Page 34 of Protector

“No, it’s not, Brooks. It’s real, and you and I both know it.”

He sighs. “Maybe, but—”

“Okay, then.” I brush my lips against his. “One night…” I say into his mouth, and in an instant he responds, breathing new life into my desperate being. His arms slip around my waist and pull me snug against him as his mouth hungrily takes mine. The need emanating from his lips, his tongue, his quick breaths is nothing short of bliss. And it only reinforces how badly I’ve wanted him since day one.Please don’t let this be a dream.

The moment is quickly lost when I feel his arms slip away, and he pushes himself up and back from me. His gaze is dark and fiery as we both catch our breaths. Then he grabs me by the shoulders, pushing me back before scooting to the edge of the bed. “Goddammit, Shay, you think I could have one night with you and walk away?” Hunched over, he roughs a hand through his hair, then looks back over his shoulder at me. “Don’t do this to me, baby.”

Damn him.That last word shoots straight to my heart and my already heated core.If only I was his baby.My mind whirls, then struggles to grasp what it all means as I scoot to the edge of the bed, balancing on my knees. I want him to talk to me, tell me how he’s feeling, but I’m not sure I want him to confirm there’s only physical attraction between us. At this moment, my body couldn’t care less, will take what it can get from him, but my heart lingers on the sidelines, hoping…

I put a hand on his shoulder just as he stands, and it slips away. I fall back onto my pillow and pull the covers over me. “So, that’s it?”

He stares down on me. “Maybe if things were different…”

“Right.”

“I should go,” he says, backing away toward the door.

“Yeah, you should.” Hurt and feeling rejected, my anger flares. I stop him before he can leave. “Brooks…”

“Yeah?”

“Who the hell is Jade?” If she’s the reason he won’t touch me, I need to know now before I invest any more of my fractured heart on him.

“Baby, that’s a story for another time.” He turns and goes without another word, and it takes everything in me not to toss something at his damn head before he closes the door. I want to scream at the top of my lungs, but I already feel like a complete ass.

It takes me a few minutes to calm down, but once my anger subsides, the tears start at the back of my eyes. I don’t fight them, though, because I obviously need some sort of release for this pent-up frustration.

As I lie on my side, hugging my pillow, I feel the loss of Brooks. Not just because he rejected me, but because I know we can’t go back to the way we were. I let us get too close. Now, I’m not even sure I can be around him. Yes, I still need him to protect me, but all this time we’ve been spending together…it would be a new kind of torture after what happened tonight.

As I float in and out of sleep, my brain keeps replaying his lips on mine, his large, strong hands gripping my waist, his solid arms engulfing me. In those brief moments, I felt like I was his and he mine, and yet the thought of this mystery woman leaves a giant boulder in the pit of my stomach.

CHAPTERTWELVE

Shay

As I drag my ass out of bed with a slight hangover, the events of the night slam into me. Half of me is eager to see Brooks, and the other half wants to slink out of the house because I have to meet his eye. Then I’ll find out if I’m more pissed or humiliated.

Needing both water and coffee, I head to the kitchen and hear keys jangling. I stop in the hallway and find Brooks at the front door, his overnight bag hanging at his side. Right about now I’m wondering what I did in life to deserve this punishment of having to look at a man like him and not be able to touch him. I remind myself it was his choice—not mine.

We stare at each other for what feels like long moments before we both start to speak simultaneously.

Since I was only trying to fill the silence, I stop and let him talk.

“I was just heading out early since Catherine will be here soon.”

“Good,” I say without feeling. He turns and reaches for the doorknob. “Before you go…”

He sighs and turns back to me. “You don’t have to say anything.” He looks off to the side, weariness in his gaze, then turns back to me. “In fact, I don’t think we should talk about this at all. I’ve got a job to do, and I can’t afford distraction.” His mouth is firm as he awaits my response.

“So that’s what you call last night…a distraction?”

“Shay…”

He steps toward me, but I shake my head. “No, it’s fine. Obviously, I don’t get a say in this.” I can’t keep the hurt from my tone, so I just push through. “I’ll let you do your job, but only when I’m officially working. I don’t want you staying here anymore and—”

“Just a damn minute!”

My eyes widen, and I lose all my determination. I take a moment, draw in a breath. “I have a job to do, too, Brooks. And I, too, can’t afford distractions. This is the only way.”

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