“Okay, fine.” Ivan’s concession was surprising until he went on to say, “You could go to that bus stop. You could get on that fucking bus. And you could letitchoose the path for your future. Or…” He stalked toward her, his steps swallowed into silence by the expensive carpet as he covered the distance between them. “You could stop running and take control of your life again.”
“Don’t you think I want that?” She stared up at him incredulously. “Don’t you think I’vetried?That I wouldn’t rather be walking around town, smiling at those who pass me by, rather than seeing my stalker in every single one of their faces. I want that, Ivan!” Cera reached up and slapped a hand to her chest. “I want a life I canlive. I want to smile and laugh and fall in love.”
Tears filled her eyes as her bottom lip quivered. It took three good tries before she could push past the knot of emotion in her throat and continue.
“I want to remember what it’s like to feel hope again. God, more thananythingI want to believe I have a future that doesn’t involve constant running and hiding and barely scraping by. But every time I start to think—” Her words got lodged in her throat once more, but Cera forced herself to get the rest out. “Every time I start to think having a normal life is possible, this nameless, faceless son of a bitch comes right back and rips it all away. And I don’t know how to stop them.”
For a moment, Ivan was silent as he stared at her from across the room. When he moved again, his steps were purposeful. And when he spoke again, the words that fell from his kissable lips damn near took her breath away.
“Maybe it’s time you let someone else help carry the burden for a change.” Reaching up, he framed her face with both hands, that magical thumb of his brushing lightly across her bottom lip. “I can be that person for you, sweetheart. You just have to trust me.”
“That’s not as easy as it sounds.”
“I know.”
Cera looked deep into his intense stare, an unfamiliar warmth filling her chest when she realized he truly did. “I’m scared, Ivan,” she whispered, the trembles wracking her body evidence of that fact.
“I know you are.” Another swipe of his thumb. “But I’ve got you, now, Cera. All you have to do is let go.”
Something shifted in his gaze. Something so profound, it felt as if her entire world had just tilted on its axis.
Ivan wasn’t saying these beautiful, comforting words as her bodyguard or hired P.I. She wasn’t looking up at him as if she were merely his client in need of protecting.
Right then, in the privacy of the most secure suite The Douglas had to offer, she was staring up at a man who had the potential to change the entire course of her future.
All she had to do reach out and take it.
But the question of motive still burned in the back of her mind. She needed to understand why a man she barely knew was going to such lengths to get her to stay.
So she asked him.
“Why?” Cera’s next step hinged on his answer. “Why are you so willing to upend your life for someone like me?”
“Not someone like you.” He leaned in closer, the slightest kiss of his lips against hers. “I want to do this foryou.”
“But why?”
“Because I look at you and I see those smiles. I can hear those laughs.” Another brush of his thumb. “And I want to help you catch the son of a bitch keeping you from having the life you deserve. All you have to do is let me.”
“What if I can’t? What if I stay here and try but end up falling flat on my face in the process?” Or worse. “I don’t want to waste your time, Ivan.” She gave the room around them a passing glance. “Or your boss’s money.”
“You’re not wasting a damn thing. And Cera?” Those eyes of his seemed to reach out and grab hold of her very soul. “If you started to fall I’ll be right here, waiting to catch you.”
9
Ivan tooka bite of his burger, doing his best not to blatantly stare at the woman sitting across from him. He knew he should probably regret the intimate moment they’d shared back at the suite, but he didn’t.
Not one fucking bit.
Was it professional? No. It was not. Did it go against every rule he’d personally laid down for himself when he first started working for Jax? Sure did. Was he planning on a repeat of their first kiss?
Absofuckinglutely.
Only the next one would be a real kiss, not some barely-there nonsense she probably couldn’t feel. Arealkiss that would make her forget the names of every other guy who’d come before him.
Real.
Wet.