Page 19 of Justified Fear (TFH Team Bravo #2)

Her heard her talking in the other room and realized she was talking to Maya.

He stared at himself in the mirror. He was a goner.

He didn’t need to know everything about her to know he was falling in love with her.

Not that he had ever really been in love before.

Maybe that’s why he knew—why he had been a coward.

He knew she was different. She was…everything.

Ryan glanced at the massive clawfoot tub, then made a decision.

There would be no more denying this attraction, this need he had for her.

Instead, he would do his best to let her know just how he felt about her.

After he started the water, Ryan rummaged around in her cabinets until he found some oils for the water.

The scent of plumeria filled the bathroom. Then, he went to get his woman.

When he opened the door, he couldn’t stop the bark of laughter. His partner had taken the space next to Keely. The look of disdain Maya sent his way told him just what she thought of him.

“I see I’ve been replaced.”

Keely smiled at him. Again, her eyes seemed to glow with her happiness. I did that.

“Well, you were taking a long time, and Maya was sad.”

He shook his head. “Rude.”

Maya shifted her weight to give him her back.

He walked over to the other side of the bed. “Come on, baby. How about a nice bath?”

Keely’s eyebrows rose. “Sounds like a dream.”

Before she could slip out of bed, he lifted her off the mattress and carried her into the bathroom. After setting her on her feet, he helped her into the tub. She stopped him.

“Can you hand me that hair doodad?”

He looked to where she pointed. There was a scrunchie on the counter, so he assumed she meant that.

She did some kind of magical move to get all the hair on top of her head, then she slipped the scrunchie around her messy bun. Somehow—against all physics—it stayed put. Then she sank down into the water.

“You are joining me, right?”

“I thought you would never ask.”

He sat on the opposite side of the tub.

“My dad redid this whole house years ago. Tutu wouldn’t move to the mainland, so he expanded the house. It was originally just a little two-bedroom bungalow.”

“And it’s yours now?”

She shook her head. “The family owns it. We aren’t into who gets what in our family. We share.”

“That’s nice.”

“Yeah, it is.” Then her smile dimmed. “Do we have to tell your boss about this? Like, did we break some kind of rule?”

He had a good feeling that Seth knew how Ryan felt about Keely. He shook his head. Relief filtered over her pretty features. She had been worried he would get in trouble.

“So, tell me about your time at the CIA?”

Keely woke the next morning and reached for Ryan. She frowned when she found nothing but cool sheets. It took her more than a few seconds to open her eyes. It was still dark, but maybe just before dawn. It wasn’t like her to wake up this early. Well, not since she had first moved to Hawai’i.

As she sat up, she winced. Ryan had taken her twice more during the night. She had been well-loved, and her muscle irritation showed it. With careful moves, she eased herself out of bed.

Did Ryan leave? That didn’t seem like him at all. Peeking out the blinds, she noticed that his truck was still there.

After a quick trip to the bathroom, she wrapped herself in a robe and went in search of Ryan and Maya.

When she entered the kitchen, she noticed there was a pot of coffee, so after grabbing a mug, she headed out back.

Keely assumed that Ryan had taken Maya out there.

She found the pair sitting on the lanai.

The first rays of the sunrise were peaking over the trees behind them.

Maya immediately stood and trotted over to her. Keely bent down to give the German Sheppard a pat or two.

“She was not happy about leaving you in the house alone,” Ryan said, his deep voice growling over the words.

She was still bending over when she looked up at him. His hair was a bit of a mess, and he had a day’s growth of beard on his jaw. YUM.

It took her a second to get his words to register. “I was rather sad when I found myself alone in bed.” She wandered over to him and sat in the chair nearest his.

“I wanted you to get some rest. I didn’t give you a lot of time for that last night.”

She snorted before taking a sip of coffee. “Did you hear me complain?”

His mouth twitched. “No.”

“I would love to ask you over for dinner tonight, but I don’t know if that’s too pushy.”

He raised his hand to cup her face. “Not too pushy. And I would love to come over for dinner.”

Before she could respond to that, the Dillon Security app on her phone went off. Frowning, she lifted her phone.

“We have company,” she said, as she rose.

He stopped her. “Let me check it out.”

“I met one of them yesterday. They’re from Dillon. Come with?”

His gaze searched hers for a second, then something that seemed to be relief filled his eyes. He followed her into the house, Maya on their heels.

She opened the door and found Ian Smith and a blonde woman standing on her stoop.

“Kind of early for a security check, isn’t it?” Keely asked them.

Ian had been very reassuring when he’d checked her system the day before.

“You didn’t use the code word we talked about yesterday, Keely.”

“I sort of have some protection,” she said, motioning to Ryan, who was standing behind her. She was in her robe. He was wearing only a pair of jeans. There was no doubt just what had been going on in her house the night before.

Ian’s blue gaze moved from her to Ryan, then back to Keely. “Interesting. Either way, you need to start using the security measures. Your father is worried that this has more to do with you than TFH thought.”

She felt rather than saw Ryan stiffen behind her. “Something happened?”

“Chad Brothers is missing, and from everything we could dig up on him, he wants revenge against Keely.”