Page 19 of My Secret Protector
She sits up and pull the sheet against her chest. “What happens now?” she asks softly.
I turn away and swing my legs off the side of the bed. I reach for my pants. “I guess whatever you want to happen. You can go back to your normal life again.”
I stand up and pull on my pants. I can’t look back at her. I’ll let her go if that’s what she needs me to do.
I feel a hand on my arm and swing around. A tear is sliding down her cheek. “Is that really what you want? You just want me to go?”
I crumble inside at the sight of that one tear. I tug her closer to me and the sheet she’s holding onto falls. I hold her against me and kiss the top of her head. “I don’t want you to go anywhere. I want you to stay with me forever. Or I stay with you. Whatever works better for you.”
She pulls back and beams up at me. “How ‘bout we figure out the logistics later?” Her arms come around my waist and I’m suddenly very aware that her naked body is pressed up against me.
I squeeze her ass cheeks. She moans and kisses my neck. I back her up against the bed.
“Maybe I was wrong,” she says in a seductive voice. “I think I’m ready again.”
I slide my finger along her slit and then inside, feeling her wet warmth. “I think you are.”
She touches my lower lip with her thumb and gasp as my fingers begin to move. “I love you, you know.”
I wink at her. “I know, baby. I know. I love you too.”
Epilogue
Doeseveryonedeserveasecond chance? I don’t know, but maybe it’s time to let my guard down a little bit. -Flora
“You don’t have to do this, you know? We can tell him to go jump off a cliff,” Levi pushes his fist into his palm, “better yet, I can push him off it.”
I touch his arm lightly. “Slow down, Rocky. No need for fists. Then man is overweight and in his late fifties. You don’t need to be my protector right now.”
His dark eyes send me a gentle look of understanding. “Sometimes you need protection in other ways than just physical. I’d like to kill him for not believing you, for not being there when you needed him.”
“I know,” I bite down on my lower lip, “but maybe it’s time to let it go. I have you now. And my friends. I don’t need him, but maybe I should give him a chance.”
He sighs and reaches for my hand. “Alright, but if he hurts you in any way, I retain the right to kick his ass.”
I grin. “So noted.”
I glance across the restaurant and my gaze immediately locks with eyes the same exact shade of blue as mine. My stomach churns with anxiety. I stand as my uncle approaches the table.
We stand there awkwardly. This man is my only family my blood, but we’re strangers. Memories bombard me of happier times. Times when my parents were alive, and my dad’s brother was a part of our circle.
I exhale and nod my head at the grey-haired man with eyes so much like mine.
“Uncle Alan,” I say gently as he regards me warily.
Over the next hour, with the love of my life sitting next to me holding my hand, we talk. It’s slow and awkward at first, then it becomes more natural.
“I can never apologize enough, Flora.” My uncle shakes his head, regret clear in his eyes. “I should have done so many things differently. I should have believed you.”
“Yes, you should have,” Levi growls.
I squeeze Levi’s hand.
“You should have, and I hope you know now that I was a victim.” I think back to the scared girl I was, and I blink back tears. “I needed you. I needed you to be there for me.”
Now, his eyes glisten with tears too. “I know you did. I was so lost back then. When your parents died, I didn’t know how to be there for you. I didn’t know how to parent a young girl. And then…well, then I just felt overwhelmed. It was hard to accept that I wasn’t able to protect you. That someone could hurt you on my watch. I had so much anger built up in me.” He ducks his head. “My brother would be so ashamed of me.”
I watch him struggle with his own inner demons.
