Sea Haven 01 - Water Bound

us? If you’re going to let me stay here while I recover, that’s the least I can do.”
    Was she going to let him continue to stay in her home while he recovered? Rikki chewed nervously on her lower lip. He would say he wouldn’t touch her things, but he would. And she’d have to be very vigilant.
    Just because the house hadn’t caught fire during the last two weeks, didn’t 108

    mean it couldn’t happen—the risk was far greater with someone else in the house.
    He sent her a small smile. “You’re thinking of kicking me out.”
    She shrugged. “I’m always thinking about kicking you out.” She spread her arms out, encompassing her home. “I’m used to living alone, and it’s safer.”
    “Not really. Not if someone’s really trying to burn you out. I’d be damn handy to have around.”
    He leaned toward her, his blue eyes so intense she lost herself there, in that wild blue sea. “Let me stay with you, Rikki. I have nowhere else to go. I don’t have a clue who I really am. If I was on that yacht, everyone thinks I’m dead.”
    So he had been listening. He’d chosen not to answer—as she often did.
    “Maybe this is my chance,” he persisted. “My one chance at a new life.
    I can be someone else, someone different.”
    “If you don’t know who you are . . .”
    “I’ve killed men. Every instinct I have is all about survival.”
    “That doesn’t mean you weren’t protecting people, Lev. I saved the newspapers.” She got the newspapers but never read them, not until she’d gone into town and seen the influx of reporters. The mess was still going strong. “The man who owned the boat was a billionaire and everyone on board was lost, including his bodyguard. You could have been his bodyguard. Don’t bodyguards have to shoot people occasionally?”
    Lev shook his head. “You’re incredible, you know that? Don’t bodyguards have to shoot people occasionally? Who thinks like that? Let me stay with you, Rikki.”
    She wasn’t going to kick him out. She’d found him in the sea and she was bound to him. She’d taken him on board her boat and that made her responsible for him. Besides . . . She pressed her fingers to her temples.
    She’d gone to sleep with him beside her. She’d never even done that with Daniel. She couldn’t just abandon him, not when Blythe and the others had given her a chance, not when he’d given her a gift so precious as to know that once— once— in her life, she’d been normal enough to sleep beside another human being, which was the only reason she’d continued to sleep on the bed. Not because she wanted to be with him.
    “I don’t know what I’ll do with you. And you can’t touch my things.”
    “I’ll do the cooking,” he volunteered immediately.
    She didn’t eat anything but peanut butter—not unless Blythe made her go to her house for dinner. Then she forced herself to do it so she didn’t hurt 109

    Blythe’s feelings. His slight grin made her heart turn over. Sheesh, she hated the effect he had on her.
    “Do you want to go shopping now? Before breakfast? Inez’s market is open.”
    Instantly his expression went blank. For a moment he looked a little scary, his blue eyes diamond hard. “It would probably be best if no one sees me for a while. We don’t want any questions.”
    She didn’t like questions either and she sure wasn’t going to answer any of them. She glanced at the clock. It was still very early. She might get there while the store was empty. “Make a list then.” It took seconds to go to the drawer where notepads and pens were neatly stacked. She handed him both.
    He immediately began scribbling. Twice he opened her fridge, frowned at the milk and broccoli, and wrote more. The cupboards contained jars of both smooth and chunky peanut butter. “I can see you’re into variety.”
    She put on her darkest scowl. “Blythe can lecture me about my eating habits; you can’t.”
    He put down the pen. “I suppose that’s fair. I’m not going to be a burden to you financially. Things are coming back to me and I must have money somewhere. Sooner or later I’ll have access to it and I’ll pay you back. And I can work for you. You need a tender.”
    Her scowl deepened. “You stay the hell off my boat.”
    His grin widened. She supposed he had reason to look a little cocky. He had the perfect place to hide out. She was so antisocial no one but her family came to visit her, and most of the time she went to their houses.