Page 64 of When He Protects

She stared back at him.

“Master thieves aren’t born, Esme. They’re made. Who made you?”

Her delicate jaw hardened. “I was a gymnast until I has fifteen. You learn all sorts of things about movement when you’re training five hours a day, five days a week.” A quick rush of air burst from her in an angry exhale. “Happy now?”

“No.” Far from it. “Because you’re lying to me.Someone taught you how to be a thief. I want to know who the hell it was.” Though he had a suspicion.

She leaned toward him. “I have got to say, your morning-after routine sucks as much as your post-sex talk. This is not the way to make a marriage work, my love.”

My love.His chest ached. “Esme?—”

“I have a delivery to make.” She lifted the plate. “Fresh chocolate chip croissants. I think our neighbor will love them, don’t you?”

What was happening? His gaze jerked to the plate. And he became aware of the absolutely delicious scent wafting toward him.Chocolate chip croissants.“I’ll take one.”

“Don’t remember offering you one.” She took a step back and dropped the plate lower. Probably trying to get it out of his reach. “Though thereiscoffee in the kitchen for you.” A grudging admission.

He fought a smile. “You made me coffee again?”

“Yes, but that was before I knew you’d wake up and be a total ass accusing me of being some criminal-in-training my whole life.”

They stared at each other. He had obviously stepped over a line and pissed her off. Time to regroup. Maybe restart?

“Chocolate chip croissants will be wasted on Clay,” he finally told her in a careful voice. “Guy can’t stand chocolate.” Total lie. Clay loved chocolate.

“I’m not taking these to Clay. He’s not technically a neighbor, by the way. He lives too far away for that classification. Though he did assure me that he could be here within ten minutes if we ever need him.”

When in the hell had Clay told her that?

She skirted around Tyler. “We do haverealneighbors, you know. Not just a sheriff who is pretending to dropby for a neighborly visit.” She made her way to the door as he gaped after her.

It was only when Esmeopenedthe door that he realized she truly intended to waltz out. He bounded forward before she could actually leave and slammed his hand against the wood, shoving the door closed again. “Have you forgotten the little matter of a seven-million-dollar bounty on your head? You can’t just go skipping to random houses alone!”

Her head turned. Her mouth was kissably close. “Clay told me that we have a neighbor to the left of us. A single guy who is also fairly new to town. He told me that the man was probably lonely, and that it would be neighborly to say hi.”

Clay, you sonofabitch.“Oh, he told you all that, did he?When?”

“During the insanely unnecessary question-and-answer session after that wee mishap at the grocery store. He got all chatty with me. Clay specifically said it would befinefor me to go over. That he’d already checked out the neighbor and that he was safe. No red flags flying.” She inched a little closer to Tyler. “Speaking of things flying, I’m pretty sure I feel your dick poking at me.”

Yeah, because it was flying. “Donotleave this house without me.”

“Well, then you had better put on some clothes because if you rush out naked, I am sure word will spread all around town about the fact that I have an exhibitionist husband.” Her eye lashes fluttered. “Not to tell you how to handle your business, but I don’t believe that’s the way to keep a low profile.”

Deliberately, he took the plate from her. Put it on the nearby table. Then he turned her around so that she had tofully face him. His body before her. The door at her back. “You think I’m going to ignore what happened?”

Her chin tipped up even as her dark eyes flashed at him. “Dirty sex in the middle of the night doesn’t change anything. We already covered this point, remember?”

He shook his head. “Wrong, sweetheart. I told you that it would change everything.”

Did a flicker of fear come and go in the darkness of her eyes? He thought it had. Dammit, she should not be afraid of him. Hadn’t they covered that point, too? Wanting a reaction from her, needing it, he said, “I’ve got scratch marks on my arms and back from you.”

Her lips parted. “Want me to apologize?”

“No, I want to fuck you up against the door. Right now. And let you mark me more.”

He could see the pulse drumming madly at the base of her throat. Grimly, he smiled.Hello, reaction.“And you want that, too, don’t you, my Esme?”

“I…want to deliver a gift to the neighbor.”

---