He drew back his head, her insult hitting him square between the eyes.
Her blue eyes sparked with nervousness.“It’s not that I want to leave.I just don’t want to overstay my welcome.”
Brick dragged a palm over his face.He barely knew this woman, but the way his heart had stopped when he thought she wanted to leave—it was a reaction he wasn’t prepared to experience at this stage of their relationship.Hell, he couldn’t even call it that.“Listen,” he began.“I like you, Natasha.If you’re comfortable staying with me, I’d love for you to spend the night.No pressure, but you’re welcome, and I’d enjoy the time with you.”
Her eyes softened, and a wide, tentative smile pulled up her lips.“I’d like that a lot.”
“Good.”He threaded his fingers with hers.“And I hope you’ll want to see me again after tonight.”
Her smile turned wistful.“Stranger things have happened.”She shook out her panties, stepped into them, and stood.
He groaned at the view of her luscious ass.He grazed her cheek with his hand and she giggled.Catching her in his arms, he pulled her down beside him against the headboard.“Well,” he drawled.“What do you want to do?”
“Hmm.”She tapped one slim finger to her chin.“That tea you mentioned earlier sounds great.”
“Sure, tea it is.”He went to the little coffee bar nestled into the wall between the main room and the bathroom.He flicked on the kettle and tore open a tea bag.
“Is there anything you like to watch?”she called.
“We can rent a movie if you want.”
Minutes later, he passed her the cup of tea.“A movie?”she asked with a grin.
“Isn’t that what people do on dates?Dinner and a movie?”
Her sexy smile lit her face.“I guess you’ve got me there.This most definitely turned out to be a date.”
“I hope we can see each other again, Natasha.”
There was that haunted look again.Part of him wondered if she preferred a nickname, but there was no way to ask without prying.He fixed himself a cup of coffee and they settled on an action movie.
A couple of hours later they showered together, and he took his time sudsing every inch of her perfect body before they fell into bed all over again.
He couldn’t get enough of Natasha.In a short time, she’d consumed his every thought.Hours later, he fell asleep spooning her.
Beep,beep,beep
Brick jolted at the sound of his alarm.He was already dreading his flight knowing he’d have to leave behind the most perfect woman.With her warm little body next to him, he’d slept better than he had in years.
Stretching for her slim, sexy waist, he found only cold, empty sheets.
Panic pinched his heart.“Natasha?”
CHAPTER 3
Sleep surely wouldn’tcome.Brick hadn’t even tried.After wrapping things up at the office, he’d headed to his town house on the west side of Seattle.The September night sky was overcast.Unable to stop pacing, he moved outside to the rear balcony.The cool air brought a level of calm.
It was after 10:00p.m.Dammit, Ghost could have gone to sleep.He’d promised to look for Natalie, but maybe he hadn’t meant right away.Anxiousness rippled along Brick’s forearms.He didn’t just need to know what kind of trouble Natalie was really in—he needed to speak to her, for Christ’s sake.
A kid.
Possibly his kid.The idea that she’d been pregnant with his child and hadn’t tried to reach him, hadn’t even fucking told him, made his blood pressure hit the roof.She’d gone on and raised their baby without his knowing—and it fucking gutted him.
He hadn’t been given the choice.
Ifthe kid was his.He was getting ahead of himself.The boy could be someone else’s.He pulled out his phone and looked at the news article again.He studied the child’s face.As a toddler, Brick had had the same ringlets, which his mother never cut.The same big brown eyes.God, the more he looked, the more the tike seemed to be the spitting image of himself at that age.
He replayed that night in his mind.The night he’d literally fallen for her.Every day since waking to find his hotel bed empty, not even a damn note left behind, he’d willed her to find him.Occasionally he’d searched social media, but he’d come up empty-handed every time.
