Page 46 of A Sudden Response

She thought about asking him to leave so that she could get some sleep. When she felt the bed dip and he curled his body around her seconds later, she felt like crying. She hated fighting with him, hated not being able to go to him when something was wrong and she hated feeling like a part of her was dying.

“I am so sorry, Joe,” Eric whispered, gently pushing her hair away from her face. “I know I keep fucking up,” he said, pressing a kiss against the back of her neck, “and that, by all rights, you should bitch-slap me, but I can’t stand the thought of something happening to you.”

His hand found its way to her panty clad hip and gave it a gentle squeeze. “It kills me to think of what could have happened that night, Joe,” Eric explained softly as he pressed another kiss against her neck. “Do you have any idea how lost I would be without you?”

“You’re my entire world, Joe,” Eric said, pressing another kiss against her neck, this time lingering. “I don’t know what I’d do without you,” he admitted against her skin.

Worrying her lip between her teeth, Joe turned onto her back and reached up with her right hand to cup his jaw, loving the way the early morning stubble felt against her skin. “And what do you think I would do without you?”

His large, warm hand slid onto her stomach and began gently caressing her skin. “Everything would be okay. Nathan would take care of you, Joe,” Eric promised as he pressed a kiss against her forehead.

“I don’t need anyone to look out for me,” Joe said, sick of this constant bullshit. When exactly did she become this pathetic in his eyes? It was really insulting. She was anything but weak and he damn well knew it.

Eric sighed heavily even as his hand continued to caress her stomach through her thin shirt. “Yes, you do.”

“What is it going to take for you to realize that I can take care of myself?” Joe demanded, trying not to sound hurt and failing miserably. She didn’t want to appear weak in his eyes. She wanted...

Hell, she didn’t even know what she wanted, but she knew that she didn’t want that. She didn’t want him hanging around because he thought that she needed someone to take care of her.

“If I thought getting a boyfriend would get you to back off, I’d run out and get one,” Joe said, not noticing the way his hand suddenly stilled on her stomach, “but we both know that wouldn’t help since you become a complete jerk whenever I’m dating someone.”

“What the hell are you talking about?” Eric asked tightly. This really shouldn’t come as a shock since everyone knew that Eric developed a raging case of PMS when she was dating someone.

“What am I talking about? Are you serious?” Joe asked, feeling a muscle in his jaw clench tightly against her hand when he nodded firmly.

“How many of the guys that I dated have you beaten up?” Joe asked, arching an eyebrow as she dared him to lie.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Eric said, shifting to move away from her, but she wasn’t having that. She turned into him, pressing her hands against his bare chest and threw a leg over his hip as she moved up, giving him no choice but to lie on his back as she straddled his waist.

She really couldn’t help the smug little smile that played on her lips since she’d just proved that she was more than capable of taking care of herself. He would just have to suck it-

“Hey!” Joe gasped in surprise when she suddenly found herself pushed onto her back with him lying between her legs and her arms held down firmly by her head.

After a brief struggle that didn’t improve her situation, Joe gave up with a sigh. “Just know that I could kick your ass at any moment, Eric. You’re lucky I’m tired.”

His amused chuckle was kind of insulting even if she did find it soothing. “I know. I’m counting my blessings right now,” Eric said, pressing a kiss to the tip of her nose as he settled himself more comfortably between her legs.

“Well?” Joe demanded, curious to see if he’d admit that he was an overbearing jerk sometimes.

“Well, what?”

“You’re not going to admit that you don’t trust me to take care of myself,” Joe said, wondering if he was going to play it off like he usually did when she called him on it.

“You date assholes and losers,” Eric said, shocking her.

Not that she wasn’t well aware that her taste in men sucked, but he usually just shrugged it off like it was nothing when she mentioned them. He’d never acted like he didn’t like the guys she dated even when she knew that he didn’t like them. She also knew that he’d given more than one of them a reason to visit the emergency room.

“Why do you always act like you like them?”

“It makes it easier to keep an eye on you,” Eric explained as he pressed another kiss against her forehead. “It’s the same reason why you pretend to like the annoying women that I date,” he said softly as he entwined their fingers together.

“They really are annoying,” she murmured in agreement.

“I want you safe, Joe.”

“I am safe,” she said, wondering what it was going to take for him to see that.

“I hate being away from you and I know that if I keep pushing this that you’re going to pull away from me, so for now, I’m going to drop it, but I’m really hoping that you end up liking dispatching more than working on the truck,” Eric said, pressinga gentle kiss to her lips that shocked her, but what shocked her even more was her reaction.

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