“You’re holding my coffee hostage?”
“Yes.” He ordered a venti dark roast and breakfast sandwich, and only when it was all in his hands did he return my caffeine.
“Rude,” I huffed, hugging my coffee close as we moved for the exit.
“You sneak off on me, putting yourself in jeopardy and my promise to your brother at risk of being broken, and I’m the bad guy?” Xander shook his head as he held the door open for me.
“I was just having some fun,” I said, stepping out onto the sidewalk. “What’s the big deal?”
“The big deal is that I can’t protect you if I’m not there.” Xander looked both ways and then gestured for me to cross the lot toward my van. “I thought I could trust you for two minutes. Guess I was wrong.”
“I’m sorry,” I said. “I was just playing with you.”
“This isn’t a game, Kelly. We have to be able to trust each other. Or else the next two weeks are just going to be miserable for both of us. I can’t be worried you’re going to run off every time my back is turned.”
“And I don’t want to be told no every time I want to do something fun.”
“I understand that, but you have to let me do my job,” he said as we reached my van.
“How’d you find me anyway?”
“I fucking followed you.” He frowned, his forehead wrinkling. “And the fact that you didn’t notice makes me even more concerned.”
“I wasn’t looking,” I said defensively. “I was just enjoying the ride.”
“And when that Hart Throb posts her picture on social media and it’s obvious to anyone that she met you at work, how long do you think before photographers realize where you are and show up here looking for you? Do you enjoy being followed with cameras?”
He was right. I’d probably blown my cover. “There are a gazillion Starbucks,” I argued weakly.
“Kelly.”
“Okay, okay.” I gave him two thumps on the chest. Felt like granite under my hand. “Let’s stop fighting. I won’t take off again.”
“Thank you.” He opened the driver’s side door for me, and I slid in behind the wheel.
“I need to go grocery shopping,” I told him. “Should we do it now?”
“Yeah. Might be good to do it early—stores will be less crowded. But we need to talk about kitchen privileges.” He held up the bag containing his breakfast sandwich. “I can’t do this for every meal.”
I tapped my lips with one finger, taking much longer than necessary to consider the issue. “Fine. You can have kitchen privileges.”
“And I’ll eventually need to take a shower.”
Another deep drag of air and dramatic sigh. “Shower privileges too.”
“I’ll check for the nearest store on my phone and then I’ll text you the location and directions. Don’t leave without me.”
I saluted. “Yes, sir.”
He shut the van door and walked toward his SUV, parked across from me.
I watched him in the sideview mirror. “Xander Buckley, you totally ruined my plans,” I murmured, taking a sip of my coffee. “But I gotta admit, you have a nice butt.”
As he tucked his long, muscular body into the driver’s seat of his car, I found myself thinking about those shower privileges. About him naked in my bathroom. Hot and wet.
I didn’t hate the idea.
When we got back to the house after grocery shopping, I realized I’d forgotten the code for the front door. While Xander stood holding four grocery bags in his arms, I tried a few different number combinations I thought it might be, but nothing was right.
I turned to him sheepishly. “I forgot it.”
“So now what?”
“I have to check my email.” I dug through my purse for my phone and discovered it wasn’t in there. “Shoot. You know what? I was so excited to escape you this morning, I guess I ran out without it.”
Xander sighed heavily, setting down the grocery bags and reaching into his back pocket. “Can you log in on my phone?”
“Yes.” I took his phone, logged into my account through the app, and located the forwarded email from Jess. Once the door was open, I handed his phone back to him. “Success!”
He looked at the screen and frowned. “You didn’t log out.”
“Do I need to? Are you going to steal my identity or something?”
That earned me a scathing glare. “Any time you log in on someone else’s device, you should log out. Are you changing your passwords frequently enough?”
“Define ‘enough.’”
“Every three months.”
“Then no.”
Grumbling, he tucked his phone back into his pocket and picked up the bags again.
After we put the groceries away, I found a blender in one of the cupboards and made myself a smoothie. Feeling magnanimous, I even offered one to Xander, who was back in his front porch office, but he declined. I noticed he’d kept his groceries separate from mine—he had his own little section in the fridge and kept the other stuff in plastic bags at one end of the counter.
Ridiculous. Did he think I was going to steal his eggs? His protein bars? Maybe he was worried I’d get my hands on his salami.
That actually made me laugh.
Smoothie in hand, I packed a bag with some sunscreen, a floppy hat, a beach towel, my notebook full of lyrics, a pencil, and a paperback. Then I went out to one of the Adirondack chairs at the side of the house and stretched out the towel.
After spraying myself down with SPF 50, I spent the next several hours happily reading romance in the sunshine. I only looked up when a huge shadow fell across my face.
Xander stood between me and the sky. “Hey.”
“You’re blocking my sun,” I said, sliding my sunglasses to the top of my head.
“I’m going inside to make a sandwich.”
“Okay. Maybe while you’re eating your lunch, I’ll get my run in.”
“No.” He shook his head. “You’re not to take a run alone. I’ll go with you.”
“I can’t even jog alone? Nobody’s here! I didn’t see a single soul when I ran yesterday.” I gestured toward the woods.
Frowning, he scanned the perimeter. “This area isn’t secure. There’s no gate on the driveway. I have no idea where the fences are. Anyone could be lurking around here.”
“So you’re just going to trot along behind me? Lurking?”
“Yes.”
I lowered my shades over my eyes again. “This vacation sucks.”
“Don’t be so dramatic,” he said. “You won’t even know I’m there.” A hint of a smirk. “Unless you want to race me.”
“Xander! I’m not racing you! Your legs are twice as long as mine!”
“Come on, I’ll give you a head start.”
“You sound like Kevin—who always lied about the head starts, by the way.”
“Well, I play fair.” The big oaf tapped my nose. “You know, you’re getting kinda pink out here.”
Swatting his hand away with my book, I touched my nose—it did feel tender and hot. “Dammit, I put sunscreen on.”