”
He glanced past her toward the studio doors. “I’d rather you come with me.”
“You’re not seriously scared of my paintings, are you?”
“No, I’m scared of the photographs.”
It took her a moment to recognize the dry humor in his voice. “I’ll protect you. Try to think of them as part of a case file.”
“I want you to come with me because I know your privacy is important to you.”
She drew back a little in surprise that he even cared. “Okay,” she agreed and followed him back to the living room, where he spent a lot of time checking her window locks.
“Living here alone, you might want to invest in some pin locks. They slide into the frame of the window.”
“I’m too isolated to worry much about that. Anyone who wants in can just break the glass. Even Jill wouldn’t hear that.”
He grunted, not looking pleased. “You’ve got a dead bolt on the door, at least.”
“It was here when I moved in.”
“Any weapons?” he asked.
She hesitated long enough for him to stop his inspection of the door and look at her. “Yes. I’ve got a 9 millimeter.”
“Legal?” he asked, clearly wondering if that was why she’d hesitated.
“Yes.” But the Luger wasn’t. Tom didn’t need to know anything about that. Her father had given it to her. She didn’t even have ammunition for it. Still, she assumed it was illegal in more ways than one.
“Well,” he finally said, “don’t shoot any of my people if you see them poking around on girls’ night.”
“Deal.”
His eyes swept over the living room one more time before he moved on to the garage and laundry room and finally the kitchen.
“You don’t have any family?” he asked as he did a quick check of the window above her kitchen sink. She hesitated again. She could feel herself doing it and couldn’t stop it.