Page 40 of Texting My Valentine

“Classic Elliot. Sorry. LEGO-las.”

“He’s playing a game with his friends. But I can get him.”

I think about Elliot sitting cross-legged in front of the TV, headset on, laughing and joking with his buddies as they shoot avatars on the screen. “No, let him have his fun. Just tell him I love him, and we’ll do something together soon.”

“Okay. Goodbye. Have a good night, sir.”

“And you. Thanks again.”

“The cops are on their way,” Tori says once I’ve hung up.

“Good.”

She chews on her lip and brushes a hand through her hair. She’s clearly shaken up, but she’s trying to be strong. When I open my arms to wrap them around her, she puts her hand on my chest. Her heat blazes against the skin under my shirt.

“We need to calm down,” she says.

“Iamcalm.”

“You’re burning up. And your heart is beating like crazy. You went… berserk for me.”

“I couldn’t let him hurt you,” I snap. “That was simply not on the table.”

She turns away again, but I can’t stop myself. She’s trying to be numb, closed-off, and maybe I was too in the beginning. But I can’t be a grump when I’m around her. She unlocks things in me no other woman has or could.

Caressing her shoulders, I pull her in for a kiss. She gasps and pushes against me. For a tantalizing moment, she lets her lust and affection burn, sinking into the kiss.

Then she pulls away.

“Alex,” she whispers. “We’ve just had a life-or-death experience. We’re not thinking straight.”

“I haven’t been thinking straight since I first laid eyes on you.”

“Comments like that aren’t making this any easier.”

She half says this, half moans, and it feels like she’s caught between being stern and letting her desire flare.

I’m about to kiss her again when the sound of sirens cuts through the moment.

CHAPTER 13

TORI

“Icertainly donotexpect you to stay,” Rowan says when the police have come and gone. They took my statement, confiscated the gun and the shirt as evidence, and left with promises to investigate. “Are the police going to give you an escort, at least? Somebody to make sure that jerk doesn’t return?”

“They’re underfunded,” I reply, shrugging. “They said I should call them if I notice anything suspicious.”

“Oh, poor girl.” Rowan touches my arm. “This is just awful. I always knew Damien had problems… butthis. It just seems extreme. All you did was say no to his advances.”

“Maybe that’s enough for some men. I don’t know.”

“Either way, you’re going home. That’s final.” Rowan nods across the bar. “I think I know someone who will give you a ride.”

I look across the bar at Alex sitting in the booth as if he’s a regular Joe—as if, when the time comes, his body won’t swelllike it’s going to tear his clothes apart, and he won’t go into full protector mode.

When he saved me, I felt my heart melting like it was full of goo, but there’s still that cautious voice inside.

“I’m not going to let Damien dictate my life. The cops will find him soon, I’m sure. Then everything can go back to normal.”

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