Page 10 of A Very Grumpy Green Beret

I should probably stop swearing so much…

“I can’t drag you into this mess,” Perry objects.

“You’re not. I’m walking into it willingly.”

Perry watches me for a beat. I wonder if she can see how furious I am on her behalf. Do I look like a beast to her? Do I remind her of the men she’s running from?

I can’t have that, so I do my best to relax my features and look like a normal member of society, not the bloodthirsty monster that I feel like right now.

Finally, she says, “Why are you doing this? Why are you helping me and getting tangled up in this mess? I’m no one to you.”

You’re everything to me. My whole fucking world.

I can’t tell her that, though. Debating how much to share with her, I finally settle on a half-truth. “I took an oath to protect people.”

I can see that she doesn’t believe me.

“I like you, Perry,” I admit quietly.

Huge fucking understatement.

“I can feel a connection here. Between us. That probably sounds crazy, and I’m sure I’m not doing a great job of explaining it.”

I watch her, studying every emotion that crosses her face, holding my breath until finally she ducks her head and sighs.

“I can feel it too,” she admits. “I trusted you right away.”

Those words are like a bomb going off inside me. I feel like I just won the lottery, and I make a concentrated effort to keep my breathing steady, to not reach for her and crush her against me.

“Me too,” I murmur.

I bite my tongue so I don’t spill everything right there and then. I want to, though. I want to tell her that I knew she was meant to be mine from the moment I saw her… months ago.

Not too fast. My girl likes me too. That’s a start.

Now, if I can just get her moved in here with me and a ring on her finger…

6

Perry

“Thanks for letting me borrow the clothes,” I tell Luca as I pad into the kitchen after my shower.

“Of course. You can have anything you want,” he says, smiling at me.

His eyes heat as he takes me in. I don’t know why he looks so turned on right now. My hair is damp and still dripping onto my shoulders, and I’m swimming in his clothes. I keep tripping over the hemline of his sweatpants. I should probably ditch them. His T-shirt is like a dress on me, so it’s not like I wouldn’t be covered.

“Are you hungry?” he asks, turning to open the fridge. “I can make us dinner. Or if you want to go out, I’ll drive us somewhere.”

“No!” I blurt out, not wanting to leave and risk running into Bryan and his men. “Here is fine.”

He nods, seeming to understand why I reacted that way. He doesn’t say anything, just turns back to the fridge. “How does shrimp scampi sound?”

My mouth waters. “That’s my favorite.”

He smiles. “Then that’s what we’ll have.”

It’s crazy how well he seems to read me. I mean, he’s always there when I need him. He’s making my favorite food for dinner. His bathroom had the shampoo and conditioner I loved before it got too expensive for me to buy. This man and this place seem to be made for me.