Page 9 of The Chaos She Brings

“This is… homey,” she says, her tone light but with a hint of sarcasm.

I can’t help the sharp laugh that escapes me. “Not really the vibe I’m going for.”

I watch her silently judge my house, probably thinking it’s too cold, too sterile. She doesn’t get it. She doesn’t know that the neatness, the order, is the only thing standing between me and chaos.

We head right inside the hall towards the stairs; the left takes you to the living room then further on to the kitchen behind it.

“Yep. I’m definitely getting cleaner vibes,” she states.

I look over my shoulder at her as we ascend the stairs and I realise I’m not sure what bothers me more—the fact that she is so fucking distracting, or the fact that, for some reason, I don’t want her to stop talking.

“I also work at Haven.” I turn my head back and continue walking.

“Did you just… share something with me?”

I shrug. “Guess so.”

“So, what do you do at Haven?”

“I helped Nate open it. But basically, anything to do with tech: cybersecurity, intelligence, data analysis.”

“Wowza.”

We reach the guest room, and I motion her inside. Like the rest of the house, the space isn’t particularly inviting, but it’s not like she’s here for a spa weekend. There’s a bed, a side table, a chest of drawers—it’s enough.

“You should sleep. We can work out a game plan for everything else later.”

“Okay.” She nods, shuffling from foot to foot.

I move to head in the direction of my room when her hand on my arm stops me. It’s like electricity jumps from her skin to mine where we’re touching and I want to wrench my arm back to avoid being burned.

“Thanks Kai. I really appreciate you helping me.”

I don’t answer, too confused by the emotions swirling inside me, so instead I give a terse nod then leave her standing in the doorway.

But as I turn, I can’t shake the feeling that she’s still watching me—like her gaze is a weight on my back, pulling me in.

Fuck. I’m not sure if I’m pissed off at her for making me feel anything, or pissed at myself for letting it happen. I don't do emotions. I don’t do attachments. I don’t do... whatever the hell this is.

3

Welcome To My World

Kai to Nate: She’s in my space. [delivered]

Tess

Istretchmyarmsabove me like a cat and crack my back.

I fell asleep within five minutes of my head hitting the pillow once I crawled into bed.

In search of my mysterious host I pad down the stairs in the direction of where he’d said the kitchen was earlier.

I stop dead in my tracks.

So much skin.

Kai is standing in the kitchen with nothing but low strung gym shorts. There’s a smattering of dark curls on his chest—not too much, but enough to tell me he’s all man. I tracethe sight with my eyes, imagining kissing a path from his collarbone all the way down to that tempting V, and the darker curls that dip into his shorts. Like a roadmap pointing the direction to what I bet is a very impressive destination.