Once their beers were finished, Ky, Josh, and Lachlan walked into the living room. Their eyes jumped from me to Ashlyn and then back again.

“What have we missed?” Josh asked as he sat beside me on the couch and his arm fell across my shoulders.

“Just girl talk,” I responded with a smile.

“And by girl talk, do you mean talking about boys?” he teased with a wiggle of his eyebrows.

“Joshua Crawford, I feel sorry for the girl who finally sweeps you off your feet.”

“I have no plans of being swept any time soon Ashy.”

“Ky, your brother has seriously lost his mind.”| Ashlyn laughed and wrapped her arm around Ky’s waist. “Come make me one of those famous Ky Crawford cocktails.”

Ky nodded while still looking at me closely. Ashlyn pulled him closer, and they walked toward the bar chatting quietly amongst themselves. I turned back to Josh and Lachlan and fell into conversation about Australia. I finally learned some of the Aussie slang that I had originally asked for before realizing that Australian impersonations really weren’t my thing.

The night soon came to an end, exhaustion was hitting me full force, and all I wanted to do was crawl into bed. Tonight was completely unexpected, and I never thought coming here would result in Ky telling me he wanted to kiss me again, or that I’d have girl talk on the couch and meet an Australian. It was a crazy whirlwind in my head and I was still trying to sift through the layers. After saying our goodnights, I walked out with Ky and waited in the warmed of the foyer waiting for the cab to arrive to take me back to the hotel.

I suddenly felt shy under the intensity of his gaze and his smirk hadn’t left since he walked me down. “I have every intention to ask you to stay tonight, but I won’t because I’d only want you to say yes for the right reasons and I know you aren’t there yet.” His voice was so smooth.

It was about this time that I stopped breathing.

“Don’t look panicked. I’m not asking you Eden.” The cab driver hit the horn as he pulled up and Ky pulled me close to the warmth of his body, placing a sweet kiss on my forehead. “I’ll talk to you tomorrow. Stay safe.”

Walking into my darkened apartment, I switched on the lights and the space immediately illuminated. It had just clocked over to midnight, and I couldn’t stop thinking about the awkward goodbye I shared with Eden.

So much had changed in such a short amount of time. I was no longer working sixteen-hour days; I wasn’t spending more time at work than I was at home. Fuck, I even had food in my fridge these days. That wasn’t Ky Crawford. She was getting under my skin at an alarming rate, and I was losing sight of what I had set out to achieve in the first place.

The sound of my phone ringing echoed through the air and as I looked at the screen, I was shocked to find Eden’s name flash on the screen.

I pushed the answer button.

“Ky, please come and get me.” She didn’t even give me a chance to speak.

“Eden, what’s wrong?” I asked, rushing back towards the door and grabbing my keys.

“Someone’s been in my room.” Her voice was so panicked and breathless with fear.

My body went rigid. “Eden, go to the front desk. I’ll be there in ten minutes.”

I hung up the phone and bolted out of my apartment, determination flooding my veins. I bypassed the elevator because of the time it would take to go down fourteen floors; I couldn’t risk stopping at any floors and wasting any more time. Time was not on mine or Eden’s side right now. I ran down fourteen flights of stairs to get to the underground garage with only one goal in mind. Get to Eden.

I was at Hotel De Luca within eight minutes, having made five traffic violations in the process. As I pulled to the curb, I found Eden standing outside on the sidewalk with her arms wrapped tightly around her body as her eyes darted around feverishly looking for protection and any sign of danger. My car was in park before I could blink and I sprinted from the car until I was in front of her. My desperate eyes scanned her face and her body for any signs of hurt. She was shaking so violently and the look of pure fear on her face tore at my defenses. I pulled her close to my chest, one arm around her waist and the other around her shoulders, allowing my hand to rest on the back of her head. She fell into my arms, and I felt the rigidness of her body soften against the warmth of my chest. I didn’t know how long we stood on the sidewalk, all I knew was that I’d give her what she needed until she pushed me away.

“I should go and see if there is another room available.” Her muffled words against my chest startled me.

“Eden, there is no way in hell that you are staying here.”

Her blue eyes flashed up to mine.

“You are coming back to my place. You can stay in the spare room until we work something out. There is no fucking way you are staying here.”

“Can you come with me while I pack up my things?” she asked timidly.

“Eden, I’m not letting you out of my fucking sight. You are going to get sick of the sight of me before this month is over. We will get your things and then head to my place. Are you okay with that?”

“Yes.”

She unwrapped herself from my body and attempted to step away. Like hell. My hand shot out and grabbed hers and immediately her fingers laced with mine so tenderly and so needy. We walked in silence through the foyer and toward her room and my mind felt like it was running a marathon and I couldn’t see the finish line. Eden hesitated as she slid the card through and the door unlocked.

“I’ll go in first,” I soothed and gave her hand a squeeze in a desperate attempt to offer her protection and comfort.

Her suitcase lay in the middle of the bed in total chaos. It was obvious that someone had been ratting around in it. My stomach clenched and I felt bile rise from the pit of my stomach and sit precariously in my throat as I focused on the bras and panties spilling out of it, thrown around and disturbed by some dirty fucking asshole’s hands.

“Do you want to stay in the hall and I’ll pack everything up?” I asked softly.

“No!” She gasped and shot me a pleading look. The color in her face had drained and her eyes showed nothing but sheer terror. Her hand grabbed hold of my arm for dear life. “Please don’t leave me out here.”

“Hey, hey, it’s okay. I’m not going anywhere. Let’s get in here and get your stuff together and get out of here.”

I sat on the edge of the bed while Eden packed up her belongings at rapid speed. My eyes traced her every movement and I couldn’t ignore the fact that she was trembling and her shaking hands caused her to drop everything she picked up.

“Eden.” I spoke so softly that she froze and turned to look at me. “Come here.”

She crossed the room and fell into my open arms and unleashed a deep sob into my chest. I felt the cotton of my shirt dampen under her tears and my arms tightened. She was completely falling apart in my arms and I felt at a loss of what I could provide her.

“I’m scared,” she admitted when she pulled away and looked up at me. “I’m really scared.”

“What can I do to stop you from being scared?” My fingers tucked the hair that had fallen out of her braid behind her ears and her eyes closed under my touch.

Her voice strained as she responded with, “I don’t know but you being here is helping.”

“How bout we finish this and then we can leave?”

“That would be good.”

Eden stepped away from me and went about collecting her laptop and camera gear and continued shoving her belongings back in her suitcase. Seeing the expensive items not touched confused the fuck out of me. A breaking and entering like this was always for the most expensive items that could be grabbed but here they still sat, out in the open and begging to be taken. I couldn’t shake the feeling that this wasn’t just a random act, and it sent shivers soaring down my spine.