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Olivia frowned in consternation She felt annoyed by his practical thinking What was so wrong anting to shut out the world? “What if I can’t give you more? What if he’s broken me so badly that I can never be normal? Do you really expectme? I can’t think beyond this moment Tomorrow is too uncertain”
Paul shook his head “I’ for promises from you today, Liv And I know he hasn’t broken you You’re resilient You have a deep well of strength inside you that he’ll never touch But I won’t let things get carried away between us just to make you feel a little better We both deserve e of your situation And while I consider what you’re offering to be the ift, I ask you to save it forbetween us, I want you to still want me When your life is back to norht look at one”
Olivia bit her lip in uncertainty She didn’t have an answer for hiht noas the most important person in her world He represented safety But when Ethan was eliminated as a threat would she disappear from Paul’s life as quickly as she entered it?
“I will always be grateful for what you’ve done for me –“
Paul laughed but it sounded forced “Gratitude is nice but it’s not even close to what I want fro back I know you understand You have tooit s easy between us Allow me to be noble here I’ll do my best to keep my hands to myself, just like I promised”
“Fair enough I’ll do the same,” she stated with a lift to her chin The proble up between them and she didn’t like it Paul was the first otten this close in the beginning He couldn’t force her to love him, yet Paul had slipped in with his charm and fierce protectiveness and –
And what, Olivia? Stole your heart? She stilled at the thought She’d never loved anyone before yet Paul was different from any man she’d ever known He’d slipped past her defenses and touched her inner being Ethan rong She wasn’t created for him and they weren’t one soul No, her heart cried out for Paul Justice Of co
urse she loved him There was no way to know for certain, but if she’d met him under normal circumstances she still would have fallen for hi to keep him safe She pressed a kiss to his cheek “I don’t like adht in this instance, but thank you for looking out of me I’ve never been interested in casual sex and I don’t want you to think there’s anything casual about the way I feel for you Yet you’re right, things are too co the that”
He nodded “It’s killing ave her a quick peck on the lips
“I’ve heard cold showers are a good idea I think I’ll grab one,” she said with a lopsided grin
He waved her away “Go, before I change ain but she slipped out of his grasp Despite everything, heout as she left the room
As Olivia went upstairs to shower, Paul reached for his desk chair, righted it, then dropped down on it With a groan of frustration, he swiped his hand through his hair What was he going to do? Things were grined, another uy’s co: Agent Gomez should have known better He should have left me alone You fools won’t stop me No one kne Ethan Moore had accessed the coh the secure netithin the FBI but Paul wasn’t surprised Olivia said he could hack his way into any systeaation was being reassigned; thankfully they illing to keep Paul in the loop He had a new contact as an old police buddy, Jeffries He illing to keep Paul abreast of the situation and together they would find soenius and his one weakness was Olivia Jeffries suggested using her as bait but Paul refused He wouldn’t put her at risk If Olivia knew of the idea she would do one of two things, volunteer or take off again Either action put her at risk She was safest here For the hundredth ti for abnory feeling he couldn’t shake He’d gotten the sa never steered hiht around the corner The problem was, he couldn’t see it and his security ca it up – yet
He tapped at the screen, changing the view “I know you’re cout You think you’re so clever but I’ to stop you I won’t allow you to win this time”
He did one more system check then went upstairs He needed to make sure Liv was okay As he entered his bedroo damp around her shoulders and she wore a tee shirt and jeans His gut clenched at the sight of her She was so beautiful “You all right?” he asked gruffly as he forced his gaze away He could look at her all day, drinking in the sight of her gentle curves, but looking led to touching and he had to keep his word
She gave hi happened?” She walked toward him with brush in hand He wordlessly took the brush and motioned for her to turn