All I Need is You

by M. Malone

  Or would he push her hard, demand things she didn’t know how to give? Warmth spread to her face just thinking about it.

  Not that you’ll ever find out.

  “There’s an empty space here. He didn’t even bother to push the others closer together to conceal what he took.”

  Kay hated to even think of it. Someone had been in her apartment, touching her things. Had he been here while she was home alone? While she was with her daughter?

  While they were sleeping?

  She shivered and grabbed the duffel bag she kept underneath her bed. Her favorite nightshirt was on top of the comforter, so she shoved that in the bag. Then she pulled open the drawers in her nightstand and added a big handful of underwear and bras. She didn’t even look at how much she was taking, just grabbed blindly. Who cared, really, what she wore? All she cared about was getting out of here. Would she ever be able to relax in this room again without wondering if someone was watching?

  She crossed to the dresser where Eli stood and yanked open the last drawer. In went several pairs of jeans, then she yanked open another drawer and added a big armful of sweaters.

  “Kay, what are you doing?”

  “Packing. I just want to get out of here.”

  She struggled with the zipper on the bag, almost breaking a nail on the metal teeth. Her breath came in harsh pants until little black spots danced in front of her eyes.

  “Kay, calm down. Just hold on.”

  She struggled against his hold, but he held her securely in his grip, her back to his front. His arms wrapped around her, keeping her from moving but not holding her so tight as to cause pain. Eventually Kay stopped fighting and allowed her head to fall back against Eli’s chest.

  “Hey, hey. It’s all right. Just calm down.” He rubbed her arms gently, soothing her.

  Kay finally stopped wrestling with him and allowed him to hold her. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. It was a foolish moment of weakness, but for just a second, she soaked up the comfort and warmth of being in his arms.

  “We’re safe here. You’ve got a great security system. I already had Tank check it out and it hasn’t been tampered with. I don’t know how this guy got your figurine, but he didn’t break in to do it.”

  Tears welled up, but she squeezed her eyes closed, swallowing back the sudden flood of emotion. There was no time for nonsense or feeling sorry for herself.

  “Why would someone do this, Eli?”

  “I don’t know, angel.” He spoke in a hush, the words flowing over her in a soft puff of breath.

  His features tightened, and for the second time in recent memory, she allowed herself to soak up the masculine presence that was Elliott Alexander: the smooth dark skin, the high cheekbones, the long straight blade of his nose, and the sinfully full lips. It was a harsh face, not quite as elegantly hewn as his brothers’ faces, but one that she vastly preferred. It looked like safety.

  It looked like strength.

  “I’m okay now. I promise I won’t freak out on you again.” She stood reluctantly. As wonderful as it felt to be held in his arms, there was only so much she could take before she lost all sense of propriety and threw herself at him again. She already knew he wasn’t interested. When you kissed a guy and he responded by leaving town, that was plenty clear enough.

  “It’s okay to be freaked out, Kay. As long as you know that I won’t let anything happen to you.”

  Kay nodded and dropped the duffel bag on her bed. She didn’t have enough room to put him up in style, but at the very least she could rustle up some extra pillows and a blanket for him.

  “I’m sorry I don’t have a guest room. Or an air mattress.”

  Eli gave her one of his trademark are you kidding looks. “I’m not supposed to be on vacation, Kay. The couch is fine. Now, what about Hope?”

  Kay gasped. Shame flooded her face. She’d told her mom that she’d pick up Hope by eight o’clock and she was already twenty minutes late. She pulled out her cell phone and hit the first speed dial.

  Eli walked away to give her some privacy. Luckily, her father answered, so she was able to explain things with a minimum of fuss. As expected, her parents were thrilled to keep Hope overnight.

  When she turned, Eli was watching her with an inscrutable expression. Unsure what to make of his sudden change in demeanor, Kay pushed past him and pulled open the door to the linen closet in the hallway. Several towels fell out and hit her in the face.

  “Don’t worry about that now.” Eli took the towels from her arms and shoved them in the closet. “We need to talk first.”

  “About what?”

  “Everything. Clearly I missed something when I was digging into your life last year. It’s time to rectify that.”

  “But nothing has changed. I don’t do anything interesting. So what’s there to talk about?”

  Eli stopped and nailed her with an intense look. “I need to know who you’ve been with since last summer.” He moved closer and Kay inhaled, immediately assaulted by his unique scent—warm and rich and disarming. She looked up at him, her senses swirling from the intoxicating blend of reactions that only Eli could cause.

  “We need to talk about your lovers.”

  CHAPTER FIVE

  ELI WALKED THE perimeter of the living room, checking the locks on the windows. It was unnecessary since he’d already checked them all when they’d first arrived, but it gave him a few moments to compose himself before they talked.

  He’d need all the composure he had to listen to Kay talk about who she’d allowed into her body in the last six months.

  His fists clenched at his sides and he forced out a breath. “Let’s sit on the couch and talk.”

  Kay eyed him the way you’d watch a wild animal. Under any other circumstances it would be funny, but in this case, it just proved that she was as observant as he’d always suspected. She took great pains to stay in the background and not attract too much attention to herself, but it didn’t fool Eli. She was smart. And savvy. He’d long suspected that she had a side she didn’t allow many others to see. The only time he’d seen her stand with the type of confidence he knew she should have was when she was on stage.

  To make her more comfortable, Eli perched on the edge of one of the sofa cushions. Kay sank down on the opposite end, clutching one of the throw pillows to her chest.

  “Let’s start with Craig.” He bit out the name as he drew a pen and pad from the inner pocket of his coat. Despite his fondness for being in the gym, evidenced by him constantly walking around shirtless, the guy had seemed way too girly in Eli’s opinion. There was just something weird about a dude who took more time in the bathroom getting ready than his girlfriend did.

  “You know Craig and I broke up. I seriously doubt if he even noticed that I wasn’t around for a while. He was too busy admiring himself to care what I was up to. I don’t see him being a stalker unless he was stalking his own reflection.” Kay rolled her eyes.

  Eli secretly agreed with her assessment, but he kept that thought to himself. “What about after that? Did you date anyone else that summer?”

  She shrugged and picked at a piece of lint on the edge of the couch. “I didn’t really have time. That was right after Divine broke up, remember? Jackson had just offered me a solo contract, so I was spending a lot of time with him in the studio, coming up with ideas for the project.” She smiled absently at the thought, and Eli’s fingers tightened around the pen.

  His little brother was devoted to Ridley, so he didn’t entertain any thoughts that something was going on between Jackson and Kay. But the way she talked about him, the little smiles when she remembered something he’d done or said, all contributed to his worry that Kay was crushing on Jackson. When he’d kissed her at Christmas, it hadn’t occurred to him until afterward that she might be projecting her fondness for his brother onto him.

  He wasn’t the type of man to play second string to anyone, but even more than that, he wasn’t going to encourage a fascina
tion that could ultimately end up hurting Kay. She’d given him only bare bones information about Hope’s father, but it was enough for him to know that older men had taken advantage of her before.

  He’d be damned if it ever happened again.

  “I know you hate talking about him, but I need to know if Hope’s father has done or said anything out of the ordinary in the past few months.”

  Kay immediately tensed and glanced down at her lap. “I haven’t seen Tim in ages. Not that I saw him that much before. Remember when I used to waitress at that Italian restaurant? That’s where I met him. I don’t think I ever told you that.”

  She definitely hadn’t told him that. Eli filed that bit of information away to examine later. Maybe it would mean something when he was looking at the big picture. He put an X next to the name Timothy Banner. He’d have one of his guys check on Mr. Banner’s current financial situation later.

  “So you didn’t see much of him outside of the days you were working?”

  “He used to wait for me after my shift,” she whispered. “It seems so seedy looking back on it. All he wanted was someone to pass the time with when he was in town on business. We spent hours talking about everything. Or nothing. But then after I got pregnant…” She sighed and her fist clenched against her thigh. “I was so stupid to think we had a connection. I was just convenient.”

  Eli laid his hand over hers. “I’m sorry, Kay.”

  She looked up, seemingly startled by his touch. “It’s okay. It’s all in the past now. Anyway, I’m not even sure how long it’s been since I’ve seen him. A long time. He doesn’t care about Hope. Or me.”

  The last statement was said so matter-of-factly that Eli’s heart broke on her behalf.

  “He’s a fucking idiot.”

  Kay’s head lifted. She blinked a few times before a small smile spread across her face. “Yeah, he is. I’m just glad my mom convinced him to sign away his parental rights. He was so worried that I’d want child support from him, but he never considered that I might be a success.”

  “Like I said, he’s an idiot.”

  She shrugged again.

  “Okay, who have you dated since Craig?” He ran a hand roughly over his face. It was killing him to talk about it, but he’d do whatever it took to figure this thing out.

  “No one,” Kay whispered. She didn’t look at him as she said it.

  “What do you mean? There has to have been someone.” He stopped at the stricken look on her face.

  She’d moved back on the couch and wouldn’t meet his eyes. It was obvious that this was just as uncomfortable for her as it was for him. He cleared his throat. A different approach was in order.

  Light. Nonconfrontational.

  “I get that it’s weird and awkward to talk about sexual partners with me, but this is really important. Would you rather give this information to Matt? He could come over tomorrow and you guys could sit down and go over it all.”

  He hated to even make the offer, but if it made it easier for her to be honest, he’d do it. Matt had a way with her. They had a rapport. Maybe she’d tell him things she was too embarrassed to admit to Eli.

  Kay finally looked up. “I don’t need to pull Matt off his new job to tell him the same thing I just told you. How long does it take to write down nothing?”

  Eli groaned. “Kay, you’re basically saying no one’s had their hands on you in more than six months. You’re a vibrant, beautiful young woman. I find that a little hard to believe.”

  Kay stared at him for a long moment before she slid forward. “I didn’t say no one had their hands on me in all that time. I just said I hadn’t dated anyone.” Her tongue darted out and wet her bottom lip before she lifted her eyes to his. Perched forward, her weight resting on her hands, caused her sweater to dip lower, revealing a shadow of lace at the top of her bra.

  He swallowed, the sound loud between them.

  “Okay. His name?” Elliott’s stomach clenched but he lifted the pencil, poised to write the name of the lucky bastard she’d allowed to get close to her.

  With a little lift of her chin that he should have realized spelled trouble, she leaned over his shoulder and pointed at his pad of paper as she spelled out “E-l-l-i-o-t-t.”

  TEASING ELI WAS probably a little like poking a lion with a stick, but Kay couldn’t help herself. Especially since he was interrogating her like a criminal. How convenient for him to want a list of her lovers and not consider the fact that their kiss was the closest she’d come to intimacy in ages.

  “This is serious, Kay.”

  “I know it is, Eli,” she drawled in her best imitation of his deep voice. “When do you think I have the time to go out with a bunch of men? I am a single mother. I barely have time to take a shower and brush my teeth every day.”

  Eli looked chagrined. Maybe it was finally sinking in just how ridiculous his assumptions were. Although, she couldn’t really fault him for assuming that she’d have had at least one other boyfriend since the summer. Most girls her age were out dancing and drinking on the weekends, picking up men at clubs, and having one-night stands they’d regret in the morning. There were times when Kay wondered what it would be like to have that much free time and be able to go out with her friends.

  Then she’d look over at Hope and realize that she was exactly where she was supposed to be.

  “I apologize if I’ve offended you. That wasn’t my intention.” Eli closed his notepad and tucked it in the interior pocket of his coat. “I’m just trying to figure things out. Like I said, your security system hasn’t been tampered with and we went through this place, room by room. Whoever it was didn’t break in.” He turned to look at her directly. “It was someone you know. Someone you trusted enough to invite in.”

  Kay shivered. “I don’t invite many people over. Just my family and a few close friends.”

  “Does anyone have a key to the apartment?”

  Kay thought back to when she’d first moved in. She didn’t know anyone who lived close by except her parents. She’d thought about giving a key to Sasha, but she lived too far away for it to be helpful if she got locked out.

  “Just my parents.”

  Eli made a disgruntled sound. “Okay. I’m going to see if Matt remembers anything from when he was guarding you then. Maybe someone hanging around when you moved in or anything out of the ordinary. Whoever this is, they’re smart. They’re leaving no evidence of their entry, so we can’t really go to the police until we have proof that a crime has been committed. They’d probably consider sending a cat trinket to be nothing more than a childish prank.”

  “But you don’t think it is,” Kay commented.

  “No. I don’t think it is.” In typical Elliott fashion, he didn’t offer any additional thoughts on the matter.

  Kay got up and brought back a comforter and several pillows. “I appreciate you staying here with me. I don’t think I could have stayed here alone knowing this guy has been in here.”

  Eli accepted the pillows with a nod. “You’ll never be alone, Kay. Remember that.”

  His words warmed her as surely as a touch. Kay had figured any chance they’d had was gone when he disappeared after Christmas, but maybe he’d had a legitimate reason to leave town. Maybe his leaving hadn’t had anything to do with her or their kiss.

  “My mom considers you one of hers now. She’d kill me if I didn’t take proper care of you.”

  Kay’s heart sank. His mother. Of course.

  She was just an obligation. She wasn’t sure if it was better or worse than when he’d only been helping her because Jackson had hired him to.

  “Of course. Good night, Eli.” Kay didn’t wait for him to acknowledge it, just walked down the hall to her room and closed the door.

  KAY WOKE EARLIER than usual the next morning. The knowledge that Eli was in her living room had contributed to a long night of tossing and turning. At first, she’d just been on alert in case he needed anything. She’d heard him moving around, drawe
rs and cabinets opening and closing and the hum of the pipes as he’d used the small bathroom off the hall.

  Luckily, her room had its own connected bathroom so she didn’t have to worry about any awkwardness there. She’d taken her shower before bed and changed into her favorite tank-and-shorts pajama set. It wasn’t sexy by any means, but then she wasn’t trying to seduce him. He’d shown less than zero interest when he’d been in her room and hadn’t lingered when examining the “scene of the crime” as she liked to think of her collection of figurines now. He’d looked at the blank space in the collection and nowhere else. Not at the lingerie she’d been mortified to discover was hanging over the chair or at the romance books on her nightstand.

  He’d just done his usual tough, gruff routine. It was too bad she found his deep, gravelly voice so sexy. It would be so much easier if she hated him. If she hadn’t spent half the night wondering about what he was doing on her sofa. Whether he’d stripped off all his clothes to sleep or just gone down to his underwear.

  Coffee. If she could just get some caffeine in her system, then maybe she could think practically. About anything other than what Eli wore when he was sleeping.

  Kay spared a cursory glance at the clock, then decided it was early enough to chance making a run for it. Eli was probably dead to the world, so it didn’t matter if she looked like hell. Turning on the coffeepot should take two minutes, max. She pulled on a short, silky robe and knotted it in the front. Even if he rolled over and caught a glimpse of her, he wouldn’t see much other than a bunch of pink silk.

  In the kitchen, she made quick work of measuring out the coffee. The huge jumble of blankets on the couch didn’t move, so she had to assume that Eli was a pretty sound sleeper. After adding water to the machine, she set the coffeepot to brew. She turned at the sound of a door opening. Startled, she glanced over at the couch. The jumble of covers still hadn’t moved.