Page 40 of My Bodyguard Neighbor
The problem was, two weeks later, she still wanted him.
Holly set down her brush and picked up her phone.Three new messages from Jonah.The first was a photo of paperwork.Business license approved.Bauer Security Consulting is officially real.
The second was a picture of a coffee cup.I’m surviving on caffeine.
The third made her chest ache.I miss you.But I'm here when you're ready.
Holly typed and deleted three different responses before giving up.What was she supposed to say?That she missed him too but had spent two weeks trying to convince herself this was just trauma bonding and failing miserably?
A knock at her door made her jump.Holly wiped paint-stained hands on her jeans and checked the peephole.
Jonah.
He stood in the hallway, hands shoved in his pockets, looking nervous in a way she'd never seen him look before.Not the lethal operative who'd killed three men to save her life.Just a man who didn't know if he'd be welcome.
Holly's heart hammered as she opened the door."Hi."
"Hi."Jonah's gaze traveled over her face like he was memorizing it."I know we said we'd take things slow.That you needed space.But I have something I need to say, and I can't wait any longer to say it."
"Okay."
"I'm not here to borrow sugar."A ghost of a smile crossed his face."I'm here because I love you and I need to know if this is real.If what we have can survive grocery shopping and boring Tuesdays and all the mundane stuff that makes up actual life."
"You want to know if I still want you when no one's trying to kill me."
"Yeah.That."
She should invite him in.Should have this conversation sitting down like adults.But Holly couldn't move, couldn't do anything except stare at this man who'd turned her entire life upside down in the span of two weeks.
"I've been painting," she said finally.
Jonah blinked at the non sequitur."Okay?"
"Trees.Light.The way shadows work when you're not afraid of what's hiding in them."Holly stepped back, gesturing for him to come in."Come see."
He followed her to the easel.Holly studied his face as he considered the canvas.The piece was maybe half-finished, but the composition was there.Pine trees backlit by sunrise, their shadows stretching long across forest floor.
"It's beautiful," Jonah said.
"It's the cabin.The morning after that first attack."Holly picked up her brush, not painting, just needing something to do with her hands."I keep trying to paint anything else, but I keep coming back to that place.That morning when I woke up next to you and knew everything had changed."
"Because of the attack?"
"Because I'd fallen in love with you."Holly set down the brush."And I've spent two weeks trying to convince myself it wasn't real.That it was just two people clinging to each other in a crisis."
Jonah went very still."And?"
"And I'm a terrible liar."Holly turned to face him fully."Even to myself.Especially to myself."
"What are you saying?"
"I'm saying that for two weeks, I've had complete freedom.No one chasing me.No threats.No reason to need you except that I do."Holly's voice shook slightly."I'm saying that boring Tuesdays sound amazing if I get to spend them with you.And grocery shopping is only mundane if you're doing it alone."
Jonah closed the distance between them in two strides.His hands framed her face, thumbs brushing away tears Holly hadn't realized were falling.
"I thought I'd lost you," he said."Thought maybe you'd realized you were better off without me."
"Never."Holly leaned into his touch."I was just scared.Scared of losing myself again.Scared of letting someone have that much power over me."
