Page 13 of Tice’s Kind of Trouble (Obsessive Protectors #2)

THIRTEEN

Bethany

When I locate Tice in his gigantic home, he’s standing at the window in the breakfast room, staring off toward the mountain.

His torso is bare. Below, he’s in a pair of dark gray joggers with bare feet, and a butt beneath that fabric that’s made for staring at.

But there’s a chill in the air that makes a shiver race from my fingers up to my spine.

At first, I wonder if I should leave him alone.

Something has changed and I’m not equipped to bridge the gap between the heated golden emotions of our time in bed and this…

This dark, utterly arctic energy.

Fingers twisted in the hem of his shirt—the one I borrowed from his dresser—I take a step back, but he swings around, his mask of anger shocking me.

“Bethany, I didn’t hear you.”

I’m a deer in headlights.

Until he steps toward me, transforming, fondness returning to his expression.

“Look at you. A damned fantasy in my shirt.” His shoulders soften as he looks me over with appreciation and my body lights up like he’s flipped a switch. “Are you okay, sweetheart?”

Nodding, I step into his open arms, but my heart is bumping in my throat. Nerves still twinge in my stomach.

“Are you hungry?” he asks, pressing a kiss to my forehead as his warm hands slide up and down my arms.

“I could eat.” Maybe it will help this uncertain feeling.

“Let me cook for you.”

“Oh…” I try to pull away, but he holds me closer. “You don’t have to do that. I could just eat cereal or something.”

He makes a choked sound. “Bethany, you’re not serious right now. I’m not a frat boy. I’m a man who knows how to feed his woman.”

When he cups my face in his hands, most of the worry slides away. Especially when he kisses me like he did earlier. Completely focused, a warm rumble in his chest, his tongue and lips hungry to taste me.

He tears away with a curse. “We need to stop that now.”

He plants me on a stool at the counter while he cooks. Really cooks. Chops vegetables, sautées them like a pro, and delivers a plate of stir fry that makes my mouth water and my stomach rumble.

Wow, how did he know?

“You’re very impressive, Tice. My favorite food is the stir-fry from?—”

“Kenneth’s Grill.”

I gape at him, my fork held over the plate as I try to figure out the look on his face. “How did you know that?”

“I have my ways.”

Something darkens in his expression as he slides onto the stool beside me. When he tugs my seat so I’m between his knees, he looks down for a beat.

Cool fingers of uncertainty skate along my spine. Something is wrong.

When he looks at me again, he takes the fork from my hand and sets it aside.

The ominous cloud is back around him, but there are other undercurrents now when he takes my hands between his.

“I need to confess something.”

Oh. No.

“Oh…okay.” I stammer nervously.

As if he’s in great pain, he winces. “I didn’t just run a normal background check. I did some extra research on you.”

My throat feels weirdly dry. “What kind of research?”

“I invaded your privacy. Looked at your social media. Dug into who you are friends with. Where you like to go. Things that you shared mostly, but I also asked around town to some of my…more knowledgeable contacts.”

Wow. He really was interested in me.

Tilting my head, I look at him as he stares at our clasped hands. “Tice, you weren’t going to do anything bad with that. I’m sure. I can just tell that’s the kind of man you are. And my brother never would have agreed to work with someone?—”

Tice shakes his head, his mouth compressing tightly. “He doesn’t know I was desperate to get close to you. That kind of desperation makes a man do things that he would never do otherwise.”

This all feels big. So much bigger than I know how to process. Tice was obsessed with me. Wanted to know everything.

It feels a little scary, a little thrilling, and yet, very right.

I swallow, my breath coming in too slowly as I fight against tight muscles. “Did you mean me any harm?”

“No. Never. I was going to ask you out on a date. I planned on stealing your heart the old fashioned way.”

Aw. I shiver as I exhale. See, everything is fine.

“That makes me feel better,” I admit.

Tice lifts those dark brown eyes to mine, a plea in his expression. “Forgive me?”

I nod vigorously and pull my hand free, so I can brush my fingertips over the scruff that’s growing in along his jaw. How is he even sexier than before?

“I don’t think the usual rules apply to us, Tice.”

He searches my expression.

When I lean in, he holds my gaze and I whisper. “I forgive you.”

He shudders when I kiss him, his hand moving to my lower back possessivly.

Then I pick up the fork and take bite of the wonderful food he made for me because he cared enough to find out what I like.

Flavor explodes with my first bite. “This is soooo good.”

He rubs my back, chuckles in disbelief, “Just like that, you forgive me?”

I shrug as I pick up another bite, the aroma of peppers and spices washing over me in a teasing wave. “We’re writing new rules here, aren’t we?”

“You’re rewriting everything, Bethany,” he replies roughly. His muscular shoulders rising and falling with a hard breath.

When I smile at him, he swallows loudly and looks at the ceiling. “Honey, be easy on me, my fucking heart can’t take much of that.”

I pause waiting for him to continue, but he just rubs the heel of his hand against his forehead. “What? I just smiled.”

“I know,” he loops an arm around my waist, cinching me closer, causing my stool to squeak on the pristine stone floor. “That’s the smile you had in the first photo I saw of you. The one that made me sit up in my damned truck like I’d been struck by lightning.”

My body stirs, just the thought of having such an affect on Tice makes me tingle all over.

“Which picture was that?”

He gets a sheepish grin on his face. “It’s not racy or anything like that. It’s…sweet. The one with you in the field with the flowers. You’re wearing a red T-shirt and little black shorts, holding that little fluff-ball puppy.”

“Oh.” I laugh, my cheeks plumping from the smile. “I know that photo. He was my first rescue, Rudy. That little guy was an absolute wild thing in all the best ways. I could barely get him to hold still for a photo. Did you know I run an animal rescue organization?”

“I know everything except the things inside your head…” he presses his hand over my heart, splaying his large fingers across my tingling skin. “And what’s in here. That’s the secret place I want to unravel.”

A full body flush takes hold of me. I had no idea love was so visceral.

But something has taken over my body. Heavens. This man .

I’m not sure I can take the feelings he cause to bloom in me like wildflowers. It’s almost too bright, the feeling so big I’m ripping at the seams a little bit.

I love it.

“Slaying me, Tice.” I wave my fork at him. “Now let me eat, I have a feeling I’m gonna need my strength for tonight.” With that I drop my eyes down his body, allowing myself to look at the narrowness of his waist, the heaviness between his thighs, hidden behind those tempting track pants.

Whoa girl. Eat some food because the man has stamina. It’s written all over his muscles.

I scoop up another bite, enjoying his presence by my side, but his mood seems to fall as he traces a finger along my spine. Sensing the shift in him, I decide that the best way to address it is head on.

“Hey, I can tell something is bothering you,” I say as I glance over at him. “Why don’t you tell me why you looked like you were ready to burn down the city when I walked in on you earlier?”