Page 116 of Unexpected Hero

Oh no.

I shirk back from my phone as if I could hide from what she’s about to say. “How so?”

“He sees you as a project, babe. Classic White Knight Syndrome.”

I don’t answer. I can’t. It’s too painful.

And shameful.

In my heart of hearts, I know she’s right. And it freaking sucks.

“You were the damsel in distress, so you naturally felt a connection to him. Who doesn’t want a hero? He rode in on his horse, threw money and coffee around, and saved you. That made him feel good and, likely, a bit responsible for you. He’s clearly a good person, so he doesn’t want to see anything bad happen to you. Sadly, though, you’ve boxed yourselves into the roles of savior and save-ee. And because you’re you — the most beautiful woman on the planet — of course, he’s attracted to you, which explains the kissing. But he’s not going to let himself go any further because he sees you as dependent on him.”

“Which isn’t desirable,” I finish her thought.

She shrugs her shoulders. “Not so much.” Her breath expels through perfectly rounded lips.

“Well that’s freaking depressing.”

“In light of this, do his actions make more sense?”

“They do. It all makes sense.” I collapse backward like a dead fish, even kicking my legs and jerking about. Tantrum mode activated. “This fucking sucks.”

“Hey, it’s fine, baby. You didn’t have enough time to form a deep connection. It was superficial. Just do a good job at the club, earn that money, pay him back, and move the fuck on.”

“And hide my face every time he walks by.”

“Why?”

“Because I’m a pathetic charity case to him. This is so embarrassing. It makes so much sense. I can’t believe I didn’t see it before.”

“You didn’t want to see it. Who would? Even for those who aren’t trying to prove something to their bitchy, judgmental shrew mothers, it’s hard to admit something like that.”

“Truth.”

“So don’t hide from him. Just be yourself.”

“What does that mean? Who the fuck am I if not the dumb ass, naive charity project who was reckless enough to move to another state with a tiny savings account, which she ate up in a month and then needed a stupid fucking man to pull her from the hole she dug for herself?”

“If I could teleport to Florida right now, I would. And I’d smack the daylight out of you. I’d tie you up — not in the sexy way — and torture the hell out of you until you stop talking so much shit about yourself. And we wouldn’t have the luxury of safe words.”

She cracks me up, even if she did threaten me with torture. “Has anyone told you that you’d make a fabulous Domme?”

She shrugs and juts her lower lip. “Perhaps one or two people.”

“I can’t wait to hear what your kinks are. Especially now that I understand some of them. So we’ll circle back to that once I’ve had time to digest everything else we’ve feasted on today.”

“Oh. That reminds me.”

“What?”

“I found a kink test. It’s an online thing that will help you figure out what you’re into. You interested?”

“Yes, please. Clearly, we know DP has my attention. I wonder what else may strike my fancy.”

“Violet Holt, you’re turning into a whole new bitch before my eyes, and I’m here for it. Bravo.”

“Settle down. Don’t get too excited.” I grab my bottle of water from the nightstand and chug away.

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