Page 57 of Virgin's Stolen Nights with the Boss

‘Carmen!’

She was pulled against Elias’s chest, enveloped by his scent. Too upset to make a wisecrack, she sank with relief as he took her in his arms.

‘Say it,’ she said, as she wept into his shirt.‘I told you...’

‘I told you,’ he said gently, and then he held her so tight.

Carmen hadn’t properly cried since her father had been laid to rest—at least not like this. Or was it that she’d never been held quite like this before? As though he was her shield and she could let down her defences because he would protect her.

‘She said that my mother worries for me, but it’s all lies—lies, lies!’

‘You’re okay...’

‘No,’ she refuted. ‘I’m clearly not.’

She pressed her face into his chest and moaned out a sob, feeling as if her knees were buckling, but he held her firmly, and she cried and cried, nestled in his arms, letting herself go...

Really, truly letting herself go.

And therewaspeace to be found on Santa Monica Pier.

It was a comfort she had never known before. And it was beautiful to cry and to be held, not to be hushed or told to be calm, just to be held in solid arms while she cried herself out.

‘I’m sorry,’ she said, feeling more stunned at her emotional collapse than by losing her virginity last night. She knew she was coming back to herself when she said, jokingly, ‘Stalker.’ He didn’t reply, so she softened and said, ‘Thank you for looking out for me.’

‘Come on,’ he said, and with his arm around her he guided her off the pier. ‘Do you want that brunch?’

‘I can’t go like this.’

‘You can,’ he said and gave her his sunglasses. ‘We’ll get a table at the back.’

At a very quiet table, in a cool and shady corner of a beautiful restaurant, she sipped iced water to cool her flushed cheeks while he ordered for them.

‘Coffee and...’ He glanced over at her. ‘Pancakes?’

She didn’t nod or shake her head.

‘Pancakes,’ he said to the waiter.

‘With...?’

‘Ice cream, syrup...whatever you have. Thank you.’

‘I’m so embarrassed,’ she said.

‘For crying?’ he asked.

‘More for being such a fool...’ Carmen said. ‘I can’t believe that I was taken in for even one second. She said she knew I was a Taurus, and I am. I don’t know how she knew that, but—’

He reached over and took off the sunglasses. When he saw her red eyes and wet lashes he thought of her lying down with Capricorn. He knew this wasn’t the first time since her arrival in Malibu that Carmen had cried, and vowed that if he could help her, then he would.

After last night, he could do at least that much.

‘Tell me what she said.’

‘Just that... The first thing she said was that I am a Taurus.’

But Elias shook his head. ‘What else?’

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