Page 68 of Lucky's Trouble

“I like it.” Returning to my spot between her legs, I pick her up. “I look like I deserve to have you on my arm.”

“Really?”

“Really. Thank you.”

“I can teach you how to do it for when I’m not around.”

That stops my forward movement into the living room. “Why wouldn’t you be around?”

“I just mean if I’m working or after I get my own place.”

“No,” I say simply.

“What do you mean, no?”

“I mean, you’re not getting your own place or getting a different job. It’s not safe.”

“I know it’s not safe right now, not until we see if Neal retaliates, but at some point—”

“Even then. You’re with me, so you’ll stay here.”

“Lucky.”

“I mean it, Tinleigh.”

Her legs loosen from around my waist, making it awkward to keep a hold of her, so I lower her to the ground. She rubs her hands together as she puts distance between us, moving to the couch where she sits.

“What’s this all about?”

“You’re going to get sick of me,” she says.

“Like fuck.”

“You only think that because you’re in some kind of savior-induced hyper-fixation.”

“I don’t know what that means.”

“It means you’re a good guy, Lucky. A really good guy. But when the day comes that there’s no threat and I don’t need saving, I’ll just be some fucked-up girl with no future. And there’s nothing attractive about that.”

“I can’t have this conversation in a towel. Hold on a second.” Needing a minute to process whatever the hell kind of bullshit she’s spewing, I return to the bathroom and throw on some clean clothes. I’m back in front of her a minute later and find her unmoved. “I didn’t ask you to be with me because you needed saving. If anything, you’re a complication I don’t need.”

She glances up at me, tears in her eyes. “In that case, I’ll leave now.”

Fuck me. I run a hand through my damp hair. “That was meant to be a flattery.”

“You might need to work on your complimenting skills.”

“I probably do. All this is new to me. You know that.” I take a seat in the chair kitty-corner to her. “All I meant was, I put a lot at risk to do what I did. If Neal comes after me, he comes after my club, which means I endangered my brothers, and that’s not something I’d do unless the reward is worth it. And baby, you’re worth risking my life and theirs. Hell, you’re worth risking the whole damn world for.”

“Except I’m not.”

“Then you don’t see what I do, and that’s what the real problem is.”

“I just don’t understand how this could all happen so quickly. It doesn’t make sense.”

“It doesn’t have to make sense. You just need to accept it. Can you do that for me?”

“I don’t know.”

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