Putting his trust in the system wasn’t easy, but he’d promised to lay low. In his mind, laying low equaled not being seen.
He had no intention of being seen. The area wouldn’t be easy to watch in person. So he wouldn’t do it in person. He’d set up motion detector cameras and rely on the feed. Because trusting the system was one thing. Letting Carver get away scot-free was another.
That wasn’t going to happen. He’d seen some interesting things in the air with Zoe, one of them being a ranch that had piqued his interest. He went shopping for what he needed and made the three-hour drive up to Rocky Falls. It took longer to find Cat’s Paw. He was going off the pics he’d taken, matched up to his GPS, and found the ranch he’d wanted to take a better look at.
He didn’t get close, not wanting to be made. Instead, he left the car in the woods and went in on foot, avoiding the roads and clearings, managing to outmaneuver the few guards he caught sight of at the fence lining the ranch.
For a long time he just watched and realized there were only two goons. Though they were armed to the teeth, they were bored and spent a lot of time talking to each other instead of paying attention to their surroundings.
This left Parker free to stealthily place his equipment without getting caught. Which wasn’t easy, as it involved a lot of tree climbing, and his ribs hurt like a bitch.
On the way home he made a stop at the county recorder’s office to see who owned the land, but they were closed. He consoled himself with the knowledge that with the cameras in place, he could now watch what was going on at Cat’s Paw.
He was supposed to meet Wyatt and Emily for dinner, but he went back to Zoe’s place first to shower and change. It was six o’clock on the dot when he pulled into Zoe’s driveway and parked next to a car he knew wasn’t hers.
A guy got out at the same time as him.
Joe, from the airport.
He’d nearly forgotten her date with the guy. He’d told himself it was absolutely none of his business what she did with her free time. None at all.
He almost believed it, too.
Joe wore jeans and a polo shirt with the airport’s logo on a pec. His sole concession to the night’s date appeared to be that he’d tucked the work shirt partially in.
Joe nodded to Parker and they both headed up the walk. Joe stopped on the porch.
Parker didn’t. Look at that, he thought with a grim smile. There was a benefit to not being The Date, after all. Resisting flashing Joe a smug smile, Parker let himself into the house and found Zoe in the kitchen eating French toast. It smelled so damn good that for a minute he completely forgot what he’d come in here to tell her and just inhaled the cinnamony, buttery scent of the room.
Zoe smelled good, too, like syrup, and she looked pretty fucking sexy in a white tank top and . . . well, he had no idea what else because Oreo was in her lap.
The chair appeared to be straining.
She fed Oreo a bite of French toast and met Parker’s gaze. “Don’t judge me,” she said.
“Are you kidding? I’m about ready to steal that plate from you. It smells amazing.”
“It’s my secret ingredient.”
He dropped his duffel bag on a chair. Playfully, he moved in behind her, scooped her hair away, and pressed his face to the nape of her neck to smell her. “Is the secret ingredient you?”
“No,” she said, elbowing him with a laugh. But goose bumps broke out on her skin and she shivered. He actually thought maybe she moaned, too, but that might have been him. Unable to help himself, he took another big sniff of her.
“Cinnamon,” he said with a hungry sigh.
“Told you I could cook.” Her voice sounded a little shaky as she dragged a piece on her plate through a river of syrup and stuffed it into her mouth. “It’s just baking that keeps defying me. But no worries.”
He grinned. “Because you’ve got this.”“Well, yeah.” She smiled.
He stared at the gorgeous, resilient, tough-as-nails woman and felt a mixture of pride, hunger, lust, and, most surprisingly of all, affection.
“So what’s that stuff?” she asked curiously, pointing to his opened duffel bag on the chair. Inside was the one extra camera he hadn’t placed up at Cat’s Paw.
“It’s for surveillance.”
“Like . . . a nanny cam?” she asked.
“Sort of. Except it’s not a continuous feed. It doesn’t roll until it detects motion. You can watch the feed from an app. I drove up to Cat’s Paw and put some in play today.”
“And you have a leftover camera.”
“It’s a spare. In case one malfunctions.”
“Huh.” She ran a finger over it. “Think I could borrow it?”
He stared at her as all sorts of really erotic thoughts vied for first place in his head. He wondered if they were on the same page.
“I’ve always wanted to put one here in the house to see what Oreo does all day long,” she said.
Nope, he thought, laughing at himself. Not on the same page. Not in the same book. “He sleeps on the couch,” Parker said. “He snores. He occasionally farts and wakes himself up. He trolls the kitchen in case the elves have brought him food and then he goes back to the couch. That’s about it, but sure, have at it.” He pulled the camera from the bag and set it on the table. “You’ll need to load the app on your computer.” He rattled it off, expecting her to say never mind, it was too complicated, but she didn’t look intimidated in the least.
In fact, other than when she was attempting to bake, Zoe never looked intimidated at all. And damn if that wasn’t attractive as hell.
She went back to her French toast, taking another bite before moaning.
And Parker went hard. “Damn, woman.” He looked to the pan on the stovetop hopefully—yes, there was a God, because there were two more pieces in there. “Can I—”
The doorbell rang.
Oreo barked and farted.
Zoe rolled her eyes and pushed the dog off her lap. “Wonder who’s here?”
“Oh yeah,” Parker said. “It’s your date.”
She blinked and then her mouth opened in an Oh! of surprise.
Parker stared at her for a beat and then tipped his head back and laughed. He’d been feeling pissy about the date with Joe, and she’d not even remembered. “You really forgot?”
She put her hands on her hips and appeared to fight for words, which gave him a moment to take in the rest of her. Her hair was piled up on her head, but much of it had escaped, brushing her bare shoulders. She was wearing sweat bottoms that were way too big for her, but that was okay because they’d slid dangerously low on her hips, leaving a strip of her stomach bare.
She had a belly ring piercing, a twinkling pale blue crystal. He wanted to put his mouth to it. A little surprised at the force of the urge, he took a step back and shoved his hands into his pockets on the off chance they decided to act without his brain’s permission and toss her down on the table so he could pillage.
“Shit,” she said. “I really did forget.” She blew out a breath and looked down at herself. “I’ve got to change. And also pretend I didn’t just stuff my face.”
Parker grinned.
Zoe pointed at him. “Shut it. And let him in?” she asked, heading to the stairs. “Tell him I’ll be just a minute.”