Her Marine Next Door - Aliyah Burke Page 0,11

this streak of possessiveness that hit her in regard to the man at her side.

Then there was the little boy. He didn’t deserve to be put in a bad situation because she had a problem with some man using her guest room.

Yeah, that’s the reason I’m keeping my mouth shut, because I’m expecting him to be in the guest room.

She watched the interaction between Parker and the woman. There was a definite edge when the adults spoke to each other. Ignoring them, she focused on the boy. Cullen. Her heart ached, and it was a struggle to keep her demons at bay as she peered into his eyes. They were a vivid blue and struck her deep. A beautiful combination against that rich chocolaty hair. He stared at her and in the depths of his gaze, she saw pure longing.

It broke her.

She’d missed a chunk of the conversation because suddenly, Parker kissed her again and walked away with the other two. Turning on her heels, with shaky legs Skylar retreated to her house and beelined it for the kitchen. It didn’t take her long to get a large glass of ice water and after placing the cup to her neck, she indulged in a healthy swig.

“What the hell am I doing?”

Alpin wandered in from the backyard, took a drink, and flopped over on his thick, dark blue bumper bed, his huge sigh making her smile. He fit right in at her home, not like he was trying to figure it all out, but more like he’d been raised here as a pup.

“Thanks for the help, man.”

He thumped his tail twice, yawned, and closed his eyes. Yep, that was as much as she’d get from him.

After ensuring her bandage was still secure, she cast a final glance to her now-sleeping senior canine, then headed back to the garage to finish unloading the wood in her truck.

Pulling out two of the boards, she pushed back the moan of discomfort from her hand. She placed them down on the sawhorses and flexed her fingers, hoping the pain would dissipate. Sooner rather than later.

“Why don’t you ask for help?”

She would have dropped the wood if it hadn’t already been down. Parker’s rich, intoxicating voice wove to her from the entrance of her garage.

“Why would I do that?” Skylar kept her focus on the wood and the floor beyond it. She had to stay calm and not light into him about this situation he put her in.

“Because you’re injured.”

He was directly behind her, his warmth surrounding her, making her eyelids flutter. His large hands trailed down her arms to her hands. She bit her lower lip and compared the tan of his skin against hers as he took her hands, treating her injured one gently. As he turned them over, she trembled at the brush of his calluses against her palms.

“I still have a job to do.”

He clenched his jaw, then made short work of unloading the rest of the wood. He looked damn good doing it and finished up much faster than she would have. Shame, though, he’d put on a shirt.

“We need to talk,” Brodie said. He wiped his hands off on his pant legs and moved around the sawhorses, approaching from behind.

The brush of his breath against her cheek was heaven. However, it lost the battle against ice balling up in her stomach. “About the lie you told.”

He was silent, and she turned to face him. He didn’t back up, so she remained blocked between him and the sawhorse. His green-blue gaze watched her, shiny with heat. Parker reached out and tugged on her hair. “It wasn’t a lie.”

She cocked an eyebrow, amusement skating through her despite the enormity of the situation she faced. “Really? Is that what driving a woman to the hospital and sleeping on her couch turns into in this day and age? An engagement and living under the same roof?”

His kissable lips kicked up in a grin. Hot damn, he was potent.

“I should apologize about that, but I won’t. I need your help with this. She’s claiming that Cullen is mine. And he may be—protection isn’t a foolproof guarantee—but I need to know. I can’t live in the same house with her. I won’t.”

He added another finger to the curls he was stroking.

“And the reason that we are having to be engaged…?” As well as why you can be here with me, interrupting my life as opposed to being over there with her. “Why can’t you use one