Page 132 of His Surrender

I tilt my head. “What’s wrong?”

He hesitates, then steps just a little closer. Close enough that only I can hear him. “I really wish we weren’t in public.”

I blink. “Why?”

His eyes meet mine. “So I could kiss you.”

Warmth spreads through my chest for just a second. Then something else settles in beside it—disappointment.

Not because he wants to kiss me, but because he won’t. Not here at least, where anyone might see.

I glance around us. No one is paying the slightest bit of attention to us. Still, Dean keeps a careful inch or two of space between us like we’re just friends.

My smile stays in place, but it feels a little harder to hold.

We’ve gone so far beyond casual. He falls asleep with me almost every night. We’ve spent countless mornings making breakfast together.

He trusts me with the most important person in his world.

The first time he got jealous—on our date—he closed the partition in the back of the SUV, kissed me until I couldn’t think straight, and made me look him in the eye.

“Tell me you’re mine.”

I still remember the intensity in his voice, the possessiveness radiating off of him, and the relief that washed over his face when I whispered back that I was his.

Behind those closed windows, he had no problem claiming me. Out here, he won’t even hold my hand.

I know why.

He’s protecting me, protecting his company … protecting us.

But standing here beneath thousands of Christmas lights while the man I love looks at me like he wants to kiss me … and chooses not to… I can’t help wondering how long we’re supposed to keep pretending.

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

DEAN

The apartment feels unusually full this afternoon.

The scent of cinnamon drifts from the kitchen, where Aubrey insisted on baking chocolate chip pumpkin bread in the morning even though we’re still a week away from Thanksgiving.

Soft jazz hums from the speakers tucked into the ceiling, blending with the occasional happy squeal from Liana as my father bounces her gently on his knee in the living room.

“I think she’s getting heavier every time I see her.”

Dad grunts dramatically as Liana grabs both sides of his face. Liana rewards him with a delighted laugh before patting his cheeks with both hands.

I smile from the armchair across from them. “That’s because she knows exactly how to manipulate you.”

“Oh, she’s definitely a Ledger.”

“Excuse me?” Aubrey asks with a laugh from the kitchen.

She appears carrying a wooden serving board with slices of warm pumpkin bread, her sleeves pushed to her elbows and a dusting of flour still clinging to one cheek.

I don’t think she realizes it’s there. I hope she doesn’t because it’s strangely adorable.

“What was that?” she asks.