Page 8 of My Cowboy Bodyguard

“Don’t be. I can’t stay because I can tell you’re wrecked emotionally and I’m not the kind of man who uses a vulnerable woman.”

“Nights are difficult for me. I don’t sleep nights. When the sun comes up, then I do. I had cameras inside my last place, but now I can’t afford expenses above food and shelter. Anyway…” I take a breath to stop my flow of words until I gather my thoughts because I know I’m babbling.

Then I explain, “All I meant in asking you to stay is so that I’m not alone.”It’s not that I wanted him to stick around foranything except companionship through the dark. It’s not that I’m wildly attracted to him.

He lifts a brow, his expression calling out the words—the lies—I’m silently using to console myself in the face of his rejection.

“You know what? Forget I asked. You can go on home to your girlfriend.”

He stares at me, his dark eyes holding steady on mine.

“I don’t have a girlfriend.”

My heart dances.

“I’ll keep watch in the hallway outside the apartment because there’s a reason I can’t sleep in here. I can’t stay without wanting to be deep inside you.”

Heat rushes through me, coating my cheeks and I put a hand against my face to cool my skin. I don’t know how to answer him. He was right in saying I’m wrecked, and he was right thinking I’m feeling vulnerable. But it wouldn’t be taking advantage of me not with how I’m feeling about him.

“You can rest well tonight, honey. Nothing will get past me. I mean it.” He puts a hand on my head and stoops down until we’re at eye level. “I’m good at what I do.”

Leo reminds me of a boy I knew long ago. The one left behind when I was yanked away kicking and screaming, begging them to let me find him to tell him goodbye.

“Okay,” I say through a throat gone raw. “Then I’ll make you breakfast tomorrow.”

He smiles as he lowers his hand, and I smother a gasp.The sexy curve of his lips.How potent.

“Can you cook?”

I shake my head. “No, but I can pour cereal in a bowl like a master chef.”

“I’ll look forward to it.” He motions toward the bedroom door. “Go on and sleep.”

“I will after I shower.” I think about showering, then I think about being naked with him in the shower and get wet from a surge of longing.

He glances at my lips, then turns away and strides across the floor. “I’ll be right outside.”

“Do you need anything? From me?”

His shoulders stiffen and he stops. “Do you want me to answer you honestly?”

The air between us crackles.Do I? Do I want to know if it’s me he needs?This perfect stranger with the hard body?“I don’t know,” I say. I’m afraid of wanting someone. Afraid I’ll be happy and then it’ll get snatched away.

“If you can’t say for sure…” His hands clench into fists. “Then it’s a no.”

He tugs on the door handle, then steps out and shuts it behind him.

In the aftermath of his presence, I sag against the side of the sofa I got for a song at the thrift store until I pull myself together and get my stuff to carry into the bathroom.

Ever since someone broke in, I’ve cut my shower time down and I use the water on the low setting so I’ll be able to hear over the sound. Knowing someone I can trust is watching out for me makes it easier to relax.

The warm, soft flow of water from the showerhead trickles across my breasts and over my nipples that ache for the touch of a man I barely know. My hand slips across my stomach and below to the curls between my legs.

My body craves release. I part myself and tip my face up and spot a wolf spider on the ceiling. Then I’m slipping in the shower, trying to find a handhold among the soap and shampoo bottles. I shriek when the spider drops.

Leo

Amanda’s scream makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up. I spin and kick the center of the door. It splinters and gives way.

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