Page 6 of I’ll Be Watching You

He grinned, those bright blue eyes flashing. “I’m full of surprises.”

Chapter Two

Early in the morning, I slipped out of bed. In the dim light I stared appreciatively at Cal’s naked back as he sprawled over my sheets, the comforter twisted between his legs and only partly covering his very attractive ass. Tito was curled up in the crook of Cal’s arm. He was so damn good-looking, so smart, and so much fun. And he liked cats. I’d hit the jackpot. Also, he wasn’t intimidated by my huge extended family. The fact that I hadn’t been looking for a relationship when he walked into my life made this all feel a bit surreal.

I didn’t want to wake him, but I needed a shower. As quietly as possible, I went into the bathroom and turned on the water. Even though I was normally an early riser, Cal wore me out in all the best ways and I could easily have slept another hour or two. It wasn’t just the sex that was good—late last night, we’d slipped into my backyard hot tub completely naked and just talked. I told him everything I’d done on my dad’s case, why I had halted the investigation earlier this year, and why I couldn’t let it go.

He listened, asked thoughtful questions, and then said, If you need my help, just ask.

I might have fallen a little bit in love then. But I wasn’t in a rush, so didn’t want to explore too deeply how I felt about a man I’d only known for two months.

I quickly showered, dried off, and pulled a wide-toothed comb through my shoulder-length dark blond hair. It was thick and wavy, and either would dry naturally and look amazing, or dry naturally and look like a rat’s nest. I put a hair band around my wrist in case of the latter and stepped out of the bathroom.

Cal was sitting up in bed and stretching. He was still naked and showed no sign of modesty as he looked at me with sleepy eyes. “I wish you’d woken me up,” he said, his faint Texas accent more pronounced when he was tired. “I would have showered with you.” He smiled, yawned.

“I have to go, and you have a meeting later this morning.”

“Damn, I had to fall for a responsible woman,” he said as he stood. He kissed me, played with my towel. “What time do you have to go?”

“Now.”

“I think you should get dressed first.”

“Good idea.”

I dropped my towel just to tease him, then pulled on underwear, my bra, jeans, white T-shirt, and topped it with an oversize shirt that would easily conceal my weapon. Cal watched me the entire time.

“You’re just making it worse for yourself,” I said smugly and gestured to his growing penis.

“I like watching you.”

“Pervert.” I grabbed my favorite gun to carry concealed, my Sig Sauer P365, checked the magazine, snapped it back in place, and holstered it.

“Now you’re really trying to make me horny,” he said with a lopsided grin.

“Save it for later,” I said. “When are you leaving?”

He pulled on shorts and followed me to the kitchen. “I don’t have to be downtown until ten. I’m going to take a run through the preserve first. I love that I can just hop your back wall and it’s a short hike to one of my favorite trails.”

My little house in Sunnyslope backed up to the southwest edge of the Phoenix Mountains Preserve.

I pulled out the leftover spaghetti and ate a couple bites cold. He looked at me as if I’d committed a sin.

“What?” I asked. “I just need a little fuel until I get my coffee.”

“Will I see you tonight?”

“Maybe. I’ll text you later when I know what I’m doing.”

I grabbed one of my many YETI travel mugs that I would fill with iced coffee when I got to the coffee shop.

“Make sure Tito has enough food and water,” I said. “I don’t know when I’ll be back.”

Cal cut off my path, put his hands on my arms. “Be careful with this woman,” he said. “The call out of the blue is odd.”

“True, but I haven’t been actively investigating for months, so there’s no reason for someone to try to throw me off. She definitely saw something suspicious, but maybe it has nothing to do with my dad. I won’t know until I question her.”

He touched my chin in an endearing way. Looked me in the eyes. There was so much going on between us that I wasn’t quite sure what to do about it, but it didn’t scare me as much as I thought it would.