Page 59 of Oh, Hell No

I turned around, frowning up at him. “Why did you stop by this afternoon?” I asked.

He had seen me and immediately started asking what was wrong. But why had he come here to begin with?

An almost grin touched his lips. “I wanted to see you. I’ve thought of little else since Sunday.”

The excitement at that was probably not smart because although I did not think I was in danger of this man anymore, I also didn’t know if I could take being one of his one-nighters. If I got to actually experience sex with him, there was a good chancemy emotions would get involved. I’d never had casual sex. But he sure did make me want to chance it.

“Until Saturday, you hadn’t seen me in eight weeks,” I told him, refraining from addingand one dayto that.

He reached up and tucked a lock of hair behind my ear. “I found that was difficult. It surprised me. But I forced myself to give you some time. After everything that had happened and was happening with your brother, I saw you Saturday, and that seemed to be the limit on how long I was going to be able to leave you alone.”

Not once in all my many fantasies about this man was that what I’d thought he would say.

“You,” I said carefully, “wanted to seeme? Again?”

I had not gotten the vibe at all. He’d never once acted as if he was interested in me that way.

Was this what players did? Tell a girl what she wanted to hear, and the gullible female fell for it, legs wide open, and then he walked away when he was done?

“When I tucked you in your bed and left you here”—he paused, then gave me a wicked grin—“that deserved a fucking award. What I had wanted to do was crawl in there with you.” He leaned down so close but hovered there.

My heart was going wild. He’d carried me to bed that night? He was the one who took off my shoes and pants? Not me. I’d gone all that time, having no idea. I felt robbed. That was something I’d have liked to know.

“If I kiss you right now, I’ll end up fucking you.” His voice was a dark warning. “And tonight, that’s not what you need. So, come on,” he said, straightening and taking my hand. “Let’s go get the wine open, and I’ll order Mexican.”

I almost grabbed his shirt and jerked him back, demanding he do the other thing. I knew what I needed, and that little threat sounded perfect. But I didn’t because he had said the wordwine,and I was back to the issue that had brought me to the bathroom, armed, to begin with.

“We can’t drink that wine, and you should search the place with your gun if you have it on you,” I said. “Since you took my knife away.”

“We can drink the wine. I bought the wine. You had just drunk your first bottle of good red wine and found you liked it. All you have is the screw-top white wine shit. So, I replaced yours,” he said.

I stopped walking, and since he had me around the wrist, he stopped, too, then turned back to me.

“When did you replace my wine, and how do you know all that?” I asked him, watching his face carefully.

A smirk. God, that freaking smirk. He hadn’t shaved in over a week, at least two, and that was insanely sexy, as if he needed any added help in that department.

“Saturday night,” he said as if I should know this. “The sloth.”

Oh. Right. The visit I didn’t remember. How long had he been here, and what all had I told the man? Here I was, accusing Toby of talking about himself too much, but it seemed I had given Oz my own life story.

“You had a lot to drink for such a small, untrained body,” he said, then gently tugged my arm. “Will you come drink it now that you are safe from a stalker and I swear it isn’t drugged? I will drink the first glass.”

I nodded and started to walk, then stopped again.

“Wait. So, you came by with the sloth on Saturday night. It was during that visit that I had drunk the red wine and told you I liked it. When did you come back with the bottle in the kitchen?” I was thinking about this too hard. I realized that, but there was some niggling in my gut that I couldn’t satisfy. And it was a good question.

His amused chuckle as he gave his head a small shake andlooked at me through those thick lashes made my panties wet instantly.

“I had the bottle I gave you in my Hummer. Sundays, I stop by my parents’ for dinner most of the time. That is my mom’s favorite wine. I’d bought her a bottle earlier that day, and I went and got it, then brought it to you. I figured you’d appreciate it more than she would. I picked her up flowers on Sunday before I went over there instead.”

Everything that had just come out of his delectable mouth had the warm tingles running amok under my skin and between my legs. I felt guilty for questioning him now. No more crime TV shows for me. Really, that was it. They were making me act looney.

“That’s very sweet,” I said.

He lowered his lashes. “Darlin’, don’t make the mistake of thinking I’m sweet,” he said. Then, his eyes did a leisurely once-over of me. “Unless that eases your mind and you can relax and trust me.”

I needed ice. My body could use some to cool down. We were well past a fan.

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