Page 56 of Sheltered by the Lawman

Chapter 18

“YOU DON’T HAVE to stay here with me. I’m okay,” Monica loaded the last dish into the dishwasher and pushed power. “Tell your mother thanks for sending over food for dinner.”

“I know I don’t have to stay, but I want to. Do you want to talk about it?”

Her back was ramrod straight and her chin had a stubborn tilt. They’d eaten in silence with her telling him several times that he could leave. “There’s nothing to talk about. I passed out. I’m fine now.”

“You were upset and stressed. You’d just looked at pictures of a dead man.”

She washed her hands and dried them on a dishtowel, then grabbed a damp dishrag to scrub the already spotless countertop. She had restless energy and didn’t know what to do with herself. “It’s not everyday a woman finds out she killed a man and is an escort. Having no clue what brought her to that lifestyle, she still couldn’t imagine having sex with strangers for money. What else would she find out before this was all over?

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He shifted on the barstool, keeping his gaze locked on her. “I believe you didn’t do it.”

She stopped scrubbing to meet his gaze. “How can you be sure?”

Wow. She was gorgeous with her hair falling this way and that from the topknot, as well as the pink flush to her cheeks. He was getting hard just looking at her, and he had no right to feel this way. Hadn’t he already turned her world upside down? “We don’t have to talk about this anymore.”

“Good.”

He stared at her, his gaze frozen on her beauty. He wanted to kiss her again, to feel her defenses melt away. To feel her response to his touch. They could be good together. He knew this.

Cull’s hands shook from the constraint. He knew he must be wearing his attraction like a scarlet letter badge. The tension between them was palpable.

She looked at the counter, breaking the connection of their gazes.

His heart pounded.

“I’m going to take a shower.” He started for the bathroom and he looked back to see the curiosity on her face. “If you haven’t already figured it out, I’m staying here tonight.” Her eyes widened some. “Don’t worry. I’ll keep my hands to myself, but no way in hell will I leave you tonight.”

He made his way into the bathroom, his constraint falling away like heavy shackles. He grabbed the hem of his shirt and dragged it over his head, then eased down the zipper of his jeans, shucking them, feeling some relief in his body. He’d had a constant hard-on for days and he was beginning to believe his cock would be bruised. Sitting on the edge of the cold tub, he tried to ignore his raging dick.

Over the last week he’d gotten sidetracked from his life, his goals, as he searched for answers for Monica. How the hell had things got so twisted and turned upside down. Why did he have to have feelings for a woman who was surrounded in chaos? He blew out a long breath.

Yeah, he had feelings for her and the longer he was near her, the more deep rooted they became.

He turned on the water, more cold than hot, letting it run a few seconds before he climbed under the spray. He leaned back against the cool ceramic wall and closed his eyes, relaxing. His mind remained full of Monica, her flushed features and the way her hair brushed her cheeks. When she’d passed out, his heart had dropped to his toes. He got that this was all a bit much—no, a freaking hurricane.

Cull couldn’t get his mind off her. Man, she was beautiful, sexy and kind.

He believed in her innocence. The person who strangled Yates had to be strong enough to cut so deep that it reached the spine. He’d investigated enough deaths by strangling that this was not done by the hand of a woman.

Yet, did that make her completely innocent? No. She could have been involved and could have been a witness to the man’s death.

He washed his hair and face a little roughly wishing he could scrape away the turmoil inside his body.

Knowing how he felt, why did he tell her he was staying? Why didn’t he offer for her to stay next door in his childhood room and he’d take the bed in the apartment? He knew why. No one could protect her as well as he could, and he wanted to be near her.

Could he uphold his promise that he’d keep his hands to himself? He remembered how she felt in his arms. So soft. So right. His balls clenched despite the cold water.

A knock came on the door. He heard mumbling and opened the shower curtain wide. Monica stood in the doorway, her eyes wide.

“Oh crap. I’m sorry.” She twirled and covered her eyes.

He smiled. “It’s okay, Monica. You’ve seen a man naked before.”

“But I don’t remember,” she reminded him. “I wasn’t coming in to get a peek.”

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