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While she sits on the side of the bed, I get dressed in a pair of sweats and put on a sweatshirt before grabbing my sneakers from the closet.

“Do you need that?” she asks, and I turn to look at her as I lift my flashlight from the top drawer of my dresser. “Oh, never mind.”

“Stay here with Storm.”

“He should go with you.”

“If it’s a bear, I’d rather him be inside with you.” I walk to the bed and give her a swift kiss, then tell Storm to stay before I walk out of the room. Going outside, I head around to the side of the house and just stand in the dark for a minute listening.

Not hearing anything out of place, I flip on my light and walk back toward the woods that are in a direct line with the kitchen window and scan the leaf-covered ground, then make a loop around the yard. Not seeing anything out of place, I walk back to the house and go inside, kicking off my shoes at the door.

“Did you see anything?” Genevieve asks, coming into the living room with Storm.

“Nothing.” I put my flashlight down and walk toward her. “Do you think you could have just seen your own reflection?”

“I don’t think so.” She leans into me as I wrap my arms around her.

“Maybe you saw a bear.” I rest my chin on the top of her head. I might not believe that there was someone in the backyard, but I do think that she thinks she saw something outside. “Whatever it was, it’s gone now.” I slide my fingers through her hair. “Are you ready to go back to sleep?”

“I’m never going to sleep again. First a ghost, now weirdos watching through windows,” she mumbles. I try, really try not to laugh, but I can’t help it. “This is not even a little funny.”

“I know.” I attempt to soothe her, and she lets out a huff.

“I really need to get my head checked. First I let you talk me into sitting up in a tree in the middle of the woods so that you can test your dog. Now I’m here after I saw someone outside your house peeking in the windows, instead of running away as quickly as possible.”

“You’re also here because you have a ghost in your house and you can’t sleep there.”

“Well, now I can’t sleep here, either, because you probably have a stalker.” She lets me go and walks toward the kitchen. “Maybe it’s one of the women you hit and quit, and they are angry at me for being in your bed, even though you and I haven’t even had sex, something they don’t know—all they know is my car is in your driveway for the second night in a row.”

“I don’t have a stalker.”

“You could. You don’t know.”

“I would know, and no one is watching me so closely that they’d notice your car in my driveway two nights in a row.”

“Oh, sweet Wyatt.” She passes me the sandwich she made. “You have no idea how women work. Do you really think that the women you’ve been with don’t drive by your house and check to see if you have a houseguest or ask around to see if you are dating someone else?” She doesn’t give me a chance to answer before she continues. “They do.”

“You have a wild imagination, baby.” I put down the sandwich and drag her toward me.

“I do not have a wild imagination.”

“Ghost, Bigfoot, stalkers.” I repeat just a few of the things she’s brought up recently, and she gets really quiet.

“I’m not crazy.”

“I never said you’re crazy.”

“You implied it,” she says, and I grasp her by the hair and pull her head back, placing my face close to hers.

“I love the way you think, and that you say whatever the fuck you want, which is usually something that makes me laugh. I do not think you’re crazy.”

“Okay,” she breathes, warm air brushing against my lips while her fingers dig into my sides.

Scanning her face, I shake my head, and she makes a sound in the back of her throat. My cock, which was already semihard just having her in my arms, hardens fully, and when she feels it press into her belly, her fingers at my side become nails digging into my skin. “Wya—” I cut her off, covering her mouth with mine, and as her lips part and her tongue tangles with mine, I lift her off her feet.

I wrap her long legs around my hips, carry her down the hall to my room, and kick the door closed before carrying her to the bed. Putting a knee in the mattress, I lay her down and settle my weight between her thighs. With barely anything between us I feel the heat of her against my cock and groan against her tongue.

Ripping my mouth from hers, I trail my lips and tongue down her neck, then tug at the front of her shirt.