Page 22 of Dangerous Obsession

Her gaze slowly traveled up his body and stopped on his very handsome face.

“Hey, Marigold.” He flashed a crooked smile, and her panties nearly melted.

It had been a few months since she’d seen him, and boy oh boy, was he a feast for the eyes. Genuine charm and an innate magnetism practically oozed from his pores. His broad shoulders blocked the light from the alley, and her small porch light glinted off the natural gold highlights in his long, dark blond hair.

Their eyes locked, sending a powerful zing right to her gut. In that moment, Marigold realized she would have a hard time protecting herself from him. Not physically—he would never hurt her in that way. No, what she worried about was her inability to defend herself from him emotionally.

“Hey, Sasquatch.” She stepped back and swept her arm out. “Come on in.”

He didn’t react to the nickname—he never did. Marigold was struck by another epiphany—she never would’ve risked teasing Cliff, yet she didn’t hesitate with Viking. Was her willingness to do so a testament to how safe she felt with him? A question for another time.

“Thanks.” He ducked his head to step through the doorway, and suddenly her kitchen felt much too small.

She locked the door and strolled over to lean back against the counter. Putting space between them was an absolute necessity. Or else she might do something stupid, like fall into those big arms of his.

“Here’s your culprit.” He drew his hand from behind his back and held it out.

Curled up in his plate-size palm was a tiny orange kitten.

“Oh, my gosh.” Without a thought, Marigold moved closer and stroked her fingertip down the kitten’s back, setting off a low, rumblingpurr. After a quick tummy check, they confirmed it was a female.

“She’s so tiny.” She looked up at Viking, then back at the kitten. “You’re just an itty-bitty little thing, aren’t you?” She continued stroking the soft fur. “Where did you find her?”

Marigold waited for a response, and when there wasn’t one, she tilted her chin up to him.

“Has anyone ever told you how beautiful you are?” His voice was a rough whisper as his heated gaze traveled over her face.

“Pssh.” Her brows crunched together. “No.”As if.

“Well, you are.” He reached up and skimmed an errant curl away from her face. “And your eyes … man, they are incredible.”

Hard as she might try, she could not look away. His eyes were unique, bright green around the outside with a sort of golden-brown circling the pupil. She’d never seen anything close.

Meew. Mee-eeeew.

Their connection was broken by a prolonged, surprisingly loud cry from the little orange fluff ball. She suddenly noticed she’d moved so close to Viking that his hand cradling the kitten was now wedged between her breasts.

“Oh, jeez.” Marigold took a quick step back. “Sorry.”

“Don’t be.” He gave her a long look before returning his attention to the kitten. “She looks a bit skinny, and I think she might have a few fleas. And there’s this little nick on the edge of her ear with a bit of dried blood on it.”

“Poor baby’s been through it.” She took the kitten from his hands, held it beneath her chin, and turned away to walk across the kitchen. Marigold nuzzled her nose against the kitten’s head and murmured, “That’s okay. We all have scars, don’t we?”

CHAPTER NINE

Vikingwassureshehadn’t meant for him to hear that, but he had, and now it was stuck in his head. What had she meant? Was she talking about herself? He’d noticed the tiny scar across the bridge of her adorable, slightly crooked nose, and the small crescent-shaped one on her right cheekbone.

As much as he wanted to know, now was not the time to push for answers. In order to do his job effectively, he couldn’t risk her withdrawing further than she already was.

“I think the first thing we need to do is get some food in her tummy.” She held the kitten to her chest and started toward the walk-in pantry. “I might have a can of tuna fish.”

“Here, let me do that.” Viking opened the door and was stunned by what he saw.

Small appliances were on one side—heaviest pieces on the bottom, lightest pieces up top. Food and other essentials took up the other side. Some things were in matching canisters, everything was lined up and labeled, and all faced forward.

“Wow.” He smiled over his shoulder. “Your pantry is so neat and clean.”

“So? What’s wrong with that?” Her chin lifted, and her shoulders went back.

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