Page 31 of Protecting Bree
But she couldn’t help feeling a tiny bit relieved that he was so emotional. And happy about what he’d said.
In response, she lay her head back down on his shoulder and tightened her arms and legs—and inner muscles—around him as she said, “No.”
After a heartbeat, he asked, “No?”
“No, I’m not climbing off. I’m comfy right where I am, thank you very much. I like you right here. Where I can keep an eye on you.”
She felt him chuckle. The rumble reverberated down her body. “Okay.”
“We good?” she felt the need to ask.
“More than.” Then, after a moment, “I’m gonna need you to keep doing that.”
“Doing what?” Bree asked, feeling more and more drowsy after the two orgasms she’d received.
“Not backing down when I’m an ass.”
Bree lifted her head at that. “You weren’t an ass,” she said, feeling confused.
“I was. Don’t let me get away with talking to you like that. I was rude. Instead of snapping at you, I should’ve had a calm, rational discussion.”
Bree couldn’t help it. She laughed. “Smiley, thatwasyou having a calm, rational discussion. You said what you were feeling and gave me a choice. It was fine. You’re fine.I’m good.” He stared at her for so long, Bree began to feel uneasy. “What?”
But he simply shook his head. “Nothing. It’s just…nine out of ten women would’ve gotten pissed if I’d talked to them like that.”
“I like doing the unexpected.”
“Like stalk a Navy SEAL and his friends?”
“Yup, like that,” she agreed breezily.
“By the way…I’m impressed,” Smiley told her. “Not many people could’ve done what you did, for as long as you did it. I mean, I’m not happy about it, you should’ve just come out and told me you needed help as soon as you got to town, but the fact that you were able to stay under the radar, and not have me or any of my friends notice you watching us…it’s impressive.”
“Thanks.”
“Do I dare ask how you learned that shit?”
She smiled and lay her head back down. “No.”
“Fair enough.”
Bree didn’t want to think about her teenage years. She’d been a hellion. She’d tested every boundary her parents had set. Including sneaking out of the house at night, doing stuff a lot of stupid teenagers did. Smoking, drinking, partying. And while her friends inevitably got caught and grounded, her own parents never noticed.
She’d learned how to hide in plain sight. Like how to hide from the cops when they broke up a party, and she had to run into the woods to get away. And once she started driving, she became very adept at evading the police when running on foot turned into driving away from those same parties.
Bree wasn’t proud of the things she’d done when shewas young and dumb, but staying under the radar had become second nature to her. So when she’d needed to hide for her own safety, she’d fallen back on old habits. Thankfully, she still seemed to have a knack for being invisible.
“I really liked Fiona and Julie. And everyone else,” Bree said after a moment.
“We didn’t have a chance to talk after your visit with them. That go okay?”
Remembering the look he’d given her while she was on the deck with the women made Bree blush. “Yeah. I hate what happened to them. But I’m so impressed with how they’ve coped.”
“They’re amazing. But then again, they’d be amazing even without the shit that happened to them.”
He wasn’t wrong. And his words made Bree like him all the more. “Yeah,” she agreed.
His cock, which had been inside her this entire time, slipped out of her body.
