Page 17 of Mine to Protect

“I know you’re worried about your brother. I am, too. But please know I’m doing everything I can think of to find him.”

“Did you come up with anything today? Any clues?” She let out a sigh.

He climbed into the bed and looped his arm around her, squeezing her shoulder.

She dropped her head, snuggling against his chest.

Just like she’d done every night five years ago. She fit next to his body like the perfect golf glove.

“Not yet. However, I struggle with the idea that your brother just landed in Lighthouse Cove. Are you sure he had no idea about me?”

“I honestly don’t know how he could have,” Shelby said. “When he came home from rehab, we focused on his recovery. I helped him get into a halfway house and find a job. And then it was the rules for him living with Daddy. Everything was about him. Or when my dad’s cancer came back, it was all about that.”

“Never about you.” He ran his hands through her long, thick hair. It filled his heart with a world of hurt that she took care of everyone and moved mountains for those she loved, and no one did even the littlest things for her. “Always about everyone else in your life.”

“You make it sound like no one cares about me.”

“I didn’t mean it that way,” he said. “I’m sure your father and brother appreciated everything you did for them.” He tilted her head. “I’m sure you’re loved and valued. I don’t mean to make it sound like they use you or anything like that.”

“That’s kind of how it came out.”

“What I meant was that you don’t do a lot of self-care. I noticed that about you in Key West. You struggled with me taking care of you and doing even small things for you.”

“I’m just not used to it.”

That statement saddened him to his core. It hardened him in a way that hurt his heart. He didn’t understand anyone who couldn’t get used to having someone do nice things for them. The desire to be taken care of was human nature to him.

He wanted it.

He just didn’t know how to be in a relationship with anyone other than…well, the woman that was in his arms.

When he loved, he loved with his entire being. He understood that it went too far with Krista and that he allowed his love for her to devour who he was as a man.

He’d never let Shelby do that.

But he also never gave them a chance to find out if they could be anything more than a memory.

“I wish you could be.” He kissed her forehead. “You deserve the world.”

“I appreciate you saying that.”

He cupped her chin. “Do you hear yourself?”

“Excuse me?”

“You don’t believe that you deserve someone to take care of you the same way you take care of everyone else.”

Her lips parted, and she released a slight gasp.

He wanted to tell her about all the things she was worthy of and how she should be treated. That her world didn’t need to revolve around her brother and his demons. That she needed to live her life.

But instead of letting the words rumble from his throat, he pressed his mouth over hers in a hot, passionate kiss. He half-expected her to push him away as she fisted her hand in his shirt. However, she pulled him closer, deepening the kiss.

He told himself that he’d pull away in a minute or two. That he’d only let this last for a moment. That all he needed was a taste to get him through the night.

However, he knew he’d have to rely on her to call it off. He didn’t have the strength to end what he’d started. Not when his hand slipped under her shirt and curled over her hip. It took every ounce of energy he had to keep from sliding it up her back.

That control began to slip as she pressed her knee between his legs.

---