“Not really.” He grinned. “I do love looking at your body and these skirts do prove easy access.” His hands glided up and down her legs to emphasize his point.
“It wasn’t intentional. I haven’t had a chance to change since leaving the hospital this morning.”
Mike’s body tensed under hers. “Hospital? Your Grandma” he choked.
“She’s okay,” she quickly assured him. “Your buddy Carter was there. Said it wasn’t a heart attack, but called it something else, I forget what.”
“If Carter’s looking after her, you know she’s in good hands.”
“He’s the reason I knew where to find you. Told me you’ve been moping around like a sad little puppy,” she said in a teasing tone, but Mike didn’t look like he appreciated his friends talking about him like that.
“I wouldn’t say moping.”
“And what would you call it, you weren’t answering your phone.”
“I needed to clear my head.”
“Because of us?” she guessed.
“I was trying to respect your wishes, not wanting to see me anymore, but also wanted to try to figure out a way of convincing you to give me another chance.” His gaze bore into hers. “I love you. I don’t want to lose you.”
Be still her heart. Destiny just fell in love with him all over again. “I love you, too. I don’t want to lose you either. That’s why I looking for you this morning, so I could apologize for being such a bitch. And then the car.” She closed her eyes and shuddered. As long as she lived, Destiny didn’t think she’d ever forget the sight of the vehicle coming straight at her. “I don’t know how to thank you for saving my life.”
“Shh,” he cooed, pulling her in for a kiss. “It’s over now. You’re safe.”
“If you hadn’t been standing there.”
“But I was. It’s all over,” he promised.
But it wasn’t one he could keep. There was no denying the truth. Someone wanted her dead. She could pass off the stray golf ball as an incident. Even the mugging might be chalked up as pure coincidence, but that car had purposely jumped the curb and came straight at her. And they failed, which meant they could come for her again.
“It’s not over and you know it,” she softly admitted. It was sweet of him trying to keeping her calm, but she was realistic. Burying her head in the sand and pretending nothing was happening wasn’t going to keep her safe.
Destiny looked into Mike’s grim eyes and she knew the truth without him saying anything. “I’ll keep you safe.”
Another promise. One he couldn’t keep any more than the first one. She felt with the gravity of situation they shouldn’t be having this conversation while she was straddling Mike’s waist. Destiny slid off and sat down next to him. “How? You can’t protect me every moment of the day. You have to work, I have to work. And what about when you go out of town again?” Mike left frequently to go God knew where. She didn’t expect him to protect her, but he shouldn’t be making promises he couldn’t keep either.
Mike dragged his fingers through his hair. She knew it for a sign of his frustration. “I’ll have one of the girls stay with you when I have to leave.”
She was going to stop him right there. “I don’t need a babysitter and I’m sure the women wouldn’t appreciate it either.”
Mike looked at her confused. “Everyone protects each other. I wasn’t suggesting they stay the night or anything. Just keep you company most of the time.”
“No, I refuse to be a burden.”
“Destiny, you’re not a burden. I’ll do whatever I have to do to keep you safe.” Mike’s face turned forlorn. “I would never forgive myself if something happened to you and I didn’t do everything in my power to protect you.”
Destiny leaned against him, their hips touching, and stroked his face. She felt the subtle beard that was starting to grow. Destiny had never given much thought to men’s facial hair but was finding she liked it. It made her wonder what it would feel like against her skin.
“Do I want to know where your thoughts just turned?” He smiled as if reading her mind. She hoped not.
“No.” She looked away embarrassed. Now was not the time to be thinking about more sex. They had a problem they needed to solve.
“I love when you blush,” he husked leaning closer. She felt his breath against her face. Destiny needed to put a halt to this now before they started going at it like rabbits and forgot about all her problems.
Destiny pulled back as Mike leaned forward to kiss her.
“Sorry, I forgot for a moment we broke up. I just—” Mike’s words trailed off, his face looking crestfallen.
