“I wish I could stay with you.”
“So stay with me.”
“Really? It won’t cause too much trouble?”
He laughed softly. “What do you think I want more? A quiet, confrontation-free life? Or to be near you?”
She grinned, then her expression turned serious. “I swear I’ll protect you.”
“I believe you.”
“By the way,” she whispered. “I said the piercings were my idea. Don’t contradict me.”
He rolled his eyes. “No one will believe that.”
“I don’t care what they believe. I care what they can use in court. And that will be nothing.”
He didn’t want her lying, but her determination to protect him at any cost struck him through the heart. Things between them were complicated. Perhaps they always would be. But they cared about each other. That was undeniable.
She rose from the chair and then onto her toes to kiss him, which was one of the things he always wanted from her. At least one part of their relationship was simple.
