Seduce and Rescue

She had the perfect place. If he only knew … “Ethan.” She placed her hand on his arm, gentling him to her touch. “I believe this was a sign.”

His mouth quirked in derision. “A sign that you should find another line of work?”

“No, not exactly. I believe karma brought you into my life for a reason.”

His brows drew together. “Karma?” His tone was intimidating.

“Yes, you see, the universe is telling me I’m meant to help you.”

“Please.” He held up his hands as if to ward her off. “Don’t help me.”

“But you need me. And if I live with you for a short while I can bring your chi back into balance, unblock your—”

“Live with me?” His mouth tightened into a thin line and he stepped back. “Don’t you have family—someone you can call?”

She was shaking her head before he’d even finished his questioning. “My only family is my mom, and she lives in San Diego.”

“What about your friends here?” He gestured to the group surrounding her.

“Simone is allergic, Sunny has less square footage than my place and Mist has a pet clause in his lease.”

Ethan shook his own head. “Look, ma’am. I realize this was partially my fault. Let me put you up in a hotel. Why don’t you take—” Ethan reached for a nonexistent back pocket, then his mouth tightened and his jaw muscle ticked. “My wallet was inside.” He eyed her empty arms. “And your purse, too, I guess.”

“Oh, no. My purse is in my car.”

“You keep your purse in your car?”

“Of course. I only need it when I’m going somewhere.”

He blinked. “Fine. You pay for the hotel and I’ll be glad to reimburse your expenses.”

She couldn’t help but laugh at that. “I can’t bring Scarlett and Rhett, and Humphrey and—”

“Right,” he interrupted. “No hotel.” As he looked around at all the animals, a hint of panic settled into his expression.

She grinned, triumphant. Of course the cosmos wouldn’t have taken away everything she owned without a reason. “You see? It’s karma. And you can’t argue with karma.”

“Watch me,” he grunted as he half turned away, looking like a man desperate to escape.

“Ethan,” she said, bringing his attention back to her. She was starting to worry. Would he truly refuse her? She had to convince him. “I don’t have anywhere else to go.”

He made a noise that sounded like a low feral growl. Then he stared at the ground a moment until finally he let out a resigned breath. “I can’t believe I’m going to do this.” He spun on his heel and headed for a large black SUV parked a block down the street. “You can follow in your car.”

She motioned for her friends to bring the rest of her pets, picked up Bette’s cage and followed.

But the lieutenant colonel stopped short at the door to his SUV. His keys were probably with his wallet in the pocket of his uniform pants, along with whatever else he carried. All of it incinerated now. Of course, the military officer was prepared. He reached under the chassis and pulled out a magnetic spare key box.

Silently directing Mist and Sunny to load her loved ones into her orange 1989 Toyota—affectionately known as The Pumpkin—parked in the alley, Lily rose up on her tiptoes to give Ethan a peck on the cheek. “Thank you.”

He ground his teeth, took Bette’s birdcage from her and placed it in his backseat. “This is just for a couple of days, until we can sort this mess out.”

A couple of days? Oh, she had a feeling this project would take a bit longer than that.

2

LILY OPENED HER EYES slowly and rolled to her back. It wasn’t quite dawn, but enough light filtered through the builder-grade blinds to remind her where she was. Bare beige walls. Plain white ceiling fan. She was in Ethan’s bedroom. Where he’d insisted she sleep last night.

Memories of the fire slammed into her psyche and a pang of grief tightened her throat. Her shop, her home, everything. Gone.

She rolled back over and curled into a ball, acknowledging the ache in her stomach, letting the pain of loss seep into her bones. This was exactly how she’d felt after receiving word that Theo had been killed in Iraq. She’d known before he shipped out that something bad would happen to him. Had tried to warn him. And in the end, she’d given in and married him, hoping that would stop the bad feeling in her gut and let him face war with a positive energy surrounding him. He’d loved her so much, he’d deserved that, at least.

And thinking of positive energy … Acknowledging pain was one thing. Wallowing in self-pity would only produce negative vibes. She sat up, wiped at the tears on her cheeks and looked around the room.

The sleek black, king-size bed was ultracomfortable, but the matching contemporary-style dresser was the only other furniture in the sterile room. The only other thing, period. This room—the entire condo—reflected Ethan’s life. Bland. Empty.

But today she would begin to change all that.

She had to believe that the devastation last night had happened for a reason. Ethan needed her here.

Drawing in a deep, cleansing breath she folded her legs and placed her hands palm up on her knees. As she exhaled she blew out all negative thoughts, closed her eyes and cleared her mind.

Before she could begin meditating Humphrey howled and scratched at the door. Lily opened her eyes to find her black-and-tan basset hound glaring at her expectantly. She sprang off the bed, picked up the cereal bowl that was his makeshift water bowl, and padded into the living area to let him out.

Just off the kitchen was a door that led out to the tiny, fenced-in grassy area. Hardly a yard. But at least there were no stairs for Humphrey to have to limp down, as there were at her place. “Nooo, no mean ol’ stairs for Humphrey,” she sang as the dog waddled outside. She’d take him for a walk this evening.

The kitchen was all black granite and stainless appliances. Functional. Uncluttered. In the stark main room there was more of the same. The dark wood floors were bare. There was a black leather couch—more like a black hole sucking up all the positive energy in the room—a monster-size black television and a silver floor lamp. That was it. No plants, no tables, nothing of color. And no pictures of friends or family, either. It was going to take some shopping to fix the feng shui in Ethan’s condo.

She was tempted to peek in and see if he was still sleeping in the spare room, crammed between a weight machine and a punching bag. The futon couldn’t be very comfortable for someone his size, but he wouldn’t even listen to her protests last night, stubborn man.

What would it take to move him from the futon back to his bed to unblock his sacral chakra?

With a shrug, Lily decided to think about that later. She closed her eyes, pressed her palms together and raised them above her head, and rose up on the balls of her feet: salutation to the sun.

She bent at the waist and flattened her hands on the floor, touching her forehead to her knees. Closing her eyes, she concentrated on her breathing. She walked her feet back into the downward facing dog position, stretching out her spine. She held the position a moment, but the T-shirt she’d borrowed last night bunched around her shoulders and fell in her face. Without thinking, she pulled it off and then resumed the pose.

But what if Ethan woke up and came in here? She wasn’t ashamed of her body, but she wasn’t an exhibitionist, either. Well, she’d hear the doorknob turn and could yank the shirt back on before he got down the hall.

With a click the dead bolt turned and the front door whooshed open. “What the—”

Lily looked up just as Ethan slammed the door closed and spun to turn his back to her. She grabbed the shirt as she straightened, and held it in front of her. “Namaste, Ethan.” Her heartbeat raced and her breathing stuttered. She’d always been comfortable with her sexuality, but there was an energy that crackled between her and this remote man. She’d felt it as soon as he’d walked into her shop.

“Would you please put some clothes on?” Ethan growled through his teeth. He was wearing athletic shorts and a T-shirt with a sweat stain clinging to the middle of his back. His black, military short hair was wet also. He’d been running. Before dawn.

Something visceral pumped through her as she breathed in the energy of this large, hard-muscled man. His glutes were taut. His scent was musky. Her body answered the call of man to woman.

“I always practice yoga before work,” she said, sticking her head through the T-shirt and shoving her arms through the sleeves. “But I lost my leotard along with the rest of my clothes.”

He gave a wary glance behind him, then turned to face her.