something else. But I could feel that she might not be ready. So I didn’t make a move beyond caressing her entire back, her shoulders, almost moaning as she parted her lips for my tongue.
When she finally, reluctantly pulled away, she looked at me as if she were almost stunned. “I can’t believe how you kiss me,” she whispered, suddenly appearing shy.
“I’ve never needed to kiss anyone like this,” I admitted. “Bailey, I am developing warm, squishy feelings for you. If you want to hear about them, just let me know. But I’ll keep a lid on them for now if you like.”
The room echoed with her laughter. Then she brought her lips to my ear. “I think I have them too. But…” she paused, tucking her head into my shoulder.
“Shh, it’s okay. We have all the time in the world.”
She lifted her head to look at me. “Thank you for being so patient with me. And not prying.”
I stroked her hair, kissing her cheek. “The only thing I want is for you to be happy and comfortable. Okay?”
She kissed me again, so lightly, almost teasing. “I’m actually shocked how comfortable I am around you.”
“I know I’m a big guy,” I whispered, “But I’m just an oversized teddy bear at heart.” I grinned. “You likely don’t remember me telling you that before in the hospital.”
Bailey looked into my eyes intently. Then she nodded, sitting up. “Sorry, I must be getting heavy.”
“Not at all,” I chuckled.
We snuggled for quite a while before I realized the time. “Hey,” I murmured softly against her ear. “You’re still healing, so you likely need extra sleep. I’m going to leave now.”
Her big blue eyes locked on mine. “Thanks for dinner,” she said gently.
I wanted to stay so that she could sleep with my arms around her, knowing that she was completely safe and warm. Yet I knew that it would be too damn easy to let my hands wander more than they should. She was so shy and timid about some things that I was worried I’d make her uncomfortable.
Kissing her softly, I walked back down the stairs with her on my heels. “I’ll see you soon,” I said, watching her delicate face in the shadows as she nodded, with the sweetest little smile. As soon as the door closed behind me, I heard the swish and click of solid locks. I hoped that she’d tell me someday why she was so diligent with her security. I also hoped that someday she’d feel safe with a regular lock, while sleeping beside a cop.
CHAPTER SEVEN
The next day, I was delighted to see a text from Daniel, just wishing me a good morning. It was so sweet that I could have cried. He was such a decent man. I’d never felt this torn in two in my life. Even when I knew I would have to disappear, it was a decision that had crept up on me for over several months.
The decision to truly let Daniel into my life was almost as frightening. It wouldn’t be right to lead him on, and he didn’t seem like a one night stand kind of guy. The feelings I had for him were already overwhelming me completely.
But there was no way I could jeopardize his career. Strangely, that came to mind before thinking of my own situation. I couldn’t let him know who I really was, or the things I used to be close to. Could he accept that all I could tell him of my life was from a year ago and onward?
He seemed to imply that he thought I was coming out of a terrible relationship, which was true, sort of. My ex never hit me, or anything like that. He was pretty controlling, with an aggressive tone of voice, but he never raised a hand. Our relationship was like a dull headache – it wore me down over time, and was ultimately unhealthy.
At first, Daniel’s size was a little intimidating, since I’d accidentally met some of my father’s friends who were huge, obviously violent brutes. But Daniel was so gentle, and so careful with me, that I knew he would never harm me. This made the thought of hurting him completely unbearable.
Even though I wanted nothing more than to disappear into his arms for the rest of my life, I had to think things through. I couldn’t let there be any reason at all for him to look into my past. How could I open myself enough to love someone if I constantly had to have my guard up?
It wasn’t right. I’d sort of resigned myself to the fact that I wouldn’t date again for years, if ever. Yet here was Daniel, so sweet and wholesome. So positively delicious in every way. It wasn’t just the incredible physical craving, although that would almost be enough in itself. He obviously cared for me. Even when he was being a little pushy, I could see that he was only trying to help.
I knew that I should drive him away, but I couldn’t. Every time he held me, I felt completely, totally safe for the first time in my life.
Just thinking about the way Daniel kissed me caused a wave of flutters through every inch of my skin. I’ve never known anyone to be so devastatingly sexy while being impossibly gentle.
I spent the morning getting as much work done as possible. Although my arm was healing, the tension on the stitches felt positively creepy if I moved it too much, so I was still extremely careful. I didn’t want there to be any reason a doctor would need to add more stitches.
Everyone continued to be extremely understanding as soon as they saw my bandage and scarf-sling. I was grateful to be among such mellow people.
It was always fascinating to me to listen in on the conversations of the customers who came into my shop. The most popular topics were always the weather, what they were going to do later that day, and what they were thinking of buying as they came toward the counter.
But this morning I overheard two of the neighborhood women discussing a fire.
“Are you talking about the fire at the old Carter building?” I asked. “I heard that they were still investigating that.”