Page 31 of Keeping Guard
“Lucky likes it here.”
“Then he can stay.” That would work just fine. He could tell Jack he’d found a good home for the stray, and then he’d be free of having responsibility for the thing.
“I don’t understand why you’d rather stay in an apartment not much bigger than a walk-in closet when you could be here. I’ll even keep you supplied with free beer and food. There’re all kinds of good restaurants nearby, and a lot of interesting shops. You look like you work out, and there’s a gym right here in the building, or plenty of sidewalks if running is your thing. I don’t know why or for how long you’re in Asheville, but you’d save money staying here. Of course, Lucky’s welcome, too. I’ll even walk him for you, and—”
“No.”
“—you can have complete control of the remote, even if all you watch is sports. I do like NASCAR and baseball, but not—”
He sighed, then kissed her, since that seemed the only way to shut her up. As he had the first time, he waited for her to slap him, and rightly so. Instead, she melted against him, her mouth soft and welcoming.
This was why he couldn’t stay near her. The woman was entirely too much temptation. When she put her hands on his chest, and the heat from her palms seeped through the material of his T-shirt, his brain forgot he only meant to give her a quick kiss to make her stop talking. He slid his arms around her back, drawing her against him.
He wasn’t a man who fell into bed with a different woman every night. He wasn’t a monk, either. He’d kissed his fair share of women but kissing Peyton Sutton could too easily become an addiction and a complication he didn’t need. His brain came back online, and he pulled away.
It was only because of his discipline and physical training that he wasn’t inhaling and exhaling air like he’d just ran ten miles with fifty pounds of gear on his back. Not her, though. Her chest was heaving, and that he’d had that effect on her sent satisfaction rolling through him.
No lie. He’d be safer walking through a minefield than being anywhere near this woman. “I gotta go.” As far away from her as he could get.
“Oh, okay.”
He didn’t like the disappointment in her eyes, as if he’d failed her, but he couldn’t stay. Even the discipline he’d learned as a SEAL was no match against this woman.
“Knock, knock,” a man called out.
“That’s the man here to fix the door.” Noah took advantage of the interruption to walk out of the room before he decided it was a good idea to kiss her again.
It didn’t take long to install the new door, and when Noah showed Dell the bathroom door, he promised to come back first thing in the morning to replace it.
“You can pay me tomorrow,” Dell told Peyton when she asked what she owed him.
After he left, Noah said, “Your door’s fixed and you have new locks. You’ll be all right.” But what if she wasn’t? “You have my number. The same goes. Use it if he bothers you again.” He called himself a fool for leaving that offer on the table, but it was the only way to get his feet to move.
“He’s going to be a problem, but I won’t call you.”
That should make him happy. He wasn’t happy. “Why is he so determined to marry you?”
“I don’t really know, other than he wants the shares of Elk Antler my father promised me. He claims my father is dying, that my dad just wants to see me taken care of.”
“I’m sorry about your father, but maybe he just thought he was doing what was best for you?” As for the ex, there had to be more to his determination to marry her than just shares in a brewery.
“Dalton’s lying. My father would tell me if he was sick.”
“Are you sure about that?”
She nodded. “I would know if something was wrong with my father. Dalton’s just trying to scare me. He’s not going to give up, Noah.”
Ah, hell. Those blue eyes were looking at him with so much hope. Another minute and he was going to be agreeing to anything she wanted. “I really need to go.”
“What about Jack’s invitation to dinner tomorrow night?”
“Feel free to go. I’ll text you his address.”
“Will you be there?”
“No.” If he had to, he’d chain himself to his bedpost to keep from showing up at Jack’s while she was there. “You want the dog?” Jack probably wouldn’t be happy he gave the mutt away, but he’d deal with it.
“Why would you give away your dog like that?”
