Promise to Defend by Diana Gardin

Author:Diana Gardin [Gardin, Diana]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Forever Yours
Published: 2017-09-11T18:30:00+00:00

17

Ronin

Olive Alexander is still a mystery to me. A sexy, gorgeous, gift-wrapped mystery that’s been set in front of me, and I can’t help how much I want to unwrap it.

When she told me about her uncle and what he did to her, it explained so much. It told me why she has such a hard outer shell, why she’s one of the most aloof people I’ve ever met. Why cool and unaffected is her go-to demeanor. And why she’s so goddamn tough.

Finding out the connection she has with Mick Oakes makes me crazy. I want to go back in time, find the college-aged Olive, and shake her, or take her into my arms. I want to tell her that Oakes doesn’t have what she needs because…

Because what? Because I do?

That, I know, is impossible. I don’t have anything to give her. Not now. Not when I’m searching for my dead-wife’s killer. It’s the only thing I should be thinking about right now. Not to mention that Olive deserves better. I don’t have anything left. And after what she went through, Olive deserves the world.

But I can’t help the fact that my eyes follow the curve of her body from top to bottom as my hand settles at the small of her back as I close the truck door behind her in the condo parking garage. And the feelings bubbling up inside me? They make me think there’s possibility…like maybe I can have a future with this woman. The kind of future I never thought I’d have again. Something warm spreads across my chest, mixing with the ache that’s lived there for years.

Standing next to the vehicle, Olive leans against the shiny black exterior. She looks like hope. There’s a relaxed expression on her pretty-as-hell face and she’s more casual than I’ve ever seen her. Her ponytail isn’t so tight, her body is clad in jeans, and goddamn, she looks perfect. Her lips tilt upward in a small smile.

“So,” I begin, not in a hurry to rush inside. “Was it the interview at Lindy Hodges today, the sushi lunch, or the afternoon working at my desk that put that pleased smile on your face?”

My tone is teasing, but I really do want to know.

She shrugs. “Why can’t it be a combination of all of the above?”

The parking garage is quiet around us, and I naturally become completely in tune with our surroundings. It’s a habit that will never die. I continually scan the area around us with my eyes, looking for anything out of the ordinary. My ears practically prick at every little sound.

“I think you feel like you have to do this alone,” Olive muses as she scans my face. “Like you’re the only one who can figure out what happened to your…wife.”

Her words pack a punch, and I can feel them in my gut. “It’s not that. It’s just—”

I stop, my head whipping around. I can’t put my finger on the sound I heard, but I know it doesn’t belong in this parking garage.

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