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Mark cleared his throat. “I’m going to take Honey for a walk around the property.”
“Thanks, Mark,” Leo replied as I gave Honey love before watching her leave with the other man.
“It’s nice of you to share Honey with him like this, he needs it,” Leo commented as he made his way over to the coffee. “Want some?”
“Yes, please.” I took a seat at the kitchen table, tucking my feet beneath me as I watched Leo fix me a cup, putting just the right amount of cream and sugar in it. “What do you mean he needs it?”
Leo paused, the muscles in his forearm tensing. “It’s not my story to tell, but Mark’s wife was murdered a few years back. Happened while he was working and, as I’m sure you can imagine, he’s had a hard time dealing with it. Gave up dog training, she was a trainer as well and it brought back too many bad memories, so Honey’s the first dog he’s let into his life in a long time.”
I hugged myself, my heart hurting for the older man. “Oh my God, that’s terrible. Poor Mark.”
Making a shushing sound, Leo held my chin and tilted my face up to meet his eyes. “I won’t let anything happen to you.”
I was thrown for a loop by his statement, then remembered that his mother had been murdered. Part of me wanted to argue that bad things happened all the time, that he wasn’t God, but I had a feeling that wasn’t the right way to approach this. We all have mental minefields, triggers that, when tripped, unleash a host of unwelcome emotions and memories, and I didn’t want to hurt Leo, I wanted to heal him. Truly, from the bottom of my heart, I believe love can heal just about everything, and I wanted Leo to know he had that from me.
“Of course you won’t.” I kissed his cheek, then nuzzled against his neck. “I trust you.”
A timer went off, but he gave me a quick and hard kiss before going to the oven. “Hope you’re hungry. The chef made waffles and sausages this morning.”
I certainly was hungry, and we had a nice breakfast together, the time passing easily between us, and I found myself more relaxed with Leo than I’d ever been with a man. I wasn’t worrying about how to impress him, how to make myself so attractive to him he’d never leave me. No, Leo made me feel secure for the first time, and those hateful feelings of self-doubt and inadequacy simply didn’t exist when we were together. I couldn’t explain it, and didn’t want to overanalyze it like I did everything in my life; I simply wanted to enjoy the peace he brought to my world.
After breakfast, I camped out in his massive gold, red, and gray living room with its cool u-shaped suede couch and amazing pale wood table inlaid with a Native American designs done in semi-precious stones. I’d seen something similar once in a book, or online somewhere, and spent a good deal of time examining the bright and intricate surface. Onyx gleamed next to mother-of-pearl, brilliant lapis lazuli next to turquoise, the lines perfect and the faceted deep garnet flowers in the center of the design sparkling with flares of deep wine-red fire.
It was a struggle to force my mind onto studying for my Abnormal Psych exam, but I managed to get a few good hours in while Leo dealt with work of his own.
When he returned, I was daydreaming, staring out the window at the big infinity pool that seemed to spill directly into the red and brown desert valley below, the clear water sparkling in the bright sunlight.
“You don’t look like you’re studying very hard,” Leo said from the doorway with a teasing scold in his voice.
Abandoning my tablet, I flopped back onto the couch then dramatically threw an arm over my eyes. “I’m studied out.”
“Did you take your practice test yet?”
I frowned. “Noooooo, but I’ll be okay. I’ve got this.”
“Hannah.” His tsking sound came from right beside me, and when I lifted my arm and turned my head, I found him sitting on the sturdy table, watching me with an amused gleam in his dark eyes. “My responsibilities as your man extend beyond the bedroom. I want you to succeed at everything you try, and I want you to have everything you’ve worked so hard to earn. I’m here to build you up, not tear you down.”
“Leo, that’s very sweet, but I’m twenty-one years old and I’ve been taking care of myself for a long time. I know what I’m doing.”
He must not have liked my snotty tone, because his lips firmed and his body seemed to swell somehow, grow bigger. The perverse part of me liked it when he got intimidating and authoritative like this. It made me so incredibly hot when he showed his dominance.
