“Aaw, not even twenty minutes more?” He gave her a cute puppy dog look that was hard to resist.
But she had to. At this point it had little to do with her work schedule. Now it was all about her growing attraction to him. She had to get the hell out of there.
“Nope, I’m heading out. Just make sure you don’t stay up too late. You need your rest.” With those parting words Solie tore her eyes from Ransom’s still smiling face and began to turn toward the door.
It was then that a buzzing vibration on her left butt cheek stopped her in her tracks. It was probably her mamita checking up on her. She dug into her back pocket and pulled out the cell phone.
An unknown number. A frisson of fear ran through Solie but she swallowed and, trying hard to look casual, she clicked on the answer button and put the phone to her ear. “Hello?”
“Hola, mi amor. Did you dream of me last night?”
At the sound of Raul’s deep voice, so soft, so silky and so menacing, Solie felt the blood drain from her face. Her tormentor was back.
Heart pounding, she drew in her breath, fighting to find something biting to say but no words came. Her mind drew a blank.
“Solie? Is everything all right?”
Ransom’s voice snapped her out of the evil spell and she blinked. Before her caller could say another word she pressed the ‘end’ button then shoved the phone back into her pocket. “I…I’m good. I’ve…got to go.”
Palms still clammy and her breathing shallow, Solie didn’t trust herself to say another word. Intent on avoiding Ransom’s eyes she hurried out of the room, grabbed her sweater from the hallway closet and fled.
***
Dammit. How could he focus on the game after what had just happened? He’d seen the abrupt change in Solie’s face, seen the way she’d suddenly turned pale. Something was wrong.
It was none of his business but he wanted to know. How could he ignore that look of distress, especially when it marked the face of someone who was coming to mean something to him?
That thought gave him pause. He didn’t even react when Chris Andersen sank a three pointer, he was so lost in thought. Solie had begun to mean something to him, but what?
Okay, so she was not just a neighbor anymore. She’d been his nurse and ever since Trevor stuck his nose in, she’d also become his pseudo babysitter, checking up on him and making sure he didn’t exert himself, as she put it. More than that, she’d become a friend.
The only problem was, she was a friend to whom he was growing more and more attracted with each passing day.
And who could blame him? When you had a neighbor…a friend…as sexy as Solie Felix there was little you could do to resist. He’d be ashamed to admit the number of times he’d grown hard each time she’d come close. But it wasn’t just her physical beauty that drew him in. It was the way she carried herself, so bold and fearless, and if necessary, so ‘in your face’. He actually admired that. He’d grown so used to women fawning over him that Solie was a refreshing change.
So refreshing that it was disturbing. It felt too much like he was at the top of that slide that ended with you tumbling into love. Attraction he could deal with, but love? Forget it. Not after what he’d gone through with Lily Caruso.
With a grunt, Ransom flung himself back into the sofa and glared, unseeing, at the television screen. At that moment he made a firm decision. He might give in to this attraction he was feeling for Solie, probably even pursue her – he was a man, wasn’t he? – but he would never consider bringing love into the picture. Too debilitating, too dangerous and way too overrated.
His mind made up, Ransom settled back into the cushions and turned his attention back to the game. Semi-distracted, he watched for another twelve minutes until the Miami Heat wrapped everything up in a neat package and were being interviewed by reporters. It was only then that his thoughts honed in on other matters…
…foremost of which was that renegade kid brother of his. Who needed concussion headaches when you had Rafe?
He decided to call Ryder to get the details. He reached for the phone.
His brother picked up on the second ring. “ ‘Sup?”
“Not much,” Ransom replied, his tone casual. “What’s the latest news on Rafe? Come to his senses yet?”
“Nope. He says he’ll be out there at least a year or two. Says he’s got nothing to keep him on dry land.” Although Ryder’s voice was calm, Ransom could sense his annoyance.
“Even though he knows it bothers the heck out of Mom.”
“Even so.”
Seconds passed as Ransom mulled over the situation. Finally, he spoke. “I’m going out there,” he said. “I’ll knock some sense into him and bring him back.”
“Don’t be an idiot,” Ryder said, sounding unimpressed with his declaration. “You’re recovering from a serious injury. You’ll only make things worse, getting all stirred up by this. Next thing you know, one of us will have to go out there and rescue you, too.”
“Not gonna happen. I’m good. I’ll be back in the office tomorrow.”
Ryder chuckled. “Sure? Did your bulldog babysitter give you permission?”
Great. That was what you got for sharing your secrets with your brother. “Don’t you worry about that. I’ll be in the office tomorrow and on the weekend I’ll be on my way to Alaska.”
“Ransom, listen to me. You can’t make a man do what he doesn’t want to do. It’s not like when we were kids and you used to bully us all.” Ryder almost sounded exasperated.
“I said, don’t worry about it.” Ransom was nonchalant. “And, for the record, I never bullied any of you.”
That made Ryder laugh. “Let’s not go there, bro. I would win that debate, any time.”
“Yeah, yeah.” Ransom shrugged it off but his brother was right. He’d been a tyrant of a teenager, that was for sure. Who would have thought he would have dropped his bossy ways and turned mellow at the grand old age of thirty-five?