Page 90 of Gunner

“It’s a start.”

“Just give me another fifteen, and I’ll go get it.”

“Nah. I’ll get it. Don’t move.”

He got off the bed, and I popped my eyes open, watching him stretch. He was gorgeous. Just how many women and men would I have to fight off him in the future?

Gunner pulled on a pair of jeans and zipped them up but didn’t fasten the button. How he found clothes in the mess was beyond me. He grabbed my car keys from the night table and slipped out of the room.

Alone, I rolled over onto my back and stared at the ceiling. The panic I expected didn’t come. I felt oddly at peace, and it wasn’t the sex. The sex would have worked in the moment, but what came after had set me at ease with Gunner.

He hadn’t immediately left.

Despite the words he’d said to me when we fucked, which some would have found off-putting, he showed he cared. After sex, he’d kissed me and showered with me. He’d returned to the bedroom and lay with me like I meant more to him than just a body.

If you fuck with me, there won’t ever be anyone else but me.

How much did I dare to trust him? This relationship couldn’t last, could it?

My stomach growled, and I felt like I was going to pass out. Probably should have taken some time earlier to grab a bite. The mints I’d sucked on throughout the day were definitely not enough.

Grimacing, I sat up, closed my eyes, and breathed in slowly with my head leaned back against the headboard.

“You feel like shit, don’t you?”

Gunner closed the door behind him. In the short time since he’d left, someone must have pissed him off. He glowered at me.

“What happened?” I asked, rubbing my temples. Hunger had manifested as a headache.

“I found the paper bag with the burritos. Why didn’t you eat them?”

Oh. Was that why he was upset?

“I couldn’t eat. The whole crime scene was so gruesome I couldn’t eat.”

Gunner walked around the bed and handed me a tray with the meal my sister had made. “Careful. It’s hot.”

He’d heated up the food. I squirmed. His concern was so unexpected, and I liked it a little too much. “I’ve got it.”

“Why didn’t you eat after? You had all day.”

He sat at the foot of the bed, one leg on the mattress and the other on the floor. He seemed so relaxed, eating in bed. He must have done this regularly.

“Hmm.” I forked pasta and chicken into my mouth. Just what I needed. Alice hadn’t lost her touch at all and the chicken alfredo was scrumptious.

“You’re not answering,” Gunner said.

I sighed. “You want to know the truth? I felt awful for what had happened earlier, and the thought of food made me sick.” I nudged him with my foot. “Thank you, by the way.”

“For what?”

I shrugged. “The more I think about it, the more I realize you showed great restraint earlier. The Gunner I know wouldn’t have accepted Thoms’s verbal abuse without doing anything, but now I’m sure you didn’t because you knew it would have affected my job. Am I right?”

He grunted. “Since you already know, why are you asking?”

We ate in silence, devouring the food. Then Gunner left again to get us drinks. He brought me back a beer but had a bottle of water for himself. Zeus followed him into the room. Grinning, I placed the tray on top of the night table, but before I could get up, Zeus jumped onto the bed, wagging and woofing.

“Shit, I’m sorry he’s on your bed.” I struggled to avoid Zeus’s excited licks. “Come on, boy. Get down.”

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