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 Seven days. At last he allowed her to come up for air, only to nuzzle his face against hers as
if he couldn t get close enough.  Seven fucking days.
She blinked, her brain still back at the kiss.  Seven days?
 That is how long I have been without you. Seven days of thinking I would never touch you
again, kiss you again. Seven days of not being able to breathe.
 Oh. All the broken pieces inside her came back together to fracture in a new and completely
different way, and she caught her breath at its painful sweetness.  That must be some kind of record.
 I do not give a shit what it is, as long as I never go through it again. Have you been safe?
She backed away, surprised.  Safe?
 I did not like leaving Chicago when you had made an enemy. I need to know you were
properly looked after here at work while I was away.
 Oh. That. She felt her face grow hot and she heard a muffled giggle come from Angel, but
she ignored both. What she couldn t ignore was how Ivar s determination to keep her protected filled
her with a strange mixture of exasperation and happiness that she couldn t begin to cope with.  I still
can t believe you hired a bodyguard for me.
 I wanted to hire more, but one was all Payne would allow on the premises.
 Yeah. He told me. While laughing his ass off. Then she reminded him that he d bought an
outrageously expensive security system for an entire apartment building that wasn t even his, just so
he knew that his then-girlfriend, Becks, was safe. That was when Payne had decided maybe Ivar
wasn t such a bad egg, after all.  You should know something about the guy I said I d made into an
enemy.
 You said he was a dangerous man.
 At the time I meant it. But apparently I did a great job of convincing him that I was both
violent and insane. Whenever he sees me now, he pretty much turns and walks the other way, so I
think I m good.
 Nevertheless, the bodyguard stays until I feel that you are safe here. He ignored the distance
she d put between them and hugged her so fiercely her bones groaned in protest.  If anything
happened to you, I would fucking lose it.
There it was again, that strange happiness drowning out all the darkness that had gathered
inside.  That& seriously sounds like you care.
 I tell you that I have not been able to breathe without you, yet you still doubt me? Tell me you
are going to allow me to breathe again. No, wait, he said, before she could make a sound.  It does
not matter what you say. I refuse to go through this any longer, do you hear me? Be angry with me.
Hate me. Hit me. Swear you will never speak to me again. Just do it while I am holding you, because
letting you go is not going to happen.
She stared up at him while his words echoed in her head. She didn t know what to believe.
He d killed the dream man she d thought he was by giving her a harsh dose of reality, and the reality
was that a man like him would never go for an inked-out, blue-collar inner city hard case like her all
on his own. The pain of that truth hadn t receded. It messed with her head so she couldn t separate all
that was real from all that was a lie. That left her with no choice but to reject it all.
So, yes. She was still angry, in a scary, deep-down kind of way that wasn t getting any better.
But hate?
Of all the things he made her feel, hate wasn t one of them. It never could be.
 If you re never letting me go, she said, arching her back in the hope of gaining a little
distance,  we re going to have one hell of a time getting up the stairs to my office.
He looked down at her with eyes that burned while she stepped out of his arms.  I would love
to see the privacy of your office.
 I m happy to hear your enthusiasm, but I didn t call this meeting for a tryst.
 I can both see and feel that, ma fleur. Nevertheless, a man can hope.
His smile was so charming she had to look away to keep her sanity.  And I can hope that you
weren t expecting privacy right off the bat. As she spoke, she took the opportunity to move around [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]