“I’m not saying anything—”
“Bullshit. You don’t think I know how to read you?” He got closer to my face, his brown eyes peering into my soul and knowing things without me having to say anything.
“I don’t like how he looks at me,” I admitted quietly.
“How did he look at you?” His voice was a dangerous purr.
“He was staring at me like he couldn’t figure me out. Not sexual,” I hastened to explain. “Just—I don’t know. There was something in his eyes, Colt. Something I couldn’t decipher.”
Chapter 23
I wokeup early the next morning. My mouth tasted like peat and I briefly thought about Barrett’s choice of drink. It lingered on the tongue. I was giving my teeth a vigorous brushing when Colt pushed open the bathroom door. He came in to stand behind me, dropping a morning kiss on my bare shoulder.
We didn’t say anything as we brushed our teeth in companionable silence. Colt was just rinsing his mouth when his cell phone rang. He grabbed a hand towel and wiped his face as he strode from the bathroom.
I heard him answer the call and speak to someone on the other end. When he hung up, he came back, leaned against the bathroom doorjamb, and watched me.
“Yes?” I taunted. “Like something you see?”
“Whole lotta something,” he admitted with a sensual grin.
I was wearing a white lace camisole and a pair of clean underwear Colt had thoughtfully packed in a small bag, as if he’d known all along we’d be staying overnight. It was odd to be with a man who planned, had it all figured out, even a spare change of clothes.
I’d gone to bed with last night’s makeup on my face and I tended to the destruction now. I threw my hair into a messy bun and turned on the faucet.
“Who was on the phone?”
“Boxer. Everyone is already at the clubhouse for the lockdown.”
“Good. I guess.”
Colt raised an eyebrow. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Freedom restricted, everyone on top of one another, barely any privacy. It will get old fast. Joni and I were already going nuts, staying at the clubhouse.” I sighed and reached for a bottle of high-end facial cleanser. “I miss our home.”
“Our home, huh?”
“Our home,” I repeated.
“I need you to be patient, just a bit longer, okay?”
“I know,” I muttered. I splashed warm water onto my face and then grabbed a clean hand towel and patted my skin dry. “It’s just—well, I feel like I’m just along for the ride, you know? I don’tdoanything. I just sit and wait and let you protect me. I need to do something, Colt.”
He ran his hands through his disheveled hair, making the muscles of his chest dance. The ink of my name across his pectoral rippled and my heart felt heavy with emotion.
“I’m talking to Sanchez today. That will dictate everything that happens from here on out.”
“Sanchez might not come through, you know.”
He smiled. “He will.”
“How can you be so sure?”
“You’ve met Barrett.”
“Uh, yeah.”
“If Sanchez isn’t convinced, I’ll get Barrett to intervene. She’ll step up to bat for us.”