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Bently squinted. “What do you mean?”
“Being around those types long enough, it becomes second nature to spot. You learn real quick to trust that gut feeling.”
His eyes darted to where she rubbed the small scar on her neck absentmindedly.
She dropped her palm to her lap. Questions reflected in his eyes, but he held back. Again.
“Tell me the guy that hurt you got what he deserved.”
Belle looked at her hands before focusing on him. “I think you know that in real life the bad guy doesn’t always get his deserved judgment.”
His gaze darkened. The silence between them was almost deafening, the air charged with warning.
“I’d better go.” She stood at the same time he did.
“I’ll walk you out,” he said, coming to her side and opening the door. “Thanks again for the coffee and donuts.”
She smiled and walked out on shaky legs, wishing she’d never known what his lips felt like on hers. Then she could pretend it wasn’t the most world-shattering experience she’d ever had. Then she wouldn’t be longing for his touch. Then she wouldn’t be disappointed with the reality that she’d never get to feel it again.
Chapter 17
Belle
“Take that!” TJ’s voice rose, waking Belle from her nap. She shifted the covers to glance at the clock. Five o’clock. She’d slept for two hours.
TJ’s laugh echoed up the stairs as she walked to the bathroom to relieve herself and brush her teeth.
A low chuckle accompanied his. TJ has a friend over. She glanced at her reflection in the mirror. Her sleep-mussed hair was wild. She wiped under her eye, erasing the last trace of makeup from her skin. Her finger pressed against the thin scar on her neck. Shame and helplessness washed over her like a rogue wave. Spinning, she tumbled back to the ghosts of the past, the men who’d used her.
“You belong to me.”
Voices rose downstairs, overshadowing the ones in her mind.
She clamped her eyes shut, taking a deep breath. “I’m safe. I’m free. I’m calm,” she repeated the affirmations until the heaviness lifted from her shoulders.
The memories were like a dark shadow looming in the background, waiting for the opportunity to jump out and try to drag her back down into the abyss. She couldn’t afford to be depressed. TJ needed her. She was all he had. She’d learned early on that, in order to survive, you had to keep going—no matter what.
“Ahh, you think you’re so slick hiding back there. I see how it is.” TJ was in some sort of competition, probably playing the video game that hardly ever got touched. She’d got it for him in hopes it would help him take a break from always studying. He deserved to be a teenager without the weight of the world on his shoulders.
Belle’s stomach grumbled. Dinnertime. She pulled on her black high-waisted leggings and adjusted the off-the-shoulder crop top—her go-to comfort clothes.
She grabbed her phone off the nightstand in her bedroom before heading downstairs.
“You in the mood for lasagna?” she asked, not looking up from her emails.
“A woman after my own heart.”
Her head snapped up as she stumbled down the last step, awkwardly catching herself on the railing at the last second.
Bently winced. “You okay?”
Heat rushed to her cheeks. “What are you doing here?”
“Got ya!” TJ yelled triumphantly next to Bently on the couch.
“You cheater. I was distracted,” Bently argued, standing and setting the gaming controller on the couch. His eyes caressed every inch of her body.
TJ shrugged. “Hey, a man has to play to his advantages. Not my fault you can’t keep your eyes off my sister.”
