Page 84 of The Bodyguard's Fall

I turned to put some distance between us, but he caught my hand and pulled me back.

“Listen, Rawlins. We’re so close to getting this guy. He’s here. If you run away now, you start all over again. Always running. Always scared. Always alone. This is your chance to end it. With people who want to help you.”

My teeth skimmed my lower lip as I considered his words. His glorious, enticing, sweet, and tempting words. At my hesitation, he pulled on my hand, bringing me closer.

“I don’t want to be your problem,” I finally said.

He looked at me for a weighted moment, bending down slightly to meet me at eye level before saying in a sweet, low tone that almost broke me, “Olivia, I’ve already told you that you’re not.”

“Why?” I whispered.

“Why what?”

“Why do you want me to stay?” It was a question he wasn’t expecting, and it threw him off balance. He broke eye contact and looked down as he considered his words. Had his eyelashes always been that long? Dark, long, and curled upward, they made such a rugged man seem softer up close.

Finally, his blue eyes met mine, and my heart promptly forgot how to do its job.

“Because I’ve spent the last month training you to fight, and your inability to successfully land a decent punch is something I can’t have on my conscience.”

Another smile. But this time, I shook my head, removed my hand from his, and stepped back, feeling out of sorts.

“No. Why?” I asked again.

He stared at me for a long time. I stared back. It was like he had so much he could tell me, but he needed to sort it out first. So I waited, feeling the air shift between us.

“You know when I told you about the shooting?” he said, his voice raspy.

“Yeah.”

“There’s something I can’t get over. It keeps correlating to you.”

“What?” I asked

“I knew something was wrong. I felt it. But I sat there and watched Coleson go in alone.”

“Tate,” I began, shaking my head.

“Do you know what kills me the most?” he went on, almost like he hadn’t heard me.

“What?”

“It was hearing the gunfire when I was still in my car. I was the guy who was supposed to watch his back, and I wasn’t there to stop it.”

I now knew where he was going, and I tried to cut him off.

“I’m not Coleson.”

His eyes flicked up to mine like I’d broken into his stride. “I know. You’re worse.”

We stared at each other for a long moment while I tried to ignore the tingles erupting down my spine.

He sucked in a breath before saying the thing that rocked me to my core. “I’ve been thinking about what Luke said.”

I stilled while I looked at him in surprise.

Whaaat?

“It would solve all our issues…” he trailed off as he ran a hand through his hair.