Loved? No one said anything about love. What the fuck was I thinking?
I sat up, startling He-Man. He opened one eye, then reached around my torso to pull me back down to him.
“Whatever crazy ass shit is going through your head, just stop. It’s too fucking early for you to be awake, unless you want to go workout.”
I couldn’t help but chuckle as he pulled me back to his chest. It made me feel like I was his. Settling back to where I’d been, he threw his leg over mine, ensuring I stayed put.
It was the most secure I’d ever felt in my life, and right then I knew my feelings for him had changed. We’d gone from whatever we’d been weeks ago to something more—whatever that was. I was terrified to put a label on it.
“For the love of all that is holy, please stop thinkin’, darlin’. You’re keeping me awake.”
I laughed. “I didn’t say anything.”
He tightened his anaconda-like hold on me. I imagined this was how those giant ass snakes made their prey feel. I hated snakes. But I didn’t hate him, or the way he made me feel when he touched me. Far from it.
“I can read your mind. It’s a SEAL thing,” he murmured into my ear as he tucked his chin on my shoulder.
“It’s ayouthing,” I replied. I felt his smile against my skin as his soft beard rubbed against the side of my neck, sending shivers over my body.
He chuckled and his chest moving against my back jumpstarted carnal thoughts about him. What it would feel like to wake up every morning and have him slip inside me before starting our day. Showering together, having a life together. Going on tour, mashed together in a single bunk on the bus, holidays with our friends.
My heart was pounding, and I had to get some answers before I let myself nosedive off this cliff. So, I wiggled out of his hold and flipped over like a pancake to stare at him. Michael raised that one eyelid again and smiled.
“Guess we’re not sleeping anymore,” he mused, and rolled to his back.
I stayed put and continued to stare at him. He turned to look at me with his one open eye, amusement very obvious on his handsome face.
“What are we doing here, Michael? I need you to spell it out for me. I can’t…I can’t write another song like that. It’ll kill me.”
It wasn’t the song I was worried about. It was surviving the broken heart.
He opened his other eye and stared at me with so much affection. A smile pulled up the corner of his mouth as his big hand found my face for what seemed to be his favorite thing, cupping my cheek. “I thought we were on the same page a couple of weeks ago, Rockstar. But let’s be clear, just in case. So here goes, and listen good this time, Adam Spencer.”
I stared at his mouth to make sure I got whatever he was going to say. “Okay, bossy. I’m listening.”
Michael grinned as he tugged me closer so that I was draped across his chest. When I was comfortable, he looked into my eyes. “To be clear, I’m saying I’m yours darlin’ if you want me, because I sure as fuck want you.”
He reached up and ran his fingertips over my face. I leaned into his touch as his warm eyes and gentle smile soothed my nerves. “You gonna say anything, Rockstar? I think I just asked you to be my sweetheart.”
I loved when he talked southern to me.
“What about your duty?”
He ran his finger down my stubble. “I’ll deal with it. Don’t you worry about that.”
The grin that took over my face almost hurt. Michael Coleman had become the shining star in my shitshow of a life.
I crawled a little further up his body to kiss him. When another frisson of self-doubt crept in, I had to pull back and ask him. “Do you think we’re feeling all of this because of the circumstances? Is this just me latching on to you because you’re my protector?”
Michael remained unalarmed by my questions and gifted me with his comforting, relaxed smile. “Let me ask you something, sweetheart. If you think back to when we met all those months ago, are we any different now than we were before all this started?”
Memories of our easy banter and his warm smiles flooded my memory. He smiled at me, just like he was smiling at me now. I was drawn to him from the beginning. “I guess not.”
He stroked the side of my face and melted me with his gaze. “If you think about it, we’ve been flirting with each other ever since you signed on with EHM. Do I feel a need to protect you? Yes, and I always will. But my need to be in your life as more than your bodyguard is winning. This assignment is temporary. You’re not.”
“I’m afraid,” I whispered, knowing it was okay to say that to him. “Somehow, I’ve given you the power to destroy me. And I’m terrified you’re going to break me.”
Michael looked at me with warmth and affection, once again the balm to my battered soul.
