Page 13 of Lone Star Country Protector
That had to be a good sign. Right?
“They can stay open,” Dalton said after a thoughtful pause.
Bethany bit back her third yawn in a matter of a minute.
“Why don’t you sleep with me in the main bedroom?” Blakely asked. “When Chase wakes up, it’s the first place he’ll head anyway.”
Bethany drained the rest of her second glass without noticing Blakely still hadn’t touched hers. “That’s probably a good idea.”
“Should I let Greg know you’re staying over?” Blakely asked when Bethany stood up and stepped away from her handbag without a second thought.
“Let him worry,” she said before heading up the back staircase.
“That doesn’t sound good,” Dalton said under his breath.
“They had a fight,” she said.
“Did she say what about?”
“Well, no,” Blakely responded before adding, “but it’s not uncommon for a married couple to disagree.”
“Exactly the reason I have no intention of ever willingly falling into that trap,” he muttered.
“Same,” she said quietly. He tilted his head and half smirked. Meaning, he must have heard her. Not that it mattered. Blakely’s marital status and views toward the institution had no bearing on the man. They’d had a fling, nothing more.
A little voice in the back of her mind argued against the idea of “nothing more.”Because the sex had been the best of her life, and she’d gone to sleep many nights since only to wake up thinking about how incredible he’d been. How intelligent and funny he’d been. And how easy it had been to let her guard down in a few short hours with the stranger. The term “stranger danger” applied to everyone outside of her inner circle—a circle that had precious few inside. Three, to be exact.
“We should probably get some sleep too,” Dalton said, cutting into her thoughts.
She started toward the front door. “I’ll see you out.”
He didn’t follow.
When she turned around to check, her heart gave a little flip at the sight of him. Dalton Remington stood there, leaning against the wall with thick, muscled arms folded across a broad chest. “Good try, Your Honor.”
“What are you thinking? That you’ll stay the night?” She shook her head. “I thought you were kidding about that.”
“No, ma’am.”
“I think we’re well beyond formalities, Dalton,” she snapped, not liking the change in tone.
“That may well be…Blakely,” he quipped, not budging from his spot. “But you have a shadow until this ordeal is over.” Before she could argue, he shook his head. “Let me do my job. This isn’t personal.”
Why were those words the equivalent of pinholes in a balloon? Pinholes that let all the air seep out, deflating the party favor.
Shoulders deflated like said balloon, Blakely conceded.
“Try not to look so disappointed that I’ll be sleeping under the same roof,” he stated, all cavalier. “You might hurt my feelings.”
Despite the horrific evening, Blakely laughed.
“That’s better,” he said with a self-satisfied smile that she wanted to wipe off his face. “See, that doesn’t hurt.”
“You’re not funny,” Blakely countered even though she found herself laughing even harder.
Dalton laughed too, and it shouldn’t be the sexiest sound she’d heard even though it was just that. Sexy. Dalton was sex in a bucket. He was also dangerous. As it was, her traitorous heart seemed to need the reminder.
A man like Dalton could smash down all the protective walls she’d built over the years. Walls that kept her heart from being shattered. Walls that kept her from having her head beat in. Again. Walls that kept the world out.
