Page 14 of Where We Bloom

“She’s good for you, boss,” he says.

I glance her way again. Her head is angled badly, and she’ll get a crick in the neck like that, so I unbuckle her belt and slide her across the seat until she’s next to me.

She opens her eyes, but she’s still out of it.

“What are you doing?”

“Hold on,” I say softly and secure her with the other belt, then pull her against me. “I’ve got you, angel. Just sleep.”

She’s so sleepy that she doesn’t fight me. She wraps an arm around my middle, nuzzles her face into my chest, and goes right back to sleep.

I’ve spent the past four hours holding her, breathing her in. She slept the entire rest of the drive as if she was bloody exhausted. I remember her telling me before that she doesn’t sleep well. She was going to drive for four hours, but she was clearly too tired for that, making me irrationally angry.

I wish I knew why she doesn’t sleep at night. Does she have nightmares? And if so, what are they about? Or is it that her mind is simply too busy to quiet down?

I want to know everything.

But I don’t have any right to.

Because although I held her and let myself drag my fingers over her soft skin, I also decided that after this, I won’t touch Billie again. She’s right in that our families are connected now, so I’ll have to see her from time to time, but I won’t seek her out. I won’t pull her away to steal a moment with her.

I won’t be that guy.

I have so much respect for this hardworking, incredible woman. She deserves everything she desires, including a man who knows how to open up to a woman outside of the bloody bedroom.

Miller pulls up in front of her small house in Bitterroot Valley, and I press a kiss to her head.

“Wake up, angel. You’re home.”

She stirs, yawns, and then sits up and stretches. The material of her dress pulls tight against her breasts.

Fuck me.

“Wow, did I sleep that whole time?”

“You did, aye.” I unbuckle her belt, then mine, and step out of the vehicle to keep me from wrapping her in my arms and pulling her close. How can I have just spent all afternoon hugging her, and I still want more?

She climbs out of the car and walks up to her door to unlock it.

Just a key. No keypad. No alarm. No cameras.

She should be in a safer house.

“I’ll get those,” she says as Miller lifts the totes out of the back of the SUV.

“No, miss, I have them. I’ll set them just inside.”

She nods. I’ve never seen the inside of her house, and I’m jealous of my own bodyguard as he walks in to set down the totes.

“Thanks for the ride,” she says to Miller, offering him a smile when he walks out the door.

“My pleasure,” he replies with a nod and walks past me to the vehicle, where he’ll wait.

“I already sent messages to have your car towed,” I inform her. “It should be at Brooks’s garage first thing in the morning.”

“Oh, just let me know what I owe you for the tow.” She bites her lip, and I shake my head.

“You don’t owe me anything.”

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