Guarding His Heart (Away From Keyboard Book 12) by Patricia D. Eddy

Author:Patricia D. Eddy [Eddy, Patricia D.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2024-06-28T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TWENTY

Doc

My ribs ache, but I ignore the pain to hold Natasha close. She runs her hand down my back to my ass, then wriggles out from under me.

“Where do you think you’re going?” I ask and snag her around the waist.

“Nowhere. But I have to know if it’s true. And what side it’s on.” Natasha’s laugh cuts through the darkest clouds. She’s my sun, the center of my world.

She traces her finger along the outline of the green feet inked on my ass. “Fucking hell. That’s all you wanted?” I grab her hand, then roll onto my back to stare up at her. “You know the story?”

“The PJs flew Jolly Green Giant helicopters in Vietnam. Some batshit crazy PJ decided he’d use the symbol from General Mills instead of an outline of a helo?”

She served. Of course she knows the story. I shouldn’t be surprised. Still, I tell her the rest of it—at least as much as I know. “Those particular birds would leave an impression in the brush that looked a lot like feet. So he wasn’t quite as crazy as everyone made him out to be. Though he was apparently drunk when he got to the tattoo parlor.”

Natasha’s other hand skims up and down my arm, constantly moving, constantly touching me. I draw the blankets over us, needing more time with her before reality intrudes and I call Hidden Agenda. We could have had this for a year. If only we’d trusted one another.

“Gladys is going to have something to say about this.” I twine our fingers and hold her hand against my chest. “Like, ‘I told you so,’ ‘about damn time,’ or ‘what the hell took you so long?’”

In a heartbeat, Natasha shuts down. Her body stiffens, and she tries to pull away, but I won’t let her.

“Doc—”

“No. Not this time. I know what you’re going to say. ‘Gladys will never see us together. You can’t stay. This can’t last.’ But you’re wrong.” I flatten her palm over my heart. “Feel that?”

“Yes,” she whispers.

“It’s yours, Natasha. My heart. It belongs to you. If you want it.”

Tears shimmer in her eyes. “I…I’m falling for you. Or…I’ve already fallen. But⁠—”

“Then trust me, baby. Talk to McCabe and his team. Listen to what they have to say. If you’re not convinced after that…we’ll leave together.”

With a gasp, she sits up, shock parting her lips and blowing her pupils wide. “You have a life here.”

“No. I don’t.” The realization should come with an ocean of sadness. But instead, a sense of peace settles over me. “The only thing here for me is you.”

“You’re willing to give up all this,” she gestures around the bedroom, “because we spent one night together?”

I stifle my grunt as I reach up to touch her cheek. “I’ve been alone for a long time, Natasha. I know what love is. I lost it once. I won’t lose it again. And if you think there’s a damn thing in this house that I’d miss—other than you—you’re wrong.”

She’s not convinced.

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