Page 144 of Bodyguard By Night

I wasn’t sure I had it in me to be mad at him anymore. Not after the photo I’d received.

He came down the steps, dropping his arms to his sides. “Everything okay?”

“I just got this.” I unlocked my phone and handed it over.

He frowned as he took it, his fingers brushing mine and sending a jolt of warmth through me. Right then, I was grateful to have something else to focus on for a moment instead of the shitshow that was my life.

Even if the overpowering zing of attraction between us was just one more complication. At least it was a—mostly—welcome one.

“Where did you get this?” His eyes glittered in the last rays of sunlight.

“New screenname in my DMs.”

“New?”

“Yeah. He sent me a vanishing message. There’s an option in one of the main apps I use. I managed to screenshot it before it disappeared.”

He gave me back my phone. “Forward it to Poe.”

I nodded and shot off a quick message to her through the encrypted app she’d put on my phone. The fact that I had to be sneaky about everything sat heavy on my shoulders. My eyes filled and I tried to blink away the moisture before he noticed. The screen blurred as I dashed them away, determined to ignore them and brazen through.

“Dammit, Chaos.” He pulled me into him.

I tried to fight it, to fight him, but his grip was unrelenting and gentle at the same time. When I couldn’t hold back anymore, I looped my arms around his lower back. I hated to cry more than anything. It didn’t solve anything and only ended up giving me a headache.

“Just let go.” He cupped the back of my head and surrounded me, with his arms, scent, and warmth. Maybe I’d have been able to battle the tears back if he hadn’t given me permission. The space he’d offered opened a gulf inside me, one I couldn’t begin to breach on my own.

But he was there. Thank God he was there.

I slid my hands up his back to grip his shoulders and the tears flooded out like a summer storm. Wild and fierce until there was nothing left but Ransom’s damp shirt. He didn’t stop holding me or tell me to stop.

He just waited me out.

“We gotta stop having these crazy moments at sunset,” I said against his shirt.

He stroked my hair. “At least you didn’t make me sway like you do with the girls.”

I laughed. “I think I need that Advil from your magic glovebox again.”

“I’ll get it.” He set me back gently and thumbed away the last of the tears on my cheeks. Surprisingly, he kissed my forehead before heading to the truck.

I wasn’t sure what to do with a caretaking Ransom. If someone had asked me yesterday what he would do in this situation, I would’ve said he’d slap my arm and tell me to buck up.

He jogged back to me with a package in his hand as well as a pill bottle. “Had some wet wipes too.”

“Who are you?”

His eyebrow arched. “I like a neat car.”

I took the wet wipes and was grateful to see they were for sensitive skin. “Now that I can believe.” Ugh, I wasnota pretty crier. I swiped the wipes over my cheeks and throat since the floodgates had been monsoon-worthy. “Thanks.”

“Anytime.”

I popped the pills into my mouth and dry-swallowed before tucking everything in my bag. “I expected you to run for the hills like most men.”

“You don’t have anything on my sisters. I’ve lived my whole life with rage-induced tears.”

“Is that right?” I linked my arm through his and steered him toward the distillery. From the front, it looked like an old shack, but the Manning’s operation was far more than it seemed. The porch was steel-fortified under the faded wood. “Tell me about them.”

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