Witness in the Dark (Love Under Fire #1)(34)

She blew out a weary breath. “How long until the trial, again?”

Rather than answer, he laughed. “Pull your fingers up just a tiny bit,” he instructed, and she did as he said. He smeared the glue across the gash in her hand.

She always did what he said now. Most of the time without question or complaint. After that first day, he’d never had a more agreeable client. It made him wonder…

She took a deep breath and closed her eyes as he pressed her flesh together. He made sure not to get stuck to her. The last thing Ms. Modesty would appreciate would be having a man stuck to her.

Which reminded him not to look at her beautiful breasts.

He walked deliberately behind her back. “Can you feel this?” He touched her skin next to the gash.

“I can feel the pressure of your hand.”

“Okay, I’m going to get started. You might notice a little tugging, but it shouldn’t hurt.”

She nodded, and the pulse at her throat picked up when he touched her. She was responding to him…which made his body respond right back. He determinedly ignored it. Just a normal male reaction. It didn’t mean he had to act on it. In any way.

Under no circumstances could he allow things to get out of hand. This was a job. He couldn’t mix business with pleasure.

Especially not this business. For very good reasons.

“Do you mind telling me why you didn’t mention you were hurt?” he asked, now that she couldn’t ignore him or get away.

“Sending me out there was a test, right? I didn’t want to fail,” she said.

“You got back to the house. You didn’t fail.”

“It took me hours, and I needed stitches. I just don’t—” She closed her eyes and stopped talking.

“Don’t what?” he pushed as he worked behind her.

She took a deep breath. “I don’t want you to give up on me. I don’t want to be a problem. Or you might get sick of dealing with me and leave. I— I need you.”

He paused in his sewing and came around to stand in front of her. All this time he thought she was being agreeable, it turned out she was terrified he would abandon her if she acted like herself.

Was he really being such a bastard to her that his cold behavior had made her believe so little of him?

Guilt swept through him. He’d only been trying to be professional. Obviously, he still needed to work on that.

Bending down in front of her, he caught her green gaze. “I told you, you’re going to have to trust me. That means trusting that I won’t leave you to fend for yourself. Ever.”

“But why would you do this for me?” She bit her lip again, but this time he didn’t have a sexual response.

This woman had been through hell, and it seemed she expected it to get worse. That a stranger had no reason to be kind to her.

Except, he hadn’t been kind to her. He’d been gruff and bossy. He knew gruff and bossy would keep her alive, but now he saw the cost.

She was broken.

And he’d helped do it.

It would be nearly impossible to save the life of someone who didn’t care enough to want to help herself. He needed to do better.

“The world doesn’t have a lot of good people like you in it. We can’t spare you.” He moved back to his stitching and kept his focus there as he tied off the thread and gave her another shot for the pain.

“Thank you,” she whispered. Her shoulders moved up and down as if she were trying to relax into the idea that she actually mattered.

“I’m afraid the dragon isn’t doing too well. It kind of looks like a Pekinese with a long, pointy tail,” he said as he stood back.

“The Girl with the Pekinese Tattoo,” she said, choking on a small laugh. “At least it’s original.”

He reached for her shirt, and helped her pull it back on.

“Damn, I must be slipping. I don’t think I’ve ever helped put a girl’s shirt on before,” he kidded, partly because he wanted to see her blush again.

He put the ice pack on her sore shoulder and went to the refrigerator to pull out a bowl of soup with plastic wrap over the top. She was smiling again as he stood in front of the microwave heating it up, then brought it over to the table.

“Thank you for everything.” Her voice was quiet as she looked up at him through her dark blond eyelashes.

He smiled back, and something dark and lumpy inside him began to melt a little. “You’re doing really well, Sam. It’s not part of the tough instructor routine to praise the soldier, but I think you should know that what you did today was pretty damn amazing.” She needed to hear that.

And he honestly meant it.

“Thanks,” she whispered.

“How long have you been afraid of the dark?” he asked as she took a sip of the beef noodle soup.

She glanced up, startled. “How did you know?”

“The hotel room. You opened the drapes a crack to let in the light from the parking lot. Plus, your only issue with taking the gun back seemed to be the darkness.”

Her jaw dropped. See? It helped to pay attention.

“I’ve been scared of the dark my whole life, I guess,” she confessed, then gave an embarrassed shrug.

“Is that the only thing? The dark?” If there was something else she wouldn’t be able to handle easily, he needed to know.