Jill Shalvis - Flashback

She wasn’t done with him, not yet. Which meant she was probably out there looking to poke her nose into the arsons. Aidan hurriedly got dressed. He had no idea where she was but he needed to find out, because with whatever information she’d get, she’d go snooping into things that were guaranteed to piss off Tommy.

Hell. They’d just spent hours in his bed. And in his shower. And then his bed again. Hadn’t he tired her out?

His stomach was grumbling and his head starting to pound when he picked up his cell phone and called hers; he was shocked when she answered.

“Hi,” she said in that soft, breathless voice that had only a few hours before made him come.

Just hearing it stirred him halfway to life. He was little better than Pavlov’s dogs. “Where are you?”

“Oh, out and about.” She still sounded breathless.

“Kenzie, what are you doing?”

“Um…exercising?”

“That’s a bad word to you.”

“Not anymore. Do you have any idea how much work it takes to stay in TV shape?”

And then he heard it, the unmistakable sound of a sliding door either opening or closing. “Where are you?”

“Whoops, bad connection,” she said.

He gnashed his teeth together. “We have a great connection. What are you up to?”

“Wow, I can hardly hear you…”

“Kenz-”

“Gotta go.”

He didn’t have to hear the click to know she’d shut her phone. Nor did he bother with swearing. Instead, he grabbed his keys and went after her, figuring her options were severely limited. She wouldn’t have gone back to the docks because there were no sliding door there. So she was probably at Blake’s house. He supposed she could also be at any one of the arsons Blake had been accused of, but most of them had been demo’d, and plus it seemed likely that if she was butting her nose in, she’d start at the top.

So would he.

He hit the jackpot on his first try. Pulling into the small house Blake had claimed as his own, he parked right next to Kenzie’s flashy Mercedes. He got out of his truck and felt the hood of her car.

Still warm.

So she hadn’t been there long. She was just damn lucky she hadn’t gotten herself arrested again, considering the yellow tape surrounding the house. Just thinking about what Tommy would say, and how long he’d jail her this time, had him sweating. The front door was shut and, as he discovered, locked.

Aidan moved around the side of the house. His plan was simple. He was going to scare the hell out of her. And then he was going to kiss the hell out of her.

And then…and then he had no idea. Spanking her seemed like a good option.

The sliding back door on Blake’s deck was unlocked and opened an inch. This was where she’d entered, and following suit, he slipped inside. The place was dark, but there was a light on upstairs, and he headed in that direction. At a sound behind him, he whipped around just as two hands smacked him in the chest and shoved. As he fell back, he reached out and hauled his assailant with him. He hit his ass on the bottom step and Kenzie landed on him.

“What are you doing?” she demanded.

The stairs biting into his back, her full weight over the top of him, he hissed out a breath of pain. “What am I doing? What are you doing?”

“I’m-” She bit back whatever she’d been about to say, crawled backward off of him and stood up.

“No, it’s okay, I’m fine, thanks,” he muttered, getting up on his own and brushing himself off. “How did you get in here?”

“Blake gave me his spare key a long time ago.”

“Okay, so back to my first question. Why are you here?”

“Looking for clues to Blake’s innocence.” She glared at him, then pointed to the door. “You need to leave.”

“So do you.”

“Oh, no. This is my brother’s place. I’m his beneficiary. I get to be here.”

“Not with the caution tape still blocking the front door, you don’t.”

She was breathing fast, her voice thick and husky as if she’d been crying. Or maybe she still was. He couldn’t see her clearly enough to decide. “Ah, Kenzie. Don’t-”

“Go,” she said, crossing her arms over her chest.

“Fine. But you’re coming with me.”

“No, I’m not.”

“Yeah, you are.” Wrapping his fingers around her arm, he headed toward the sliding door, toting her with him, until she yanked free. Then, lifting her nose, she stalked out in front of him, going willingly but not happily. “Kenzie,” he said as she got into her car.

“I don’t want to talk right now.” She tried to shut the driver’s door on him but he stepped closer, holding it open.

“Isn’t that convenient.”

“Dammit, Aidan. Get out of my way.”

“Just tell me where you’re going.”

For the first time, she hesitated.

“You could try my house,” he suggested. “My computer.”

She paused another beat. “I wouldn’t want to impose.”

“Imposing would be getting your pretty ass arrested again, goddammit. Meet me there.”

“Fine.” Putting the car into gear, she peeled out, leaving him little choice but to hope that she would.

W ITH LITTLE TO NO TRAFFICin the middle of the night, it took only five minutes to get home. Aidan pulled into his driveway next to the little red sports car, watching Kenzie storm up the walk to his front door, looking irritated and frustrated.

Just as irritated and frustrated, he followed. Did she have no clue what she was doing to him?

How could she not?

“Wait,” she said, stopping so fast he plowed into her, staring back at the street. “Did you see that car?”

“No.”

“It was gray.” She chewed on her thumbnail. “Look, I’m not trying to change the subject here, because trust me, I’m pissed and enjoying being pissed, but I think someone’s following me.”

Reaching past her, he unlocked the door and gestured her in ahead of him, keeping his body in front of her back as he turned to eye the street.

He didn’t see the car-at the moment, there were no cars-but he didn’t doubt her. “You’ve seen it before?”

“Yes. Truthfully, I’m beginning to feel sort of stalked.” She whirled to face him. “Okay, so back to being pissed off.”

Oh, no. Not yet. He’d anticipated her, and was standing so close she bumped into him, squeaking in surprise, but when she tried to take a step back, he held her still. Christ, she smelled good and the way her hair framed her face…“How long have you suspected someone’s been following you?”

“Since the boat fire, I guess.”

“Have you told anyone? Tommy? The police?”

“I wasn’t really sure. I’m still not sure. It’s just a feeling.”

He let go of her to pull out his cell phone.

“What are you doing?”

“Calling the police.”

Kenzie stepped close and shut the phone, stuffing it back into his pocket. “Aidan, listen to me. We both know that you and I don’t do real relationships, especially not with each other. Now sex, we do that just fine. And in case you’re confused, the biggest difference between the two is that with just sex, there’s no sharing of personal information.”

He was not liking where this was going. At all. “Meaning?”

“Meaning I don’t have to account to you, and you’re not responsible for me.”

He stared at her, more stung than he’d like to admit. “Well, shit.”

“I mean it, Aidan.”

“You don’t want me to call the police.”

“And scare off the guy? No, I don’t.”

“Fine.”

“ Fine. Now where the hell is your computer? We have some files to access.”