Home > Don't Play With Odin (Trouble for Hire #2)(6)

Don't Play With Odin (Trouble for Hire #2)(6)
Author: Cynthia Eden

Clay didn’t take the hint. In fact, he leaned toward Maisey, even as she stood in Odin’s arms. “If you need me, remember, I’m right next door.” His voice deepened as Clay added, “I can come to you anytime, day or night.”

For some reason, those last few words…

I can come to you anytime, day or night.

They felt like a threat.

They even sounded like one.

So Odin responded as if they were one. “The hell you will.”

Clay jerked back. “What?”

“I’ll be with Maisey, day or night. So don’t worry. I’ve got her covered.” From here on out.

Maisey was stiff against him.

Clay slowly backed away.

Odin waited until Clay turned for his house and then—

“It’s a good thing you had all the files from your laptop backed up on your computer at work,” he told Maisey, making sure his voice was loud enough to carry. “That will sure help you out.”

Clay paused. A barely-there pause. A barely-there stumble of his feet. Then he was hurrying for his house. Almost double-timing it to get inside.

Oh, no. Not suspicious. At all.

“Odin.” Maisey’s voice. Whispery. Husky. Sensual. “Odin, I don’t have—”

He turned her in his arms. “Don’t worry, baby, I’ll stay the night.” Again, his voice was nice and loud. He knew they had an avid audience.

Maisey gave a little start of surprise.

Odin lowered his head so that his lips were near her ear. Her delectable scent teased him. “Inside,” he barely breathed the word.

She shivered.

“We’ll talk…inside,” he promised. His lips were so close to her that they brushed over the shell of her ear.

Another shiver shook her. But she gave a quick nod and pulled from him. Maisey nearly ran back to her house.

Odin took his time following her. Nice and slow. He let his gaze sweep over the area, and when he reached her porch, he turned toward Clay’s house.

Clay was watching him. His porch light fell on Clay as he stared straight over at Odin.

Odin tossed him a wave. Then he stalked inside Maisey’s home. He kicked the door shut behind him.

“OhmyGod,” Maisey’s voice was cracking. “What was all of that about?”

He crossed his arms over his chest. Put his back against the door. Considered his options. Decided to go with the truth. “Your neighbor is a liar. The hood of his car was ice cold. No way he just arrived home.”

Her eyes flared.

“He’s hiding something.” No, Odin wasn’t jumping on the serial killer theory, but he was worried. Clay had stared at Maisey like she was a freaking bowl of sweet, warm milk, and he was a thirsty cat.

“Why did you tell him I had a backup? I don’t have a backup! There is no backup for the material on my laptop!”

“He doesn’t know that. And now, if he is our guy, he’ll go after what he thinks is on the computer at your office. When he makes his move…” If he made a move. “We’ll have him.”

Her breath shuddered out. She inched toward him. “So you really believe me?” Hope glinted in her eyes.

“I believe something is happening here.” Two break-ins? That was bad. No way was he leaving Maisey on her own until he sorted out what was going on with her. “Guess you convinced me, after all.” Even without her murder board. He stuck out his hand. “Maisey Bright, you just hired yourself a PI.”

She looked at his hand. Then at him. Even before she launched forward, Odin knew she was going to hug him again.

He didn’t hate the idea. In fact, when Maisey happily launched her body at him and gave him a surprisingly strong squeeze, warmth poured through him.

Sometimes, you didn’t realize quite how cold you were, not until someone offered you a little fire.

“Thank you!” Maisey exclaimed. Her head pressed to his chest. “You will not regret this, I swear it!”

His hand lifted. He’d been intending to give her a reassuring pat on the shoulder, just as he’d done before. But…

Instead…

Both of his hands moved to curl around her. To hold her. He was way bigger than her. So much stronger. But damn if he didn’t feel like they fit together. Like she felt right.

“Odin?” Her head lifted. She didn’t let him go. Just kept herself crushed against him. “You won’t regret taking the case.”

Part of him already did. Because being this close to Maisey…

Hello, torture.

And Odin knew a thing or twenty about torture.

He forced his hands to release her, but she didn’t let him go. Just kept beaming up at him.

“You’re a hugger,” he finally said. “Got it.”

Surprise flashed on her face. “Actually, I’m not.” A laugh tumbled from her as Maisey’s dimples peeked at him. The laugh was light and sweet and exactly what he would expect from her. All infectious and cutely disarming. “I guess I just like hugging you.”

Dangerous.

That’s what she was. Sweetly disarming and incredibly dangerous. Because the woman should not go around dropping bombshell statements like that to him.

“This is probably the wrong time to ask.” Maisey licked her lips.

Do not react. Do not—

“But do you have a girlfriend? Wife? Any sort of significant other who would—”

“No.”

Her smile expanded. “That’s fabulous. Wonderful to know.”

It was? Wait. Did she feel the same hot surge of attraction that he—

“This way, no one will get upset when you spend the night with me.”

He focused on breathing. But her scent just got sucked into his nostrils.

“That is what you said you’d do, wasn’t it? Spend the night with me?” Now she did let him go, and he immediately missed her warmth as he went back to being in the cold.

Her eyebrows did a fast wiggle. “I’m assuming you said that statement all extra loud so Clay would know I’d have protection tonight.”

“Yes.” A rasp.

“And maybe you were just bullshitting but if you could actually stay, I would feel a million times better. At least, until I get the upgraded alarm system you were talking about. Wait, was that for real, too?” Now worry flashed across her face. “But if I’m giving you all of my savings to cover the costs of the case, I won’t have enough money to pay for the new alarm, too, and—”

“I’m not a bastard.”

“I never thought you were.” An immediate reply.

“Not some dick who takes advantage of desperate, really attractive women.”

Her eyebrows didn’t wiggle, but they did fly up. “Did you just call me desperate?”

Shit. He had. War would say it had been a typical Odin move. Open mouth, insert big-ass foot.

“And…really attractive?” She bit her lower lip. “Did you call me that, too?”

Because he didn’t want to risk saying something else wrong, Odin gave a curt nod.

“That is—no man has ever told me that before.”

“That you’re desperate?” No, he was sure the fools hadn’t. It was a dumbass thing to say. “Yeah, about that. I’m—”

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