enjoying the scent of her hair.
“I think so.”
“Good. There are a
few things we should talk about.”
She groaned, and
he couldn’t hide his laughter with her head right on his chest.
“Like, a… talk, talk?” she said. She tried to
sound casual, but she wasn’t. That, too, was interesting. She was able to
compartmentalize her ability to trust, and to become vulnerable: she was good
with him for BDSM activities, but not so good with the idea of emotional
commitments.
More than that,
though, she was just so damn sensitive. He could feel the anxiety start to
build within her just from not knowing what was coming. He hated to see that
happen under any circumstances.
“No,” he said,
“though freaking out about that means we’ll be coming back to it. We have to
talk about the Paul Cigna situation.”
“Who’s Paul
Cigna?”
“You remember the jerkwad in the blue fedora?”
She stiffened.
“How could I forget? What a dumb signature piece. It’s the only way I’ll ever
think of him.”
“He came by my gym
yesterday with some questions about you,” he said, keeping his voice calm and
casual. “About us, in fact.”
Lena pushed
herself off his chest and looked at him with some awful combination of fear and
anger and general freaked- outedness .
“Are you serious?”
she said.
“Whoa, Lena,” he
said, and pulled her back against him. “Yeah, I’m serious, but try not to get
too stressed. Do me a favor and trust me on this. Just let me do my
thing.”
She had become a
big ball of tension in just a few seconds. She’d have to constantly feel under
assault to have that kind of reaction. Chance was going to apply physical
comfort before he discussed the issue with her, but now he realized she
probably wouldn’t begin to unwind until she felt in control of the situation.
Or at least until it was under someone’s control.
“Ok, Lena,” he
said softly. He was stroking her arm and her back, slowly and rhythmically, the
kind of thing she couldn’t help but respond to. “We’ll deal with it. He didn’t
get anything, and he’s not going to. I won’t allow it. But while he’s still
looking, I’d like you to stay here.”
There was a
silence. Finally, she said, “With you?”
Chance frowned. He
heard that note of wariness in her voice, like maybe he was turning this into
something that didn’t feel quite as safe to her. Lena expected things to turn
on her at any given moment. She wasn’t kidding when she had said this whole
pictures thing had messed with her head, but he was starting to think it might
run a little deeper.
“You’d have your
own room, with a lock. And with a writing desk. You
can have your pick of any of the ones that are still free, just until you feel
like you can go back to your place without worrying about that idiot jumping
out of the bushes.”
Those assurances
seemed to work. He could feel the tension ebb out of her body, and she pulled
her head off his chest long enough to give him a naughty smile.
“But not too far from your bed, right?”
“The entire world
is my bed as far as you’re concerned, remember?”
She bit her lip,
color rushing into her cheeks. “I do.”
chapter 10
Lena let the cold water rush over her, hoping it might clear her mind.
She wasn’t having much luck with it so far.
It wasn’t even
afternoon yet, but she was feeling…she didn’t know the word for it. Not
exhausted—though, man, that would be an issue soon; was the man an
Olympic athlete ?— but perhaps emotionally
strained. She had been in emotional lockdown mode since the pictures broke,
and, if she were being honest, since well before that. She’d picked a career
that was full of rejection, and her personal life hadn’t been much easier, even
as a kid. Learning how to ignore certain feelings had been a necessary survival
mechanism for her.
Now she had to not
only feel everything all the time, she had to be aware of them and of what they
meant. And
“I think so.”
“Good. There are a
few things we should talk about.”
She groaned, and
he couldn’t hide his laughter with her head right on his chest.
“Like, a… talk, talk?” she said. She tried to
sound casual, but she wasn’t. That, too, was interesting. She was able to
compartmentalize her ability to trust, and to become vulnerable: she was good
with him for BDSM activities, but not so good with the idea of emotional
commitments.
More than that,
though, she was just so damn sensitive. He could feel the anxiety start to
build within her just from not knowing what was coming. He hated to see that
happen under any circumstances.
“No,” he said,
“though freaking out about that means we’ll be coming back to it. We have to
talk about the Paul Cigna situation.”
“Who’s Paul
Cigna?”
“You remember the jerkwad in the blue fedora?”
She stiffened.
“How could I forget? What a dumb signature piece. It’s the only way I’ll ever
think of him.”
“He came by my gym
yesterday with some questions about you,” he said, keeping his voice calm and
casual. “About us, in fact.”
Lena pushed
herself off his chest and looked at him with some awful combination of fear and
anger and general freaked- outedness .
“Are you serious?”
she said.
“Whoa, Lena,” he
said, and pulled her back against him. “Yeah, I’m serious, but try not to get
too stressed. Do me a favor and trust me on this. Just let me do my
thing.”
She had become a
big ball of tension in just a few seconds. She’d have to constantly feel under
assault to have that kind of reaction. Chance was going to apply physical
comfort before he discussed the issue with her, but now he realized she
probably wouldn’t begin to unwind until she felt in control of the situation.
Or at least until it was under someone’s control.
“Ok, Lena,” he
said softly. He was stroking her arm and her back, slowly and rhythmically, the
kind of thing she couldn’t help but respond to. “We’ll deal with it. He didn’t
get anything, and he’s not going to. I won’t allow it. But while he’s still
looking, I’d like you to stay here.”
There was a
silence. Finally, she said, “With you?”
Chance frowned. He
heard that note of wariness in her voice, like maybe he was turning this into
something that didn’t feel quite as safe to her. Lena expected things to turn
on her at any given moment. She wasn’t kidding when she had said this whole
pictures thing had messed with her head, but he was starting to think it might
run a little deeper.
“You’d have your
own room, with a lock. And with a writing desk. You
can have your pick of any of the ones that are still free, just until you feel
like you can go back to your place without worrying about that idiot jumping
out of the bushes.”
Those assurances
seemed to work. He could feel the tension ebb out of her body, and she pulled
her head off his chest long enough to give him a naughty smile.
“But not too far from your bed, right?”
“The entire world
is my bed as far as you’re concerned, remember?”
She bit her lip,
color rushing into her cheeks. “I do.”
chapter 10
Lena let the cold water rush over her, hoping it might clear her mind.
She wasn’t having much luck with it so far.
It wasn’t even
afternoon yet, but she was feeling…she didn’t know the word for it. Not
exhausted—though, man, that would be an issue soon; was the man an
Olympic athlete ?— but perhaps emotionally
strained. She had been in emotional lockdown mode since the pictures broke,
and, if she were being honest, since well before that. She’d picked a career
that was full of rejection, and her personal life hadn’t been much easier, even
as a kid. Learning how to ignore certain feelings had been a necessary survival
mechanism for her.
Now she had to not
only feel everything all the time, she had to be aware of them and of what they
meant. And
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