AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I don’t want to cry. I want to be strong like you.”
“You are. You spent years with Trey, and you survived.”
He shook his head. “That’s not—”
“It’s as much a battle as anything I was involved in.”
“But I didn’t fight back.” He looked heartbroken, and I couldn’t stand it.
“You did when you had the support you needed.”
“I should have been able to leave on my own.”
“No, even in the marines, we didn’t always choose to fight. If we weren’t in a defensible position, we waited. Jacob, you’re incredible.”
“I… you don’t have to say that.”
I gripped his chin and made him look up at me. “I mean it. You can ask my brothers or the men who served under me. I don’t say shit just to flatter people. If I compliment you, I mean it.”
“But you said I was beautiful.”
“You are.”
“No one has ever… Trey said—”
“I want you to forget everything Trey said. That man isn’t fit to even look at you. He’s so far beneath you he’s deep underground. And that’s exactly where I intend to put him.”
“You can’t just kill someone for me.”
The hell I couldn’t. “I can do anything to keep you safe.”
“Grant—”
I laid a finger on his lips. “I’m going to protect you. Just accept that.”
“I bet you were an excellent marine.”
“The corps would say differently, but that’s… I can’t talk about it, not now, not yet.” I didn’t want to tell Jacob that ugly story, but I also knew he deserved the same openness he was giving me. Maybe one day… “You should get some more sleep.”
He frowned. “It has to be almost time for you to get up.”
A glance out the window told me the sky had lightened considerably since we’d woken. “Probably, but you should rest more.”
He started to sit up. “I need to make breakfast.”
“Not today. Today you’re going to sleep in as long as you like.”
“I meant it when I said I would earn my keep.”
I pulled him back to me and gave him a gentle kiss. “I know, but consider it your morning off. Everyone deserves one of those.”
“Including you?”
“Everyone but the guy who is stuck running the place.”
“When’s the last time you took a day off?”
I considered that. “I had down time when I came home.”
