She grips my t-shirt with both hands, holding on like she’s afraid if she didn’t, she’d be swept away in a tide. “Don’t go.”
Her plea is like a fist to the gut.
“I’ll be in the armchair.” I jerk my head towards the window.
She shakes her head. “No, don’t go. Don’t leave me. Please, Kaz.” The pain in her voice lacerates me.
Who is the bogeyman I need to slay?
I blow out a breath. “Okay.”
I ease her down, slide underneath the sheet beside her and wrap her in my arms.
She shuffles closer to me as if she’s trying to fuse our bodies together.
She uses my chest has a pillow, her arm slung around my waist, and one of her bare legs curled around mine. I curve a hand around the calf of the leg she hooked over mine.
I kiss the top of her head. “I’m here, Harley. I promise you, I’ll keep you safe.”
A few beats pass as I hold her in my arms.
Her breathing slows.
Good. She’s fallen asleep.
Her body jerks.
I tense.
“I’m not like them,” she says in a faint voice.
When I find out who’s putting her in this state, I’ll wring the motherfucker’s neck.
Hold the presses because Hell just froze over.
Kazimir Lindstro¨m stepped onto the red carpet with a new belle hanging from his arm and the man smiled. Yes, you read that correctly. The brooding hockey legend actually smiled. And the miracle happened on the red carpet at the Active Kids charity gala last night. The sighting of that elusive smile is causing as much commotion as the first sighting of the Virgin Mary in Fatima, Portugal.
But that smile was as temporary as Kazimir’s lighthearted mood. There might’ve been no puck, stick, or rink in sight, but we were a hair away from an epic hockey fight between a man who led his team as Captain to Olympic gold and the notorious brat on ice. It was a showdown between ex-stepdad and ex-stepson as both were vying for the attention of… the same woman. Kazimir came out on top from this near fight as a protective boyfriend defending his girl’s honor. Chett Frostburg, on the other hand, collected two new nicknames. Predator and abusive asshole.
Our sources have it on good authority that said woman is the same petite blonde Kazimir defended at Grazie Mille. We didn’t recognize her at first because the Cinderella transformation left us jaw-dropped, but it’s her. I don’t know about you, but this is starting to read like a forbidden romance. Stay tuned.
#JustSpottedNYC #SpillingTheTea
Chapter 25
Tempting little Goldilocks
Kazimir
Iopen my eyes when the body wrapped around mine moves.
I look down at Harley.
Her blonde hair is splayed across my chest.
I brush it off her face, and she lets out a little sleepy sound.
She lifts her leg, and I grimace.
