Strong arms wrapped around her and Max’s body heat broke the chill of terror trying to take hold. “It’s going to be okay, sweetheart. I’m not going to let anything happen to you.”
She clutched at him. “I’m scared. I shouldn’t be scared.” “Who says? This is scary shit.”
She almost laughed. “You’re not scared.”
“You’re wrong.”
She reared back so she could see the truth in his face and sure enough there was a shadow of worry in his eyes, which was probably as close to really frightened as this man got. “I don’t understand.”
“I’m damn good at my job. Both of them. Killing and protecting.”
“So?”
“So,r trying t never been personally invested in keeping my client alive.”
“I’m not your client. I’m your lover.” He’d said it first. He could deal with it.
His head dropped to rest against hers. “I know.”
“I think that scares you more than the thought of the bad guys getting past you.” She’d meant it as a tease.
But his fierce frown said he didn’t get the joke. “Not even close.”
“Okay.”
“But I’ve never had one,” he said.
“A lover?”
“Yeah.”
“You’re no virgin.”
“Neither are you.”
But she’d never had a lover before either. She got it. Sex partners yes, lover no. The difference between them? She wanted a relationship. She didn’t want to be alone, though she’d proven to herself and anyone else who cared to take note that she did just fine that way.
She’d been raised in a close-knit family with parents who loved each other deeply. She wanted that for herself. She wanted someone to call her own. Not someone. She wanted this man. He wasn’t ready to hear that though. She wasn’t sure he ever would be.
“It’s going to be okay.” It was her turn to comfort.
This time he did laugh, though the sound wasn’t his usual sexy joy. “A couple of friends are coming in by helicopter. They should be here in an hour.”
“I guessed. Should I pretend I don’t realize they’re some kind of black-ops group?”
“Paramilitary black-ops is the correct term.”
Something inside her cracked at this little tidbit of honesty. “Is it?”
“Yes.”
“And?”
“They won’t tell you their real names. You don’t have to pretend you don’t realize what they are or why they’re here. Our nicknames are used for a reason other than to piss some of us off.” He sighed. “Though you’ll probably learn who some of them are eventually if you hang around me long enough.”
“Am I going to be hanging around?” she asked.
“Long-distance relationships have a pretty bad success rate.”