Clover couldn’t help his tiny sigh of contentment. “Me too.”
For a moment, they held each other’s stare before the beginning notes of the movie starting had them looking away. Clover wasn’t sure what was happening, but whatever it was, he wanted it.
Chapter Four
Daytwoofhisnew job went even better than he hoped. Saint had been right about Maya. Clover had given her his cellphone number, and she texted him several times during the day. She was also one of those who had to send the last text in every conversation, even if it was just hearts. He had picked that one up pretty quickly and just let her have it. Clover liked her a lot. He was happy to hear the new guard Saint had sent did a better job of protecting her.
On the other end of the spectrum, he had barely set eyes on Saint. Nothing had seemed wrong this morning. Clover had woken up tucked into bed. Maybe he had snored too loudly. Saint hadn’t seemed any different at breakfast. He was overthinking every little thing. Clover knew Saint had been busy. He had been the one transferring nonstop calls to him all day. Him not asking if he could help people made zero difference. Everyone still told him everything before he sent them Saint’sway. Those chats had made him realize exactly how much Saint dealt with every day. He had clients calling, employees calling, and new contracts in the works. Saint must run the entire north. He had no idea how Saint had done Clover’s job and his too. Clover was tired just thinking about it.
While Clover was lost in thought, Saint appeared. He knocked on Clover’s desk. “Hey, kitten. You ready to get that tree?”
The happiness that ran through Clover at the sight of Saint was off the charts. He had to swallow it down. “I’ve been thinking about the tree.” Clover stood as he talked and grabbed his coat. Saint took it from him and helped him into his fluffy jacket. Clover let it happen like they did this every day. “We’ll be leaving for a week, and live trees are highly flammable. Plus, we can reuse a fake tree every year. Of course, we also need to pick up decorations. It’s like one-stop shopping.”
Saint wore a huge grin. “You could’ve stopped atwe’lluse it every year.”
Clover hadn’t realized he had said that. The entire speech just rolled off his tongue. “I mean…”
Saint shook his head and took Clover’s hand as they headed for the door. “Nope. No takesies backsies. You’re officially tied to me for life. We’ll co-own a tree. We practically have a kid now.”
Clover couldn’t stop laughing. Saint was like starting over—like fresh air. He made Clover feel things. Clover never wanted to be away from him again. His laughter died when they reachedSaint’s SUV. Even though fat snowflakes fell from the sky and had slightly begun piling on the ground, there was no missing the carnage. Three of his tires had been slashed, and the SUV had been keyed in several places. Everything inside Clover froze in terror. Not only about Jacobe, but Saint wouldn’t want to be his friend anymore after this. They wouldn’t buy a tree together. No one wanted to be near someone who brought this to their life. Soon, he would be alone again. Tears filled his eyes. Then he found his face squashed against Saint’s solid chest. It was like he tried to protect Clover from every angle while still having his phone against his ear. Clover couldn’t understand a single word. He was having a major panic attack. Nothing made sense.
Then Saint’s arms were around him. He stroked Clover’s back. “It’s okay. Just breathe.”
Clover didn’t even realize he was crying. He was definitely getting makeup all over Saint’s shirt. “This is my fault. If you’d never met me…”
Saint kissed his head and didn’t move away. He spoke against Clover’s skin. “I don’t feel that way at all. It’s impossible for me to find the words to explain right now. I know it doesn’t make sense, but you’re the best thing that’s happened to me in a long time. Everything else is just noise.”
Clover’s heart rate slowed. He realized he had Saint’s shirt held tightly in his fists. He still didn’t let go, but he got himself under control. Saint smelled so good. Manly. Clover took a deep breath. “You’re the best thing too.” He didn’t expound. Clover didn’t know how to say Saint was the best thing that had everhappened to him. Full stop. “I’m scared as hell you won’t want to be stuck co-parenting a tree with me now.”
He felt Saint’s chuckle.
Screeching tires had Clover’s heart jumping into his throat. Saint didn’t release him until voices joined them. Clover turned to find some of the largest men he had ever seen in his life. He didn’t realize how hard he shook until Saint no longer held him.
Saint molded against Clover’s back and wrapped the two halves of his coat around Clover, trapping him in the warmth against his chest. Clover didn’t bat an eyelash. It felt exactly like something Saint would do. He was a protective bear. Plus, he was certain he was where he should be.
Almost all the guys moved toward them while the others moved to deal with Saint’s SUV. They all looked dangerous. A large flatbed tow truck worked to tilt its bed, obviously getting ready to haul away Saint’s vehicle. Several people spoke to him, wearing huge smiles and talking about how they had spoken on the phone today. Clover tried to hang on to their names. He had a bad feeling his smile looked every bit as brittle as it felt, and he could barely focus on their words. Someone quietly spoke to Saint, but he could barely keep up with the men bombarding him, much less what Saint said.
“Two tags.” Everyone turned toward the guy who made the announcement. He held up two AirTags. All the guys moved toward the SUV.
“They weren’t there last night. I checked.”
Clover didn’t recall seeing Saint check, but he likely hadn’t wanted Clover to worry. Saint probably knew some trick to check for that type of thing on the sly.
The men went to work, getting the vehicle ready to be taken away, and pulling up video footage from all the cameras Clover didn’t know they had.
Saint pressed his lips against the shell of his ear. “If he’s out there watching, I want him to see how many people are protecting you. I want him to see us like this and think we’re together. Boss and employee will only lead to more of him searching the local businesses. If he believes we’re more, he’ll turn his fury on me.” He motioned toward the SUV. “Exhibit A.”
Clover nodded. “I get it, but I couldn’t live with myself if you got hurt because of me.”
A light kiss skimmed his ear. Even more goosebumps skirted his skin. Clover knew it was all an act, but fuck. His greedy heart begged for more.
“I can take it. Remember, this used to be my job. I know how to protect myself.”
White-hot jealousy slapped Clover. He had done this with clients. Clover had to talk himself down. This was dumb. Saint wasn’t his.
The guard who Clover actually remembered came to hover close. His name was Diesel. Clover remembered that because of his size. He was tall and massive—like a diesel truck.
Diesel kept his voice low. “We’ve got the truck ready to go and all the video footage to analyze. I’m leaving the Ram for you. I’ll catch a ride with Marc.”
