Page 27 of Covert Affections (Shadow Agents/PSI-Ops #5)
Her scent slid over him. It was a mix of honey and melon with traces of peppermint.
Aside from the peppermint, her scent was similar to that of the young woman behind the grocery store years ago.
The one Efren had pinned to a dumpster. Lindy’s hair was dark like the young woman’s had been too.
There were other similarities as well, but he’d been in a heightened state back then, torn between wanting to protect the young woman and wanting to rip Efren to shreds.
There was a chance he was reading too much into it all now and finding similarities between Lindy and the young woman from the past because he wanted to, not because they really existed. Because, if she was the young woman from years ago, all grown up now, it meant she was safe from Efren.
That the bastard hadn’t doubled back, found her and finished what he’d started. That she’d gone on to grow into the knock-out before him now.
Jesse had spent a long time looking for the young woman, desperate to know she was all right.
Hell, he still had the small fragment of cardboard with her blood on it, though he couldn’t explain why it was he’d kept it.
The idea that he’d find her now, by way of a mission he’d been sent on that was tied to Charley, was too much for him to buy into.
He nearly laughed at himself for even entertaining the thought.
Lindy stirred in her sleep, a small frown creasing her brow. Without thinking, Jesse touched her hand. She settled almost instantly, her features softening.
Holy shit. She was even more beautiful up close.
Reaching up, he put his hand on her cheek, his intent to wake her from her nightmare and probably scare the ever-loving hell out of her in the process.
After all, she’d fallen asleep in the chair while he was outside on the porch, in cat form.
Not standing in her living room, touching her, as a human male.
She’d probably think he was some kind of serial killer or something.
“Lindy,” he said softly, readying himself for the inevitable panic that was to follow.
She didn’t wake, but she did settle. The smell of fear that had been coming from her vanished, leaving her sweet, alluring scent in its wake.
Jesse breathed it in, and his cat side pushed up quickly, leaving his eyes burning ever so slightly from a shift. He didn’t need to see himself to know the green in his eyes was more intense now.
Memories of the day he’d discovered Efren behind the grocery store in town came flooding back to him. Jesse had been so blinded by the need to protect the young woman and exact revenge on Efren that, in the end, he’d lost track of the woman.
As he stared at Lindy, his hand on her cheek still, Jesse’s chest tightened, wanting her to be the same woman from years ago. It was a foolish notion—thinking she might possibly be the same woman.
Standing, Jesse took a moment to right himself and gather his composure.
His eyes returned to normal, and he glanced around the small living room.
The novel Lindy had been reading lay face-down on the floor where it had fallen from her lap.
He picked it up and read the back, confirming he’d been right about what book he’d looked up. She was into some dark, kinky shit.
As he flipped through the book, scanning random pages, he realized the only thing he was missing was a mask. Then he’d have checked most of the boxes. He ended up on the trigger list page and snorted as he saw the hero being referred to as morally gray.
Yeah. That fit.
Somehow, Jesse doubted Lindy would be turned on finding a stranger in her home at all, let alone while she was sleeping. His guess, she’d call the police and demand he be locked away for good.
Lindy shivered in her sleep, and a pang of concern slid through Jesse.
A throw blanket lay crumpled on one end of the mustard-yellow sofa.
Before he could think better of it, Jesse grabbed it and gently draped it over Lindy's sleeping form.
She stirred slightly, and he froze. When she settled again, he decided to take a minute and explore her home.
He walked through each room, noting every entrance and exit point and everything that needed to be fixed.
The list was long.
He didn’t want to wake her and had no intention of going to sleep himself, so he found small projects he could do that wouldn’t disturb her. He went back and forth from the garage to the house, gathering supplies he needed. Lindy slept through it all.
By the time sunrise came, Jesse had fixed the locks on the attic windows, the kitchen windows and her bedroom window.
He’d temporarily fixed the back door lock as well.
He’d addressed the issue of some chewed wiring in the attic, surveyed what needed to be done to fix the roof at least temporarily, and handled the leaky bathroom faucet.
There was so much more he wanted to do, but he didn’t want to chance Lindy waking and finding him in her home.
But he had a list now of items needed to do the other repairs and would see to it they were handled.
He made his way down the attic steps to the main level and found she was still resting peacefully in the chair where he’d left her. Jesse covered the distance to her and knelt before her, wanting desperately to touch her smooth skin.
Jesse leaned and pressed his lips gently to her forehead as if they’d been longtime lovers.
The act caught him so off guard that he stepped back from her fast, staring at his hand like it had something to do with his bizarre behavior.
He was out the front window and to his truck in seconds, worried that if he didn’t put distance between himself and the raven-haired goddess, he’d do something extra stupid.