“Why would I mind?”
She lifted a shoulder, the action jerky. “I don’t want to put you in danger.”
He snorted in response and went to the stovetop where he pulled the teapot off the burner and poured a mug of hot water for her.
She inhaled slightly as he set it in front of her. “I didn’t know you drank tea,” she murmured.
“I don’t. I remembered you said you liked chamomile tea at night.” So he’d bought some in case she ever decided to stay over. But then when he’d pushed for just a little bit more from her, relationship-wise, she’d iced him out completely. It still stung.
“Oh…” She cleared her throat. “Ah, thank you.” Then she avoided his gaze and took a sip of her tea, sighing as she set it back on the tabletop. “So when do you think I’ll be able to go back to my house?”
“Do you really want to go back right now?” he asked dryly.
“No.” She let out a little shudder and wrapped her arms around herself. In that moment, he wished he had the right to comfort her. “I just meant like, when do you think it will be safe?”
Sighing, he sat at the table across from her. He wished he had an answer, hated that she was displaced and scared and everything was up in the air. “There are too many unknowns right now. And I don’t like the thought of you going back to a place where someone hacked your security so easily.”
She tapped her finger against her mug, her expression thoughtful. “I started making a list of recent cases, the ones I wrapped up.”
“What about the one you’re working on now?”
“I’m including that one too. But I can’t imagine why my client’s husband would come after me. He probably doesn’t even know that I discovered his yacht and other assets yet. Or he could have—because she might have already called her lawyer.”
“Hiding a yacht,” Carson muttered.
She snorted in agreement. “Right? It’s so obnoxious. So…” She cleared her throat, her smile dimming. “I’ll get my file together and send it to you or your partner?”
“Just make it both of us.” Because he’d be working this case too even if he wasn’t officially on it. Nothing could stop him from finding out who’d tried to hurt Sienna.
* * *
Sitting on the guest bed in Carson’s condo, Sienna impatiently tapped her finger against her mug of tea as the phone rang once, twice…
“Hey, I was just talking about you.” Eileen’s voice was bright and cheerful even with the later hour.
“I hope you were saying only good things.”
Her client laughed. “Oh, definitely. My soon-to-be ex is almost sure to settle now. I contacted Valentina with all the information you gave me and she’s reached out to his attorney.”
“Already?”
“Yep. I wasn’t going to sit on this. I want this wrapped up and done with. And I’m sure he does too, even if he doesn’t want to settle with me.”
Well, that answered Sienna’s question about whether Eileen had already contacted Valentina, the attorney who often recommended Sienna’s services. She’d reached out to her because she wanted to talk to all her current clients in case the break-in at her place had anything to do with anyone she’d worked for.
“I just wish I could have seen his face when he saw those pictures you took!” She let out a laugh that was just a little too loud and Sienna wondered if she’d been drinking. “It feels a bit petty but I love that he’s getting this information on a Friday night. I hope it ruins his whole weekend. Bastard.”
“I’m glad things are moving forward for you.”
“Thanks. Hey, is everything okay?”
“Oh yeah, fine. I’d only called to see if you’d contacted Valentina about everything. I called her but she didn’t answer.”
“Probably because she’s talking to the slime’s attorney right now.” Another laugh-snort of glee.
“Listen…” Sienna tried to find the right words, wanted to say this carefully. “Someone broke into my house earlier.”
“Oh my God, are you okay?”
“I’m fine. The police are handling it but…I don’t know if it had anything to do with any of my cases. I just wanted to let you know so you could stay safe and just take extra precautions.” Sienna wouldn’t be able to live with herself if she didn’t say something and then Eileen got hurt.
“Thanks for the heads-up. I’m actually in Miami already. A friend of mine flew us down on her private plane and I’m staying here for a bit.”
“I’m glad to hear that.” She’d certainly sleep better knowing that Eileen was out of the city.
Once they wrapped things up Sienna tried Valentina again, but got no answer. After texting her, she pulled up her files and started compiling a list even as sleep pushed in on her. This bed was so comfy and inviting and her brain was more than done for the day.
She was so tempted to shut her laptop and search Carson out—maybe see if he wanted her to join him in his bed. But nope. She had more self-control than that.
Hopefully.
Chapter 5
The next morning Sienna stumbled into Carson’s kitchen, the scent of rich coffee filling the air. Normally she was a morning person, but she was dragging today. After tossing and turning for ages, she’d finally snagged a few hours of rest, but it hadn’t been solid sleep and she was feeling it now.
For some reason she wasn’t surprised that sexy-as-sin Carson was already at his kitchen table, working away on his laptop. The man looked wide-awake with damp hair, a T-shirt that molded to annoyingly muscular biceps, and a cup of coffee steaming in front of him.
“Did you get any sleep last night?” she murmured as she headed straight for the coffeepot.
“A little bit.” He glanced over at her, his gaze lingering on her bare legs for a long moment.
A shiver of delight rolled through her, waking her up as much as she imagined her first shot of caffeine would. He should not be able to affect her with just one look, but there it was. The man was her weakness.
“Your guest bed is soft.” She poured herself a mug, inhaled the pure goodness.
“My bed is more comfortable.” His tone was dry, pulling a startled laugh from her.
“It’s too early for that kind of talk,” she murmured as she turned to face him. No way were they going to talk about “them” or…whatever. No relationship talk. Because they didn’t have one other than friendship. That was all. Still…his bed was soft, dang it.
“Or maybe it’s exactly the right time. Maybe I can get you to finally tell me why you threw up all those walls between us after we had sex.” Carson shifted in his chair, stretched out his long, muscular legs that even jeans couldn’t hide. His dark hair was slightly mussed and he still hadn’t shaved so his scruff was a bit longer and oh God, it looked good on him. His tattoos peeked out from his T-shirt and she had to resist the urge to look at them—to walk right up to him and take his face in her hands. To kiss him the way her entire body craved.
She could feel the full weight of his attention on her and, pre-caffeine, that was a whole lot. Clearly she wasn’t thinking because she was so tempted to just throw caution to the wind and jump this man. And something told her that he’d let her. Heck, he’d welcome it. Oh no. No, no, no.