It’s like he has a spell on me, and I want to pour my heart out to him. “Did you talk to him?”
“You could say that.” Not breaking eye contact with me, he continues to brush the pads of his thumbs on my cheeks.
What did he do?
“Dane…” I say as I close my eyes. Hoping he didn’t do anything stupid. If it is Jake, I don’t want to be the cause of bringing a psycho into his life.
“Kendall, please tell me.” The softness of his voice leading me to cover his hand with mine.
TWENTY-TWO
Dane
She hasn’t spoken about this guy, Jake, before, but I’m guessing he was a fucking asshole to her. I’m trying to temper my anger because I wanted to rip that guy’s throat out. The overwhelming need to protect this woman is all-consuming. My body zings with energy, but I need to keep it tamed. At any other time, Kendall is confident in herself, standing tall, and she doesn’t let anything get under her skin. I can see her. She’s scared of him. I want to know why. Then I’ll figure out what to do next.
“Please…” I lean in closer. “Tell me.”
With tears collecting in her eyes, she nods. I’m staying quiet so she can gather herself and tell me everything. I gaze into her emerald green eyes, with flashes of hurt and anger playing through them. She releases my hand, and with one last swipe of my thumbs, it takes away the tear that escaped. I remove my hands from her face. Guiding her to sit on the sofa, I never let go of her hand.
She takes a deep breath and says, “I think it’s my ex-boyfriend, Jake. But I don’t know why he’d be coming around. I have arestraining order against him, and I haven’t seen him in a couple of years.”
The rage of heat engulfs me as I listen to her talk about this douchebag, Jake. I keep my mouth shut and grip her hand tightly, rubbing my thumb over the top of her hand to encourage her to continue.
“We broke up; well, I broke up with him. He thought we were meant to be together forever, but it just wasn’t working out for me. His mental health was declining, and he started stalking me. It only got worse when we officially broke up. He would wait outside the salon in his car to watch me until I left. At first, I chalked it up to his being devastated about the breakup, but then it got worse. He would leave threatening notes on my car and progress to harassing me on my cell phone and coming to the salon.”
Her head hangs low, and she stares at our hands like they can finish the story. With another deep breath and a shake of her head, she continues to say, “It was scary. He was unhinged, and I couldn’t take the risk of being at the salon alone. I reported him every time, and finally, one of the police officers suggested that I get a restraining order. There was enough to get one. So I did. I haven’t seen him since. I don’t even know if it was Jake.”
I brush her fiery red hair off her face and skate my fingers over her cheek. She is gorgeous. I don’t want to see this look on her face ever again. Ever again. I’m going to take care of this for her. Never again will this fucker, Jake, make this woman feel scared.
“Well…I persuaded him to hand over his wallet.”
She interrupts me and says, “Oh, you didn’t! He’s a nutcase!”
“I’m a pretty good negotiator, sweetheart.” I pause for a second. “Kendall, it was Jake Cross.”
She jumps off the couch and paces the small office. I watch her process as she mumbles to herself and shakes her hands. “Dane, this is crazy! I should call the police.”
I stand up and stalk over to her. I’ll make sure Jake does nothing like this again.
“Kendall…I’ll take care of it. You won’t have to worry about Jake again. I promise. I’ll need some time, but he won’t be a problem for you anymore. And I don’t want you alone here…ever.” I may have shifted my tone to one of authority, and that didn’t go over well.
“I appreciate your need to take care of this for me, but…”
“I want you to be safe. Jake—he’s definitely unhinged.” I move closer. Dancing with this fiery beauty is challenging, and it puts a smile on my face.
She wags her finger at me and says, “Don’t you smile at me like that!”
I step close enough to her, inches away from her face. Not touching her, I stand there staring at her, waiting for what’s coming out of that mouth, those lips. Leaning in a bit more, her breath hitches.
Holding her face, I say in a low voice, “I’m doing this. Whether you want me to or not. Hate me, point fingers, kick, scream—none of it will work. When I set my mind to something, I get shit done.” I dip down and gently place my lips on hers. Sparks fly between us as our lips move in perfect synchronicity. It takes everything in me not to slide my tongue through the seam of her lips.
I’m about to pull away when she reaches up with both her arms and wraps them around my neck—rubbing the back of my head. Blood shoots down my body and straight to my cock. It’s ready for her. Always ready, just for her. Her tongue pokes my lips, and I suck on it before we continue a kiss that feels like we’ve been kissing forever.
It’s probably not the time to tell her I threatened Jake and told him I was her fiancé. I don’t know what possessed me to say such an outlandish thing. I’m not sure how she will react.
She looks at me with eyes filled with concern and something else. “Please be careful. He may seem like a dumbass, but he is a snake.”
“I’ve handled worse, sweetheart.”
