Protecting the Orphan by Jodie Bailey

Author:Jodie Bailey
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2025-01-23T13:13:03+00:00

ELEVEN

This was definitely not the road she needed to be traveling, and yet...

There was safety in this space. There was healing. There was something she couldn’t define but that her heart recognized and longed for.

She belonged with Heath. In his arms. In his life.

The restless pacing that had driven her since the previous day stilled. The feeling of being untethered that she’d battled for years evaporated. Right here, right now...

She rose up on her tiptoes as his eyes drifted closed.

He felt it, too. He knew what was coming.

When she brushed her lips against his, his hands slipped down her arms to her hands. He twined his fingers with hers, slid their joined hands around her back and pulled her closer. He deepened the kiss, drawing them together in a way that revealed their hearts had never fully separated.

A rush of emotion weakened her knees to the point that Heath had to hold her up. He leaned his hip against his desk and pulled her to him as though they both needed the same amount of support.

It was beautiful. A living thing between them. A sense of being whole.

It was... It was...

It was too much.

Rebecca jerked her head to the side, though she couldn’t force herself to pull out of his embrace.

As she stared over his shoulder at the window, Heath tilted his head forward and rested his chin on her shoulder.

Neither of them spoke. It was simply the two of them breathing, trying to process what had happened.

No part of her wanted to walk away. In fact, every beat of her heart, every pulse through her brain wanted to stay right here, maybe even to kiss him again. Her heart drove her to tell him everything was okay and they could start over as though nothing had ever separated them.

But something had come between them. The damage to her heart was very real, because with every beat of wholeness came the increasing sting of pain, a rhythm that pounded its way through her body. Not enough. Not enough. Not enough.

She hadn’t been enough for him two decades ago. His silence about their past since he’d blown back into her life earlier this week indicated he harbored no remorse about what he’d done. She had no idea what his thoughts were about today or about the future.

Even with the evidence stacked against them, her muscles were reluctant to follow her reasoning. With an aching slowness, she straightened her fingers and gently untangled them from his. She pulled her hands away and stepped back, her hip brushing the chair she’d recently vacated.

Heath let her go.

His refusal to reach for her stung. Even all these years later, he wouldn’t fight for her. Wouldn’t ask her to stay. Wouldn’t tell her his heart was beating with the same rhythm of rightness that hers was.

These hopeful, soaring emotions were hers alone.

She didn’t dare look him in the eye. Her traitorous feelings might close the gap between them again.

Feelings weren’t reliable. They weren’t worth listening to. They only dragged foolish people into trouble.

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