His Lover to Protect - Katee Robert Page 0,36

he had the insane thought that now was the time to fully come clean. She’d be pissed, really pissed. She might even walk away from him for good—which was no more than he deserved.

He couldn’t do it. Not yet.

Alexis finally sat back. “You know, I kind of like you, too. Most of the time.”

He could hardly believe what he was hearing. He’d hoped, of course, but part of him had already resigned itself to having to chase her ass to Austria when she left him again. He’d hoped after her declaration in the shower, admitting that she couldn’t get enough of him either, but that was sex. Hearing that she was starting to like him, too? It settled something in his chest and lessened the tension in his bones. He managed to keep his expression neutral, but only barely. “So that’s that, then?”

“I guess so.” She grinned. “Let’s go to Austria.”

Chapter Twelve

Alexis couldn’t get off the plane fast enough. Every time she moved through the short two-hour flight, her shoulder or knee brushed against Luke and set off a chain reaction of desire through her body. After his blowing her mind seven ways to Sunday in the shower last night, he’d backed off and hadn’t whispered so much as a dirty word.

It felt like the entire dynamic between them had shifted, and she wasn’t sure what to do with it. Letting him tag along to Austria had been a mistake, but she couldn’t shake the feeling that he was starting to understand what she wanted to accomplish with this trip. There had been something almost like respect in his eyes last night.

But she still hadn’t told him the truth.

Not all of it.

It was so stupid. Luke obviously understood what it was like to lose a vital part of himself and keep on kicking. If anyone could understand what she’d gone through—and what she was trying to reclaim—it would be him.

All she had to do was open her mouth and say those damning words. I had cancer. I beat it, but it took a bloody chunk out of me in the process. I can’t have kids. Hell, there’s no guarantee the cancer won’t come back and finish the job at some point. That was the difference between them. He’d battled his demons. Maybe he hadn’t conquered them yet, but he would—because they were in the past.

Hers could reappear at any moment.

She couldn’t live her life fearing that, though. There were no guarantees, for either the good or the bad, and she’d spent the last year missing out on all sorts of experiences because fear had been in the driver’s seat.

No more.

She shouldered her backpack and headed for security, Luke matching her every step of the way. A cab would be the fastest way to the hotel, and then… Then she didn’t know. It was too late in the day to try for the tour, but the thought of wandering around with him glowering beside her made her skin feel too tight. All she’d wanted when she got here was some time alone to figure her issues out, and it seemed like she’d barely gotten a moment to breathe since landing in Ireland. Nothing about this trip was going as planned.

In some ways, it had gone better. Would she have reclaimed that part of herself that made her feel so…womanly…if she hadn’t run into Luke in the alley? Her transformation wasn’t anywhere near finished, but it had started that night in Cork when she’d met him every step of the way and goaded him into taking her back to his room. It was a move she never would have made back home in Wellingford.

And then, in Norway, she’d gotten to the edge of the cliff. Maybe she hadn’t done it entirely on her own, but she’d made that hike without help, and Luke hadn’t exactly held her hand while she took those last steps to the edge.

He’d helped. It might not make her entirely comfortable, but he’d helped.

She glanced over and realized Luke was a few steps behind her. His limp wasn’t as bad as it’d been last night, but it was still more prominent than in Ireland. She slowed to match his pace, which only served to annoy him if his expression was anything to go by. “I don’t need special treatment.”

“It’s not special treatment, and you know it.” She rolled her eyes. By now, she knew that he got extra snarly when his knee was hurting him. It had nothing