Page 40 of Daddy's Bodyguard

“No, please lie to me more.”

“I lost my entire team on my last mission, including my sister’s husband. I watched him die just after he asked me to protect her and their daughter at all costs. I was badly injured and failed my psych eval, so I was discharged from the military, which is why I dothisnow. This is all after I lost my kid brother under similar circumstances. Oh, and my father hates me because he thinks I’m weak, that I failed my psych eval on purpose. But that’s about enough of my messed-up life. Happy?”

Sofia looks at me for a long moment, then leans in to hug me. Sighing, I slowly wrap my arms around her. I’m not sure what to do with her affection, how to take it, or if I even should. She rubs my back with soothing sounds that relaxes me.

“I’m sorry for what you went through, Jasper. I can’t imagine how horrific it must have been. And I’m sorry I let my temper get the best of me.”

“Don’t worry about it. Shit happens. That’s life in a nutshell.”

Her warmth spreads through me until I’m tempted to let everything spill out. Instead, I press my face to her hair and try to accept her affection, as gentle and sweet as it is. She smells like peaches and vanilla, warm and gentle and everything she isn’t.

I kiss her temple. “Thank you.”

“For what?” she asks. “Being a decent human?”

“Yeah,” I nod. “For that.”

When Sofia finally draws back, she stares down at her hands. “What’s your love language? You asked me that once.”

“Uh, quality time and words of affirmation according to this online test I took.” I clear my throat, shifting over on the couch. “Physical stuff isn’t high priority.”

“So you’re asexual?”

“No.” I chuckle. “It just scored lowest on the test. What about you?”

“Not important. But you got all tense when I hugged you, and I was worried I made you uncomfortable.”

“It was okay,” I assure her, minimizing to keep myself in check. “I’ve been more uncomfortable in worse situations.”

She nods, then makes an excuse about needing to shower. Which is fine. I did just go on a date with her best friend. I don’t need to pour my soul out to Sofia, tell her all the details I spared Carissa about my father, about war, about anything in my past. I shake my head and go change, taking the moment to rub my damaged leg. I still worry about the shit hitting the fan at night and me getting my leg into action fast enough.

And Sofia can’t know about this. Her faith in me is the most important thing. It’s the only way I can keep her safe. We made progress with the whole saving her thing, but if she knows I’m like this … it will kill any potential for her trusting me. I’ll just be the broken guy that she pities.

Been there. Done that. Not interested in a repeat.

Exhaling, I pull myself together. I need to focus on tomorrow, not anything else.

Chapter 13

Sofia

I stare out the window, watching the city disappear as we head to Daisy’s house in the suburbs. I still can’t believe I said yes to meeting Jasper’s sister. It feels too official, like we’re a couple or something. I don’t want to give my emotions ammunition to use against me later on. Meeting his family could put him in a new light and make me want him more.

I haven’t exactly processed what he said last night. He’s a military man, so death and destruction are familiar figures in his life. But to see someone important to you die in front of you? That’s a lot to endure. My heart keeps going out to him.

But he’s still hedging. There’s something he still hasn’t told me. He mentioned an injury, and I doubt it’s any of the scars I’ve seen. I figured it would have to be potentially lethal for a discharge. Why do I care that he’s keeping secrets anyway? I don’t know him, nor do I want that honor. He’ll be gone from my life soon enough. Soon, I won’t think about him anymore.

We’re still basically strangers. Even though we’re living together, have only spent a few hours apart since we met, and he knows more about what I do than most. He’s a huge question mark, and I’d rather it stays that way. That’s the way itshouldbe.

“Cupcake, you alive over there? It’s been a solid thirty minutes since you’ve given me sass.”

“Yeah. Just processing.”

“Like a computer?”

I roll my eyes and finally look over at him. “How much longer?”

“Another thirty minutes. She’s not far,” Jasper says. “Why, you impatient?”

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