Body of Trust - Jeannine Colette Page 0,59

our end. In the meantime, keep your head on a swivel and stay calm.”

“Easier said than done,” I state sarcastically.

Salinger walks toward us, and Jesse and I part as he opens the door. He leaves and turns to the right, where there’s a stairwell.

“What’s the plan?” I ask Jesse urgently.

“First, we get you home. My home.”

Chapter Fifteen

We get back to Jesse’s house. It’s been a long day, one I don’t ever want to repeat. Clearly, neither does he.

I put my bag on the floor and kick off my shoes. Since Jesse wants me to stay here until the drawing, we stopped by my place for clothes. He didn’t say a word to me while I put things in a bag and gathered my toiletries.

Silence.

That’s all I’ve been given from him, and I don’t know what to do with it.

He walks into his room, and I watch from the hallway as he empties his pockets on the dresser. His back is arched, and he looks defeated as he pads into the bathroom.

I walk into the kitchen to get a drink and hear the water in the bathroom running. I sigh as I drink my water and wonder how angry he must be with me. I didn’t trust him. All he’s ever asked from me was my trust, and I haven’t given it until today. I doubted him. The one person who has protected me in all of this, I doubted.

It makes me feel so horrible.

I open the refrigerator for … I don’t even know. When I do, I’m shocked to see it’s filled. Milk, orange juice, bread, eggs, fresh fruit, and even the ginger beer I like for my Moscow mules. I close the door and open the cupboard, smiling when I see a copper mug.

He bought things that I like. It’s so thoughtful, considering how little time he had to make this happen.

I’m such a fool.

A great man entered my life, and I questioned him when it mattered most. I ran from him actually. If he had done that to me, I would have been livid. I ran, and he knew exactly where to find me because he listens.

Do I even listen to him?

Words he’s said sing inside of me.

“… I’m fucking crazy about you! You’re all I think about.… The moment your life was threatened, I was destined to save it.”

“It’s you and me, Amelia. Just us.”

“I don’t know what will happen to us when this is over.”

I walk into the living room and stare at his mother’s painting. The theft of it is a sweet and impossibly sad action. Connection to family means everything to this man, even when he’s risking his life to protect others.

Who protects him?

He said he’d take a bullet for me. He deserves a woman who would do the same for him.

I head into the bedroom and see the steam from the shower wafting out the bathroom door. I walk into the bathroom and close the door behind me.

I can’t see him through the shower curtain, but I know he hears as I unzip my jeans and undress.

Naked, I push back the curtain and step inside the tub. Jesse’s back is to me. His arm is on the tiled wall in front of him, bracing his body, and he lets the hot water pummel over his head.

I rest a hand on his back. He doesn’t flinch.

The water cascades down his back, hitting my fingertips and running over my skin. Slowly, I move my hand up his spine and rest it between his shoulder blades and down, tenderly rubbing his back.

My hand rises with his body as he breathes deeply, letting the tension go.

He stands up straight, running his fingers through his hair, pushing it back. I wrap my arms around his waist, hugging him from behind. My cheek is against his skin, and my hands are buried in his chest and torso.

A wise man once told me the way to win a game of poker is to know your opponents’ tells. Jesse can’t hide his sadness. Not with his eyes, his posture, or his heavy breaths. The reason he can’t hide from me is because he’s never wanted to.

“I’m sorry,” I say. “You said to never apologize, but I owe you one. I shaded you today. The shock of seeing my father and the fear of everything that’d happened blinded me. I didn’t trust myself. I didn’t trust you.”

His stomach muscles tighten beneath my hands.

I lift my head and speak into the back of