Page 14 of Whiskey Run Heroes

Walker strides across the room and leans over, pressing his fist into the bed on each side of me. His face is inches from mine. “Acting like what?”

Asshole comes to mind, but I don’t say it. “Like you’re my boyfriend or something. I’m not staying here, Walker. What will the guys think?” I slap my hand to my head. “What will Sam think? Oh my God, I need to go.”

I scramble out of the bed with the sheets wrapped around my legs. It’s a struggle, but I finally pull it off, and when I finally land on my feet, he’s standing in front of me, his hands on my shoulders.

“What do you mean what will Sam think?”

Shit, is it supposed to be a secret they’re together? Am I the only one that has put the pieces together? “Nothing, I mean, we work together. It is not your job to take care of me.”

“Obviously someone has to,” he says, fuming.

I put my hand on my hip and glare. “What is that supposed to mean?”

“I’ll tell you exactly what it means. No more dating! No more dating apps! No more meeting up with strangers! None of it.”

I stutter and stammer. “How did you know about the app? Cassie!” My own sister betrayed me.

“Yeah, your sister said that you were meeting a stranger for a date. No more dating!”

“You don’t—! What!” My blood is boiling. Who does he think he is? “You can’t tell me what I can and can’t do!”

8

WALKER

We’re toe to toe, but with my height, her head is tilted backward, and she’s staring at me with rage in her eyes. I know I’m being ridiculous, but I don’t care. She’s a grown-ass woman, and she can do what she wants, but it will be over my dead body that she dates another man. She’s mine, and it’s time I’ve claimed her.

I let out a breath and step back. The air is crackling between us, and I know if I keep this up I’m either going to toss her over my lap and smack her pretty ass or I’m going to kiss her. Neither of which I should be doing right now. “Look, I’m sorry. Seeing you like that, knowing that something was happening to you and I couldn’t do anything to stop them... it was too much. I’m overreacting. We should talk about this in the morning.”

“It’s not your fault, Walker. None of this is.” She sits down on the edge of the bed, and the shirt she’s wearing rises high on her legs. I try to focus on her words instead of her body, but having her close like this, the way I’ve dreamed about having her in bed for the past five years, it’s hard to be right.

“All of this is my fault, Brook.”

She shakes her head. “I wasn’t looking.”

I look at her with confusion. What does she mean she wasn’t looking?

“I wasn’t watching when I came out of the restaurant. I had my head buried in my purse.” She puts her hand to her face. “Doing the exact thing that you guys trained me not to do.”

“Brook, you need to know that you wouldn’t even have been there if it wasn’t for me.”

Finally she looks me in the eye. “What do you mean?”

I hold my head. This has been the worst night mentally I’ve ever been through. “Do you care if I lie down?”

She looks at the bed and back at me. “Here?”

I nod, and she starts to get up. “It’s your bed, Walker. I can sleep on the couch.”

I’m pulling off my jeans and T-shirt and am down to my boxers. She is speechless, watching me as I lift her up off the edge of the bed and lay her down, pulling the covers up. I flip the light off and walk around to get in next to her.

She’s quiet, but I swear I can hear her brain working a mile a minute. “What?”

“Uh, we’re in bed together.”

Yeah, and this is where we’ll be every night if I have a say in it. I laugh and roll toward her. “Do you want me to move?”

She doesn’t say anything, and I’m worried she’s going to tell me to go. I will, if she insists, but I won’t go far. The chair in the corner won’t be comfortable to sleep in, but I’ll do it.

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