“I can’t imagine,” Tanner said, completely out of his element, not knowing what he should say for the second time that day. Twice now, someone was telling him about losing parents way too soon. Was this fate that they had met? No! He didn’t believe in fate or any other hogwash like that. It was merely a coincidence. That was all.
But, fool that he was, he went on. “Did you have siblings?” He knew he should have shut up, let this go, but he couldn’t seem to control his mouth. And he had been the one to push her to speak.
Her eyes flashed with pain even more raw than before. “A little brother,” she said in a whisper.
“Oh, Kyla, that has to be really tough.” How lame, but that was all he could say.
“Those are the standard words I hear. It’s okay, Tanner. It happened almost two years ago. Almost to the day.”
“Christmas?” he asked, horrified.
“Two days before.”
Damn. He really had no clue what to say to her, no clue at all.
She looked down at the floor as she tried to compose herself. “I need to get back to my place,” she said softly. She brought her hand up and pushed at his fingers, which were still holding the ice to her cheek.
Tanner pulled them away, wincing at the sight of her delicate cheekbone; a slight bruise marred her features, but only that. At least the swelling had already gone down. He was glad he’d arrived when he did — it could have been so much worse. He set the washcloth aside and slid his thumb tenderly across the cruel mark before resting his hand against her neck.
Her gaze locked with his and she shivered. Almost against his will, Tanner found himself leaning forward, coming closer to her as his other hand rose and his fingers wrapped around the soft strands of her hair.
When Kyla didn’t pull back, Tanner closed the gap between them and kissed her, just a slight brushing of his lips against hers. When her sweet breath fanned out across his mouth in a shocked gasp, he deepened the kiss, tasting her lips with his and tightening his fingers on her scalp.
Kyla’s lips moved beneath his and her hands came up to grip his shoulders. When her br**sts brushed against his chest, blood raced through his body and rushed instantly to one very sensitive location. The simple sigh that escaped her throat wasn’t helping; hell, it was far more erotic than the full-on striptease his last partner had treated him to.
He pulled back and looked into her eyes. “Kyla,” he whispered. He wanted her in his bed — right now.
She smiled, her eyes glazed, and she ran her tongue along her bottom lip, delighting in his taste, making his groin tighten even more painfully. Then, as he leaned forward, the spell was somehow broken. Her eyes flew open and the hands that had been resting against his shoulders stiffened; she pushed him away.
He wanted to lean back against her, take her into his arms, and show her how good it was going to be between the two of them. But that would make him no better than the monsters who’d just tried to force themselves on her.
“I have to go,” she said, a fit of trembling racking her body.
“I’ll walk you home.”
He stood up, and then, much to his surprise, she smiled.
“I live just a few steps from your door, Tanner.”
“I’m a gentleman. I always walk my dates home and make sure they get inside safely.”
“This was a date?” she scoffed, clearly trying to downplay the intense moment they’d just shared.
“I got a kiss from you. I’d say it was a pretty great date.”
“Well, then, you are a cheapskate date. I didn’t even get a meal.”
Tanner was shocked by her words. She was able to joke like this so soon after being attacked by two loathsome stalkers? One minute, she seemed so vulnerable, and then the next, confident and in control. Was it all an act to protect herself? Or to maybe drive him insane?
“I’ll feed you right now, sweetheart. Then I’ll feed you again…in the morning,” he added with a wicked smile.
“I’ll pass. I already got the goodnight kiss,” she said, and she moved toward his door.
Tanner followed her into the hall and waited as she pushed her door open with a swift thump of her hip to unstick it, and then she moved inside.
She turned around and looked at him for a moment, making his heart leap. Was she going to invite him in? He took a step forward.
“’Night, Tanner,” she said, closing her door a little before looking at him again. “Thank you.” Pain replaced the amusement in her eyes. She shook her head as if clearing it, and then she disappeared into her apartment.
Tanner stood there for several moments, just staring at her door. He should simply call this one a loss — she was far too complicated for what he was looking for. He just wanted a woman to satisfy his needs, primal and nothing more, while he was stuck under house arrest in this place of doom and gloom. There was no way he wanted a relationship, for Christ’s sake
But when he closed the door to his apartment and walked over to the chair she’d been sitting in, he knew he wasn’t going to stop pursuing her. She intrigued him too much. Besides, he now looked at her as a challenge, and he’d never been able to resist a challenge.
He just had to figure out what his next move was going to be.
After cleaning up, Tanner ordered takeout, then grabbed his laptop, grateful for the mobile Internet connection he’d managed to get. It was slow, but at least it was something. For some reason, though, he couldn’t force himself to work. There was a first for everything, he supposed.
Several hours later he found himself lying in bed wide awake, thinking of one blue-eyed woman who was stirring him in ways he didn’t want to be stirred, and he was even contemplating what life would be like in her shoes.
No matter how much he tried convincing himself that this was about the conquest, he couldn’t quite put Kyla into the neat little box he’d set up for her.
Damn!
Chapter Eleven
Kyla kept pacing back and forth, unsure in which direction she should go. She walked toward Tanner’s door, and then retreated to her own, her hands outstretched as she held the warm plate of cookies.
Saturday morning. She was assuming he’d be home now, since he’d worked Monday through Friday at the mall. She had her other job to go to in a few hours, but for now she was home and she really wanted to say thank you to the man who’d helped her the night before last. What he’d done had been kind — more than that, of course — and she needed to do something. Approaching his door again, she lifted her hand…then it dropped, and she groaned in disgust with herself.