Total pages in book: 149
Estimated words: 147967 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 740(@200wpm)___ 592(@250wpm)___ 493(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 147967 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 740(@200wpm)___ 592(@250wpm)___ 493(@300wpm)
“That’s the last time you do that.”
The voice behind her made her cry out and she jumped into the air. Turning, she found him behind her.
Come on, Maya.
Reach for that shield.
But it just didn’t come. She had no idea why.
He was the kryptonite to her sass.
So instead her gaze went to his chest and stayed there. “What?”
“That’s the last time you run off without me. I’m your bodyguard. That means I need a body to guard. I can’t do that if you’re running away without me.”
“So . . . I . . . um . . . I should . . . runwithyou.”
God.
She was an idiot. Her words were running together in an effort to get them out.
“Yes, you should run with me, Sassy.”
“I’m . . . I’m not . . . I’m not sassy,” she told him.
She couldn’t help but feel a sting of hurt. A lot of people thought she was rude. But that was how she protected herself. If she didn’t allow people close, then they couldn’t leave her or let her down.
But for some reason she didn’t want this man to think she was rude. In fact, it did more than sting, it buried its way in deep.
“Relax,” he told her in that low, soothing voice.
It was like he was wrapping her in a warm blanket, in front of a cozy fire, and feeding her toasted marshmallows.
It was kind of ridiculous and she didn’t know why. But then ridiculous kind of summed up her interactions with him to date.
“It was just a nickname. And it wasn’t meant to have negative connotations.”
No negative connotations?
“It’s not another word for brat?” she asked, actually managing to get her words out for a change.
“Sassiness can be cute and funny as long as it’s not mean or hurtful. And I don’t think you are either of those latter things.”
Oh.
Wow.
Maya didn’t know what to say.
“But I won’t use Sassy again. Not if it hurts you. I don’t want to hurt you, Maya.”
Wow. Again.
She had a feeling she was going to think that a lot about this man. There was a lot of wow about him.
But what really hit her was the fact that he didn’t want to hurt her. It might sound crazy, but the people in that house didn’t care about hurting her.
All they cared about was themselves.
This man was a stranger. And right away he told her that?
Yeah.
Wow.
“It . . . it’s okay. Maybe . . . maybe . . . I overreacted.”
“No. It’s not an overreaction if it causes hurt. I was in the wrong.”
She sucked in a breath.
Do not cry.
How had he pierced her battle armour so easily? It was terrible and kind of scary.
There was a beat of silence.
“Can you look at me?”
Oh no. That wasn’t happening. She shook her head; she was out of words for the moment.
“Hmm. You think at some stage you might be able to look at me and talk to me at the same time?”
Another shake of her head.
He made a low noise of amusement. “Okay, Maya. For the moment we’ll have our conversations with you looking at my chest. Or lower.”
Lower?
What did he mean?
Oh, good Lord. What was she doing? Maya closed her eyes and raised her head frantically as she realized that her gaze had dropped.
She’d been staring at his crotch.
Not consciously. Or, at least, that’s what she told herself. It had been an accident.
She knew she’d gone bright red, her cheeks were hot, and no doubt she resembled a tomato.
“I need to go home.”
“I have my car. I’ll drive home behind you. Don’t lose me.”
“You . . .” she swallowed heavily. Come on, Maya. Get it together. “You’re really going to . . . to stay . . . withme?”
Again, the last two words came out quickly as one.
He was going to think she was an idiot.
She thought she was one. It was bad enough the way she’d acted yesterday, but now he was coming home with her.
“I am,” he said firmly. “We can talk once we get you home since that seems to be important to you. Yes?”
“Yes,” she replied as that urgency returned. “I have to get home.”
“Are you going to be all right to drive?”
Why wouldn’t she be? She was always all right to drive. Who was going to do it for her?
“Of course.”
“Of course,” he repeated for some reason. Then his hand wrapped around hers.
Again.
Why did he keep doing that?
It’s only the second time he’s done it, Maya. It’s not like he’s been suddenly overcome by your beauty and cannot resist touching you.
Overcome by her beauty.
Ha! She was cracking herself up now.
“You’re shaking,” he pointed out.
She was?
Shoot. It was a response to dealing with her family. This always happened. She had to psych herself up first and it took a lot of energy to maintain her shields, to ensure that she didn’t mess up and show any sign of weakness.