Page 110 of Seducer

“Because I care about you.” He made the statement without hesitation.

“You do?” I found myself leaning forward.

He nodded. “You’ve brought light into my world. Even if I would still love to hunt you down.”

“If you do consider the game again, I would like to be considered as a contestant. I can assure you I’m qualified.”

I adored his laugh. It seemed odd to be sitting in the middle of his kitchen eating gourmet food while some crazy criminal was after me. Surreal, but in his world, the norm.

“I’ll consider it. I have one question. Do you remember the name of the bad people you mentioned?”

“No. Honestly, I think I blocked out everything that happened. Plus, as soon as Dad agreed to help the Feds, everything was hush-hush.”

“Okay,” he said, and I could tell he wasn’t going to let this die. Maybe I didn’t want him to. I was scared. I hated to admit it, but that was the truth. Something told me he might be the only human being alive capable of helping me.

Of protecting me.

“What about dessert? Ice cream?”

“I think I have something better.” He rose to his feet, taking the plates with him, even taking the time to rinse and place them in the dishwasher. There was something so sexy about seeing a man cleaning up a kitchen.

I almost giggled as if this was the best date in the world. How insane.

He wiped his hands on a kitchen towel before opening a cabinet. “Close your eyes.”

“What if I don’t?”

“I think you know what will happen.”

While I did, I was so tempted to peek. When I heard a crinkle and something was placed in front of me, I held my breath.

“You can look.”

I opened one eye first and gasped from surprise. “Snickers bars? Are you kidding me? How did you… know?” I couldn’t help myself, ripping into one and taking a big bite as I thought about how he’d found out. “You searched my house, including the back of my cabinets. You were the one to pay off the hospital bill. You also made certain I got a raise. Didn’t you?”

“Guilty as charged. However, that won’t happen any longer.” He reached over, grabbing my hand and pulling the candy bar toward him. When he took a bite, I was mesmerized by how much he savored the flavor. Like he hadn’t been allowed to have candy as a child.

How disgusting.

“Don’t make promises you can’t keep,” I whispered.

“What if I can keep them?”

“Don’t make me like you, Zach.”

His grin lightened up his face. “I’ll try not to. You should try and get some sleep.”

“I’d prefer another glass of wine, but first, what now?” I placed my hand on his and the crackle of electricity was exactly as it had been before.

“The game we were playing is over. For now. Iamgoing hunting.”

“For wild game?”

“Something like that. I suggest you not ask questions you don’t want answers to.”

“But I do want to know. I’m a big girl, Zach. I’ve handled a lot of shit in my life. You asked me to trust you so I’m asking the same of you. Trust me. I know you’ve done bad things. I can only imagine the horrors you went through as a child and I only had a taste of the system.” I wasn’t certain imploring him to tell me anything was going to work.

He had a look on his face that I’d seen before. It was a combination of cool anger and determination. “Then I’ll be truthful with you, at least as much as I can be. I am going hunting for the person or persons involved in this. When I find what I’m looking for, the individual responsible for placing your life in danger will pay a significant price. I will do what it takes to protect you.”

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