Kayne hated that she’d learned how to tuck fear away where no one could see it.
He stepped closer before he could talk himself out of it, but not close enough to cross a line.Just enough to feel the warmth of her and smell that delicate, flowery scent in her hair.To want things he had no business wanting.
“You’re not overreacting,” he said quietly.“Leo’s not overreacting.”
Her voice was barely above a whisper.“It’s probably nothing.”
“You don’t believe that.”
After two beats, she finally exhaled and leaned her hip against the railing as if the truth was heavier than she’d expected.“If I tell you I’m scared, will you promise not to use that against me?”
He froze.Not because she was scared, but because she trusted him enough to admit it.
“Cher,” he said softly, “fear’s not a weakness.It’s information.”
Her gaze lifted, surprise flickering like a candle flame.“You’re nothing like what I expected.”
“You were hoping I had BO,” he deadpanned.
She slapped a hand over her face with a groan.“Oh, my God.Did I say that out loud?”
“Just once or twice.”
Her laugh was muffled but real.God, he loved that sound.It made something in his chest unwind and tighten all at once.
“Look,” he said, shifting them back to safer ground before he did something catastrophically stupid, like run his fingers down her cheek, “I’m going to get you through this.That’s a promise.”
Her eyes softened.“Why?”
He almost told her the truth—that she’d slipped under his skin in less than an hour and he already felt calibrated to her presence.This wasn’t just an assignment anymore.
But that truth was too dangerous and too revealing.Not to mention it was much too soon.Instead, he chose survival.
“Because it’s my job,” he said.“And because nobody messes with the people I’m responsible for.”
Her lips parted, just a little.“So I’m someone you’re responsible for?”
“Until this is resolved,” he said, his voice dropping low despite himself.“Yeah.”
Her pulse fluttered delicately at her throat.He shouldn’t have noticed.And he definitely shouldn’t have imagined tracing it with his tongue.
Kayne stepped back abruptly.“Let’s check the back corridor.”
“Right,” she said.Her cheeks were flushed, indicating she’d felt the shift too.
They walked side by side, close enough to feel the awareness crackling between them, but far enough that neither acknowledged it.He tried to keep a respectable distance, not gravitate toward her like a man pulled by tide and moon and whatever spell she wasn’t even trying to cast.His body had other ideas.
A worker down below revved a sander.The intense burst of sound ripped through the space.
Chloe jumped.
Kayne’s reaction was instantaneous.He put a hand on her elbow, pulling her instinctively into his side and shielding her with his body before his brain even caught up.It was reflex and training and something deeper than both.
“You okay?”he murmured.
“Yeah,” she said, voice small, shaken despite herself.
His fingers tightened, not possessively, just unwilling to let go until he was sure she was steady.When he finally eased back, she looked almost disappointed by the loss of contact.
