Page 17 of Dark ’N’ Deadly

The house appeared newly constructed, with spotless gray paint and pristine white trim. Perfectly manicured flowerbeds on either side of the front door contained shrubs and several clumps of yellow, pink, and orange Echinacea. The weed-free front lawn was freshly cut. It was a beautiful house, but something about all that perfection gave it a sterile feel. It could use a new paint job. Red, or yellow, or…anything but gray.

Jesse laughed, drawing her attention to where he and Tiger waited at the base of the steps leading to the front door. The dog stood by his side, gazing up at him from dark, almond-shaped eyes. Her brother’s hand never left Tiger’s head.

“You don’t like it,” Eric said, coming to stand beside her.

“Don’t like what?” She couldn’t take her eyes off Jesse and Tiger, amazed at the instant rapport between them.

“My house.”

“I didn’t say that.” For such a hard, masculine face, the disappointment in his eyes made him look adorable. “It’s beautiful. Really. So is your landscaping. You must spend a lot of time on it.”

“Not me.” He began walking to the front door, and she fell in step. “A landscaper takes care of it. I wouldn’t know what to do with a flower if my life depended on it. I don’t even know what these are called.” He canted his head to the pink, orange, and yellow flowers nearest the door.

“It’s Echinacea.” She ran her fingers over the soft petals. “I love flowers, and I love color.”

He unlocked the door, pushing it open, then paused to look over his shoulder. His gaze lowered down the length of her brightly colored tie-dye skirt, then back up. The corners of his mouth lifted. “I can see that.”

Heat crept to her cheeks, and her throat went dry. Oh, boy. If this was what he could do to her body with just one look, imagine what—

No. Don’t imagine anything. That would be bad, bad, bad, and stupid to have such thoughts. Dangerously, dangerously stupid.

Tiger shot up the steps and through the door. She and Jesse followed Eric into a high-ceilinged foyer.

The walls were white, the floor tile black, and a giant, multi-tiered silver chandelier hung over their heads. Everything inside was either black, white, or gray, and so was the mood of the house. Her color-craving chi took an instant nosedive.

Eric set his gear bag on the floor then opened a closet door containing a tall safe. In seconds he had the safe open and his rifle secured inside. “All the bedrooms are upstairs.”

As she and Jesse followed Eric to the second floor, she was almost afraid to walk on the uber-clean light gray-carpeted stairs.

The house was deathly quiet. Not that she’d expected noise exactly, but it was spooky quiet in a way that made her afraid to say anything, and that wasn’t her style. The only sounds were Tiger’s panting huffs as he squeezed between them to dart ahead and the swish of Eric’s crisp cargo pants as he climbed the stairs in front of her. With every step, those black cargo pants tightened around his high, tight ass.

She vividly remembered the first day she’d seen him standing in the doorway of the Dog Park Café, wondering how such a hard, masculine body could be so beautifully perfect that she’d stared at him as if he were a priceless work of art.

She rolled her eyes. Since she’d be living—albeit temporarily—with all that physical perfection, she had to do it in a clinical way. So, no more “ass” thoughts. Try gluteus maximus. Gluteus to the freaking max.

Eric stopped outside the first room at the top of the stairs. “Jesse, this will be your room.”

“Cool.” Her brother brushed past her into the center of a gray-walled, gray-carpeted room then dropped his backpack to the floor. “Can I take Tiger outside?”

“Yeah, go ahead. Use the back door in the kitchen.”

“C’mon, Tiger.”

Snorting, the dog eagerly followed her brother, leaving her and Eric alone. She took a deep breath, wishing his presence didn’t make her so nervous.

He continued down the hall and stopped at another door, this one closed. He opened it, waiting for her to enter. She’d expected another drab, chi-sucking room, but when she stepped past him, she couldn’t stifle a soft cry of surprise.

“Not what you expected, is it?”

“Not even close.” As she did a three-sixty, taking in the room, her chi uttered a sigh of relief.

The delicate pale pink walls reminded her of the rose quartz crystal around her neck. It’s perfect. Not that she was planning to stay long, but still. She couldn’t have selected a better color if she’d picked out the paint herself.

The focal point of the room was a queen-size four-poster bed covered by a mauve duvet and matching pillow shams. Gauzy white floor-to-ceiling curtains embroidered with tiny pink and purple flowers bracketed the two windows. With the blinds open, the room was warm from the late-day summer sun.

“You have your own private bath.” Eric went to another door and flicked on the lights, revealing a bathroom that was also painted pink and decorated with tasteful pink towels, soap, and other color-coordinated toiletries.

With Eric standing against the bathroom doorjamb, she was forced to come within a few inches of him. When he moved to get out of her way, their arms touched, and a swarm of goose bumps erupted all over her body.