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“I just wanted to give you time to make the right choice for you,” he says with a wry smile. “I thought that was obvious.”
“I get that, butwhydoes it matter so much to you whether I make the right choice,for me?” I press, needing him to give me something, anything. There’s an attraction between us. I felt it. Ifeelit. He cares for me beyond his role as my bodyguard. I know he does.
“Because sometimes all we need is someone to guide us in the right direction in order to save us from ourselves.”
“And you’re that person for me?”
“In this case, I guess I am.” He side-eyes me, adding, “Don’t think too much into it. I don’t want you to get the wrong impression.”
“And what impression would that be?”
“Tonight I overstepped.”
“What, so now you’re saying you shouldn’t have said anything?”
“No, I’m not talking about that. I’m talking about the fact we danced at Macey’s Bar.”
“It was just a dance,” I reply, knowing full well it was way more than that. I felt the way his heart hammered beneath my cheek, how warm his hands felt on my skin, how hard he was.
He frowns, shaking his head. “Whatever it was, it ain’t happening again.”
“Sure thing,” I take a sip of my coffee pretending I don’t give a shit.
For a moment we fall silent, but then I ask, “If you could go back and change the fact you beat up your dad, becoming Beast, would you?”
“Fuck no. I’d make sure I finished the job.”
“Same applies to me,” I reply. “If I could do tonight over again, I would. I should’ve shot Saxon. I should’ve shown Carter what I’m capable of. Now I just look like a fool. A woman who can’t handle her emotions, who listened to her bleeding fucking heart instead of her head.”
“You made therightchoice,” Beast insists, as I huff out a frustrated breath.
“No. I didn’t. Whether you like it or not, I’m a Davidson. This life, this is who I am.” Standing, I push back the chair. “Thanks for the coffee, but I’m suddenly not in the mood to go over the plans tonight.”
“Princess…” Beast begins but I shake my head, cutting him off.
“It’sGrim, okay?”
“But I kind of like the way Princess rolls off my tongue,” he says, back to the flirty banter. It’s like a security blanket for him, and it successfully puts an invisible barrier between us. I roll my eyes, but when I move to walk away, Beast grabs my wrist, his fingers wrapping around me tightly.
“There’s one more thing I wanted to say.”
My gaze flicks from his face to his hand squeezing my wrist. I swallow hard ignoring the way my skin heats from his touch. “Go on then.”
“I appreciate the chat tonight. It’s been a long time since I’ve talked with anyone about my mum. Thank you,” he says earnestly.
“No problem,” I reply, my stomach flipping over as his thumb glides over the sensitive skin of my wrist. I can feel my cheeks heating, but I ignore it. “Thankyoufor the coffee.”
He looks from the heat creeping up my neck and cheeks down to his hand holding my wrist and blanches like he’s only just realised he’s touching me. Dropping my wrist, he clears his throat and says, “If you’re intent on being Grim, then I won’t stop you. If that’s the choice you make, then I’ll watch your back.Always.”
“I appreciate that.” My expression softens, my heart thumping at his promise. He notices.
“But I’ll do it in the same capacity as I do for Carter, as anemployee. I’m not and never will be anything more than that to you. Are we clear?”
“Perfectly,” I reply, moving to walk away. Only after a few paces, I stop and twist on my heel to face him. “But are you?”
“Am I what?”
“Clear?”
“I just said—”
“Oh, I heard the words that came out of your mouth, Beast, but perhaps you need to have a chat with your body, because that’s telling a whole other story,” I reply, before striding out of the kitchen and back to my room.
