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Kane
I’d always considered myself to be a very patient man.
I’d also considered myself to be a very strong-willed man.
That was how it had always been for me, and I didn’t think there was anything or anyone that could ever make me change the way that I was.
But I learned that even the most patient and toughest of men have moments of weakness.
For me, that weakness came in the form of Ellery Cross.
Meeting her and teaching her self-defense techniques in the group classes had been one thing. When I started spending nearly every waking moment with her, she changed everything.
All that I thought I knew about myself was gone. There were some things that remained, things I knew I’d never lose, like my protective nature. If anything, that had grown stronger since the truth of Ellery’s situation came to light.
But the part of me who believed that hard work, dedication, and time devoted to anything would lead to good things simply ran out of patience.
The problem was that Ellery was already dealing with a lot. She was in a new town with a lot of unfamiliar faces, a husband who was a murderer that might also want to kill her, and a family she hadn’t seen in a very long time.
She didn’t need to be dealing with anything else.
But something about her resiliency in the face of all the adversity made it impossible for me to stay away from her, to hold myself back.
So, I took a chance, and by some unbelievable miracle, it didn’t backfire. The truth was, I’d been struggling not to ask her to do something together sooner.
Not only did it go against all the unspoken rules the guys and I had about the women who came into Harper Security for training, but I also had all that she was dealing with in the back of my mind.
Unfortunately, no matter how hard I tried to ignore the way I was beginning to feel the more I was around her, it was hopeless. Training with her was almost like a form of cruel punishment.
I’d never been a creep about it with other women I’d worked with, but when it was her, I had to work hard not to become distracted by the way her body felt or the intoxicating feminine scent of her, so I could concentrate solely on what I needed to teach her.
But it finally became too much to withstand.
She was irresistible, and she’d worn down all of my defenses. Worst of all, she seemed to do it effortlessly. She succeeded without even trying.
Somehow, feeling completely terrified about how she’d respond when I asked her, I’d managed to convince Ellery to take a chance on me and have some fun with me today. Granted, I had no clue how the day was going to go for us, but I had a lot of thoughts about where I wanted to see it wind up.
Truthfully, I couldn’t imagine we’d have a bad time today.
I liked being around her, and from what I could gather, she didn’t mind being around me. But since I didn’t know if she just saw me as a guy who was looking out for her and teaching her, I was a little uneasy about what was ahead for us. But I’d planned something fun, so I hoped that would only work in our favor, even if it only helped to ease any tension between us.
After we finished up the training session, I quickly led Ellery out of the Harper Security Ops building. I wanted to start our day of fun as soon as possible, because I didn’t know if I’d get the opportunity again. Making the most of every second I could with her was my top priority, next to making sure she stayed safe.
After we made a stop at my place, so I could pick up a few items we’d need for our day out today, we came back to the tiny house. We’d gotten back here a little while ago, and I’d urged Ellery to get herself dressed in whatever she had that would be comfortable and warm, because I was taking her snowtubing.
The moment I told her what we were doing, her whole face lit up. I’d never, not in my whole life, ever seen anything or anyone look so beautiful, and it was at that moment that I’d decided I was going to do whatever it took to make it possible for me to be in a position to put that look on her face over and over again.
Ellery finally emerged from her bedroom, and I felt something squeeze in my chest at the sight of her. She’d managed to get herself all bundled up, but she was missing a hat. Fortunately, I’d snagged an extra one at my place.
I walked toward her with a smile on my face. “You look warm,” I noted.
“If we don’t get out of here soon, I’m going to start sweating,” she returned.
No nonsense.
I liked that about her.
She came out and said exactly what was on her mind, and all too often, it just felt playful.
