I matched him and moved into his space again. “You’re beautiful. Who could ever hurt you?”
He shuddered. “You won’t?”
None of his reactions to anything I’d done tonight had been quite what I’d expected. I’d thought he might relax and kid around, but he’d tensed up. Unease settled over me in a thick cloud. Whatever had him so jittery made me want to smash something. “No, I wanted to take you out to the marina. I was joking.”
He nodded and laughed awkwardly. Across the way at the bar, I spotted Merit and he gave me an asinine thumbs-up.
“You don’t have to go outside with me if you don’t want to. We don’t know each other well. I won’t be offended.” There, Creed would be proud of me for saying that to him, and I did want him comfortable, so I was kind of happy with myself, too.
Angel glanced down at the ice pack on the couch and then gave me a small smile. He seemed like he needed to be taken care of by someone, and I was amazed by how much I wanted to be the person to make him more relaxed. I held out a hand to him, and he surprised me when he slipped his in mine. We stopped at the bar so I could clear my tab, and the server ran off and brought me my outerwear from the coat check room. I left him a twenty, but would have given him more if he hadn’t stared at Angel the whole time. I would have been sure I was being a possessive jackass, but Angel pointed his eyes toward the floor and shuffled closer to me, almost like he didn’t want the man’s eyes on him, either.
Angel walked quietly with me downstairs. We went out the front door toward the marina entrance at the end of the sidewalk on the left-hand side of the glass-and-steel building. As soon as we hit the night air he shivered. He wasn’t dressed for the weather, so I shrugged off my coat and wrapped it around him, overtop of his hoodie. He frowned, but tugged the sides closer around himself. I felt stupidly pleased to see my clothing on him.
Fuck, I was such a caveman, but I didn’t care. I’d marked him as mine, and I was proud of it.
“Do you like boats, Angel?”
He glanced up, almost like he’d forgotten I was there, and then he stared out at the water. The quiet lapping of waves against the nearby dock was soothing, but it didn’t seem to be calming him. “I don’t know. I mean, I’ve never been on one.”
“I should have stored mine. The ice and snow aren’t good for the paint. But it’s still here in the marina. I’ll have to put it away soon because if the marina ices it’s a pain in the ass and expensive to fix the damage.”
Angel studied the marina like there might be a kraken in the water somewhere as we began to pass the empty spots where the small yachts and racing boats were moored in better weather. The farther we walked, boats bobbed. The larger the yacht, the more weather they could withstand, and mine was one of the few in the marina that could probably stay out year-round if I wanted to take the risk. He cradled his left hand to his chest again. His jaw tightened and it worried me that it might be from pain, but he didn’t say a word. Merit would have complained at the top of his lungs if he had an injury that looked even half as bad as what Angel had, and Creed would have been even worse, yet he stayed quiet. What the fuck had happened to him?
He glanced my way, and for an idiotic moment, I thought maybe I’d asked my question out loud.
“Do you really want to be here with me?” he murmured and then turned his attention to his feet as we walked.
I was shocked by the question. Everything Creed said earlier had drudged up old guilt. What if I’d strong-armed him into coming along tonight and he’d been too terrified to say otherwise? Maybe I was every bit as scary as people treated me. “Why do you ask?”
We stopped on the sturdy gray dock in front of my yacht, theSerendipity, and I sighed happily up at all three stories that bobbed above the surface of the water. The damned thing was bigger than my house, and I loved it. Cost a damned sight more, too.
He huffed out an incredulous sound and gestured with his hurt hand, flashing me a view of the welts on the back. My gut plummeted past my toes and didn’t come back for a few long seconds. “This isn’t aboat. Boats are things you take out on the lake fishing. I’ve never—”
“Come on.” I pointed at the ladder that was more like a steep set of stairs. “It’s my early retirement plan. Got it for a steal. The owner owed the IRS. I only paid a million. Should have been ten.”
He shook his head when I gestured for him to go ahead of me.
“What? Why?’
“I….” His breath came in rapid puffs and he nestled his face down into the collar of my coat. “I don’t know.”
“You’re scared of me after all?” I tried not to be irritated…. I settled for hurt. My chest squeezed.
He stared up at the unlit deck. “The boat is dark. I don’t know.”
Anger surprised me. He was scared to get on a shadowy boat with me at his side? Orbecausehe had me at his side? He had every right to feel that way after this morning, but his reaction reminded me a lot of those people who used to make fun of me in school for my size, just to see if they could get me to take a swing at them to prove they were tough shit.
Because I was the big man and I was supposed to be tough and scary. Most people were scared of me then, and not much had changed.
“Wait,” I murmured. His dark eyes, wide and serious, calmed me down as I took the time to study him. He didn’t seem to be judging me or mocking me. He wasn’t trying to say anything about me by being scared. His fear seemed to be focused firmly on theSerendipity, and perhaps I could do something about it. I climbed aboard in a rush and went around turning on all the lights. He laughed and held up a hand to shield his eyes when I flipped on the driving lights.
“Better?” I called down over the railing.
He bit at his lip, and I was shocked at the strength of the disappointment that settled over me when he didn’t immediately say yes.
“It’s okay. I can take you home if you’d rather go.”
“Why?” he asked and blinked up at me.
