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In fact, he was quite the opposite.
As time passed, I’d managed to learn a bit more about the kind of man he was, and it made it nearly impossible to ignore how badly I would have loved to have met a man like him without having ever had any of the last eight years looming over my head.
While the conversations that we’d initially had were mostly related to specifics about self-defense, Harper Security Ops, or something related to my current situation with Patrick, they didn’t stay that way.
Kane seemed intent on learning as much as he could about me. And though I did my best not to be downright rude to a man who was doing well beyond what any reasonable person would expect him to do for another individual, I had to admit that I’d quickly gotten to a point where I purposely tried to distance myself from him.
Considering he was with me nearly all the time, it wasn’t exactly easy to do.
So, about three days after he’d started living with me, I blamed it on work.
“Where are you going?” he asked after we’d finished eating dinner together.
“Pardon?”
“You’re heading to the bedroom,” he noted. “Do you go to sleep this early?”
I shook my head. “No.”
A curious look washed over his face. “Did you want to watch some TV together?”
In a perfect world, I would have loved to have climbed on the couch and curled up next to him to watch television. I couldn’t imagine that anything would have made me happier.
But I didn’t live a perfect world, which was the reason I said, “Oh, I would, but I’ve got to get some work done.”
“Work?” he questioned me, clearly confused.
Nodding, I explained, “I’m a romance novel editor. That’s how I’ve been able to save up money to finally be able to make this move to get out from under Patrick.”
“So, you can work from anywhere, then?” he asked.
I wasn’t sure if he was saying that because he thought I should just bring my work out to the shared space, so I’d be able to sit beside him while he watched whatever he planned to watch.
I didn’t mind that he wanted to relax, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it with him.
“Yes, technically, I can work from anywhere, but I’m not very good at focusing on my work if I’m watching television,” I said, hoping that explanation would be sufficient.
He let out a soft chuckle, a sound that made my belly dip and held my eyes captive on his mouth. “I wasn’t suggesting you had to work and watch television. I was merely making an observation that you have a job you can do from essentially anywhere with an internet connection.”
“Oh. Well, yes, that’s correct.”
Kane smiled at me and nodded his understanding. “Okay. I don’t want to hold you up from getting done what you need to get done. Is it alright with you if I watch for a while, or will it disturb you?”
Relief swept through me, and I let go of the tension I hadn’t realized I’d been carrying in my shoulders. “I’ll be in my bedroom with the door closed, so you’re more than welcome to watch for as long as you’d like. Plus, I’ll probably put on my headphones and listen to an instrumental soundtrack while I edit, anyway.”
“Alright. If that changes and I’m bothering you in any way while you’re trying to get your work done, please make sure you tell me,” he urged.
“I will,” I promised, knowing that him watching television in another room wouldn’t be a bother to me at all.
Of course, once I made it to the bedroom and closed the door, I said a little prayer of thanks for Hanna’s willingness to be so generous with me when I opted for a long-term stay. There was no doubt she could have given me a smaller place that was completely open with the floor plan. If that had been the case, I might have lost the battle with myself to keep my distance from Kane whenever it was possible.
For over a week now, I’d been doing the same song and dance with him. Our days were often spent together at Harper Security Ops. Kane and I worked together every day on my own self-defense training, but when he needed to teach a class that I wasn’t planning to take, he set me up in one of the empty offices or one of the conference rooms, so I could get some of my own work done.
Time at Harper Security Ops generally went well for me.
Granted, there was the one small issue of me being absolutely in love with everything that happened during our training sessions, and that was where I was now.
Private lessons had seemed like the right thing for me to do from the moment I requested them. I wanted to do whatever it would take to have the best possible advantage if Patrick—or anyone else who worked for him—managed to locate me.
