Foundation for Three (29 page)

“Are you kidding me?” She was amped up with desire. He released her hands and she wrapped her arms around him, not wanting him to go. “You don’t want to spend the night? It’ll make Pete jealous.” That wasn’t nice to pit them against each other, but desperation had made her come up with that lame excuse. Pete couldn’t help that his parents needed him to fix the leak in their house.

Thad kissed her forehead, her nose, and then her mouth again. While the contact was light, it was totally sensual. “You know very well what would happen if I get anywhere near your naked body.”

Yes. They’d make love. Oh, hell. It probably was for the best since she was still sore. “Okay, but tomorrow I won’t take no for an answer.”

He delivered another mind-altering kiss. “I’m counting on it.”

As soon as Thad left, gravity tugged hard on her body. How could he get her hopes up like that, and then dash them all in a matter of seconds? Tomorrow she’d make certain he gave her what she desired.

To reduce her raging libido, she decided to take a hot bath and indulge in a nice glass of white wine. Zoey had no doubt that she’d be dreaming about the reunion with her two men. She understood that focusing on what the future might hold would only cause her to obsess, but she couldn’t help it.

Zoey filled the tub with water and doused it with sweet smelling bath salts. With her glass in hand, she stepped in and moaned at the warmth. One by one, her muscles gave up their tightness, and after a half hour, her lids turned heavy. She rinsed, emptied the tub, and dried off.

Zoey then climbed into bed and inhaled the men’s scent still clinging to her cool sheets. She sighed at the wonder of it all and snuggled under the blankets. Whether from the wine, the warm bath, or sheer exhaustion, Zoey fell asleep in total contentment.

She dreamed of her men. In one of them, she, Thad, and Pete were standing on top of a ridge overlooking a rugged mountain range, much like the vista at Pete’s father’s ranch, except the colors were all wrong. A yellow mountain stood at the end of a pink range. Then what sounded like an F-15 fighter jet came out of nowhere and buzzed close to the ground. The female figure in her dream squatted, covered her ears, and visibly shook. When her dream person opened her eyes, the men were gone.

That had been so scary, Zoey forced herself awake, expecting to be in her nice quiet bedroom—only she wasn’t. She might be in her bed, but the noise was still there. A moment later she realized what it was. Holy fuck. Her house alarm was going off. Someone must have broken in. Shit. Shit. Shit.

Her heart dropped to her stomach then crawled up her throat.
Move!
She ripped off the covers and turned on the bedside lamp, despite the glowing computer screen illuminating the far half of the room.

Even though the alarm company would sent someone, she didn’t dare leave the confines of her bedroom before they got here. She locked the bedroom door and searched for anything she could use as a weapon. A letter opener sat on top of her desk. As she stepped across the room to get it, a sharp pain stabbed her foot. “What the hell?”

Zoey lifted her leg to check out the source of the strong ache. Blood pooled out of a cut, and her stomach clenched. Cold air poured in from the window and the source finally registered. Someone had smashed her window. “Damn it.”

Adrenaline helped blunt the pain in her foot, but the blood continued to drip. She hopped the two feet to her desk chair, sat down, and pulled out the glass shard. She then pressed a hand over the wound to help stop the bleeding, but that only worked for a few seconds. From her desk drawer, she extracted a couple of tissues from a travel-sized packet and pressed them to her wound.

When the tissue filled with blood, Zoey had to do something else. On tiptoe, she crossed to the bathroom. After a quick bandage job, she located a pair of socks from her dresser. It was then that she spotted her phone. Relief poured through her. She needed to call Thad.

Her breathing slowed as she punched in his number. It was in the middle of the night, but cops were used to receiving calls at all hours. While she waited for him to answer, Zoey kept her gaze on the broken window, not sure if the person was still outside or was hidden in her house. Given the window was locked, the odds were the person had run off after the alarm sounded. Christ, but the wailing was loud.

“Zoey?” The moment Thad answered, her blood pressure lowered, but her steely resolve to remain calm broke.

A sob escaped. “Someone…someone tried to break into my house.”

“What? Are you okay?”

“Yes.” Kind of.

“What is that sound?”

“The alarm,” she shouted. “Hold on.” Now that he was on the phone she dared to go into the living room. “I need to turn it off.”

Moving as fast as the pain allowed, she hobbled down the hallway, keeping an eye out for the intruder just in case he’d been able to get inside. She punched in the code, and the ear-splitting sound stopped. Thank God. She had no idea how long it had been going off, but it must have been a while. Her ears still rang.

“Zoey. Tell me what happened.” What sounded like an engine starting filtered into her brain.

She flicked off the lights and peered out the window. Red taillights exited her street. Shit. Was that the intruder running away?

“I don’t know.” She told him about how the alarm had woken her up, that the window had been smashed, and then how she’d cut her foot.

“Where are you now?”

“In the living room.” Flashing lights filled the room, casting eerie shadows on the walls. Now that the danger was gone, she made her way to the sofa and collapsed. “The cops are here. The security company must have alerted them.”

“Pete and I should arrive in a few minutes. Hang in there.”

Inconveniencing them sucked, but she wanted the comfort only they could bring. “Hurry.”

A knock sounded on her door. With caution, she eased it open. When the cold air blasted her, Zoey realized she had on a thin nightgown and crossed her arms.

“Are you all right, ma’am?”

The cut foot she could handle. “I think so.” She motioned them to come inside and explained about the window.

“Can you show us?” the beefier of the two asked.

Walking on the side of her injured foot, she brought the men into her bedroom and pointed to the window. “I didn’t touch anything. Be careful. There’s glass everywhere.” While the men studied the scene, she drew on a warmer robe.

The thinner one faced her. “I’d advise you against staying here until the window is fixed. Do you have some place you can go?”

“Yes.” Her men would probably insist she stay with them until this was resolved.

One of the cops called in the break-in, but if they planned to fingerprint the area, she bet it would take an hour or more before they finished processing the scene.

“I’m going to wait in the living room. Thad Dalton is on his way here.” The beefy man’s brow rose. “He’s my boyfriend.”

“That’s fine, ma’am.” He nodded to his partner. “Joe will keep you company.”

She didn’t need him to, but between her headache and the spiking pain from her foot, she wasn’t in the mood to argue. Taking her time, Zoey limped back to the front of the house. Standing on one foot, she watched for Thad and Pete from the window. In no time, another set of headlights pulled into her drive. The pounding at her temples subsided and the knot between her shoulder blades loosened.

Thad and Pete raced up her walkway, and she yanked open the door. They ran in and both hugged her. “Are you sure you’re okay?” Pete smoothed the hair from her face.

“I cut my foot.” She hadn’t wanted to worry them, but Pete’s concerned look made her relent.

In a flash, she was in his arms and tears of joy balanced on her lashes. Gently, he placed her on the sofa then knelt in front of her.

“Hey, Joe,” Thad said. “Pete, I’m going to check in the bedroom.” He then headed down the hallway.

Pete lifted a hand, indicating he’d heard. “Which foot?”

She had socks on both. “Right.”

He carefully peeled it off, the bottom of which was spotted with blood. “Jesus, Zoey. We need to take you to the emergency room to get stitches.”

“No, please. If it doesn’t look better by tomorrow, I’ll go.”

“Where are your first aid supplies?” Pete’s firmed lips told her he wasn’t going to let her rest until he took care of her.

“In the bathroom cabinet next to the sink. Second drawer.”

When Thad came back, Pete stood. “I’ll get the supplies.”

Thad sat next to her and picked up her hand. “Looks like the intruder broke the window with the intent of undoing the latch, but I’m betting the alarm scared him off.”

“I thought that’s what happened. What’s confusing is why come in the bedroom? Wouldn’t that alert me?”

“Thieves target the back of the house so as not to be seen. I remember how your computer screen lit up part of the room. The person could have believed it was your office.”

That made sense. “Then my intruder has never been in my house.”

“Probably not.”

She shrugged. “Doesn’t help much. Most people haven’t been inside.”

“You never bring patients here?”

“No.” Pete returned with an absurd amount of first aid supplies, which brought a small smile to her lips. “I wasn’t shot.”

He shrugged. “I don’t want you to bleed all over my truck when we take you out of here.” Heaven forbid if a drop of blood mixed with the paint, wallboard mud or other construction material. “Tomorrow, I’ll see that the window gets fixed. Don’t worry.”

“Thank you.” Everything was bombarding her at once. Had the person wanted to rob her or harm her?

Thad picked up her hand again. “We want you to come back to the house with us.”

If he expected resistance, he wouldn’t get it. “I appreciate that. Not that I expect a repeat, but do you think someone on duty could drive by the house?”

“I’ll make that request.”

Gertrude, the old lady across the street, was probably sitting by her window right now and would keep an eye out for her, too. Her neighbor probably hadn’t had this much excitement in years.

Pete redid the bandage with such care that she barely realized he’d finished until he stood. “How about I carry you into the bedroom so you can pack?”

“I can walk.”

Pete pulled her to a stand then picked her up anyway. “Your determination is admirable, but there’s no need to reopen the wound.” He kissed her forehead. “If anything happened to you…” He shook his head as if he couldn’t finish the thought.

Hope rushed through her veins. He cared. Really cared. As they entered the room, both cops were still taking measurements and shooting photos.

Thad looked up then turned to the other officers. “Can you give us a minute, guys? Zoey needs to change and pack.”

“Sure.”

Pete set her down and she hopped to the dresser. “My suitcase is in the closet.” Pete was right. The pressure from walking might reopen the wound.

Packing took less than ten minutes. After directing Pete where to find her clothes, she dressed while Thad stood guard at the door to make sure the cops didn’t inadvertently return. She put on her most comfortable boots to give her injured foot room, and Pete carried her back to the living room.

Thad nodded to the men, indicating they were free to go return to the scene. Thad faced Pete. “How about you take Zoey’s car home, and I’ll drive the truck back?”

“You’re staying?” Zoey wanted to be surrounded by both men.

“Someone needs to make sure the place is secure.”

He was a cop through and through. She ran a hand down his arm. “I don’t deserve either of you.” She nodded to the alarm. “Do you need my code to arm the system when you leave?”

“That would be great.” Thad pulled out his phone, and Zoey dictated the sequence of numbers to him. “Now go. I’ll be home when I can.”

As if Pete couldn’t wait to get her away from here, Pete lifted her up and traipsed down the stairs. He set her down by the passenger side. “Need the keys.”

With her foot injured, pressing on the pedal would be hard, so she relinquished them. Before running around to the driver’s side, Pete made sure she was in the seat with her seatbelt securely fastened.

He started the engine and backed out. “You have any ideas who might have done this?”

Chapter Twenty-Four