Page 78 of Don't Lie to Me
“Damn it, Emma.” He took one more step closer to me, closing the space between us and whispered more harshly into my ear. “Have you stopped for one fucking second to think that I’m doing all of this to keep my promise to you? Don’t show up here, in a hotel and bar I own, with some other guy’s hands all over you and pull this game with me.”
I exhaled slowly.
“What promise, Jack? The one where you promised you’d fuck up? Because there were a lot of promises you made to me so you might have to be just a bit more specific.”
“The one where I promised I would keep you safe from all of the Senator’s bullshit because you’re mine and I will protect it at all cost, but you have to put a little bit of trust in me.”
“You fired me!” I hissed back at him. “And you’ve shut me out. If you want to protect me, then tell me what’s going on.”
In one quick second, Jack’s arm wrapped around my waist and I was pressed against his chest. We were both panting heavily, our chests rising and falling at an incredible pace and all I could think about was how amazing he smelled. His cologne mixed with just….him.
I breathed in heavily, and allowed my forehead to rest against his chest and relax. In that one second, everything was perfect all over again. The lyrics in the background, the only other sound I heard above our beating our hearts.
You can run away, but you can’t hide
You duck and dodge, keep it all inside
With a whisper, a wink, a spin of the wheel
At the end of it all, it’s no big deal
Only love is real
Only love is real
I just wanted Jack to let me inside, and to realize that all I needed was his love. But then he did, and I wanted to vomit.
I felt Jack inhale a large breath and then his free hand brushed my loose curls behind my ear. “He has pictures and a video…of us.”
Holy shit! My head snapped up and met Jack’s eyes. All the color drained from my face as I stared at him wide eyed. “What do you mean?”
With his eyes closed, Jack’s face scrunched up in a look of disgust. “Remember that night on the roof?” He choked the words out and I knew instantly what night….and what roof he was talking about.
“How?” My own voice sounded scratchy and barely audible. Oh my god. How in the hell could he have pictures of that night?
“It’s all I can tell you, but just fucking trust me that I’m handling this in the only way I can. And the only way that will keep you, and Logan, safe.”
“Brian?” I asked, even though I wasn’t sure I wanted to know anymore.
He took another large breath and shook his head. “Rehab. I told him if he didn’t go, I was cutting him off for good. I’m done covering for him, but I wanted him to have one last chance to get help. He’s down in Florida.”
I let that sink in for a few minutes before I slowly pulled away. I reached up slowly, to feel Jack but at the last second he took a step away and glanced around. Slowly the pieces were beginning to click together. He really had done all of this to protect me.
With a safe amount of distance between us, Jack pulled his hands from me and placed them in his pockets. He rolled his shoulders back and erased his emotions, business look finally stamped back in place. But his eyes told another story. I saw the passion and desire he still had for me.
“What I need you to do is stay away from any place that can be connected to me. You can’t come to my place again, or any club or building with McMillan involved. And I need you to stop letting other men paw all over you before I end up screwing up everything I’ve just put weeks into. You got me?”
Slowly, I nodded. I hated it, but I got him.
A slight smirk of his lips was the only indication he gave me that he saw me. Then he turned toward the dance floor, found Dean, and nodded his head in my direction.
“Everything okay?” Dean asked cautiously when he approached us and slowly went to put his hand on my shoulder.
He stopped, wisely, when Jack took another step forward and moved his hands from his pockets.
With the same feral look he gave Dean earlier, he unleashed it again as he spoke deeply. “I’m going to forgive you for touching Emma earlier because she didn’t know what the hell was going on.” Quickly, his eyes went to mine before he looked back to Dean. “But now she knows enough to know that I’m serious as hell when I tell you that if I see your fucking hands on her again, or your lips anywhere near any part of anything that belongs to me, you will regret it every day for the rest of your very short and very painful existence.”
Dean very quickly pocketed his hands in his jeans and rocked back on his heels. “Understood.”
