Page 40 of Guarded from Sabotage

“What do you mean?”

“Itismore. More than how I feel about a client. More than how I feel about a friend. With you, Sarah… I care about you. A lot. I—” His cheeks go pink. “I think about you all the time.”

My breath catches. “You do?”

He leans forward and takes my hand, but it’s tentative, like he’s waiting to see if I’ll snatch it away. But I don’t. I can’t. Not when it feels so right.

“Yes.” His eyes are like a storm at midnight. “I think about how beautiful you are. How smart. Kind. Sweet. Funny. Brave. Sexy. I feel so much more for you than just friendship. But I had this idea if I let myself give in to it, I’d put you in danger. That my emotions could compromise my focus on keeping you safe.”

“And… now?”

He cradles my hand between his two bigger ones, engulfing it in reassuring warmth. Tiny sizzles of heat radiate up my arms and through my body.

“I kept thinking about it all last night. After you left, I just walked for hours. I thought about the guys I know, how they managed to make it work. That maybe they weremorefocused because they were protecting someone they cared so much about. And I realized…nothingcan make me stop thinking about you.”

“I think about you, too,” I whisper. “All the time. I’ve never felt like this before.”

“Me too.” His gaze burns into mine. “Never. And I don’t want to keep trying to ignore how I feel about you. I can’t. I want to protect you as more than just a bodyguard or a friend. I want?—”

Grimacing, he continues, “Maybe I’m too late. I know I hurt you last night, and I’m so sorry. How I acted before… how could you not think… I really screwed up. And I’ll understand if you don’t want to give me a chance.”

The weight lifts off me, filling me with a fizzy hope. “Everyone makes mistakes, Dante. I know you had good intentions.”

Dante moves even closer, so our legs are touching. His eyes light with the same hope I’m feeling. “Can you forgive me, Sarah? Will you let me make this right?”

“What did you have in mind?”

“Well. I was hoping… instead of just spending time as friends, we could date? Does that sound crazy? Too soon?”

Joy bubbles up. “It’s not too soon. And I think I’d like that.”

He touches my hair, brushing it behind my shoulder, letting his hand trail down my back. “And something else.”

It’s hard to breathe. “What else?”

“Can I have another chance to kiss you? Last night… I wanted to so badly. I haven’t stopped thinking about it. Can we try again?”

Oh.

My heart.

“Yes. We can try again.”

Dante lets out the breath he was holding. “Thank you.”

His big hand cups my cheek, both rough and soft at the same time.

He leans closer, until I can see the flecks of silver and green in his eyes.

As we move towards each other, everything else falls away.

My heart flutters with anticipation.

And then.

We kiss.

His lips cover mine, moving slowly at first—gently caressing and nipping and his tongue lightly teasing.

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