Page 65 of The Forbidden Bodyguard

Instead, he came to me, wrapped himself around me like a safety blanket.

How can I do this?

How can I marry another man—any man?

Declan is...he is...

I shut my thoughts down, as acknowledging them is too dangerous at this point. I won’t have my own security from Thursday onwards, and I’ll legally be Tony’s wife.

My god.

They will have to sedate me because I swear I’m going to have a panic attack before I step outside my building.

“It’s not the Taliban, Declan. You can’t come in guns blazing and fix this.”

“I’m going to pretend I’m not offended by that.” Declan smirks and pulls his phone out of a pocket, glancing at the screen.

“Why? You were a SEAL.”

“Still am.” He brushes his knuckles over my cheekbone. “Which is why you can trust me to protect you.”

“I’m trying to protect you.” I huff.

“Okay, sunshine.” He scoops me up into his arms, and I grab hold of his solid neck, unsure what is happening. “I’ll do the protecting. You start talking.”

Before I know it, Declan grabs his keys and my small purse that I had at lunch with Charlotte and carries me out into the hallway.

“What are you doing?” I hiss as he pushes the button for the elevator.

“Taking you home.”

“Put me down.”

“Nope.”

“You’re crazy.” I press my face into his chest, trying not to smile. It’s the most inappropriate time in my life to smile, and yet this is what Declan Sloan does to me.

God, I want to spend every waking minute with him for the rest of my life. The way he makes my heart sing...and my body.

What isn’t there to love?

The elevator arrives, and we go down to the lobby and then cross the marble floor to my private elevator.

He never puts me down.

People stare.

“All right, Ms. Voss?” Gary from security asks.

“Yes. All good Gary,” I reply, and he grins back.

“Everything okay there, Captain Sloan?”

“Pretty good.” Declan nods. “Have a good evening.”

Gary chuckles quietly, shakes his head, and then carries on with what he was doing.

So much for security.