Page 19 of Let Me Protect You

Sophie looks back at Harmony. “Will you be my friend, too?”

Harmony doesn’t hesitate. “Of course. I have a niece close to your age. Maybe sometime we can all get together, and you two can play. Does that sound like fun?”

“Yes, yes, yes!” Sophie squeals so loudly I jump. She turns to grab John by the hand and yanks on him. “Daddy, please say yes!”

“Yes, of course.”

I step forward to interject. “I don’t think that would be a good idea right now. How about after things calm down?”

John nods. He knows the situation, but we haven’t told Sophie. We agreed it’s too much for a four-year-old to handle. “That sounds perfect. Can I give you my number?”

When I realize John is speaking to Harmony, I almost jump out of my skin. Clenching my jaw, I have to remind myself that my best friend will never make a move on my ex-girlfriend. Even though I’ll never get back together with Harmony in a million years, John knows the code.

“Of course.” Harmony grabs her phone from her pajama pants’ pocket and types something on the screen before handing it over.

While John inputs his phone number, she glances at me. She raises her eyebrows and nods in Sophie’s direction. Harmony mouths something that looks suspiciously like, “Who’s her mom?”

I press my lips into a thin line, trying to hold back the laughter bubbling up my throat. As obvious as always.

John reaches out to hand the phone back. “It was great seeing you, but we just finished up and need to get going. Sophie’s bedtime is in less than an hour.”

Sophie stomps her foot. “But, Daddy, I don’t want to go to bed. I want to play with Harmony.”

“Another day, I promise.” John scoops her up and opens the back door to his truck. “I’ll see you two later.”

Harmony and I say goodbye, and we turn to my house. Only I know the details of his relationship with Sophie’s mother. Even if he told me I could tell Harmony the truth, I wouldn’t want to. My heart still breaks for my friend as he drives down my driveway.

I take long strides toward the house so I can get inside first to make sure it isn’t a mess, but Harmony is on my heels. Once inside, I switch on the light and heave out a sigh of relief that it’s clean. I always keep it tidy, but Sophie is like a little tornado.

Spot, my aging Shih Tzu, trots over to me and waits for a pat like he’s done since he moved out of Tía Vicki’s and into my place. Rex, my two-year-old German Shephard, flies out of my bedroom and screeches to a halt right in front of me. I pat him behind the ears like I know he wants.

When Spot is done with me, he goes over to Harmony. Does he still recognize her? Harmony stays by the front door, looking around my living room like she’s inspecting it. I shift from one foot to the other. After being engaged to a billionaire and living in that mansion in New York, my cabin has to look tiny. Maybe Serenity was right and I shouldn’t have brought Harmony here, but now that we’ve been attacked, I’m out of options.

Then like she’s snapped back to reality, she crouches down and pets Spot. His tail wags as she coos at him, calling him a cute boy. He rolls onto his back so she can give him a belly rub. Rex watches them with hesitation, staying by my side. When Spot is satisfied, he trots over to the sofa and curls up into a ball.

“This one”—I gesture to my German Shephard—“is Rex. He’s wary of strangers.”

“Smart one then.”

Harmony takes off her jacket and hangs it on the rack. Her pajama shirt rides up her stomach, revealing the flat surface of her skin. After everything, I haven’t gotten a good look at her. But now, I’m finding all her extra curves she didn’t have before and … I swear under my breath.

Fuck me. She’s my client and in danger. Not to mention she’s my ex-girlfriend who ditched me without a word when I needed her most. Looking at her will only lead to self-torture, and I’m not into that.

I tear my gaze away and clear my throat. “So, there’s a spare bedroom over there.” I point to the right where two smaller rooms and a bathroom are hiding in the hallway. “It’s the one on the right. The other room is my office, but if you’d rather the other one, I’m sure we can move the furniture around.” Will I ever shut up? “So, uh, just let me know.”

Her eyes are glued to the bedroom door, but she doesn’t move. Before she can say anything, I turn on my heel and stride over to my bedroom. Rex rushes in with me, and I close the door behind him. I slump down on my bed, and my gash stings with the movement.

We’ve only been inside my house for two minutes, and I already had a little breakdown. Why should I care if my home that I worked hard for isn’t up to her new standards? It’s not like I’m trying to impress her. And who cares if she has an amazing body? My days of touching her are long over.

As long as my paycheck lands in my bank account every week, I’ll have to keep pushing forward until she’s safe again.

Chapter 11

Harmony

The next morning, I wake up feeling hot breath on my face. Cracking my eyes open, I’m greeted with big, sparkling green eyes and a halo of light red ringlets that almost look like fire with the morning light shining through them. Summer flashes me a big, toothy grin, freckles splashed across her nose and chubby cheeks.

What on earth is Summer doing in my room at Elias’s house? Or did I dream that all up? Oh, please, please, please be a dream. I can imagine it was considering how I felt his eyes rake down my body … And the fact that I didn’t hate it. Yeah, had to be a dream.