Caspian pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and called a cab while his car shook with fury. Shea had done that while he’d been in the shop only yards away and neither Dylis nor he had noticed. Was he getting bolder? What would the next escalation be? He glanced through the shop window and swallowed. While his house might be protected, nothing else was. And Shea had proved he was willing to get close. There was nothing stopping Shea from slowly pulling apart his life the way he had done his clothes.
He couldn’t lose everything again. He’d worked too hard to get this far. There was only one way to stop the damage. Find the Window.
Lydia heard the car pull up and was at the front door ready to greet Caspian before he knocked. She’d gotten changed after work and had spent a bit of time bringing some of the things out of the stable, now used for storage. There was a lawnmower in there that looked like it hadn’t been used in fifty years. But there were also trunks of things that were too heavy for her to lift. It was like Gran had packed up but had never bothered to sort out. The good news was that Caspian would have to keep coming around for a while.
Seeing him was like a break from her real life. A slice of sunshine through stormy clouds. She needed more sunlight in her life.
Caspian walked up the path to her doorstep. “Hi.”
“Hi.” His gaze slid over her without pausing on any part, but no doubt noticing the dust smudged all over her clothing. “You started without me?”
“I’ve been unpacking the stable.” In the corner of her eyes something moved; she glanced over but there was nothing there. Odd, she thought she’d heard something.
Caspian turned his head and she thought she saw him flinch, but then he turned back to face her. “Let’s go in.”
A breeze blew a piece of paper down the street and a chill followed. She suppressed a shiver and stepped back. Caspian shut the door after himself and turned the lock. He was security conscious… of course he was; he dealt in antiques and things worth thousands of dollars.
“Did I see a cab pulling away?” She raised one eyebrow.
“My car was making an odd humming sound. I didn’t want to risk breaking down.”
“It does look like a storm is coming.” She glanced at him and smiled. “Good thing you’re staying.” That he’d turned up with his laptop and an overnight bag was enough to confirm he was sleeping over tonight. In which bed was the real question.
She hadn’t been able to get his kiss out of her head. It had been enough to feed her dreams and make her realize it had been too long between boyfriends. Her body bubbled with expectation, lust coiled in her belly.
Caspian nodded and placed his bag and laptop satchel by the wrought-iron hat stand. “Or did you want me to put it in a room?”
“That’s fine for the moment. We can sort out the rest later.” Why was she so nervous?
“Good idea.” He seemed to relax a little. Maybe this was just as odd for him—which was reassuring. If he’d sauntered in confident of his place, she might have changed her mind.
“Before you set up, can you help me get to some of the trunks in the stable? It might save us some time if they are just full of linen.”
“Sure. Then I’ll do the bedrooms?”
She nodded and tried to ignore the heat creeping over her skin.
“I didn’t mean it like that.”
“I know.” She pushed her hair back. “When I invited you to stay I didn’t know if I was inviting you to stay or sleep.”
“That’s okay; I wasn’t sure which I wanted.”
More like he knew what he wanted but wasn’t sure if he wanted to go after it. She’d seen the desire in his eyes and felt the heat of his kiss, but she didn’t want to be pushing when he was hesitant.
“And now?”
“I still don’t know.” His fingers brushed her cheek. “But not because I don’t want you, because I do, but because it’s spectacularly bad timing and…” His thumb touched her lip.
For a moment she thought he was going to mention his ex. She held her breath, not wanting to be rebound-girl or cast in the exes shadow.
“It’s fast.”
“This is our third date.” Third meeting was probably more appropriate, but she’d had worse dates. Besides, they were talking and doing the other stuff that happened on dates—today was just as awkward as any should-we? type conversation she’d ever had on a date.
He smiled. “True, although we haven’t had dinner out yet.”
“Is that one of your rules?”
“I don’t know anymore.” He paused. “Maybe following the rules isn’t always the best thing to do.” Then he kissed her. Slowly at first as if testing to see if the spark was still there waiting to be fanned.
It was. Heat filled her blood and spread throughout her body. Lust consumed her and for a moment she wanted to forget the work that needed doing and just go upstairs. He pulled away almost reluctantly.
“Stables?” Caspian inhaled and straightened as if readying himself to face something awful. He wasn’t kidding when he said he didn’t like deceased estates. She reached out her hand to reassure him that she didn’t mind him poking around. His hand closed around hers. Warm and firm. She’d stayed up late the night before bagging Gran’s clothes and personal belongings. It had been horrible and she’d been glad there’d been no one there to see her. But it was done. The only things left in that room were the jewelry and furniture and a diary that she’d slipped into her purse for safekeeping. There was nothing personal here now, just history. Boxes and trunks and cupboards of history.
She led him out the back. His gaze flickered over the garden that could do with some attention, pruning, weeding, and all the other little tasks that went into making a garden look great instead of scrubby and overgrown. Something rustled to the right and he tensed. His hand gave hers a slight squeeze.
“Are you okay?” She raised her eyebrows. He’d seemed a little jumpy when he’d arrived. Was he just as nervous as her? Maybe they shouldn’t even be thinking about it if it was making them both wired… or maybe they should just get it out of their systems. The all-in method as opposed to testing the water with one toe first.
“Yeah, it’s just been one of those days.”
“The kind where you wished you’d stayed in bed?” Everything out of her mouth was about beds.
“Exactly that kind of day.” He nodded as he spoke as if he was reliving the highlights. “But I’d rather be here than at home alone.”
“Me too.” It was nice to have someone to spend the evening with. Someone who didn’t care if she was in old jeans and a T-shirt and covered in dust. She yanked open the shed door, which squealed like it was dying. The sound set her teeth on edge. It hadn’t made that noise last time. She swung the door again, but it was silent.
“Old hinges; must have been a flake of rust caught in there.” He put his hand on the door and had a look just to be sure.
Lydia pulled a flashlight off the shelves and flicked it on. Something moved in the shadows, and glass smashed. Her heart bounced hard in her chest. “What the hell?”
Caspian muttered something, then spoke up. “Mice?”
“I haven’t seen any.” She cast the beam of light around the shed with a shaky hand, but this time nothing moved.
Very strange. And now she was alert to every rustle as if she was the one who’d drunk too many espressos. Whatever twitches Caspian had tonight were catchy.
“These two trunks.” She indicated two black trunks with metal corners, both padlocked closed. “Once they are out, I can start pulling out the smaller things.”