“You won’t.” Dean assures me, though I hadn’t realized I’d said it out loud. “It will not come to that, I won’t allow it, and I’m handling it, okay? Trust me when I tell you, you are safe with me.”
Hot tears burn in my eyes.
“But until I have handled the threat, I need you to live here with me, where I can keep you safe, where I know you’ll be safe.”
“Live here!?” I squeak.
“Yes, Sloane. And I’m sorry, but you have no other choice. I won’t risk your safety.”
I should be used to this by now, right? The threats, the way my life seems to be hanging on a balance that could tip either way at any minute. What’s one more threat?
Dean reaches for me again, and all of me wants to step into that touch, but he is as much of a threat as the faceless man who tried to take my life and the man who wants to do me harm now.
In different ways, but in the end, I’m the one who loses.
And I’m tired of losing.
His hand curls around my hip, his touch like electric as it slips back under the hem of the shirt, gently brushing over the scarring on my hip again. There’s a vulnerability in his eyes, one that I’ve never seen before.
“Dean,” His name is a whisper from my lips, and his fingers firm up, pressing into the base of my back as he gently coaxes me closer.
“Trust me,” He pleads, “Just trust me, Sloane.”
I don’t say the word out loud; I can’t. It makes me too vulnerable, so I nod instead, and then the next thing I know, his brow is resting against my stomach, and his arm is banding around me. He’s hugging me.
Tears prick at my eyes again as my hand goes to the back of his head, his thick hair threading between my fingers. His thumb strokes soft circles on my skin as he rolls his forehead back and forth on my stomach, but it feels too good to be held. I don’t remember the last time it happened. Not like this.
He pulls away, only to look up at me and notice the fresh tears tracking down my cheeks. Standing, he lifts his uninjured arm and cups my face, brushing away the tear that rolls down that side of my face, the roughness scratching against my skin.
My eyes bounce between his, heart notching up in speed as he inches closer. Heat unfurls low in my body, spreading and blooming until it feels like an ache in my bones. I feel his breathfan across my lips, the air pushing against me as he closes the space.
I lean in, and goosebumps break out across my skin with the brush of his lips.
A sudden cry rips through the room, startling me enough that I push away from him, accidentally hitting him in the shoulder.
He grunts and buckles, sucking in a breath as he lands back on the bed, and Lily continues to cry.
“I’m so sorry,” I panic and bolt from the room, leaving him to fend for himself as I go to tend to his daughter.
Chapter Twenty-seven
She sits with her hands in her lap, fingers playing with a stray thread on one of the rips in her jeans. She’s been skirting around me all morning, pretending the near kiss the night before never happened. I can’t forget, though, not when the mere brush of her pillowy lips is enough to leave me craving more.
There’s no way to pretend there isn’t some invisible tether between us.
I pull up to her house and park the Porsche at the end of her path, looking toward the vacant house. Lily is with my brother and Savannah while we gather up Sloane’s belongings to move over to my place.
“Can I have your keys?” I ask her.
“What for?” She pauses with her hand on the door handle.
“You need to wait here so I can check that it’s clear.”
Her eyes widen, “Clear!?”
“I told you,” I hold my hand out, “I won’t take risks with your safety. Keys?”
She blinks a few times before she reaches into her purse and pulls out a set with at least a dozen keys on it. Quietly, she separates the keys I’ll need to unlock her door.
