CHAPTER 2

           No response. But one arm went higher, revealing more of the tattoo on his side. What was that? A feather? A quill? Covering a long scar along his ribs... Of, for God’s sake… more iron muscles.

“Sir? Hello?” Starlight tried again, a little louder.

          He was on one foot then, reaching for something on the roof. She stepped forward, considering the best way to get his attention. She blew out a deep breath.

          This was ridiculous! What was the matter with her?

          She reached out and tugged on one of his jeans' belt loops.

“Hold up!” he called out. “I almost... got... it… Yes!”

          The strand of Christmas lights came on, casting the porch in hues of red, blue, and green. Starlight held her breath as he leaped down, eager to see what the rest of this man looked like.

          But the clear blue eyes that greeted her were a total surprise. The kind of surprise that left her breathless… and shocked, almost out of her mind…

          No! It can’t be!

“Elijah?”

          Her voice was high and tight. Even now, after years, she knew him. Instant recognition… instant reaction. Her heart twisted sharply at the all-too-familiar blue eyes regarding her in astonishment. And her body was racked with something he’d inspired whenever he was close to her: hot, deep desire.

          Elijah Thomas.

          The very last person she wanted to see right now.

          He stared at her, frozen. Why was he acting so surprised? This was HER damn house. A house she’d practically run from years ago… because of him. She had every right to be here. He did not!

          Starlight welcomed the anger warming her belly. Anger was good. Much better than... the other feelings bouncing around inside of her. His gaze sharpened, searching hers. She tried to ignore that familiar pull tightening the pit of her stomach.

“Star?”

          Elijah was the only one calling her ‘Star’… with his voice so low, so husky.

“'Starlight', not 'Star'… if you please. And, yeah, it’s me... Hi!” she croaked.

          This is bad… On so many levels, bad… So, so bad.

          Like she needed another bump to her already dinged confidence. Nothing like coming face to face with the man who had humiliated her, destroying her heart, soul, mind, and her fragile ego eight damn years before.

          Yes, it was the holidays and there’d been a chance she’d run into him. But she’d hoped she wouldn’t. Definitely not her first night back in her childhood home. Not when she wasn’t ready to face him or anyone else, for that matter.

          And certainly not with crazy hair and no bra.

          Starlight tore her gaze from his, wrapping her arms around her waist. He was all muscles and sexiness… What the hell had happened to him? This Elijah Thomas barely resembled the clean-cut boy she’d held hands with in the halls of Smithville High School.

          Now, he was big, almost intimidating, with shaggy black hair, a thick stubble covering his angular jaw, and a new wariness about his clear blue eyes.

          Oh, sweet Lord… Those eyes she could just drown in…

          She forced her gaze away. She would not think about his eyes. Or his body. Or those abs. And that tattoo...

          Her pulse was racing just standing there. He was all hot in his gloriously ass-hugging jeans and broad shoulder-hugging jacket while she wore a damn blanket.

“It’s been a long time… Star,” he said, finally smiling, emphasizing her nickname.  

          ‘Star… again… Damn you, Elijah Thomas!’

          Elijah hesitated briefly before pulling her against him in a warm embrace. She stiffened. She didn’t want to hug him. He might look good… Oh, hell! Who was she kidding? He looked magnificent… But she knew what he was capable of. What sort of pain he could inflict... She knew that oh too well but...

          His hand pressed, open, against the base of her back. Even through the layers of fabric, Starlight could feel the contours of his fingers and the warmth of his palm. And it… HE felt so damn good.

          Then she took a deep breath and inhaled his scent. She swallowed, trembling. Dammit! He smelled the same, teasing her... flooding every cell with a steady throb of burning desire.

“It has.”

          She didn’t know where the overwhelming urge to hold on to him came from, but she fought it. It shouldn’t matter that it had been too long since anyone had held her close, just like that.

          Starlight Maxwell wasn’t going to melt in Elijah Thomas’s arms ever again.

          Or other men’s arms, for that matter. She pushed away from him, stepping back quickly. His smile faded as he eyed the poker in her hands.

“Are you under siege? Are you preparing to go to war?”

          Starlight blinked, looking at him, then the poker.

“What? I don’t understand…”

“Or is it some new fashion accessory I don’t know about?”

          Elijah shot another pointed glance at the poker, crossing his thick arms over his broad chest. If she wasn’t pissed as hell at his sudden and irritating reappearance in her life, Starlight might admire the shift of muscle in his forearms.

          But she was! She was so, so pissed!

“Where I come from, a woman alone protects herself from strange men hanging off their porches.”

          She sounded unruffled and together, revealing none of her inner turmoil.

“Especially when it’s in the middle of the night.”

          He glanced at the open door behind her, then back at her.

“Listen… I’m a little tired for company and, since it is late, it’s best if you go… wherever you came from…” she said over her shoulder, heading back inside and out of the cold… away from him.

          Her voice wasn’t shaking. She didn’t look like she was retreating. Even if that was sort of what she was doing. But she sort of had to because she couldn’t seem to get a handle on the way she was reacting to him.

          But Elijah didn’t move. He just stood there, a strange expression on his face.

“I’m sorry I scared you, Star.”

          He held up his hands.

“If I’d known you were here, alone, I would have said something first.”

“Before you decorated my house?” Starlight asked, holding the doorknob.

          Elijah planted his hands on his hips and shook his head.

“Yeah, about that… It was made perfectly clear by the lady in charge that this needed to be done now or suffer the consequences.”

          What the hell did that mean?

“‘The lady in charge’? Sounds like your wife takes the holidays as seriously as your mother.”

“No wife,” Elijah clarified, placing an odd emphasis on the word no before chuckling. “I was talking about the head of the neighborhood association.”

“Why would they bother you with that?” Starlight asked, more and more confused.

          He pulled his keys from his pocket, watching her intently.

“Oh… I guess Daniel didn’t tell you I was renting the place?”

          Her lungs emptied painfully.

“No! No, he didn’t,” she muttered, reeling.

          Daniel hadn’t told her a lot of things.

“Six months now. I came here after the last tenants left. You didn’t notice my stuff? In the master bedroom?”

“I didn’t know,” she murmured. “I’m staying in my old room.”

          Was this Daniel’s idea of a joke? Not that she’d told him much about Elijah. But he knew enough. He knew Elijah Thomas had been her first love and that he’d broken her heart.

          And now he was living in her house… The only place where she could regroup and recover.

“You remember how Smithville gets around the holidays?” Elijah asked, seemingly unaware of her discomfort. “That hasn’t changed,” he continued and shrugged. “I’ve been on assignment for over a week and I’m running out of time. So that’s why I was hanging lights… Now… At night… In the cold.”

          He was decorating her house... because it was also HIS house?

          It wasn’t some horrible mistake. But what the hell was she supposed to do? It wasn’t like she was going to let him stay. No matter what time of the night it was. But she couldn’t think of a single coherent thing to say. He shivered.

“It’s a damn cold night,” he said and grinned.

“I guess this means I have to let you in? Like… right now?” she asked, seriously considering shutting the door in his grinning face.

          Elijah thought this was funny? Did he not remember the last time they saw each other? The things he’d said? She thought she’d never recover.

“That’d be the neighborly thing to do, Star.”

          He brushed past her, elbowing the door shut behind him.

“Right… Neighborly…” she tried not to snap.

          Why was he surveying the room? Why did he have to have that gorgeous ass?

          Her anger died a little. It was really hard to hate him while thoroughly appreciating the way his jeans hugged the muscles of his thighs. And his ass. That was definitely worth a long, thorough inspection.

          She swallowed, forcing her eyes up before he saw her. But he was still looking around the house, curious.

“What are you looking for?”

          Elijah turned, his blue gaze pinning hers, and shook his head.

“Nothing…”

          Obviously, he was lying. It was clear he was looking for something. But what? His gaze was far too... intense and probing. And more than a little unsettling. More than a little... affecting. But words wouldn’t come…

“Home for the holidays?” he asked, his voice deep and rough.

“Yes,” she mumbled, then added, “and no.”

          Why was she answering him? Why wasn’t she telling him to leave the hell out of her house? His crooked grin caused her heart to thump heavily in her chest. Not the most reassuring response.

“That’s cryptic.”

          He shook his head. Maybe it was, but she didn’t feel the need to say more. Yet she couldn’t seem to get out now, so she stood there, her awareness increasing and the silence stretching out.

          Elijah sighed, that gaze never leaving her face. She couldn’t seem to look away. Or think… A cold shower was definitely in her future. Or Great Scott… Yeah, lots of Great Scott time.

          He was saying something, but her mind was too busy processing everything to hear him. Oh, God… In less than thirty minutes she’d gone from content to distressed. And it was all Elijah’s fault… Again.

“I’d offer to stay across the street at my mom’s but she’s got a full house, with the holidays and all…”

          His words were soft, echoing in her ears. She frowned at him, wrapping her arms around her waist.

“Clearly, one of us needs to find a hotel. Like… now?”