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He’s got that familiar sneer on his face. It’s dead hot even during moments when I’mnotalready turned on. “I know you weren’t.”
“Then why didn’t you just let me—”
“Because no one touches you, Kate, without your permission. No one.” He squeezes his eyes shut and pinches the bridge of his nose. “Let’s just go, okay?”
I’m stunned into silence as we climb on the bike.
He defended me. He defended me as if his life depended on it, in a way even Caleb never did—as if I mattered to him more than anything in the world. I have no way to adequately thank him for his misguided, undeserved care, so instead I just nestle into his back more tightly.
Whoever he winds up with is the luckiest female in the fucking world. Men like him come by once in a lifetime.
16
KATE
The next morning, Beck emerges from his room fully dressed and more alert than normal. “Do you know how to fire a gun?”
I laugh as I pour his coffee. “Agun?Why would I need to fire a gun?”
His body is entirely still aside from those assessing eyes of his. “I don’t like the fact that you’re out here alone at night.”
I shrug. “You’re usually home by one or two at the latest. Besides, I thought you said no one ever came out here.”
His jaw shifts, the hollow beneath his cheekbone going in and out again like the single beat of a heart. “No onedid. But you draw attention.”
I narrow my eyes as I slide him a plate of pancakes. I’m not sure what he’s trying to imply, but I’m certain I don’t like it. “Attention from whom? I spend the bulk of my day alone in your windowless office. I promise you, my daily jaunt to the grocery store involves no nudity or lap dances whatsoever. I don’t even speak.”
“You don’t have to speak,” he says, once he’s swallowed his first bite. “You draw attention just by existing. And not always from people you want noticing you. Like the guy last night.”
I drop the pan in the sink. “He was just a guy, Beck. A stupid, overconfident guy who was taking his shot. That happens to everyone.”
“But it happens more to you. What if he’d followed you home?”
I laugh. “I wish him luck with the way you drive.”
“Don’t act like it hasn’t happened before.” His jaw is tight. “Remember that guy a couple years ago? The security guard who followed you home after work?”
I vaguely recall this. “That happened once. As soon as he realized I was married, he disappeared.”
“He didn’tdisappear, Kate. Caleb and I took care of him.”
I try to remember if I ever saw that guy at work again. “Tookcareof him? You didn’t...kill him, right?”
He laughs, a low rumble that starts in his chest and then fills the air. It’s such a rare sound that I smile involuntarily. “You seriously think Caleb and I wouldkillsomeone?”
You would.After your reaction last night, I can’t believe you’re even asking the question. “Well, in mafia movies, when they say someone wastaken care of, that’s what they mean.”
He shakes his head, still laughing. “You haven’t answered me. Do you know how to fire a gun?”
“No, and I don’t want to know. What if I flip out because I hear a noise and accidentally shoot you?”
A smirk hovers around his lips. “I’m assuming your aim won’t be that good.”
I agree, but still give him the finger. “No. No guns.”
“You should take a self-defense class then. You need to be able to defend yourself anyway. Everyone should.”
“I’m tough. If anyone laid a finger on me, I’d stab him in the eye with my keys.”
