She had jeans, a T-shirt and flip-flops in her duffel bag, which was perfect for today. After braiding her damp hair, she found Carson in his kitchen, leaning against one of the countertops, his phone in hand as he looked at something.
His hair was cropped close to his head, showing off perfect bone structure. Even the bit of dark scruff on his face looked sexy instead of unkempt. His T-shirt molded to all of his muscles, particularly his biceps, which she’d had fantasies about. At five feet eleven, she was used to being taller than a lot of men, but with Carson she actually had to look up. He had to be at least six feet four inches. Maybe five. And he was built like…well, like someone she wanted to wrap her legs around.
He immediately tucked his phone into his back pocket when he spotted her. His eyes heated for a moment as he took in her appearance. “I wondered what happened to that T-shirt.”
She was wearing one of his faded black and white Ramones T-shirts, had tied it at her waist because it was way too big. “I’m not giving it back.”
“I didn’t ask for it.”
She sniffed once and looked away, glancing around his kitchen. Everything was all neat and tidy, no surprise. This man liked order in his life. And she was like a wrecking ball.
“I tossed your sneakers and your clothes into the washer.”
Surprised, she looked back at him. “Thanks. So were you following me?” she asked bluntly, wanting to get that out of the way now.
“Not exactly. But I saw you sneaking around so I decided to hang out and see what you were up to. Then I watched you break into a multimillion-dollar yacht.”
“I didn’t break into anything.” The sliding door had been unlocked.
He lifted a dark eyebrow. “Fine, I watched you bribe someone and then get onto the boat.”
“So you’re kind of stalking me, then? Pretty sure that’s against the law.”
Carson’s mouth curved up slightly at the corners, making him look ridiculously adorable. Such a big, bulky guy should not be adorable. “So is breaking and entering.”
“I already told you, there was no breaking. Just entering. And technically, that yacht should be part of my clients’ asset list. Her husband just forgot to add it to their divorce proceedings.”
“I figured as much,” he said mildly.
“Did you happen to see who got on the yacht while I was on it?” She’d seen three men, but wondered if there had been more.
“Just three guys. I was more concerned with making sure you got off safely than who they were. I was pretty close to making an excuse and going aboard.”
She blinked in surprise. “Seriously?”
“Seriously. Trouble seems to find you.”
She made a scoffing sound and pulled her thankfully dry phone out of her pocket. Her entire life was in her phone. “I’ve gotta go,” she said as she read her incoming text message.
“Everything okay?” He pushed off the countertop, going into what she thought of as sexy mode. He had on a T-shirt and jeans, and his badge and gun weren’t visible. Maybe he’d left them in his car or put them away. He didn’t look anything like a detective right now. No, he looked more like a street brawler with his tattoos and scruff.
“Everything’s fine. I just need to go see a client about something.”
“You need to be more careful,” he said as she headed for the door, duffel bag tossed over her shoulder.
“Last time I checked, I don’t answer to you.”
His gaze fell on her mouth, lingered too long as he met her at the door. He stood in front of it for a long moment, blocking her way. “You drive me crazy and I still want to kiss you right now,” he murmured.
Why, oh why, did he always just say whatever was on his mind? It simultaneously drove her crazy and was also sort of hot. Well, not sort of. It was super hot. Just like the man himself.
She let out a growl of frustration and nudged him out of the way.
But he decided to follow her outside, carrying another towel with him. “Take this to dry off your seat.”
Dang it, why was he so thoughtful? Because her seat was definitely still wet even with the towel she’d sat on.
“Thanks…ah, I can pick my clothes up later, I guess?”
“I’ll get them to you. I can drop them off at your place.”
“Okay, thanks. Just text me,” she said as she slid into the front seat and rolled down her window, glad for a bit of a barrier between them.
“Are you actually going to text me back this time?” He leaned on the top of the frame, looking at her through the open window.
She tried not to obsess over the way his forearms and biceps flexed, or stare at the plethora of tattoos winding around said biceps and disappearing under the sleeves of his T-shirt. Some had to do with his military days, others were Celtic designs linked to his Irish heritage. Each one meant something, she knew. “I’ll text you back about my clothes.”
“But not about anything else, huh?” Again, his tone was dry.
“Not if you’re going to ask me out on another date.”
His gaze landed on her mouth again and heat rushed through her, wild and hungry. For him. It took all of her self-control not to whip her door open and devour him. Just climb him like a tree and have her way with him.
This man was her kryptonite and she was determined to stay away from him. She knew how good he tasted, how talented he was with that mouth, and she had so little control right now. So she started rolling the window up, which just made him laugh as he stood up. For some reason she always seemed to amuse him.
Meanwhile he drove her absolutely insane. Whenever she was around him, she wanted to crawl out of her skin he had her wound so tight.
Because getting involved with Carson Irish again? Absolutely no way in hell. That way would lead to heartbreak.
Chapter 2
Sienna sat down in front of Eileen Bentley’s desk and spread out the blown-up pictures of the yacht. She’d already sent them directly to her client, but she could admit that she liked to be a bit of a showman on occasion. Especially when she’d taken such gorgeous pictures.
After leaving Carson this morning, she’d stopped by the hospital to see a client—and had run into her brother Brodie, who was apparently smitten with someone—and she’d been running around all day ever since.
“These are incredible,” Eileen said, touching the photos. She shook her head slightly. “I can’t believe he thought he could hide this from me. That he thought I’d be so stupid.”
“That’s not all he’s hiding,” she said. Because Sienna hadn’t set up this meeting just to show her client the printed pictures. She pulled out another file and set it on the desk. “He’s hiding money in various accounts as well. A hundred thousand here, another hundred thousand there.”
Eileen’s expression darkened as she flipped open the file and briefly scanned the first page. The woman had given up her career for her husband, and they didn’t have kids. But her husband had wanted her to be a stay-at-home wife, to take care of everything for him, set up business dinners, organize his multiple businesses in an admin capacity. She’d basically been working for him for free as an executive assistant. And Eileen had been very good at her job. She’d saved her husband from a couple lawsuits and had organized two of his restaurants so much they’d nearly doubled earnings in one year.