Page 42 of The Hero I Can't Resist
As soon as he releases me, he’s practically sprinting from the room.
I put my back against the headboard and look atthe empty doorway. An uneasy feeling comes over me.
When Zach comes back, he’s carrying a drink and a big plate of food. He sets the water bottle on the nightstand and holds the plate out to me. It’s filled with crackers, meats, and cheeses. “This looks good.”
“Terry,” he explains.
I nod and take a bite. I pull my feet up under me. “Have a seat.”
Instead of sitting on the bed next to me, he sits on the chair. I take a few bites, thinking of what I need to say, and when I think I have my thoughts together, I set the plate down on the empty bed beside me. “Talk to me.”
Zach is staring at his hands. “What do you want to talk about?”
CHAPTER 19
ZACH
I knew that we were going to have this conversation, but I don’t want to do it now. Skyler moves to the side of the bed, letting her legs dangle over the side so she’s facing me. “What’s going on? What’s wrong?”
I stand up and start pacing the bedroom. “What’s wrong? You could have been killed today. You could have been?—”
She cuts me off. “But I wasn’t.”
I stop, facing the wall, unable to look at her. “But you could have been, Skyler. I fucked up. I shouldn’t have?—”
I stop, unable to say the words that I’ve been thinking all morning. So many scenarios haveplayed out in my head. If I had kept my distance and treated this like the job it was, I would have been downstairs already. I wouldn’t have been in her bedroom while she was down there being attacked.
I can hear the hurt in Skyler’s voice. “You shouldn’t have what?”
I open my mouth but quickly close it. I can’t say it. I shake my head.
Hurt turns to anger. “No, Zach, you don’t get to just stand there and say something like that and not finish it. What is it? What shouldn’t you have done?”
I let my head hang. I fucked up, and I don’t know how I can explain that to her.
Her voice is small and broken. “You shouldn’t have had sex with me? Shouldn’t have made me love you? Shouldn’t have what, Zach?”
I turn, and she’s right in front of me. Looking at her brings it all back. Hell, if I blink, I see it. The glint of the blade, the terror in her eyes, the way her head went back when he hit her. All of it is on a constant replay in my head. “This was a job, Skyler. I was hired to protect you… and I failed.”
She backs away from me, trembling. “I was a job? That’s all I was to you? I don’t believe that. I was there and?—”
I hold my hands up. “Sky, stop. Don’t get upset. We can talk about this later.”
She shakes her head, her eyes shining with unshed tears. “No, I don’t want to talk about this later.” She sucks in a deep breath. “Do you love me?”
That question is like a bullet to my chest. It hits me hard, and I have to hold back the truth that I want to shout to her. Of course I love her. I’m fucking consumed with it. I want to scream yes, but my throat closes around the word. She deserves more. “It doesn’t matter if I love you or not. I’m no good for you, Sky.”
Stricken, she jerks as if I’ve physically hit her. She puts her hand over her chest as if she’s trying to hold her heart in place. “It doesn’t matter if you love me?”
I take a step toward her. “Sky, listen…”
She puts her hands up. “So what is this, Zach? Are we over? Is that what you’re saying?”
“I’m not leaving you until I know you’re okay.”
She laughs, and it sounds hysterical. “Okay? You’re not leaving me until you know I’m okay? Are you even listening to yourself? I’m not going to be okay. The man I love, the man I thought I had a future with, doesn’t want to be with me.”
“Sky, please, you shouldn’t get upset, you shouldn’t?—”
