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Pressed a kiss to her cheek.
“I’m going to hunt out the food Raphael made us. Come on up when you’re ready.”
She hid her eyes with her palm. “Take my brother’s name from out of your mouth after what you just did to me.”
I couldn’t help my laugh but I stopped myself from kissing her again.
Then I jogged upstairs, rinsed off at the sink, and got on with prepping her dinner.
Chapter 16
Ariel
I couldn’t get the flush of pink from my cheeks. Stunned, confused,relaxed, I cleaned up, found new underwear and my jeans, and returned upstairs.
Facing Jackson after he’d so easily blown my mind was a hurdle I’d not anticipated.
In the kitchen, he had his back to me, plating up two steaming bowls of a winter stew Raphael had made, fresh-cut bread already buttered on a sharing plate.
As great as the food looked, I got caught on my bodyguard’s form, watching him in a way I’d never allowed myself to in the past. The stretch of his dark T-shirt across broad shoulders. How it showcased a muscular, strong upper body. How his hair had been cut to a neat line across the back while left a little wilder and messier on top.
I’d dug my fingers into his hair while he’d been on his knees for me. His tongue had been inside me. What would his dick be like? How would he feel bearing down on me, my legs around his waist, pressure building…
“Hungry?” He interrupted my thoughts.
“Yes,” I breathed. I cleared my throat, making a second attempt that didn’t sound so needy. “I mean, that looks good.”
He glanced at me, and his lips tweaked in a smile. “It does.” He gestured for me to sit and set down my bowl. “We have things to discuss.”
“What kind of things?”
“Living together, what we’ll do when I’m working. The plans you’re brooding over to catch your stalker.”
I choked on my first bite of chicken.
Jackson smirked, waiting me out while I took a drink of water he’d helpfully poured.
“Why do you assume I’ve made plans?”
“Call it a hunch.”
I speared a hunk of carrot and ate it. He wasn’t wrong. My mind hadn’t rested since I’d accepted I was in danger, realised after Daisy’s ex-housemate had given me the stalkerish information, then from my own father’s machinations. But I hadn’t concluded much. Nor did I want to involve my brothers anymore. Both had their own concerns.
I swallowed and focused on Jackson. Talking about this was far easier than addressing other things we’d done.
“All right. I don’t have any real plans but I am going to do something.” I gestured at the kitchen and the living room beyond. “I can’t stay stuck inside all day, every day, sitting idle until a stranger takes action. Tomorrow, I’m going to help Daisy paint her spare bedroom, but that’s the sole thing on my agenda. How long can I hide for? A week? Three? If my father or someone like him wants me, they’ll wait me out. In the meantime, I’ll go insane.”
His gaze darkened. “I’m not here as your keeper but I’m begging ye to talk to me before doing anything. I promised your brother I’d keep ye safe, and that wasn’t just for his sake.”
I didn’t get the last point he made, but I shrugged it off. “I’d be stupid to ignore my bodyguard’s help.”
Jackson abandoned his food and reclined in his seat. “Is that all I am? Your personal security?”
“What else do you want to be?”
He didn’t answer, only glowered.
I tried again. “I’m not looking for a boyfriend, and you refused my offer.”
