Page 22 of Recklessly Yours

“Shh, it’s just me.” Dylan stepped out without a shirt, instantly distracting me from the fear that had flared inside me a second ago. There was no room for it now. Not with the way I couldn’t stop myself from taking in his broad shoulders and chest and his toned abs.

My stomach flipped. Damn, was the man fit.

It was so much easier to ignore how hot he was when he had a girlfriend or when we were in a group. Now, standing a foot in front of me, alone in my apartment and shirtless, he was impossible to pull my eyes away from.

I drank him in slowly, moving my gaze up. When I made it to his face and found him inspecting me as well, my skin heated. His pupils dilated as he zeroed in on my chest.

Shit, I wasn’t wearing a bra, and I was dressed in nothing but a thin tank top and sleep shorts. I crossed my arms over my chest, and he cleared his throat, breaking his heated perusal.

I was definitely not used to having guys stay over, especially ones I wasn’t hooking up with. Who was I kidding? I couldn’t remember the last timeanyguy spent the night.

“Sorry,” I muttered. “Just came out to get a glass of water.”

I brushed past him and into the kitchen. I’d definitely need to add ice to the water to cool myself down.

Maybe his place would have been a better choice. At least there, we would have had our own rooms and probably separate bathrooms too.

With a harsh breath out, I resigned myself to accepting that offer tomorrow. How long could it take to catch a stalker anyway? I could stay with him for a few days. His house was closer to work and the police station than my apartment was, so why not?

Water glass in hand, I shuffled back to my room, murmuring a quick good night to Dylan, who was settling in on the couch. Once I was back in bed, I sighed and forced my mind to calm.

We could figure it out tomorrow.

Chapter Ten

DYLAN

This was goingto take longer than I expected. Between the three apps Hattie was using, the list of guys she’d had contact with was extensive. Although it looked like she’d only gone out with about twenty of them in the last six months, the number of messages was absurd.

Then again, the woman was gorgeous, so I couldn’t blame any of these men for reaching out. Why wouldn’t she have ashit ton of men vying for her attention? An image of her in the tiniest tank top and shorts I’d ever seen popped into my head unbidden, pulling a groan from me. Fuck, the way her nipples had pebbled against the fabric?—

“Good morning,” Hattie said, startling me from my dirty thoughts. Her voice was husky from sleep, but at least she had more clothes on than the last time I’d seen her. Though the oversized sweatshirt barely covered the tiny-ass booty shorts she sported.

“Good morning. How’d you sleep?”

With a shrug, she propped one shoulder on the doorframe between the kitchen and living room. “Okay, I guess. You?”

Like shit. But I kept that to myself. Squeezing my six-foot frame onto her small couch hadn’t been the least bit comfortable. Then, after running into her in the hallway, I couldn’t get the image of her out of my mind.

“Fine,” I replied instead. “We need to go over this list of names I put together.” I held up my notepad.

“Coffee first.” Yawning, she shuffled into the kitchen. “You want a cup?”

I nodded. “Sure. Thanks.”

After she brewed two cups and poured a splash of cream into hers, she held up the bottle. “Want cream? Or sugar?”

“Black is fine.”

Her nose scrunched up in the cutest way. “Gross. But okay.” With both mugs in hand, she carefully headed into the living room and handed one to me.

I set the piping hot liquid on her coffee table to give it a moment to cool and picked my notepad back up.

She took the spot next to me and placed her coffee beside mine while she looked over the list. “Um…” With her head tilted to the side, she sat shoulder-to-shoulder with me and studied the list. “Can we look at their profiles?”

“What?” Massaging my forehead, I sighed.

She shrugged. “I’m not sure I remember half these guys.”

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