Page 33 of Protected By the Mountain Man

I’d meant to talk to her…but I couldn’t find the words, not after everything. The silence stretched between us, filled with all the things we didn't know how to say. My arm hung over the back of the couch, an inch from her shoulders, itching to offer some kind of comfort.

“Kat…” I started, unsure of what I was going to say next.

“Yeah?” She turned her head slightly, looking at me with those gorgeous amber-brown eyes.

“Can I…would it be okay if I hold you?”

She just stared at me for a moment, her eyes searching mine. I could almost see the gears turning in her head, weighing the pros and cons.

Then, to my shock, she nodded.

“Okay,” she said simply.

I couldn’t believe it.

I gently moved my arm, letting it rest around her shoulders. She shifted, curling up against me, her body fitting into mine like she was made to be there.

“Are you okay?” I asked, though it was a dumb question—of course she wasn't.

“Far from it,” she admitted. “But I'm glad we're all together. Safe.”

“Me too.” I tightened my hold on her. “I'll stay as long as you need me, Kat. As long as you want me here.”

She frowned and peered up at me, a shadow crossing her face. “I've been…a jerk,” she confessed, her voice barely above a whisper. “Before this whole mess happened tonight, I wanted to apologize to you. Ben's death, it's all just…I didn't know how to act around you.”

“Hey, no,” I cut in. “You don’t have anything to apologize for.”

“But today, you…you saved Livy and me. And I've been treating you like…” She trailed off, shaking her head.

“Kat, listen,” I said softly. “I wasn't about to let anything happen to you two. It's not something that needs thanks. It's just…who I am.”

She was silent for a moment, then nodded slowly. Her eyes lingered on mine, as if searching for something I couldn't quite understand.

“Did you see any of this coming?” I asked, trying to shift away from the emotional quicksand we were sinking into. “Any weird signs?”

“Actually, yeah,” Kat murmured, her gaze falling to the blanket that covered Livy. “A few weeks ago, I got this weird note at the post office. It was a threat—told me I better sell the land. I took it to the sheriff, but he brushed it off like it was nothing.”

“Jesus,” I breathed. “What’s wrong with that guy?”

“Could be he's in on whatever this is,” she speculated. “Maybe getting paid off by someone who wants my property bad enough to scare me off it—or worse.”

“Over my dead body,” I said, my voice low and firm. “No one's going to hurt you or Livy while I'm around. I promise you that.”

We settled into silence, the kind where words just seemed unnecessary. But it was a comfortable quiet, the kind that felt like it was saying all the things we couldn't find the words for.

Kat broke the stillness with a heavy sigh. “I need to say it again—I'm sorry. For how I've been acting. I thought…at one point, I wondered if you might have had something to do with Ben's death.” She swallowed hard, her face pained as she continued, “But I see now that you've changed. Or maybe you're the same Gabe from back in the day, just…the best parts of him. The loyal parts. The protective parts.”

Her words hit me hard, right in the gut. It was like she could see into the mess of who I'd been and who I was trying to be.

Without thinking, my hand came up, brushing back a lock of her hair that had fallen into her face. Her eyes locked onto mine, and something warm unfurled in my chest.

“Kat…” My voice trailed off as I leaned down and pressed a kiss to the top of her head, gentle as a whisper. She tensed for just a second, then relaxed, resting her head on my shoulder.

“I'll set an alarm,” she murmured, her voice thick with exhaustion. “Need to keep an eye on you, make sure that head of yours is still on straight.”

“Sounds like a plan,” I agreed, though every bone in my body was telling me to kiss her again. But those were the doctor’s orders—get some sleep with supervision.

Kissing could wait until my head had stopped swimming.

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