Page 7 of Maid of Dishonor
“If I’m going to keep you safe, you need to stay close,” I say.
Her breathing hitches when she feels the effect of having her so close to me growing hard between us.
“I don’t need a babysitter.”
I shake my head. “I’m no babysitter. I’m the guy that will put his body in front of yours to protect you, but I can’t do that if you keep trying to pull away from me.”
“I, um,” Veronica sputters, and I love how for the first time since meeting her, she’s at a loss for words.
“Are you going to be good?” I ask.
She nods and swallows hard. I brush a few strands of hair that the warm desert winds have blown into her face. My gaze dips down to her soft pink lips, and I nearly lose myself in the temptation to taste them.
Suddenly the hairs on the back of my neck rise, and I glance around for possible danger. It's a skill that can't be trained in the academy. It's just something either you have or you don't. It's kept me out of trouble a few times in my undercover work.
My gaze quickly sweeps over the crowd, looking for the cause of my concern. It’s primarily tourists filling up the sidewalks, but a large familiar figure across the street draws my eye—Lorenzo. He's scanning the road like he's looking for someone. Word that I'm not at the precinct may have already got back to Gio and the crew, and now they are out looking for me. But I don't have time to speculate. There's no chance of running without drawing attention to Veronica and me. The only thing I can do at this moment is hide in plain sight and hope that Lorenzo looks right past us.
“They’re here,” I say softly, my grip tightening on Veronica.
"Where?" Her eyes widen, and she starts to turn to look, but I pull her back to me.
Without thinking too hard about the painful consequences that might follow, I crush my lips against hers. Veronica tenses in my arms, but just as quickly, she relaxes again. Her lips part in a sigh, inviting me to deepen the kiss. As our tongues explore one another, I want nothing more than to lift her up in my arms and press her against the nearest wall. But when there is danger, especially near Veronica, even my dick takes a back seat to my brain.
I pull back only a fraction of an inch and glance over her head in the direction Lorenzo is standing across the street. He's got his phone to his ear, and there's no way of hearing what he's saying, but I can see him shaking his head. When he turns his back to us, I wrap my arm over Veronica's shoulders and steer her in the direction of her hotel.
“That was for them, right?” Veronica asks, but I don’t miss the uncertainty in her voice.
“I’d be lying if I didn’t say both.” I look down at her.
Her light eyes study me, and I feel like she's peeling pieces of me back, and she is getting a look at the real me. I don't know what she's seeing, but never in my life have I cared about what someone else thought about me before Veronica.
