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“Shit. I’m sorry I was making jokes. Call the girl if you need to.”
“You know, she’s the same age I was when we met.”
“Really?” My eyebrows shot up. “Is she pretty? Maybe that’s why he freaked out.”
“Well, she was dressed as a boy, but yeah. I think she’s absolutely gorgeous.”
“And she actually thinks Shane is a good guy?”
“She’s in love with him. I would bet my ass on it.”
I cracked a smile as my girl slipped on her robe and called Parker. Now things were really getting interesting.
“Shane doesn’t stand a chance.”
Chapter Fourteen
Shane
I stood in the driveway, staring at my house. But now it was our house. I’d told the kid—the girl—fuck, I’d told Parker she could stay. I’d meant it at the time. Hell, I still meant it.
She could stay. I wasn’t sure that I could stay with her. Not without breaking a whole lot of rules.
No matter what, I couldn’t just kick her out. Even if I had a better place for her to go. A safer place. Mason was right about that. I was barely here anyway, I reminded myself.
But now that I knew she was a girl, a beautiful girl, I was more afraid than ever that the killer would find out that she mattered to me and hurt her.
Maybe I could just ignore the mixed-up feelings that were threatening to veer me off track. I had a mission to do. After all these years, I was so close. I had to see it through.
After that, well, who knew?
Don’t go down that road, Shane. Even if this was all behind you, do you really think you’re good enough for her? Good enough to protect and heal her?
I exhaled and ran my hand through my hair. I was sure she’d heard me pull up. It was dead quiet out here. And now I was just standing out here with my dick in my hand.
“Fuck it,” I muttered and took the porch steps two at a time. Why drag it out? I had to fight the urge to knock on my own goddamn door. Which is why I probably looked pissed off when I swung it open and stomped into the living room.
Parker was sitting in one of the easy chairs with her legs curled up underneath her. It was so damn cute when she did that. It had been cute when she was a boy. It was devastatingly sexy when she was a girl.
The same person, clearly. Not a stranger. Parker. The kid who’d had the shit kicked out of them by life, and literally at the clubhouse. The kid who cleaned me up and made this place a home.
It’s Parker. Just Parker.
But I couldn’t exactly think straight. I was in a fucking trance. I couldn’t tear my eyes off her.
She. Is. Perfect.
Goddamn it!
Her dark blonde hair was tousled, lying loosely over her shoulders. Actually, it was more of a gold, but with more sparkle. It was like gold in sunlight.
Yeah, I was getting poetic. Things were that bad. I swallowed, my throat feeling as dry as the goddamned Sahara.
Because it was worse than Parker just being pretty. More than her being someone I already cared about and pulling a fucking supermodel switch on me. I actually could see her body for the first time. And she was definitely not a boy.
Dear lord in heaven, she is flawless.
She wore a pair of stripped leggings on what appeared to be very long, outrageously feminine legs. On top, she had on a tank top and one of the denim button-downs I’d gotten her, hanging open to show just a hint of what looked like very generous curves. Her cute little feet were bare.
The sight of her feet did something to me. My mouth went from completely dry to wet, almost drooling. I was turned on as fuck and it felt so wrong.
But she was not a kid. She was a young woman. And she was living with me.
All the more reason to get ahold of yourself, Shane. She’ll only get hurt. There’s no way you could be good enough for a sweet girl like her.
Parker, meanwhile, looked like a deer in headlights. A little scared. Definitely nervous. Ready to jump and run.
At least her instincts for self-preservation are rock solid, I told myself wryly.
She’d been hurt. It was more obvious than ever. I didn’t want to be the jackass who did it again.
Tread lightly, I reminded myself. She’s not just a hot girl you want to bang.
“Hey.”
“Hey,” she said, her voice sounding softer somehow. Higher. She must have been trying to deepen it this whole time. Goddamn, how could I have been so blind?
That voice went right through me, grabbed my heart and twisted.
It grabbed something else too.
Don’t look at her feet again or you’ll get sprung.
I looked. Cute, perfect little feet. No polish. It was probably hard to get a pedicure when you were fucking running for your life. I’d get her one tomorrow, I decided, still staring at her pretty little toes.
