Obsessed (The Protectors #13) - Sloane Kennedy Page 0,23

it did come, it was a blink-and-miss-it thing because all he did was jerk his head in what I assumed was a nod.

“And you just got back?” I asked. “Was the trip a success?” I didn’t care so much about the second part as I did the first. But I was too much of a coward to ask him directly if he’d come here right after landing in Seattle. Cruz had notified Elliot as soon as he’d arrived home, but there would be no reason for Matias to come here—

“Did the glass come?”

“What?” I asked, surprised that he was once again using words.

“For your kid’s room. And the shed.”

“Um, I ordered it, but it hasn’t come yet. Tomorrow maybe.”

“And the contractor?”

Was he seriously more interested in talking about house repairs than addressing the fact that he’d broken into my home for the second time in nearly as many days?

“Matias—”

“Why’s your kid in a wheelchair?”

If there’d been any kind of animosity in the question, I would have channeled my inner Mama Bear and laid into the man, but he seemed genuinely curious.

“He has cerebral palsy. And his name’s Ryan.”

Matias glanced at me. I wondered if it was because I’d had the guts to point out that my son had a name that wasn’t “your kid.” I might not have been the bravest guy when it came to standing up for myself, but God save anyone who laid a finger on either of my kids.

“That why he can’t talk?”

“It’s why he needs an alternative method of communication,” I said, trying to hide my irritation.

Matias shifted his eyes to me and held my gaze. “It bothers you?” he asked. “When people say he can’t talk?”

Leave it to the man who had his own limitations when it came to speaking to pick up on my behavior rather than just my words in this case.

“He’s no different than any other little boy or girl. He loves junk food and watching movies and being outside and—”

Just like that, Matias was in my personal space again and I abruptly stopped talking because my body was going haywire. The man did that weird inhaling thing again that should have freaked me out but made me crazy in an entirely different way.

“He’s lucky to have you… Sam.”

It wasn’t the first time he’d said my name, but it might as well have been.

“I’m the lucky one,” I murmured. I found my eyes dropping to Matias’s mouth. My whole body began to tremble as it silently begged for what my mouth couldn’t say.

In that moment, I was his.

Absolutely and completely.

Bent over the kitchen table or up against the window or on my back on the kitchen floor… didn’t matter. I was his for the taking. I wasn’t proud of it, but I couldn’t keep lying to myself. I didn’t even pretend to understand the chemistry I had with the man. It was just there. The sky was blue, grass was green, and I wanted Matias de la Vega more than I wanted my next breath.

“Matias,” I whispered.

I drew in a shaky breath and waited for whatever was to come. When it did, I wasn’t prepared for it.

At all.

Because Matias did nothing more than lift his finger to trace the sensitive skin beneath my left eye before saying, “Get some sleep, Sam.”

Then, just like that, he was gone.

Chapter 9

Matias

“Matias.”

I didn’t turn around because I knew Sam would just have that same mix of confusion and pity in his eyes he’d had the night before and I had no desire to see it again.

Ever.

I also wasn’t in the mood to hear the same question he had every right to be asking me.

What are you doing here, Matias?

I didn’t want to hear it because I had no fucking clue what I was doing there.

Again.

So I did what would serve the biggest purpose and focused on the task at hand. I could have replaced the window in the shed with my eyes closed, but it was more convenient for me to pretend it was taking all my attention to complete the job.

Several long beats of silence followed.

For the first time in as long as I could remember, the lack of noise made me uncomfortable. I was in the process of turning around when Sam said, "I don't even know why I have this thing. I mean, the house didn’t come with it and I hire people to maintain the lawn because I can't work a lawnmower to save my life, but I saw this shed