Free Danger Close by Kaylea Cross

house or not, they’ll want to know what’s going on.”
    Oh. She sank onto the couch and watched him work, admiring the way he moved and the flex of muscle in his bare arms as he checked various things, shifting with each movement. The bugging thing didn’t seem to bother him, more like he took it as a matter of course. He paused a moment, pulled something off the back of a book on the shelf and held up something the size of a grain of rice for her to see. “Transmitter.”
    She nodded and stayed where she was while he shoved it into his pocket and completed his sweep. Weird, to know someone might be listening to them right now, but she had nothing to hide, and if it kept her safer, she was all for it.
    The two-way radio chirped from the kitchen. Wade went to answer it, spoke to the security guy on the other end, then called out to her. “Pizza guy’s on his way up the driveway.”
    It was a long driveway, so she probably had another minute or two before he got to the door. She jumped up to grab her purse on the entry table by the front door, but Wade surprised her by taking her upper arm in one big hand to stop her. “Stay in the kitchen. I’ll get this.”
    She did as he said, hating that her stomach was in knots over a pizza delivery. Even though she knew Wade was just being cautious, it was a grim reminder that her life wasn’t her own right now, and wouldn’t be for a long while yet. Once the pizza guy left, Wade called for her to come out. She brought the plates and napkins she’d gathered and set it all on the coffee table.
    Wade placed the two large pizza boxes on top of a newspaper and raised a teasing eyebrow at her. “Hungry?”
    “Starving, and I wasn’t sure how much you’d eat, so I decided to err on the safe side.”
    “Back in a sec.” He strode past her to the powder room near the foot of the stairs and a moment later the toilet flushed. “They won’t hear anything from that one now,” he said as he came back out and joined her, sitting cross-legged on the floor across from her rather than on the couch. “Can’t guarantee I’ve found everything though, so just make sure you don’t say anything you don’t want overheard and recorded for analysis.”
    “I won’t.” Feeling uncomfortable with being perched on the couch while he sat at her feet, she started to slide off it but he stayed her with an upraised hand and a shake of his head.
    “No, stay up there. I’m just more comfortable on the floor.”
    Okay, then. She watched him as they ate. He had to be as hungry as she was, but he took his time chewing each bite, as though savoring the pizza. And she guessed he was, after not having any for that long. “Good?”
    “Weird,” he replied, almost to himself, and when he didn’t elaborate, Erin got busy demolishing half of the Hawaiian she’d ordered. She was halfway through her fourth piece when she glanced up to find him watching her with a hint of amusement burning in that dark stare.
    She flushed and swallowed her mouthful. “Told you I was starving.”
    “Yeah, you did. Glad you’re enjoying it.” His lips twitched and she couldn’t help but notice how full and soft they looked in the midst of that hard face. What kind of a kisser would he be? Rough and urgent? Or slow and seductive? Both possibilities made her insides flutter. His mouth and those big strong hands were insanely sexy.
    She would have enjoyed something else besides pizza much more, but knew if she made a move that Wade would either shoot her down or avoid her during the rest of their stay, so she settled for finishing off the slice of pizza instead. He’d only eaten one, she noticed, and half of another. The remnants of the second sat on his plate, untouched. “You don’t like it?” she asked with a frown. Surely he needed more than that to feel full.
    He shrugged. “It was okay. I’m just not used to eating anything this heavy anymore, so I figure I’d better see how it settles first.”
    She