Page 49 of Eye Candy

A small, tentative smile graced her lips as she lifted a finger and set it on my shirt, right where her face had been moments ago. “I got your shirt all wet,” she whispered. “I’m sorry.” After pointing to the wet spot, she didn’t pull her finger off me; instead, her hand flattened against me.

“Don’t be sorry,” I told her, willing myself to pull away from that hand, to step back from her and put more space between us. For whatever reason, though, I couldn’t. It was like my legs refused to work, like I couldn’t move a muscle to put distance between us, even if my life depended on it.

Those bright blue eyes of hers lifted, slowly rising away from her hand on my chest to my face, and the look she gave me right then was unlike any other look she’d ever given me. Gazing up at me through those thick eyelashes, her lips parted, it was a look that gave me certain ideas—ideas I shouldn’t have, especially when it came to her.

This was dangerous.Shewas dangerous. She was hurting and vulnerable right now. And not only that, but she was a job. Just a job. She was the absolute last person I should ever want, the last girl I should have those particular thoughts about.

But as she stared up at me, my thoughts ran wild. I imagined pulling her close, grabbing her by the ass, and hoisting her up, pinning her against the wall and tasting those lips on mine. And then… well, then I’d carry her to the bed, where I’d—

“I should make dinner,” I managed to say, though it was a struggle to speak. “You haven’t eaten anything since lunch.” It was dark outside, way past dinnertime, but at least it would giveme something to do, a way to give her some space while wrestling with my inappropriate thoughts.

Thank God she picked up the hint. Laina’s hand fell off my chest, and she took a step back, shaking her head. “I’m not hungry. I don’t want anything. I just… I just want to go to bed.” She walked past me, heading to her bed, where she crawled in and lay on her side, giving me her back.

I didn’t leave right away. I stared at the back of her head, wishing certain things, wanting those same things. But we couldn’t. I couldn’t. She was a pretty, broken girl trying to find her way in the world. She was at least thirteen years younger than me—too young. Everything about her was off-limits. Everything.

Breathing in deeply, I turned away from the bed and started toward the door. My feet did pause when I reached it, certain parts of my body aching with need, and it took every bit of self-control I had in me to let her be and walk out of that bedroom.

Let’s just say leaving a room had never been more difficult.

Chapter Seventeen – Laina

Mike didn’t get the light, of course, so I had to get out of bed and shut it off myself. It was fine, because when I did that, I also took off my bra before crawling back into bed. I lay there in the darkness, thinking about what I told him in the bathroom at the hospital, replaying our conversation here.

The feeling of Mike’s arms around me was the opposite of the worst thing in the world. He was so big, so strong; I felt safe with him, like his body could shield me from anything. And he was so warm, too.

I wasn’t stupid. I knew he’d pulled himself away because things had been seconds from turning into more. Honestly, I’d kind of hoped they would, if only to distract myself from the current shit show that was my life.

Would it be so bad to drown myself in Mike?

I rolled onto my side, and my eyes closed for a while, but then I checked my phone. I hadn’t really checked it all day.Being locked in a room for two years without one had made me a lot less dependent on checking it at all hours of the day.

Kelly had texted me multiple times, saying she heard about what happened and asking if Kieran was all right. Eh, I’d respond to her tomorrow. Right now, I wasn’t feeling very sociable, and I didn’t want to talk about it. The day’s events were still too vivid in my mind.

Maybe I hoped I’d see a message from my Devil, but the messages from Kelly were all that was there. My Devil had been silent after his mysterious texts before.

It wasn’t him today. I knew it in my core. There was no way he’d be stupid enough to get caught, not after having me for two years, not after being so careful about the kidnapping. That meant it had to be someone else, but who?

And why?

Why would anyone want to kill me? Was it just because I was my dad’s daughter? I supposed it could be someone hired by his political rivals, wanting to hurt him by killing me right after he got me back. Whoever it was, whatever the reason was, the bullet was definitely pointed at me and not at my dad, unless the guy’s aim was that awful.

I didn’t know what time I heard footsteps in the hall, but I was wide awake. Sleep just wouldn’t come. I couldn’t stop thinking about everything that had happened. Kieran… I needed him to be all right. I needed… well, at this point I wasn’t too sure what I needed beyond that.

I heard the muffled sounds of voices in the hall, which I took to mean Tessa and my dad were home. Neither one came to check on me, and as soon as I heard their voices, they were gone, to their own bedroom on the far end of the hall.

Tossing and turning didn’t bring sleep, nor did it help me get drowsy. My mind was wired; I couldn’t fall asleep, no matter what I did.

Though it might be a mistake, I decided to get up. My feet shuffled to my door in the darkness, and I pushed out into the hall. I wandered to Kieran’s room, stepping inside it. The curtains on the windows were open, so the moonlight streamed into the room, giving me enough silver light that I could see the outline of everything, including his bed.

I walked to his bed, running my right hand over it. The sheets were messy. He never made the bed after he got up. How long would it be until he was here again? How long until he was sleeping in this bed at night? All this time I’d found him so insufferable… when in reality, I’d been fighting feelings for the guy.

The more I thought about him, the more I felt like crying again, so I left his room. My feet took me wherever they wanted, my body aimless.

Or, that’s what I’d thought, until I found myself in front of Mike’s room.

The door was closed, blocking me from waltzing inside. My eyes spotted a bit of light shining through the crack beneath the door. Was Mike up, too? Was I not the only one who couldn’t sleep?

Hmm. It was probably a bad idea for me to go in there, after what almost happened earlier, and yet my hand went for the handle all the same. I didn’t care if it was a bad idea. I just didn’t care.

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