She touched his chest, eyes pleading. “Promise me you won’t get yourself into trouble over him. Please… he’s not worth it.”
Jamie’s jaw tightened, the fury still pulsing beneath the surface.
“No, love,” he said, stroking a strand of damp hair back from her pale face. “He’s not.”
He thumbed her cheek. “But you are. And I won’t sit back and pretend it didn’t happen. No one will ever hurt you again. That’s a fucking promise.”
Jamie’s rage simmered, though he knew he had to keep himself in check for her sake.
“Everything will be okay. I’ll make sure of it.” But he was lying to himself. Things were far from okay.
Despite the calm he projected, his anger wasspiralling out of control. That spineless bastard whipped her, and then fucked off to rehab so Jamie couldn’t get his hands on him.
He silently vowed to find Niall the second he set foot in Belfast and make him regret ever breathing, in a way that would leave him broken.
Jamie also knew he’d have to tell her the truth, eventually. About the billions, the properties, the power behind his family name.
But dropping that bomb after everything she’d just told him might fuck things up.
So when she’d asked, he kept it simple, like he always had with her. Focused on the homes he lived in, not the hundreds he owned.
Shannon didn’t need a rich guy right now. She needed a steady, reliable man who was nothing like the fucker who hurt her.
“I’d like to take you somewhere tomorrow once you’re done at Meadow Dawn. Show you something.”
She leaned back, the flames from the fire reflecting in her eyes. “Oh yeah? Show me what?”
“It’s a surprise.”
“Oh...” She sounded uncertain.
His eyes narrowed, his expression hardening. “What’s wrong?”
She sighed and stared at the half-eaten curry sitting on the coffee table.
“You and I are from different worlds…like miles apart.” She caught her lower lip between her teeth in a subtle, yet telling gesture.
“But we’ve arrived at the same place, right?” He thumbed her cheek. “Thanks for opening up to me. You won’t regret it, love. I protect what’s mine.”
“Yours?”
“Mine,” he repeated. “And you’ve saved my father twice now.”
Her blue eyes sparkled when she shook her head. “I didn’t, really.”
“You did. And that means something to me. So, let’s think this through. When you saved him the first time, I bought you a meal. So, the second time deserves something way better than a burger.”
His eyes darkened as he fixed on her, his mind already set on how he wanted to repay her.
“What did you have in mind?”
A confident smile spread across his lips. “What I have in mind is something far more satisfying. And trust me, you’ll enjoy it.”
“I hope you’re not gonna make me wait, or I’ll have to leave.”
Teasing him, she climbed off his lap, wearing only his clean t-shirt, her loose damp waves of inky hair falling around her bare shoulders, her skin flushed with a natural glow.
Before she could take another step, Jamie’s hand shot out, grabbing the hem with a swift, commanding pull.
