The Safe Bet (Hidden Truths #1)(54)

“Better to be safe,” he warned.

Perhaps seeing Nathan had put him on edge. Great. Just what she needed. Michael even further on edge.

“So, what should we do while we wait for the guys?” she asked, lacing her fingers together.

“Hungry?”

“Are we . . . should we talk about what happened earlier?” She moved toward him, and he took a cautious step back and into the kitchen.

Was he afraid of her? Afraid of losing control again? For a military man, he seemed to lack self-control when it came to Kate.

“What is there to say? We almost screwed up. We can’t let that happen again. We need to concentrate on finding your stalker.” He turned his back to her and grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge.

She watched his tan throat as he gulped down the cold water. She needed to cool off, herself. The circuits were misfiring in her brain. A crazy person was spying on her, and she could only think about how Michael’s hands would feel on her body. But a distraction from her dark life might be what she needed. “Did we screw up?” She moved closer to him. The words that tumbled from her lips contradicted the cautious whispers inside her.

He withdrew the bottle from his lips and set it on the counter. “Yes,” he said without hesitation. “Being with you again would be amazing, but you want more, right? I mean, you said you don’t want a relationship because of your job, but you also don’t just screw, right?” He scratched the back of his head and squinted a little as he observed her. “I guess I’m a little confused as to what you want, but I do know what I can and can’t do.”

She inhaled at his words and released a slow breath. “You help me forget the craziness that’s going on in my life. I feel safe with you, Michael.”

He moved closer to her and tilted her chin up to look into her eyes. “You shouldn’t feel safe with me. I’m fucked up.” His voice was low. He almost looked—dangerous. But he was trying, too, wasn’t he? To get her to be the one to back away?

Her eyes shut, and she licked her lips. “You don’t scare me.”

“I should. Do you know how many people I’ve killed? Do you know the things I’ve been ordered to do to get terrorists to talk? I’m a killer, Kate.”

The grittiness to his voice and the reality of what he’d said caused her eyes to flash open.

She remembered the three scars on his chest, and she reached for him, but he recoiled.

Her hand remained outstretched in the air, cold and alone. She finally pulled it back to her side and narrowed her eyes on him. “You aren’t a killer. You were saving lives.”

He cupped the back of his neck and moved his head around a bit. He was uncomfortable—she could see it in his movements, and in the now-blank look in his eyes. He was shutting down on her. Again.

“I can’t be with you. As much as I want you,” he admitted and took a step away from her.

“But I need you.”

She’d never said those words to any man in her life. She’d never needed to.

“And you have me—to help you. But that’s all I can give.”

“Michael, you’re not a bad guy. Please, believe me.”

“You don’t know me,” he said with a hollow look in his eyes.

“Let me get to know you,” she begged, taking a step closer. She was willing to sidestep her plans if it meant having a chance to be with this man.

“I’m sorry. I just can’t.” And then he turned and left.

She tried to fight the sick feeling that was enveloping her. She couldn’t believe her life right now. Her mother had been murdered. She had a stalker.

And she was allowing herself to fall for a man with a field of ice around his heart.

*


Kate paced back and forth in her bedroom, trying to wrap her head around her situation, as well as her feelings for Michael.

She stopped moving when she thought she heard something.

Were Jake and Connor back?

She opened her door and started to walk down the hallway, but halted at the sound of a voice—a woman’s voice.

She edged down the hall as quietly as possible and peeked around the corner.

The redhead.

“You need to leave.” Michael had his hand on the woman’s forearm as he motioned with the other for the elevator.

The woman was looking up at him, but Kate couldn’t see her face.

“Please, I need to make things right.”

The woman’s voice was muffled, as though she’d been crying. Her shoulders slumped forward and shuddered slightly.

“This isn’t a good time. Please, I promise we’ll talk, but I can’t do this right now.” Michael moved to the elevator and pressed a button. “Where are you staying?” he asked as the doors opened.

“Where I always stay,” the woman responded as she stepped into the elevator.

“I’ll be in touch.”

Kate jumped back around the corner when the elevator doors closed, and Michael turned around. She rushed as fast as she could with light footsteps to her room and pulled the door shut behind her. She was thankful that his doors didn’t creak upon closing.

Michael wasn’t the problem, she realized while sitting on the bed. She was. She was letting this man affect not only her confidence but her ability to think rationally.