Page 51 of King of Pain

“What’s wrong?”

“I had the weirdest feeling in the grocery store. Like someone was watching me.”

His eyes immediately go to the rearview.

Now he’s quiet too and as we drive, he spends more of his time looking behind than he does ahead.

“You buckled?” he asks.

“Of course.”

Suddenly, he takes a hard right, turning into a random dirt road that’s heavily treed, cutting the engine.

His eyes are on the rearview.

We sit there for ten minutes, silence falling between us.

I know what he’s doing. I don’t need to ask. He wants to know if we’ve been followed.

Finally, he seems satisfied that we’re not, and slowly backs out of the drive, continuing down the road.

“I didn’t mean to scare you,” I say as quietly as I can with the windows open.

He gives me an easy smile. Reaching for my thigh. “Never worry about telling me something that’s bothering you, love.”

I let out a breath, grabbing his hand in mine.

There is a lot I’m still figuring out, but I know when this man touches me, I’ve never felt more grounded.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Luke

Kate cooks dinner,but man, she’s been quiet all afternoon. After talking to her boss, I felt miles better. I had solved the problem my family and our business had created.

I could make love to her again, and not feel like a complete fraud. And yeah, I’m fucking aware I just said the wordsmake loveinstead of just calling it fucking. But that’s how it feels with Kate.

Like I’m making love. When I’m inside her with her arms around me, her eyes on me, there is a connection between us I’ve never felt before.

Maybe it’s time to tell her about my family.

At first, I just wanted her to get to know me. And once she did, I didn’t tell her because I knew it would bring up a whole host of questions.

Like, if they’re that rich, why haven’t I been helicoptered back to Vegas?

Which would be a very valid question to ask.

“Kate.”

She turns to me, her brow scrunched. “Kate?”

“That is your name.”

“You only use it when it’s about to get dangerous or we’re in the middle of sex. I know we’re not doing the latter...”

Shit. That sounds right. A hazard of dating such a smart woman. “I picked up a few things in town while you were grocery shopping.”

I’m distracting. Again. I meant to go in the grocery store with her. Then take her shopping in the boutiques that fill the Durango downtown.

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