I hold her tight against my body. “Don’t run from me. I want to know.”
“I can’t tell you.” Her voice trembles as she shakes her head.
I can’t stand her being upset. I pull her into my chest and just hold her for a moment.
“I have scars on my body too. I used to fight a lot. I was a troubled youth. I was twenty when Harlowe’s mom was killed. I rebelled so much. I lost the woman who was like a mother to me, then my father and sister had to leave. I had no one, or I thought I didn’t. So, I fought. I couldn’t stop, even if I wanted to. I was so angry all the time. Now my body bears those scars.”
I pause, giving her a chance to share something with me.
“It’s how I got my nickname. Kodiak grizzly bears are the most dangerous, biggest bears. They are notoriously badasses. I’ve fought men off with knives and got cut by a few.”
“It wasn’t a knife. They’re old, and I don’t want to think about them right now.”
“Will you give me a chance?”
She tips her head back and looks up at me. “I want to, but I have to think of Olympia. And I’m not sure I’m in the right space of mind.”
“Are you still in love with your husband?”
“How do you know I was married?”
“You didn’t deny it,” I say. My heart clenches slightly at the possibility she could still love him. “Why are you divorced?”
“I didn’t get a divorce.”
She drags her finger against my cut, and I need to feel her skin against mine.
I shift and slip off my cut, then my T-shirt beneath. She takes in my chest, with a thin amount of hair across my pecs. Her fingers glide through it, and I can’t hold in the moan from her touch.
“Jean-Louis didn’t have hair on his chest. He was a very good friend, and it hurts that he will never know Olympia. But no, I don’t still love him.”
She looks at me with a faraway expression in her beautiful golden-amber eyes.
“Is it bad to say I don’t know if I ever loved him?”
I shake my head, not wanting to speak, afraid she’ll stop if I do.
“He didn’t love me. He was just helping me. We thought it would all stop. That we would be safe. But we weren’t.”
She leans in and kisses my nipple, then bites it slightly.
“That’s why I can’t do more with you. I won’t be the reason another person dies.”
That’s it. I flip her to her back and hover over her body. I can’t keep the anger from my voice.
“I’ll protect you. Don’t you get it? I’m the most dangerous man out there. I’m not scared of whatever or whoever you are running from.”
She leans up and kisses me, and my mind switches gears, reacting to the fact she’s half-dressed under me. I’m about to take the kiss deeper when we’re interrupted.
“Momma,” Oly yells from the bedroom.
Marnie slips out from under my body, grabs my T-shirt, and pulls it over her partially naked body before heading into the room to take care of her daughter. This woman has me running hot and cold. One minute, I want to bury myself so deep inside her that she won’t remember this Jean-Louis or whoever she’s running from, and the next she’s running from me, leaving me hard and confused.
Marnie
Ihate that I told Rylan so much, but I couldn’t stop myself. I want more with him, but I can’t be the reason he dies.
After Oly woke up, I made us all lunch, then we got busy preparing for dinner. Rylan was already smoking a brisket and other meats on the deck. I made a quick salad, then I couldn’t stop myself from partaking in his wonderful kitchen. I whipped up some homemade baked macaroni and cheese, roasted baby red potatoes, and a fresh potato salad.
