The Bodyguard: A BWWM Bad Body Romance(38)
Her scowl matched his for a moment before the lines faded from her face and she eased down to lie on her stomach. “I appreciate it, Hank...but just now, I’m re-learning how to sing for myself. I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to do it for anyone else again.”
Well that was a damned shame. Not that he could ever consider himself a foremost patron of the arts but Hank liked to believe he knew talent when he heard it. When all of this was over, Juliet was probably one of the few people who could ride her innate talent to some semblance of fame...ever she ever saw fit to share it with anyone again.
Another reason Solomon Aguiler deserved to be drawn and fucking quartered. “You’re a brave woman.” He finally murmured. “It’ll take more than this to keep you down. I’d be willing to bet money on it.”
That drew a small smile from her. “You’d put money on me? Wow, that’s trust. That or a hulking salary.”
Hank snorted at the very notion. “Not a hulking salary, I’ll tell you that.”
Juliet’s soft laugh was almost worth the reminder that he was an underpaid pseudo-government employee. “Trust, then. I’m flattered.”
“You should be.” He smirked. “I can literally count all the people I trust on one hand...and I’ve known most of them a hell of a lot longer than I’ve known you.”
“Yeah, well, we’ve-” Juliet stopped abruptly in the middle of her sentence, her cheeks coloring as she snapped her mouth shut. She immediately looked away, and Hank arched a brow.
“What? Fucked?” At the word, she flinched, and Hank sighed, going to sit on the edge of the bed. He was careful to perch as far away from her as humanly possible - things were already dangerous enough between them as it was. “Hate to break it to you, sweetheart, but that has nothing to do with my trusting you.”
When Juliet rolled over to face him, her expression was surprisingly neutral. Hank had expected she might go off on him. In his experience, women didn’t too much appreciate his using the ‘F’ word...he just happened to have absolutely no filter. And up until this point, he hadn’t much cared. “So why do you trust me, then?”
It was a good question. One he’d never been asked before. Of course, Hank himself knew the answer, but admitting it to her was another matter entirely. He hesitated for a moment before doing what he should have all along. “I should go.” When he attempted to rise, however, Juliet’s fingers wrapped around his wrist and he started, just managing to grab his towel in time to keep from giving Juliet a free show.
“Hold on, where are you going?” She arched a brow in accusation. “You barge in here looking for your part and then run away. Screw that, Hank. Tell me.” She fixed him with an unyielding stare that was impressively intimidating. “Why do you trust me?”
He could have forced her to let him go and left anyway. Could have countered with an insult - he was good at that. But Hank found he didn’t want to do either of those things. He had never been good at talking, but if ever there was a woman who needed some positive reinforcement, it was Juliet.
“You’ve been through some shit, Julie.” Hank didn’t know when he’d started calling her that nickname, but now it just seemed natural. “And anyone who’s been through shit is careful. I can respect that. It makes you trustworthy...at least to me.”
For a long beat, Juliet just stared at him. Seeing as how Hank was already naked, the scrutiny was enough that he resisted the urge to squirm. This was what he got for telling the truth.
“I think…” Juliet finally broke the silence with a slow smile. “That’s the nicest thing you’ve ever said to me. Who are you and what have you done with Hank?”
He rolled his eyes, long-suffering. “If I really left you’d probably be jumping for joy right about now.”
The comment was enough to temper her smile slightly. “I wouldn’t be happy if you left, Hank.”
“No?” He arched a brow, his tone somehow tentative. Was it possible to both hate and crave the way a woman made him feel? Juliet tapped into a vulnerability he’d never known he had...and made him want to shelter and protect her all at the same time...not to mention he couldn’t resist how damned gorgeous she looked in those new clothes of hers.
He reminded himself to concentrate on the physical side of things. Once his emotions got involved, he was fucked, and he couldn’t have that. “So,” Hank forced a crooked smile. “Make me wanna stay.”
Juliet took a deep breath before sliding from the bed. When she came to stand before him in her pretty red dress, Hank’s heart stuttered in his chest. Goddamn, she was breathtaking. You’d never know all the pain she was hiding inside. “What did you have in mind?”
Fuck. For a moment, Hank’s mind went blank. Juliet tended to have that effect on him. When his eyes scanned the room for inspiration, however, they quickly lit upon a probable mark. One he couldn’t believe he hadn’t stumbled upon in his clumsy search.
“What are these?” His arm hooked around her waist as he tugged her towards a box in the corner, hastily shoved beneath the edge of her bedspread. He flipped the blanket back to reveal a box over spilling with colorful lace lingerie. So much he didn’t know where to look first. Hank supposed he had never really appreciated a woman’s underthings before he took them off, but these weren’t even on Juliet and he was already salivating.