Page 107 of Trust My Bodyguard

“Sit.” He points to the sofa.

Now I’m too nervous to sit. “Brody.” I look him over, trying to get a clue. “What’s happening?”

He runs shaky hands through his hair and looks away from my eyes. “I don’t know.”

What? “You don’t know?”

He spins around. “Well, I do know. I just don’t know how to get it out.”

He isn’t going to get away so easily. He’s worked me up and must tell me. “You can start by using your ABCs and 123s.”

For some reason, the hard edges of his face soften, and his shoulders relax. “I will. First, you sit.”

I narrow my eyes at him. If he thinks he’d walk out of this one, I wouldn’t let him. I walk backward to keep him in my line of sight, and when my calves hit the legs of the chair, I plop into it.

He stares at me. “Ivy...”

Oh, it’s coming. My breath catches in my throat. “Yes?”

His mouth shuts on the sentence that doesn’t get out. He shakes his head. “I can’t do this from across the room.” He closes the space between us and gets on one knee before me.

Gray eyes pore into mine. Fear, worry, and anxiety hit me all at once.

“Brody, I’m so worried.” My fingers bite into my palms. “What is going on?”

He cups my cheek and thumbs away the stray hairs around my face. “It’s a... feeling.”

That makes no sense to me. What feeling?

He must see my confusion because he grabs my hand and places my palm flat against his chest. “Here.”

My goodness. His heart is racing a crazy beat. Is he about to have a heart attack?

“For you, Ivy.” His words cut my worry short. “I feel here for you.”

Oh.

Oh.

My fingers soak in his warmth as I feel his heart’s rhythm. His eyes beg me to understand, but I don’t want to assume. I’m already too giddy with the image forming in my head. I need the truth. “What-what does that mean?”

His throat bobs with a swallow. “I think some people call it love.”

I forget how to breathe. I hold it all in as his words wash over me.

“But I call it... I can’t think of anything else but you, Ivy. When I’m awake, when I’m asleep, you are all that’s on my mind. I thought it was because of your decision to go up against your dad. I thought I was worried about you because you’re a stubborn, willful woman. But no, I feel deeply for you. It was all because of you. Whether you’re lying in bed next to me or you’re miles away in Denver, I can’t get you out of my head. Out of my heart.”

His hand trembles on mine as he presses my hand more firmly against his thumping heart. “I feel for you more than I have ever felt for anyone. And I can’t hold it back anymore. Can’t keep it to myself.”

I inhale a long breath, my mind spinning.Brody is into me. “That has to be the longest synonym for anything ever.” My mind is only able to form that stupid joke.

Brody laughs and palms my cheek, stroking tenderly. “You don’t have to feel the same way. I just needed you to know. Whatever you feel, it’s entirely up to—”

“Shh...” I place a finger on his lips before he can break his heart and mine. “Don’t tell me what to feel.” I look up, considering. “Or whatnotto feel.”

He stares at me, mouth shut and eyes wide open. Hopeful. Patient.

“Brody,” I begin, “you’re a tough man to be around.”

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