Page 16 of His to Protect

Except women thought he was cute and he knew how to flirt. It was good for tips and business.

Plus, I actually liked the little shit.

“One of these times I’m going to mean it.”

“Promises, promises,” he sang teasingly as he walked away.

Shaking my head, I couldn’t suppress a small grin. I gestured to Trina. “Have a seat and talk.”

She listened and something inside me liked the fact that even if I scared her some, even if she was uncertain, she still listened without challenging me.

There was a time when I liked that about a woman. Someone who trusted me.

Not only with her heart, but her body.

But that was a long time ago and I had learned too much about women since then.

Mostly that they held on to their bitterness and concealed it behind happy smiles well enough that you never knew anything was wrong until they decided to strike.

Then you were filling out divorce paperwork and discussing how to move on from a decision you had thought was permanent.

Andwow…that was a pathetic leap to somewhere I never let myself go anymore.

Shaking my head, I slid out a stool next to Trina, then pushed it back to put more space between us.

“Where’s Boomer?” I asked when Trina let too much time pass and hadn’t started talking.

This close to her, I could see more than just dark circles beneath her eyes. Her skin was pale and makeup-free, making her healing bruise seem even worse. Her hair was pulled up in a ponytail high on her head, but still fell well past her shoulders.

It was messy, as if she threw it up in a hurry.

“He’s outside. Out back, actually.” She jerked her head away from the television showing an afternoon talk show and cringed. “I didn’t think you’d mind. But he’ll stay there. He’s tied up.”

I waved her off. “He’s fine. I’ll have someone bring him some water in a minute.”

She responded with a twitch of her lips, and her shoulders relaxed. She blew out a breath between pursed lips, and when she spoke again, she shocked the living hell out of me.

“I thought I could take you up on your offer.”

My eyebrows lifted. “Offer?”

“Last night. You offered me a place to stay. I’d like to accept as long as…you know…you meant the other thing you said.”

Her cheeks pinkened and she looked down at her lap.

I had to fight back a laugh. The “no fucking where I shit” rule.

Of course.

“Why?”

Another beat of silence that lasted too long. She twisted her fingers together, cracking her knuckles, and said nothing.

“Trina. If you need help, you’ve got it. No strings, I swear, but I need something from you here, too.”

Her head snapped up. “Like what?”

“Like some honesty. What changed between last night and this afternoon?”

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