Page 2 of Mine to Keep

Chapter Two

Veronica went into panic mode.He was going to be here any minute. That massive beast of a man was going to be in her home any minute. How exactly was she supposed to deal with this? She’d spent the last seventeen years avoiding men like the plague and now one was going to be in her home. In her precious space. Where the only man that she had ever opened her door to was Jay. It occurred to her that Jay probably had no idea she never had men in her home.

But how could he know? She’d never told Jay. She never told anyone. God! She was such a damaged ball of stressed out crazy. Of course, he wouldn’t know. The last man that touched her body was the last man that paid for her services. She’d been twenty-four. Allie had been five and Jay fifteen. Of course, Jay had always known how she'd survived. How she’d fed them and how she’d fed her drug habit. He never judged. Her trick had hit her that night. Not bad, but bad enough that she’d needed an extra dose to ease the pain.

Jay found her. He pulled her off her doorstep with a needle in her arm and carried her to the hospital, even though he hated hospitals. He sat with her all night until he was sure she’d pull through. Then he begged her never to sell herself again. He promised he’d find a way to feed her and Allie. She agreed. The next day the money and food started showing up. Veronica never turned another trick.

He also helped her get clean. For Allie’s sake. Her forced her to see that she wanted a long, healthy life with her daughter. They both wanted the same thing. So that wonderful, street-hardened boy had gone with her to meetings, encouraged her, held her through two relapses and celebrated her victories. Now she was fifteen years sober. And about to have a man in her home for the first time ever. Not including Jay.

Veronica probably would have collapsed into a hyperventilating, sobbing heap if Robert Senator hadn't chosen that moment to knock on her door. She jumped and turned to stare at the offensive thick, wood panel. Oh shit. What should she do? Pretend she wasn't home?

Damn it! He knew she was home. They’d arranged this meeting yesterday in Jay’s office. It would look incredibly childish and irresponsible if she acted like she forgot and went out. No, it would be far better for her just to take a deep breath and open the door.

She was shaking so hard she could barely grip the handle when she reached for it. It took her two tries to get it to turn. When the door finally did swing open she found herself staring up at a 6’3” wall of solid muscle. He was by far the most intimidating man she had been forced to spend time with and she’d had to spend time with some pretty scary people in her early years. He was way too rugged to be handsome. His chin was covered in what might be a beard, or could be he forgot to shave for a few weeks. She couldn't really tell. His wavy dark brown hair was streaked with grey and was slightly too long, curling against his collar.

His hands were as big as her head. One of those hands were currently reaching for her. Veronica didn’t think. She panicked. She jumped back and hit herself against the door handle. She cried out as it struck her right in the middle of the back, bruising her soft flesh. He moved so fast, wrapping his massive paw around her arm and pulling her away from the door that she barely had time to process what he was doing.

“Careful,” he barked, glaring down at her.

Veronica’s eyes widened and then she did the most embarrassing thing she could possibly do to get out of the situation. She fainted. Her knees buckled and the short, panicked breaths she’d been taking for the past half hour finally got the better of her. She expected to feel her body hit the hard floor as she fell. Instead she felt something hard, but pleasantly warm envelop her body and lift her, right before she closed her eyes. It smelled wonderful, like citrus and spice with hints of leather. She wanted to curl into it.

She knew she was only out for a matter of seconds, but when she woke she was laid out on her couch and she could hear the security man, Robert, murmuring into his phone. Her face flooded with heat as she realized exactly who he was talking to. She pushed herself up on the couch, smoothed the skirt of her sundress over her knees and shoved her hair off her face. Robert glanced over sharply from where he was crouched next to her knees as soon as she moved and looked as though he wanted to urge her to lay back down.

“Can I please talk to him?” she whispered.

He handed her the phone, his hazel eyes roving over her face looking for signs of distress. She shivered when his fingers brushed over her much smaller ones. She jerked the cell phone away from him and put it up to her ear. It was warm from being in his pocket. She closed her eyes and willed her heart to slow down so she wouldn't pass out again.

“Jay,” she said, trying not to sound as weak as she felt.

“Veronica,” his voice was sharp and concerned. She winced and glanced at Robert who was still hovering far too close. She tried to shift her knees away from him. He braced his arm on the other side of her legs, trapping her. She frowned a little and stopped moving so she wouldn't accidentally touch him.

Jay spoke quickly, his voice hard with worry. “Can you tell me what happened? Why did you faint? I want you to go with Robert to the hospital and get checked out.”

“Jay!” she protested with a little laugh. “I’m okay, really. I was j… just feeling light-headed. I don’t want to get checked out. You know how I feel about doctors.”

“Doesn’t matter, until you can give me a better explanation, you’ll be going with Robert to get looked at. I don’t want you getting sick on me.”

Shit? What did she do now? Did she tell Jay the truth or did she go with this stranger to the hospital to get checked over by judgmental doctors that had access to her medical records? She could feel the panic rising in her. Her chest felt tight and she was almost certain that she was about to pass out again. To her intense humiliation she could feel a burning heat rise up behind her eyes. Robert’s indecipherable gaze held hers as a single tear welled up and spilled over.

He reached over and took the phone from her hand. He spoke to Jay while she slowly died a little inside.

“I think I can handle it from here,” he said. “She’s looking a little better. I’ll make sure she gets checked out if there’s any other signs of distress. We’ll check back in with you later.”

Jay said something else that Veronica didn't hear.

“Of course, man. She’s a very precious job. I’ll make sure she has the best care Senator can provide. I’ll handle her personally.”

Veronica’s eyes widened and she dug her fingers into the seat cushion as he disconnected the phone and reached to shove it in his back pocket. He placed a massive arm along either side of her thighs, effectively trapping her on the couch. She scooted back so she wasn't so close to him. His chest pressed against her knees. She hadn't touched a man, not even Jay, so intimately in almost two decades. She stared at him with fearful eyes, her breath coming out in panicked gasps.

He ran his thumbs up and down her thighs in what he probably thought was a soothing manner. Her skirt moved up and down with the movement.

“You need to just breathe, sweetheart,” he said quietly. His deep tones were actually soothing. “One breath at a time until you can take longer breaths instead of these short inhales. In through your nose and out through your mouth. Just concentrate on my voice and breathe with me.”

She nodded and watched his lips. They were nice, full lips. She watched him take deep, measured breaths and tried to emulate him. Finally, after a few minutes she found that her chest was rising and falling with his. The feel of his thumbs against her thighs didn't feel terrifying. It did actually feel soothing. Her gaze travelled from his lips to his eyes. He had lines fanning out from his eyes, as though he squinted a lot. Then her eyes travelled to his strong, masculine cheekbones above his grizzled facial hair. He had a big nose. She giggled at her own assessment, which caused him to raise an eyebrow. She blushed. It was a good, strong nose actually.

“Feeling better?” he asked.

She nodded.

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