“Your bank, along with four others, were hit within minutes of each other today. Now I catch you breaking into this place on the same damn night? I’m sure you can see where I’m going with this.”
“I’m not robbing this place.” She grunted as she fought against his unmoving grip.
“Then why are you here?”
“That’s none of your business.”
“Wrong, sweetheart.” The endearment wasn’t meant to be a pleasantry. “You made it my business when you tried shooting my ass. So, I’ll ask again…why are you here?”
Flames of anger burned behind her golden stare. “Get the hell off of me, and I’ll tell you.”
Rocky wasn’t sure which surprised him more. The fact that his seemingly sweet and bubbly neighbor was giving him hell after nearly kicking his ass…or that he was more turned on in that moment than he had been in a long damn time.
She’s a criminal, dumbass. With a gun! You should not be thinking about how good it feels to press your body against hers.
“If I let you up, are you really going to tell me the truth or spin some bullshit story about why I just watched you break into some random house three doors down from your own?”
“Well…” Raegan’s smile was full of spit and vinegar. “I guess, in order to find that out, you’ll have to let me go.”
“Or I don’t.” He stared deep into her angered gaze.
She laughed then, the rough and raspy sound making his dick twitch behind his zipper.
“And what? We just stay like this all night?”
Sounds like a damn fine plan to me.
With a clearing of his throat, Rocky pushed the inopportune thought away. “I got nowhere I have to be.” He shrugged. “Unless it’s to haul your ass down to the nearest police precinct.”
A mixture of fear and anger lit the fuel behind her gorgeous gaze. But there was something else there. A desperation so urgent, so intense, it reached a place so deep inside him, he never even knew it existed.
“I already tried going to the police.” Her sandy blonde ponytail swept along the kitchen floor as she shook her head in earnest. “The police. The Army. But they didn’t believe me.” Moonlight shimmered in the reflection of her unshed tears. “No one does.”
“Believe you about what?”
Pale pink lips began to part, but before she could say more, the flash from a set of bright, twin beams filtered through the home’s front windows and into the kitchen where they still lay.
“Shit!” Raegan’s eyes grew wider than he’d ever seen them. “They’re back! We have to…” She pushed against the firm but gentle hold he still had on her wrists. “Seriously? Look, you can turn me in if you want, but if we don’t leave right now, there’s a really good chance this will turn into more than a simple B and E.”
The odd statement gave him pause.
“Who’s out there Raegan?” he demanded with a low rumble.
“I’ll explain once we’re out of here.” She became almost frantic, then. “I swear it. Just not here.”
Rocky studied her closely, his hesitation lasting only a few seconds longer. Then he dipped his chin in a single, curt nod and told her, “Fine. But so help me, you try to do anything to?—”
“The only thing I’m going to try to do is get that hutch back where it belongs and get the helloutof here before whoever just pulled up gets inside.”
“Who’s out there?” That was the real answer he needed to know.
“Seriously? You want to do this now?”
Rocky gave a casual shrug. “No time like the present, right?”
The sound of a vehicle turning off traveled to them from the outside. Not sure how far she would go before calling his bluff, he watched her reaction closely and waited.
But then…