shivers along her spine. “I’m rarely home, so I don’t care much about the furniture.”
“Workaholic?”
“A little. And most of my spare time is spent with family or my partner.”
Listening to Kyle talk about himself meant she didn’t have to think about her own life, so she kept him talking all the way to the office. He told her about working for his dad and running with his mom. When he mentioned that they did Sunday dinner on a regular basis she couldn’t help wonder if they were supposed to have one tomorrow.
What were Sunday family dinners like? What kind of family in today’s world still had them? Would her family have done them if they’d lived?
“Gisella?”
“Yep.” She jolted with a jerk of her head. “Sorry.”
“Why?”
“I’m being bad company.”
“I’m terribly turned off.”
He’d meant it as a joke, but the words hit her insecurities and set her confidence spinning like a top. The brief taste of passion had been enough to breathe fresh fire into her dreams of love. Romanticism rioted inside, filling her with ideas not entirely safe.
When Kyle pulled into the parking garage at Tulle and Tulips, he backed into a brightly lit spot close to the building entrance. He turned off the car but didn’t make an immediate move to get out. He instead checked the mirrors and said, “Stay,” in a tone that commanded obedience. He was out of the car and rounding the hood before she could argue or agree.
“Did I sprout a tail and droopy ears since we left my house?”
“No.”
“Then don’t speak to me as if I’m a dog.”
“I didn’t…” He trailed off and then cleared his throat. “I didn’t mean… I’m sorry.”
For a gun-wearing detective who’d protected her and refused to let her go alone to the office, he blushed easily. It was the cutest, most endearing thing she’d ever witnessed.
Aware of what romantic moments looked like, having witnessed countless ones thanks to her job, she saw the change in his eyes when she stood and faced him. He looked at her the way grooms looked at their brides… He turned her to mush. “I’ll forgive you.”
“Thank you.”
“On one condition.”
A vertical crease deepened in the middle of his forehead. She hadn’t paid much attention to it before. It was sexy. “What?”
“You need to relax.” Irony about what she was about to say consumed her, but she said it anyway. Maybe one day she’d believe it for herself. “Just because you’ve seen what hides in the shadows doesn’t mean there’s always something there.”
He slid a finger along her temple, the touch tender but heavy enough to remind her of the bruise coloring her face. “I always see danger.”
The attention didn’t bother her, and she did feel safer with him near, but she didn’t want to come to rely on him. Fear’s debilitating force had controlled her life for years. It had pressed in on her willpower last night, terrifying her almost as badly as the impression of cold sharp steel slicing into her neck. Its seductive sway grew bolder when she’d been alone, had peaked at the sound of Kyle’s knock at her door and reared its head again at the idea of going to work.
“I feel safe with you beside me.”
His tension didn’t lessen, so she explained the security, what she knew of it anyway, in the hope it would settle him. “You met Trevor Masters at Darci’s wedding, right?”
“Yes.”
“Well, Trevor, or his company, Blue Chip Technologies, owns this building. His head of security is Jace.”
“The former Marine?”
“Yeah.” Talking must be working, because he moved less rigidly when he led her toward the entrance. “He lost his hand on his final tour. Since coming to work for Trevor he’s overhauled the security. I think he went as far as he did so he could feel like Misty’s safe when she works late.”
“She’s the florist?”
“Yes.” After a wave toward the camera, and whichever guard would be watching from his post
“Workaholic?”
“A little. And most of my spare time is spent with family or my partner.”
Listening to Kyle talk about himself meant she didn’t have to think about her own life, so she kept him talking all the way to the office. He told her about working for his dad and running with his mom. When he mentioned that they did Sunday dinner on a regular basis she couldn’t help wonder if they were supposed to have one tomorrow.
What were Sunday family dinners like? What kind of family in today’s world still had them? Would her family have done them if they’d lived?
“Gisella?”
“Yep.” She jolted with a jerk of her head. “Sorry.”
“Why?”
“I’m being bad company.”
“I’m terribly turned off.”
He’d meant it as a joke, but the words hit her insecurities and set her confidence spinning like a top. The brief taste of passion had been enough to breathe fresh fire into her dreams of love. Romanticism rioted inside, filling her with ideas not entirely safe.
When Kyle pulled into the parking garage at Tulle and Tulips, he backed into a brightly lit spot close to the building entrance. He turned off the car but didn’t make an immediate move to get out. He instead checked the mirrors and said, “Stay,” in a tone that commanded obedience. He was out of the car and rounding the hood before she could argue or agree.
“Did I sprout a tail and droopy ears since we left my house?”
“No.”
“Then don’t speak to me as if I’m a dog.”
“I didn’t…” He trailed off and then cleared his throat. “I didn’t mean… I’m sorry.”
For a gun-wearing detective who’d protected her and refused to let her go alone to the office, he blushed easily. It was the cutest, most endearing thing she’d ever witnessed.
Aware of what romantic moments looked like, having witnessed countless ones thanks to her job, she saw the change in his eyes when she stood and faced him. He looked at her the way grooms looked at their brides… He turned her to mush. “I’ll forgive you.”
“Thank you.”
“On one condition.”
A vertical crease deepened in the middle of his forehead. She hadn’t paid much attention to it before. It was sexy. “What?”
“You need to relax.” Irony about what she was about to say consumed her, but she said it anyway. Maybe one day she’d believe it for herself. “Just because you’ve seen what hides in the shadows doesn’t mean there’s always something there.”
He slid a finger along her temple, the touch tender but heavy enough to remind her of the bruise coloring her face. “I always see danger.”
The attention didn’t bother her, and she did feel safer with him near, but she didn’t want to come to rely on him. Fear’s debilitating force had controlled her life for years. It had pressed in on her willpower last night, terrifying her almost as badly as the impression of cold sharp steel slicing into her neck. Its seductive sway grew bolder when she’d been alone, had peaked at the sound of Kyle’s knock at her door and reared its head again at the idea of going to work.
“I feel safe with you beside me.”
His tension didn’t lessen, so she explained the security, what she knew of it anyway, in the hope it would settle him. “You met Trevor Masters at Darci’s wedding, right?”
“Yes.”
“Well, Trevor, or his company, Blue Chip Technologies, owns this building. His head of security is Jace.”
“The former Marine?”
“Yeah.” Talking must be working, because he moved less rigidly when he led her toward the entrance. “He lost his hand on his final tour. Since coming to work for Trevor he’s overhauled the security. I think he went as far as he did so he could feel like Misty’s safe when she works late.”
“She’s the florist?”
“Yes.” After a wave toward the camera, and whichever guard would be watching from his post
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