Theirs to Keep (Tangled Hearts Trilogy #1)(21)

“I’ll be in the way,” she said quietly.

A string of colorful curses burst from Cade. In an instant, she found herself turned and pulled onto Cade’s lap. The shock of his touch and the intimacy of their positions sent a jolt of awareness through her body.

He cupped her chin and forced her gaze upward until she met his intense stare.

“Listen to me,” he said succinctly. “You are not in the way. I didn’t say those things to make you think you aren’t welcome. I want you to be prepared for what’s to come. For someone who’s never experienced this sort of thing, it’s going to be overwhelming. Especially to someone who’s already fragile.”

“I don’t want to be a burden,” she said earnestly. “I want Merrick to win. I don’t want to be a distraction.”

Merrick reached for her hand and threaded his fingers through hers.

“How about you let me worry about what is or isn’t a distraction? I want you here for this, Elle. We both do. We’re going to worry about you, and there’s nothing you can do about that, so deal with it, okay?”

She nodded, relief making her light-headed.

“Now, what do you say we go home tomorrow and get back into our routine?” Merrick said.

It seemed so odd coming from this man. A man she’d seen in a whole different light tonight. He was a public figure. He had masses of adoring fans. He was a complete badass in the ring.

But to her?

He was her savior. A gentle giant with a heart of gold.

For all the damage he could inflict on an opponent, he’d never touched her with anything but exquisite gentleness. It seemed impossible that the man who’d rescued her and who lived in a quiet neighborhood in the small town of Grand Junction was quite possibly the next IMMAO heavyweight champion.

“Just like that?” she asked softly.

Merrick looked at her in question.

“You can turn it off just like that? Go back home to the quiet routine and shake off the hoopla surrounding the fight and your career?”

He smiled, and it was a tired smile that showed the lines of fatigue and strain on his face.

“Yeah, I can do that.”

She leaned over him, worried and anxious. “Are you okay? Are you hurting still?”

He opened his eyes and focused his stare on her, and then he smiled, easing some of the lines from his eyes.

“Yeah, I hurt. I’m going to hurt for the next few days, but Dallas will take good care of me, and Cade always pulls his mother hen act after a fight. I’ll be fine, baby.”

The soft endearment sent a shiver of pleasure coursing through her veins.

“Then let’s go home,” she said softly.

“Hell yeah,” Cade echoed.

Chapter Thirteen

“HAVE YOU MADE A MOVE yet?” Merrick asked quietly.

Cade jerked his head around to stare at his friend. There was fire in his eyes. Anger. Surprise. And the beginnings of something that looked like fear.

They were sitting in the kitchen of their house, both in tense, irritable moods because Elle had talked them into letting her go out to the grocery store by herself.

After six months of them never letting her out of their sight and six months she’d spent recovering and gaining confidence, she’d wanted to venture out on her own, and it was making the two men nuts.

She was always with either him or Cade. Whether it was her attending his training sessions or her going into the office with Cade. She spent every waking minute with at least one of them.

Merrick worried that she would eventually get bored, but she seemed to soak up every aspect of his career as well as learn every part of his and Cade’s business.

She studied the language and terms of mixed martial arts. She learned the holds, the positions, and studied his training regimen. She poked and nagged at him when he ate something he shouldn’t. She hovered when he seemed tired after a workout. And she studied his diet, memorizing the ins and outs and how much protein he needed to take in.

In short, she’d fit in perfectly into his and Cade’s lives, and it was hard to remember what they’d ever done without her. It wasn’t something he wanted to contemplate—being without her.

Which was why today made him antsy. Maybe it felt too much like she was chafing under the constraints she was placed under. Maybe he feared she was ready to move on.

Merrick didn’t understand what she felt she needed to prove. He didn’t want her out of his sight. He knew Cade didn’t either. They both felt better when she was with them.

Elle had come a long way from the terrified, wary, broken woman they’d found in the cabinet of a gun store. She’d gained much-needed weight. The dullness and fear had receded from her eyes. She smiled spontaneously, and she was affectionate with him and Cade.

And it was driving him crazy. He wanted her. Wanted more than the role of protector. But he also knew Cade wanted the same, and it was time to address the elephant in the room.

“Of course I haven’t made a move,” Cade snapped. “Have you?”

Merrick shook his head. “You know I wouldn’t without talking to you about it and until I was comfortable that she was ready. I mean, I’m not talking sex here. I just want to take things to the next level.”

Cade let out a raspy breath that sounded like a snarl. Then he dragged a hand over the top of his head before slapping it back down on the table.