Arden Page 14

  “Go away,” she muttered. She wasn’t normally a morning person, but for some reason she was even more grumpy than usual.

  “I can’t do that. It’s a gorgeous day. The sun is shining, the birds are chirping, and you’ve been locked up inside for too long,” he told her. He didn’t move forward, just looked perfectly at ease right where he was.

  Her eyes narrowed as she scanned his beautiful body. He looked good no matter what he wore, but with the pair of jeans she was sure had been painted on, and a snug black T-shirt, he was drool-worthy. Even his normally mussed hair looked extra nice this morning. She was sure she looked like an utter wreck, and that wasn’t helping to improve her mood.

  “I see you’ve dressed up for the day,” she said a bit too cattily.

  “I look good and you know it,” he said with a wink.

  “Do you own anything other than skintight black shirts?” she muttered.

  He laughed, and she felt her cheeks grow warm.

  “Liking the view?” he asked, not a shred of modesty in him.

  “I’ve seen better,” she told him. Though, honestly, she hadn’t. The last thing this man needed was his ego stroked. He laughed again.

  “I haven’t,” he said, his eyes scanning her from head to toe, making her feel as if the blankets were nonexistent. She tightened her fingers around the comforter and squeezed her thighs together as heat invaded her body. He could turn her to mush with nothing more than a look. If he ever touched her again, she might just combust.

  “You look like you’ve been up awhile. Do you have plans?” she asked.

  “I’ve been awake long enough. I wanted to let you rest, since it seems you’ve been tossing and turning most nights,” he told her. She hated the concern she saw in his eyes. It made it more difficult to be snotty. “Now get up and meet me in the living room.”

  Keera’s body sagged as she sank back into her pillows. She should ignore him, letting him know she’d do things on her own terms. But soon, curiosity won out. What had him so chipper and ready to face the day? Trying not to rush as she showered and dressed, Keera still felt a need to get out there to see Arden.

  When she did come out to the living room, Arden wasn’t there. But it only took her a few seconds to allow the smells emanating from the kitchen to lead her there. She found him cooking a nice breakfast, humming as he flipped eggs.

  “Where’s Angela?” she asked.

  “It’s her day off. I can cook,” he told her.

  “You’ve already proven that,” she told him. He’d made her a few meals. She definitely owed him one or two at some point.

  “Dig in,” he said as he handed her a plate. Keera wasn’t so stubborn that she was going to turn down a good breakfast.

  The two of them dished up, then sat at the table, Keera taking a few long swallows of her coffee before scooping up her food. She’d definitely have to switch to his brand of coffee when she went home. It was rich and dark, and she had been spoiled by it.

  He was quiet as he ate, letting her wake up. Though it had only been a few days she’d been staying with him, it seemed as if they were already learning each other’s habits. He knew it took her a few minutes to feel human in the morning. He did like to push her, but he also knew when to back off.

  “Thanks for breakfast. It’s wonderful,” she told him.

  “Not a problem. I like cooking for you. Much better than cooking for one,” he said.

  “It’s easier, faster, and cheaper to cook for one,” she pointed out.

  He looked at her and smiled. “But not as satisfying.”

  “I’ll have to agree,” she said. “It kind of takes the joy out of the food prep when there’s no one to tell you how wonderful it is.”

  “I fully agree,” he said.

  “Have you heard anything back from the police yet?” she asked. She hated bringing up the case when the morning was going so well, but unfortunately, her life revolved around the mysteries at both the school and her apartment—at least for now.

  “There’s nothing new,” he told her.

  Keera finished her breakfast and lifted her leg up on the chair, wrapping her arm around her knee and squeezing. Her fingers wandered down her shin, and she found herself playing with the necklace she’d turned into an anklet, feeling comfort touching the cold metal.

  “You seem to wear that often,” he said as he eyed the gold heart.

  She felt a pang in her chest. “My brother gave this to me,” she said, fighting the urge to cry. “It was only a couple days before he . . . died. Wearing it makes me feel as if he’s not really gone, but I worry I’ll lose it.”

  He reached for her, his fingers resting on top of her hand, making her still as she gazed at him.

  “I hope I can help you get the answers you need so badly,” he told her. Her reply got stuck in her throat as she grew lost in his eyes.

  “You’ve done more for me than anyone else,” she said. “It means a lot.”

  “I’m not doing anything more than anyone else would do,” he said, looking away.

  “Why do you do that?” she asked.

  He looked at her again, confusion in his expression. “Do what?”

  “You tend to downplay when you go above and beyond what most people do,” she told him.

  “I don’t do that. But I think if you’re searching for affirmation or credit for helping another person, then you’re doing it for the wrong reason,” he told her.

  “I agree with that,” she said. “But that doesn’t mean you can’t also gracefully accept a thank-you.”

  His lips turned up, and then he chuckled. She was confused.

  “Ah, I’ve just gotten the principal voice,” he said as he continued chuckling.

  “You did not,” she said, pushing his hand away as she sat back and crossed her arms.

  “It’s okay,” he told her. “I find the principal voice pretty damn sexy.”

  And just like that, the teasing faded, and warmth infused her. She gazed at him, wondering if they were going to be able to stay in this house much longer without combusting. When the silence stretched on too long, and the heat rose too many degrees, Arden finally rose, allowing her to take a breath.

  “We need to get out of here for a while. Grab a coat. We’ll go on a hike,” he said as he walked away from the table.

  They tended to go on a lot of hikes. Maybe that was good. It was better than sitting in his house lusting after a man who clearly thought one time with her was plenty. With a sigh, she rose from the table and went to her room.

  It was just one more day in a seemingly endless amount of time where she didn’t know which way was up and which was down. For as organized a person as she was, the feeling wasn’t a good one.

  But at least this was a new adventure in life. Maybe, just maybe, it would be one that didn’t end with her utter devastation. She could always hope.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Sitting in her office, Keera was finishing up her work when there was a tap on her door. She smiled when Ethan walked in. He wore a scowl, which wasn’t necessarily unusual, but it also meant this was most likely going to be an unpleasant conversation. With her nerves already tied up, she almost wished her phone would ring so she could get out of this conversation.

  “I’m surprised to find you alone,” Ethan said as he grumpily sat down in the chair in front of her desk.

  “I don’t normally have company in here,” she told him.

  “Yeah, but your watchdog is always hovering these days,” he grumbled.

  “Max?” she asked, confused. She often did bring Max in with her when Arden was doing something with the kids. She said it was to help him, but the reality was that she really liked the dog. Now that Ethan had mentioned it, she wished Max was with her.

  “I was referring to Arden,” he said as if she were a small child who needed everything spelled out for her.

  “Arden’s been protective, since it appears someone has a vendetta against me,” she told
him.

  “Your office was broken into once. That doesn’t mean you’re in jeopardy,” he said with a roll of his eyes.

  “And my apartment,” she reminded him.

  His eyes rounded as he sat up in his chair. “When was your apartment broken into?”

  “It was a week ago. I came home, and two people had broken in, trashed my place, then hurt my neighbor as they escaped. They still haven’t been caught,” she said with a frustrated sigh.

  “Why didn’t you call me immediately?” he said, then his eyes narrowed. “Because you called Arden.” The last sentence wasn’t a question.

  “For one thing, you just got back yesterday from out of town. And for another, I didn’t call him, but I think his brother did, because he was at my place fast,” she admitted. “But I was grateful he was there because the cops didn’t want me staying there, and I had nowhere else to go.”

  Ethan’s eyes narrowed more as his mouth gaped open. “What do you mean you had nowhere else to go?” Before she could answer, he fired off another sentence. “Are you staying with Arden?”

  Color heated her cheeks as she looked at her desk. This was the reason she didn’t want people to know she was at Arden’s. They were going to make the same assumption she knew Ethan was. It mortified her. Even in this day and age, someone in her position, at the head of a school, could certainly be branded with a scarlet letter A.

  “Please keep your voice down,” she begged. “I don’t need my personal business broadcast throughout the school. You know how rumors fly in a small town.”

  “I thought we were friends. I don’t understand why you’d keep something like this from me,” he told her. Now he seemed hurt on top of being irritated. Keera wasn’t trying to exclude anyone, but Arden had pointed out that the fewer people who knew, the easier it would be to catch whoever was at fault.

  “I’m sorry, Ethan. I should have spoken to you right away. You’ve been nothing but good to me, and if this has to do with the school instead of just me, you should certainly be in on it.”

  On top of everything else she was feeling, the last thing she wanted was a load of guilt. But Ethan seemed to be more concerned with how he was feeling than her safety. That should bother her, but at the moment she was far more concerned with assuaging this man’s feelings.

  “Arden hasn’t shared a damn thing with me about how this investigation’s going. I think he forgets I’m the vice principal of this school, and that I’ve worked here a long time. I have a right to know what’s happening.”

  There was so much accusation in Ethan’s eyes. Though Keera knew she didn’t owe anyone details of her personal life, she did feel that she owed Ethan information that could pertain to the school. He had been there much longer than she had, even longer than Arden.

  “Are you and Arden a couple now?” Ethan asked. He’d calmed his voice, but she couldn’t tell what he thought about the possibility of her dating Arden.

  “No,” she said too quickly, then forced herself to calm. “He’s just a friend, and he wants to get to the bottom of this.” There was no way Ethan needed to know her personal business or what she and Arden had done together.

  “I could be helping you,” Ethan insisted. “Just because Arden has his family’s money doesn’t make him better than me.”

  Keera wondered what had happened between Ethan and the Forbes family to make the man so bitter. Maybe it was just a matter of envy. She’d seen that a lot when her family had been wealthy. A lot of people thought money would solve all their problems. She knew firsthand how untrue that actually was.

  “I appreciate you offering, Ethan, I truly do. I’m just trying to get this solved so I don’t need help from anyone,” she told him. “It’s very difficult for me to accept.”

  “Apparently it’s not too hard, since you’re staying with Arden,” he said, a smirk on his lips as if he knew what that entailed and exactly how she was thanking Arden for his generosity.

  Fury rushed through Keera, and she had to push it back down. She expected those who didn’t know her to think these types of things, but she’d thought she and Ethan had respect for each other. Apparently not.

  “I might be temporarily staying with Arden, but I assure you, what I do when I’m outside of these school walls is no one’s business,” she told him, her shoulders coming back, fire in her eyes. She took pride in the fact that he looked away first. He should feel ashamed for making snap judgments against her.

  “He’s not the guy you think he is. He has a lot of people fooled,” Ethan told her, still refusing to look her in the eyes.

  Keera didn’t know how to react to this. She didn’t know Arden, not that well. Everything she’d seen of him spoke of a good man, but that didn’t necessarily mean anything. Ethan had known Arden and his entire family for a long time. But with the way Ethan had been acting over the last few weeks, his opinion wasn’t valued.

  “How long until you go back home?” he asked when she didn’t respond to his last words. He seemed to be backpedaling. He even looked up and gave her a semblance of a smile.

  “I don’t know. The people destroyed nearly everything in my place. I was able to salvage some clothes, but all the furniture was ruined, along with the flooring. They couldn’t have been there more than twenty minutes, but the amount of destruction they caused was equivalent to that of a tornado.”

  “I’m sorry,” he said, seeming to mean the words. “I would’ve been there for you had I known.”

  “I appreciate that more than you can imagine,” Keera told him. “There’s not a lot of people in this world we can count on, so it’s always nice to have someone like you in my life.”

  Keera realized as she said the words, making the man smile, that she wasn’t sure she really wanted him to be a part of her life anymore—at least not outside of work. He was just so bitter, and he was now making her uncomfortable.

  He stood and walked toward her office door. Maybe he could feel the tension in the room, or maybe he’d come in and said what he needed to, and now he was making his escape. She wasn’t sure, but she did know she had no desire to stop him.

  “Next time, make sure I’m the first phone call you make,” he told her as he paused at her door.

  Keera’s shoulders tensed again as he looked at her. She wanted to tell him that wasn’t going to happen, but what were the chances of anything more occurring? Pretty slim, in reality. It had been very quiet for the past week, so maybe the culprits had found whatever it was they were looking for and they were done with her.

  “I will,” she said. The lie felt bitter on her tongue.

  Ethan’s chest puffed out as he smiled for a moment too long before exiting her office. It took several moments for Keera’s heart rate to lower and her skin to stop prickling. Ethan wasn’t a bad man, but there was something about him that irked her now. Maybe it was because he was so antagonistic toward Arden, someone she cared about.

  Keera wasn’t sure what it was. She’d learned long ago to take her time in trusting another person. That’s why she didn’t quite understand her newfound trust in Arden.

  That wasn’t true. If she was being honest, she’d have to admit she couldn’t deny Arden was someone she could turn to in a time of need. She wasn’t sure how long that would be the case, but right now he was the first person she thought of when everything was going wrong.

  What was more frightening than that, was the fact that she thought of Arden when everything was going right, too. As a matter of fact, she was constantly thinking about Arden and his dang dog. The two of them had wedged themselves inside her wall of protection. She didn’t want to put the wall back up.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Keera was getting ready to settle down with a good book. She had the house to herself, which should have been much more pleasant than it was, but she was lonely. When the front door swung open, it caused her to jump as she turned to find four women walking inside.

  “Good evening,” a cheerful voice called. />
  Angela was back wearing a grin, looking absolutely stunning. She was accompanied by Roxie, who was married to Arden’s brother Kian, and two other women she recognized only from pictures throughout Arden’s home.

  “Hello,” Keera said, unsure what was happening. They were carrying what appeared to be a dress wrapped in plastic, and a couple of bags. They all looked as if they were ready for a night on the town.

  “Keera, this is Roxie, Dakota, and Eden,” Angela said. “We’ve come to take you away from this place—just for tonight.”

  “I have a bunch of work to do,” Keera said, automatically taking a step back. Most of her things had been destroyed, and there was no way she could match these women. Even before her clothes had been ruined, she hadn’t owned anything like what they were wearing. She was far more a business-casual type of dresser.

  “It’s Saturday night. Work can wait,” Roxie said. “I’ll be the first to say you’re now living in Edmonds, and we like to know our neighbors. Since you’re running the high school, and you and Arden have become such good . . . friends,” she added, after a wiggle of her brows and a long enough pause to make Keera squirm, “it’s time we hang out.”

  “I’d love to do that. How about coffee tomorrow?” Keera asked, thinking that was an acceptable compromise.

  “Not a chance. I have a sitter tonight, and my husband’s waiting. We’re going out,” Dakota said as she moved forward. “We brought you a killer dress. There’s no excuse.”

  “Oh, well . . .” Keera really didn’t know what else she could say without coming across as rude. And as she gazed at the bag, she felt a deep yearning to get dressed up. She’d heard the saying about all work and no play being a bad thing, but work was what sustained her, so she didn’t put much stock into it.

  “We brought everything you’ll need, so we’re going to do a rush job getting you ready. Of course, you have flawless skin and luxurious hair, so it won’t take much to make you shine,” Eden told her.

  “I can’t believe you’ve been so thoughtful,” Keera said, feeling a sting in her eyes. She blinked them rapidly, in no way wanting to break down in front of these strong women.