She surprised me by placing her hand on my chest. The chemistry was instant, a bolt of lightning shattering my personal space. Fuuuuck. I wanted this woman. How fucking ridiculous given what she was going through.
“Do you keep new clothes lying around just in case you have wayward guests?” Her laugh was slight, but a sweet, welcome relief.
“Maybe.”
“You’re full of surprises as well. Just when I’m ready to lock down my hatred of you, you do something sweet and out of character.”
“Well, don’t get used to it.”
Her fingers curled around my shirt and she inched closer, tilting her head. “Don’t sell yourself short. Every once in a while, you can let your guard down with people and trust them.”
“Sadly, the thought has been shot down more than once.”
“Then you’re hanging around the wrong people.” Every breath she took was ragged and I could see her rapid pulse beating in her long neck. She wasn’t just nervous for her brother. She was anxious around me.
Something else I couldn’t blame her for.
“Maybe so. I’ll make certain he doesn’t leave this house so you can rest.”
“I don’t know if I can. He’s still antsy, but I can tell the burst of energy is about to run rough. He’ll need another fix, or he’ll become more…”
“Violent?” I asked. “I can handle him. He needs food.”
“He only eats pizza.”
“Pizza. Hmmm… A favorite of mine. I think we can make that happen.”
“My knight in shining armor.” She crawled her fingers up my shirt while darting the tip of her tongue across her bottom lip.
“Hardly. Just a guy who doesn’t like to lose.”
“Mmm… What did you say to Donovan in the car?”
“What did I say?”
She cocked her head in response, her nose wrinkling.
“I simply told him that you were his champion, but that he needed to do this for the right reasons including wanting to live. That he needed to want to thrive.”
“Oh, you didn’t tell him you’d beat his ass if he relapsed?”
Laughing, I wrapped my arm around her, dragging her against the heat of my body. “Well, perhaps I did once or twice.”
“Whatever you said it seemed to influence him. Time will tell but thank you. And don’t let that go to your head. You might not ever hear that again.”
“Lady, I don’t need a thank you.”
“Then what do you need?”
Oh, the question was full of holes. What she needed was the truth, something I enjoyed skirting around. “What if I said all I need is you?”
“Then I’d say you were lying.”
“You also don’t know me very well.”
“Then prove it.”
Vanessa enjoyed tossing down a gauntlet in her constant attempt to prove me wrong. From day one, I’d wanted nothing more than to win. The reason hadn’t mattered. That was my nature, the competition what I thrived on. The rush of adrenaline. The thrill of victory.
