She’s the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.
Raegan looked like innocence wrapped in sin, and it took every ounce of strength he had not to pull her to him and taste those shimmering lips.
“You gonna come inside, or were you hoping to take your food to-go?”
The lighthearted quip snapped him back into focus.
“Sorry, I…” Rocky met her gaze, and damn if he didn’t almost lose the ability to speak. And when hedidfinally get his ass in gear enough to string along a complete sentence, the first thing that popped into his head was, “I brought cookies.”
As if that wasn’t bad enough, he actually helduphis meager offering for her to see. Raegan’s golden gaze fell on the royal blue package gripped in his fist, and half a beat later, he heard a decidedly unladylike snort.
“Oreos?” Her incredible stare shone bright with laughter. “Really?”
A rush of heat instantly crawled up the back of his neck. “Yeah, about that. I may or may not have forgotten to turn on the oven’s timer when I put the brownies inside.”
“Oh, no.” A look of empathy crossed over her pretty face. “Did they burn?”
“To a crisp.”
Raegan’s shoulders shook with a round of soft laughter, the effect on his system taking him completely off-guard. He’dnoticed the sexy rasp marking her sweet voice, but hearing her laugh…
The tantalizing sound made his heart do all sorts of funny things.
“Come on in.” She opened the door wider, stepping back a broad step to give him plenty of room to enter. “Unless you reallydidwant to take your pizza and wings to go.”
“No, no.” He flashed her a sideways grin. “I’m here for the duration. I just hope you like the Thins.” Rocky gave the package of cookies a partial shake as he stepped past.
“They’re my favorite ones, actually.” Raegan shut the door behind him.
“Really?”
“No.” She shut and locked the door before turning to him. “I like the Double-Stuffed. But I mean, they’re Oreos, so can you really go wrong withanyof them?”
With a deep chuckle, Rocky couldn’t keep from asking, “You planning on holding me prisoner?”
The smile vanished from her face, and her brows dipped toward the bridge of her nose. “What?”
A strange look crossed over her when he motioned toward the locks. But then?—
“Oh!” She released a nervous laugh. “Sorry. Habit.” Her throat worked a quick swallow before Raegan offered, “I’m happy to unlock them, if it makes you uncomfortable.”
Something about that look told him otherwise. It also had every one of his protective instincts flaring to life.
Maybe that’s her reason for staying so fit. Maybe she’s had some sort of horrible experience and decided to keep herself in fighting shape. Just in case.
The sculpted shoulders and arms he was staring at now…the toned thighs he’d noticed earlier when she’d been wearing those fantasy-inspiring shorts…
Rocky wasn’t ignorant enough to think self-preservation was the only motivation for a woman to stay in shape. Same as him, they worked out for all sorts of reasons.
But when he put that together with the extra locks—not to mention the glimpse of whatever it was he’d just seen in her unique gaze—he couldn’t help but wonder if she was in some sort of trouble.
She did seem more than a little interested in your job when you were here earlier. Maybe she was asking about where you worked because she’s in need of protection, herself.
Or maybe Raegan was simply an intelligent woman who took her own protection seriously and was genuinely curious to learn more about him.
This was what Rocky told himself, even as he told her, “I was only kidding.” He purposely let his smile grow wide. “Locked is fine.”
Though it was only for a fraction of a second, he could’ve sworn he saw a flash of relief behind her unique gaze. But then those same eyes glimmered as Raegan turned and headed for the kitchen.