Free The Way Home (Chasing #3) by Linda Oaks Page B

door and ran. Let’s get inside.” I followed her into the house. This time I actually managed to take a look around.
    “I’ll hurry,” Miley promised, and I nodded in reply. Without another word, she quickly disappeared down the narrow hallway.
    Left alone and waiting, I anxiously paced back and forth. Miley’s furniture was outdated, probably picked up from a second hand store. A faded blue rug covered the majority of the shitty looking green carpet peeking out from around the corners. Along the walls there were various photographs of Sierra and Miley. She’d tried her damndest to make the place as homey as possible, but seeing all of this made me realize just how far she’d fallen from the lifestyle she had been born and raised in.
    What was taking her so long? I couldn’t be still. We were sitting ducks. I walked down the hall only to come to a stop outside her bedroom door. She was busy cramming clothes into a duffel bag she had lying on the bed. She was unaware that I watched her. I had an overwhelming desire to walk over to her and take her in my arms… to reassure her that everything would be okay, but instead I remained where I stood.
    Whether I wanted to admit it or not, Miley Triton was starting to get under my skin. There was the sudden urge to put some much needed distance between us, but that thought was downright ludicrous; after all, she would be staying at my house.
    I am so screwed, and this is all my own doing .
    As if sensing my presence, her eyes lifted from the task at hand and met mine. “I’m hurrying,” she stated, obviously aware of the potential danger we were both in. She had probably expected me to growl at her. I wasn’t a patient man.
    “I have to get Sierra’s things next,” she informed me, but her words barely registered. My gaze was immediately drawn to a display of silky skin as the weight of her tangled hair slid forward along with my shirt while she continued to cram more clothes into the bag before her. The slight curve of half a shoulder, the sleek lines of her slim neck, the graceful slopes of the her collar bones and the tiny bit of cleavage she innocently displayed made it impossible to look away. That pale ivory skin of hers would be my undoing. My hands itched to caress her. Damn, this woman made me want. It was all I could do not to touch her.
    “Is something wrong?” she asked, and it was only then I realized that she’d caught me staring at her.
    Smooth, Nate, really smooth .
    “No,” I said, shaking my head and silently praying she didn’t think anything of my strange behavior. If I didn’t watch myself, this woman would slowly gain the power to twist me inside out. I couldn’t let that happen. I needed to get a grip. I knew firsthand the consequences of allowing one’s self to be ruled by their heart. That wasn’t happening to me ever again.
    “You need any help?” I offered, and she raised her head and smiled back at me.
    “No, I’ve got it.” She quickly zipped up the bag and slung it onto her shoulder. She grabbed the other empty duffel bag lying on the bed and came toward me. The right thing to do would be to step aside and give her room to pass. I should have moved out of her way, but that was the last thing on my mind when she drew even with me and began to move past me. Our eyes met. Her breath hitched. My head was filled with nothing but the sight of her and her scent. That sexy sound — I wished my ears could un-hear it. My muscles refused to cooperate, and well, being a gentleman was highly overrated. That ship had already sailed a long time ago. The warmth radiating from her body had my own overheating. I cleared my throat, finally coming to my senses, and shifted uncomfortably out of her way.
    What in the hell was I doing?
    “You need to hurry,” I reminded her, and she nodded in reply before disappearing into the room right next to hers. Time was of the essence, and we’d already worn out our welcome and stayed far too long as it