Page 56 of Romancing His Heart

Lifting my eyes, I’m painfully aware that I’m on my knees between his legs. My heart rate speeds up as he studies me. Loki clears his throat, and the term ‘chest heaving’comes to mind.

“Red?”

“Ah, right.”Control your breathing, Sloane. Jesus, you sound like an animal in heat. “Um, I’m sorry.”

“Don’t.” His voice is a command and has me stilling my movements. “Don’t apologize for things that aren’t your fault. You do that with everyone. Don’t.” He takes a deep breath. “Please don’t do it with me.” Loki’s voice doesn’t leave room for negotiation, but it’s taken on a softness I wasn’t expecting.

“We need to wash out the cuts. I think you have wood chips and probably some splinters in them.” Loki closes his fingers around mine, and I gasp. The innocent touch short circuits my brain.

“I said they’re fine. What were you trying to make?”

My throat is suddenly too dry to speak, so I lick my lips and watch his gaze follow the movement of my tongue. “C-Coffee cake,” I squeak.

He raises an eyebrow, and a grin follows. “You were making a coffee cake at dinnertime?”

“I told you I’m not very good at this adulting thing,” I say. Shrugging my shoulders, I avert my eyes.

My body goes still as I feel him lean into me. With his mouth at my ear, he whispers, “No one is good at adulting, Red. Some are just better at hiding it. We all need a little help from our friends.”

Turning my cheek a fraction, I stare into his eyes. “Is that what we are, Loki? Friends?”

Our faces are so close I feel the air swish around us as he inhales.

“Yeah, Red. We’re friends,” he replies hoarsely. The vein in his neck the only indication he isn’t as calm as his body portrays. “And I take care of my friends. All of them, in every way.”

“Every way?” I repeat.

He doesn’t reply with words, only a slight nod of his head next to my face, and my lips part. If this were one of my stories, this is where the hero would lean in, capturing the heroine’s mouth with his. But this isn’t a romance novel, and I’m no one’s heroine.

He sits back suddenly, and I’m left bereft. My body is flush with need, but sitting on my knees before him, embarrassment from his rejection has me blinking back moisture from my eyes. “You help your friends,” I repeat, trying to find my words. Any words at this point would do. After opening the alcohol, I saturate a cotton round.

“Yes.”

Way to give me something to work with here, Loki.

“Can I ask you a question?”

“Always,” he whispers.

“How did you know Lanie and Dex would fall for each other?” I ask as a distraction while I apply the rubbing alcohol.

He hisses but doesn’t complain. I’ve heard Lanie’s love story, and Julia told me about her and Trevor. What always shocks me is how their happiness is a direct result of Loki’s meddling.

“I didn’t. Well, at least, not at first. After their first meeting, I was pretty sure Dex had met his match, though.” He smiles at the memory. “My goal in getting Lanie to North Carolina was twofold. Dexter desperately needed a nanny … a good one, and Trevor needed Julia. After everything went down with Trevor in Boston, I kept tabs on Jules. I know it was wrong, but I also did it to keep her safe. Then, I knew getting Lanie to take that job would eventually lead Julia back to Trevor. The first time I met Jules, I knew she was perfect for Trevor. Lanie and Dex were a happy by-product.”

“But how did you do it?” I ask while pulling out a splinter with a pair of tweezers.

“Ah, looking for all my secrets, are you?”

When I tug a little harder than needed at another tiny piece of wood, he yelps.

“I’m teasing, Red. I had help, but we basically took over their computers remotely and made sure she only saw Dexter’s ad from the nanny agency. Then, we flooded their inboxes with information about Waverley-Cay.”

“Sneaky.”

“Sometimes, you have to be,” he admits.

“Did you ever worry they’d be pissed?”