Minutes that had evidently brought the lights of MacGyver’s vehicle breaking through the trees on his way to pick her up. Lights that the intruder must have seen far enough in advance to hightail it out of there before he’d been spotted. She knew that now, but she hadn’t known when she’d jerked the legs out from under MacGyver with the metal base of a floor lamp. In fact, she’d been so deep in warrior mode, she hadn’t realized who it was until he spoke her name.
Thank God itwasMacGyver, because he’d been seriously kicking her ass. Kellie grimaced at the admission as she moved toward the window.
The rain was diminishing as the storm moved farther away, but still there was no sign of MacGyver. How long had it been? It must have been close to twenty minutes ago MacGyver left. She felt for the cell phone she’d stuffed in her back pocket to assure herself it was still there.
A loud clang from somewhere below made her jump and spin around.
The kitchen doorway loomed like a black hole across the room. She’d stumbled on the entrance concealing a set of stairs leading to the lower level when she’d been searching for the flashlight. The dense darkness obscuring the stairs from the second step down convinced her to close the door without investigating. Apparently, now she had no choice.
She straightened and willed her wildly beating heart to a more moderate rate. One step forward and she paused as a new sound filtered through the floorboards.Someone running? Or jumping?She inhaled sharply.Shit! Someone running up the stairs!
Cell phone in hand, she flipped to the favorites screen as she ran for the balcony exit.Number two—that’s what MacGyver said.Kellie pushed the button for Travis at the same time she jerked the door open.
Something banged hard against the wall in the kitchen. “Honey, I’m home!”
MacGyver’s teasing voice reached her just as Travis answered. “Hey, MacGyver. What’s up?”
“Um…hang on a minute, Travis.” The hand that held the phone dropped to her side, and she stared at the drenched man who stepped from the kitchen, drying his head with a towel as though he’d just gotten out of the shower. His shirt clung to his shoulders and chest like a second skin.
Judging by his cocky grin, his mood had improved while he was gone. “No one around but…” MacGyver’s grin slowly faded as he lowered the towel and saw her standing there, her mouth no doubt agape. “Hey. Something wrong, Champ? Who’s on the phone?”
Reminded that Travis was still holding on, Kellie strode toward MacGyver and pressed the phone into his rock-hard abs. “It’s Travis. I called him because you scared the shit out of me, banging around down there. I don’t suppose it occurred to you that I’d be expecting you to come back the same way you left?” Oh yeah, she’d gone from warrior mode to bitch mode in ten seconds flat.
“Oh hell.” He closed his eyes and dropped his chin. “I’m sorry. You’re right. I was trying to find the quickest way out of the rain, and I didn’t think about your reaction.”
When his repentant blue eyes found hers again, one corner of his mouth tipped upward in a hopeful grin as though he sought to charm his way out of trouble. Damn, he was good at it too. Without warning, desire ripped through her, pooling in her belly. Raw emotions, so strong they scared the snarky reply right off her tongue, pulled her to step closer. A sudden need to splay her hands over the muscled contours of his chest, spurred on by the lust darkening his eyes, nearly did her in.
No!Kellie spun and returned to the window, struggling to repair her walls as she swallowed the last of her irrational rant. She was still mad as hell but not at him. She had only herself to blame for the situation she was in. Sleep deprivation and stress had her teetering on the edge. She could feel her insides shaking like Jell-O. MacGyver’s unexpected entrance had merely tipped her into the chasm.Give the man a break, for God’s sake. And don’t make this any worse by falling for him.
“Hey, Travis. Sorry, man…No, everything’s fine…Yeah, Kellie saw someone earlier, and it kind of spooked her, so I went on a little walk-about. I told her to call you if she saw anything unusual while I was gone…She heard something, but it turned out to be me, being an inconsiderate ass…ha, ha, very funny…No, I didn’t see anyone, but there were some recent tire tracks in the mud…Yeah, it won’t hurt to keep an eye out…We’re going to have some of your chili, and we’ll head back when the storm dies down. Is Charlie okay? Thanks. I’ll tell her.”
Silence descended as MacGyver’s one-sided conversation ended. God! She’d panicked, calling Travis for no reason. Humiliation heated her cheeks. No doubt the marshal and Pop were sharing a good laugh with him about now. Kellie rubbed her temples and then covered her eyes. Her world had slipped out of control. Hell, it was in free-fall.
“Travis said you can call him any time. He’d rather talk to you than me anyway.”
She almost smiled, until MacGyver snaked his arms around her waist from behind and pulled her into his chest. Again with the sneaking up on her. First chance she got, she was going to buy him squeaky shoes.
His wet clothes chilled her through her shirt, but, in seconds, the heat of his body raised the temperature. Her heart, pounding at time and a half, sapped the rest of her strength, and she leaned back. One arm tightened around her stomach, and his other hand moved upward to push the hair off her neck. When he brushed his lips over the pulse at the base of her throat, a shiver nearly collapsed her legs.
MacGyver chuckled. “Mmm…I like it when you do that.” He nuzzled her ear.
“Do what?”
“Respond to my touch as though you enjoy it—as though you can’t get enough.” His nose teased her earlobe, and then he sucked it into his mouth and bit down. When his tongue soothed the bite, she clamped her mouth closed on a moan.
She couldn’t argue with him. His strong hands touching her—his mouth on her skin, her lips—she wanted more. She wanted all of him, but acting on her desires would no doubt make a mess of her heart. “Is that what you think? That I enjoy being pawed and slobbered over?” Kellie molded her body to his, feeling every hard inch of him. “Think again, sailor.”
He raised his head, and she could almost feel his careful consideration. Finally, he laughed, his soft exhale stirring the hair at her neck. “Your heart is racing. Your breathing has kicked up a notch. That’s your luscious body calling you a liar, Kellie. And I can prove it.”
MacGyver lowered his hands to her hips and jerked her against him. His thick, rigid arousal pressed against her ass. She squirmed, smiling when she heard air hiss through his teeth.
Abruptly, he flipped her jeans’ button open, unzipped them and slipped his hand between her legs. A groan rumbled from his chest. “Yeah, just like I thought. Are you always this wet? Or is that for me, Kellie? Tell me again how you don’t enjoy it when I touch you.”
Well, hell. Busted. The man had an effect on her like no one else ever had, but it was merely a physical attraction. And maybe a little physical interaction was just what they needed.
She stepped backward, forcing him to move with her, giving her enough room to swivel in his arms. “Let’s just say, for the sake of argument, it is for you. What are you going to do about it?”
Surprise registered in MacGyver’s eyes right before his grin spread wide. With lightning speed, he stooped and swept her up in his arms. “I checked the doors and windows downstairs. Did you throw the dead bolt like I suggested?”