Page 50 of Holding Out For A Holiday Hero

Ambition wasn’t love.

She’d tried to make their marriage work. But when your husband was making out with his legal secretary…

Screw him.

That had been the last straw. She’d left and hadn’t looked back. “I’m not crying for him.” The tears had slipped out even though she’d tried to stop them. “I’m crying for me. Because I wasted too much time. Because I wanted Lucas.” Because she always would want him. “I’m crying for my baby and for everything that could have been.”

His fingers caught her tears. Wiped them carefully away. “I will give you a baby.”

Again, that half laugh, half sob came from her. He wasn’t serious. “What?”

His gaze never wavered. “I would give you anything in the world you wanted. When will you realize that?”

She couldn’t breathe. He seemed so serious. But he wasn’t. Was he? “Jake?”

“That dick out there didn’t deserve you. He hurt you, and, sweets, I will gladly hurt him for you. And if it turns out that he is the one who tied you up at the museum, if he committed murder right here in your house…”

Her gaze automatically jerked toward her tree. Only, no tree was there. It had been removed. Probably because of all the blood on it?

“Harris took it away,” Jake explained as he followed her gaze. “They had to saw off branches for evidence. He said—hell, it was a wreck by the time they were done. I’ll get you another tree, True. A bigger one.”

“I don’t need a tree.” She needed for the fear to end in her life. She needed to feel safe. She needed…

Jake.

Her lips pressed together. After a moment, she released a low breath and said, “I’m supposed to go and search through my stuff upstairs.” That had been the plan, right? To double-check everything. Make sure nothing was missing. Before, nothing had seemed disturbed. She’d even checked her jewelry before the place had been turned into crime scene central. “I’ll, um, go do that.” She pulled away from Jake and turned for the stairs. Then she hesitated. “Is it okay if I stay at your condo again tonight?” True peeked over her shoulder at him. “I don’t exactly relish the thought of coming back to the place where a man was murdered.”

“You can stay with me for as long as you want.”

Relief rolled through her. “Thank you.” She grabbed for the banister and hurried up a few of the steps.

“True.”

Her hold on the banister tightened. She stilled on the fifth step and partially turned to look back at him. Jake had moved to the bottom of the staircase.

“He was a fool to hurt you.”

She swallowed.

“Any man who hurts you is a fool. A smart bastard would count himself lucky for every second he spent with you. He’d go out of his way to make you happy. Because your smile is one of the best fucking things in this world.”

Surprise had her eyes widening. “That’s probably the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me.”

“I don’t do nice very well. I tend to screw it up when I try.” He squared his shoulders. “I’ll never be the nice guy. I’m not him. But I am the guy who will do whatever it takes to protect you. You can count on me, always. Know that.”

“Thank you, Jake.” She smiled at him. Then she hurried up the stairs.

Jake watched True until she disappeared at the top of the stairs. Her smile lingered in his mind. He raked a hand through his hair. “Best fucking thing in the world.”

She was the best thing in his world. And no one was going to hurt her.

Not some dick ex.

Not some mystery stalker.

No one.

He turned and glared at the spot where her Christmas tree had been. True liked Christmas. But this year, every bit of magic was being drained from her holiday. Dammit, she’d been crying. Breaking the heart that he’d forgotten about.

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