Page 30 of His to Protect

“My husband thought my time was better spent at home,” she finally mumbled after another strained silence.

This time when I looked at her, she didn’t seem worried or fearful, just sad.

An ache pinched my chest and I forgot about the next chair I was reaching for.

I walked toward her slowly, giving her time to know I was coming closer. When I reached her, I placed my hand on her shoulder.

Warmth spread from my palm on her skin all the way up my arm to my chest, forcing me to take a breath.

She tightened her shoulders, but didn’t pull away.

“I might not know specifics, Trina, but I think you walking away, you making this choice for yourself to be safe, is quite possibly one of the strongest fucking things I’ve ever seen a woman do. You should be proud of yourself.”

She chuckled softly and shook her head. “Thanks, Declan.”

I squeezed her shoulder once and dropped my hand before I did something stupid. Like run my fingertips down the inside of her arm, touching her soft skin until I could feel her pulse racing at her wrist.

Or leaning in and brushing my lips against her cheek, where the bruise was just barely visible through her makeup.

“We should head home,” I said, hearing the gruffness in my voice.

It couldn’t be hidden. I had just gotten turned on by touching her through the fabric of her shirt. My body reacted like I was a teenager who couldn’t keep his pants zipped.

Whatever was happening with me needed to be shut down.

Immediately.

“Yeah,” she said, shaking her head as if she were clearing a haze. “Boomer probably needs to eat.”

“I bought him food this morning,” I told her as we headed out of the dining area and back to the kitchen. The lights were off over the grill, which told me Javier was long gone now.

“You did?”

The surprise in her voice made me turn to look at her. “Dog needed to eat, Trina. What’d you think I fed him?”

She shrugged. “I don’t know. Eggs?”

My lip curled as I bit back a laugh. “Not sure I want to be cleaning up egg vomit.”

“You’re probably right.” She walked up to me, and this time she reached for my hand. Her petite fingers curled around mine and she squeezed once before letting go. “Thank you. You’ve been really kind and I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to repay you.”

I licked my lips, dropping my gaze to her plump and perfect ones. I could definitely think of a way she could make it up to me.

Asshole.

“Don’t mention it.” I turned around and walked to my office, where I made quick work of shutting down the computer, grabbing her purse, and turning out the lights. When I met her at the back door, uncertainty flickered in her eyes as she glanced away from me. Her cheeks were pinker than they should have been and I had to bite back a groan.

And I knew in that moment that the trouble of having Trina around just got a hell of a lot worse.

Because I wasn’t only attracted to this woman, physically…

I actually liked her. Wanted her.

She was quite possibly the worst thing I could want right now.

But I also recognized, as the corners of her lips turned into a soft smile and she looked at me as if I were the only one who could keep her safe, that while she might be wrong…

She was also right.

I didn’t want to just keep her safe from her asshole husband.

I wanted to make sure no one hurt this beautiful and kind woman ever again.

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